Managers in Fantasy Premier League can start to firm up their plans for the upcoming period after the conclusion of the FA Cup fifth round last Wednesday evening.
The schedule for Blank Gameweek 29 (BGW29) has now been finalised, with only FOUR matches taking place as all eight sides have been eliminated from the FA Cup.
Confirmed BGW29 schedule
Burnley v Brentford
Fulham v Spurs
Luton v Nott'm Forest
West Ham v Aston Villa
Typically, BGW29 is the most popular time to play the Free Hit chip as it is usually the most-reduced round of matches in a season.
Managers who are planning to Free-Hit should certainly look to triple up on Tottenham Hotspur against Fulham, with Son Heung-min (£9.8m) likely to be among the best captain options.
West Ham United’s home encounter with Aston Villa offers a host of in-form midfielders such as Jarrod Bowen (£7.8m), Mohammed Kudus (£6.8m), Leon Bailey (£5.7m) and Douglas Luiz (£5.6m).
Up front, Brentford’s trip to Burnley means Ivan Toney (£8.2m) is likely to join Ollie Watkins (£8.9m) in many Free Hit frontlines.
There are some managers, however, who are choosing to simply use their transfers to navigate the upcoming period ahead of a potential Wildcard around Gameweek 30.
Unlike those playing their Free Hit chip in BGW29, they will have to also factor Double Gameweek 28 (DGW28) into their decision-making.
Dominic Solanke (£7.1m) is likely to be a top captain contender in DGW28 for AFC Bournemouth’s home matches against Sheffield United and Luton Town. However, Solanke then has a BGW29 immediately afterwards.
Luton, on the other hand, are the only side to play as many as three matches over DGW28 and BGW29. Similarly to Bournemouth, their form player is a forward, with Carlton Morris (£5.1m) producing four goals and two assists in his last six outings.
There are seven sides who have a single match in each of DGW28 and BGW29, offering particular appeal to those managers who are eyeing up a potential Wildcard in Gameweek 30 - Villa, Brentford, Burnley, Fulham, Nottingham Forest, Spurs and West Ham.
DGW28-BGW29 schedule
| Total matches | DGW28 matches | BGW29 matches | Club |
|---|---|---|---|
| 3 | 2 | 1 | Luton |
| 2 | 2 | 0 | Bournemouth |
| 2 | 1 | 1 | Villa, Brentford, Burnley, Fulham, Nott'm Forest, Spurs, West Ham |
| 1 | 1 | 0 | Arsenal, Brighton, Chelsea, Crystal Palace, Everton, Liverpool, Man City, Man Utd, Newcastle, Sheff Utd, Wolves |
Among those sides, Spurs and Nott’m Forest also have very kind schedules beyond BGW29 which lifts their appeal as mid-term picks and perhaps negates the need for a Wildcard.
Spurs face Fulham, Luton, West Ham and Nott’m Forest in four successive matches from BGW29, which can revive interest in Son and James Maddison (£7.9m).
The trio could be handy replacements for Bukayo Saka (£9.2m) and Phil Foden (£8.1m), as both Arsenal and Manchester City have a BGW29 before they face each other in a tough match in Gameweek 30.
For Nott’m Forest, in-form duo Callum Hudson-Odoi (£4.7m) and Taiwo Awoniyi (£6.3m) can offer great value. According to the Fixture Difficulty Ratings (FDR), five of Forest's six matches from BGW29 onwards score only two.