The upcoming period of navigating Blank and Double Gameweeks, and using chips effectively, can often prove to be season-defining for millions of Fantasy Premier League managers.
Managers will often use their chips at different times because their squads are different. However, there are some popular strategies gathering pace ahead of the tricky run-in to 2024/25 Fantasy.
Many managers are planning to Wildcard in Gameweek 30 or 31 to invest in clubs who have a Double Gameweek 32 (DGW32) and a favourable match in Blank Gameweek 34 (BGW34).
See: The Scout's guide to Blank and Double Gameweeks
Others are using their Free Hit chip in Blank Gameweek 29 (BGW29), when four clubs – Aston Villa, Crystal Palace, Liverpool and Newcastle United - are WITHOUT a fixture.
See: Is Blank Gameweek 29 the best time to Free-Hit?
But for those who DON’T have those chips left or have decided to save them for later in the season, here’s The Scout’s advice for how to navigate the next few Gameweeks with just your free transfers.
Liverpool and Forest are long-term holds
It’s an easy decision to bench Mohamed Salah (£13.8m) and Trent Alexander-Arnold (£7.4m) for Liverpool’s BGW29 as the pair will be essential to your plans over the run-in.
Nottingham Forest’s visit to Ipswich Town in BGW29 begins a very favourable schedule that suggests managers should pair Chris Wood (£7.2m) with one of Forest's defenders or goalkeeper Matz Sels (£5.0m) for the run-in.
According to the Fixture Difficulty Ratings (FDR), each of Forest’s nine matches between Gameweeks 29-37 score no more than three.
Sels is the best pick due to his multiple routes to returns, while Nikola Milenkovic’s (£4.8m) goal threat and Neco Williams’ price of just £4.4m make them strong alternatives in the sub-£5.0m bracket.
Wolves and Bournemouth have best short-term schedules
At this tricky point in the season, in particular, paying attention to each club’s short-term schedule is essential.
Any players you bring into your line-up right now must – at the very least - have a match in BGW29.
Wolves and Bournemouth's next four Gameweeks
| Wolves | Bournemouth | |
| GW28 | Everton (H) | Spurs (A) |
|---|---|---|
| GW29 | Southampton (A) | Brentford (H) |
| GW30 | West Ham (H) | Ipswich (H) |
| GW31 | Ipswich (A) | West Ham (A) |
By using the FDR, you can refine your targets further by focusing on clubs who have the best schedules over the next four Gameweeks.
All of Wolverhampton Wanderers’ next four matches score only two, which gives Rayan Ait-Nouri (£4.7m) the opportunity to impress at both ends of the pitch.
The Algerian has three goals, five assists and four clean sheets to his name in 2024/25 Fantasy and is likely to prove Wolves’ best pick in that upcoming spell, with Matheus Cunha (£7.0m) set to miss the next three Premier League matches if the usual three-match ban for such sendings-off is applied by The FA.
Vitor Pereira's face TWO of the bottom three clubs - Ipswich Town and Leicester City - in a four-match spell across Gameweeks 31-34. Their home encounter with Leicester in BGW34 is one of only four fixtures currently guaranteed to take place in that round of matches.
AFC Bournemouth are also among the standouts here, with three of their next four matches scoring just two in the FDR.
Milos Kerkez (£5.0m) and Justin Kluivert (£6.1m) are the Cherries’ top-scoring defender and midfielder respectively this season and also their two most-owned players, found in 14 per cent and 30 per cent of squads.
Centre-back Dean Huijsen (£4.5m) and fit-again forward Evanilson (£5.6m) could prove handy differentials, with both picked by under five per cent of managers.
Why you should prioritise Newcastle over Palace for DGW32
Immediate investment in Newcastle and Crystal Palace players can be put on hold due to their upcoming BGW29.
However, Newcastle and Palace are the only clubs who have a DGW32, which will make Isak and the Eagles’ Jean-Philippe Mateta (£7.5m) popular targets for your forward lines. Although Mateta is very likely to miss Gameweek 28 with the head injury sustained in the FA Cup last weekend, he is likely to be be available again for Gameweek 30.
Palace wing-back Daniel Munoz (£5.0m) is the standout pick from those two defences, particularly now that Newcastle's Lewis Hall (£5.0m) has been ruled out for the rest of the season.
In midfield, there are several appealing options. For Newcastle, Jacob Murphy (£5.1m) is a cheaper alternative to his team-mate Anthony Gordon (£7.4m), who will be available after suspension in Gameweek 31. Palace pair Eberechi Eze (£6.7m) and Ismaila Sarr (£5.5m) add further options in the sub-£7.0m bracket.
A look at the schedules suggests Newcastle and Palace players could be worth bringing in from Gameweek 30 as both teams have a meeting with a bottom-three club in Gameweek 30 or 31. Newcastle face Brentford and Leicester, while Palace play Southampton and Brighton & Hove Albion.
Newcastle and Palace's GW30-32 schedules
| Newcastle | Crystal Palace | |
| GW30 | Brentford (H) | Southampton (A) |
|---|---|---|
| GW31 | Leicester (A) | Brighton (H) |
| GW32 | Man Utd (H), Crystal Palace (H) | Man City (A), Newcastle (A) |
At present, though, Newcastle’s early exit from the FA Cup means you should consider them as better mid-term investments than Palace players.
The Magpies' home meeting with Ipswich is one of the four matches currently confirmed to be taking place in BGW34.
Palace, by contrast, have progressed to the quarter-finals of the FA Cup, which means it is currently uncertain whether they will have a match in BGW34.
But even if they are knocked out of the cup by Fulham and are free to play a Premier League match in Gameweek 34, it’s fair to say that Palace’s scheduled fixture that weekend – away to Arsenal – would be far less attractive than Newcastle’s home encounter with Ipswich.
Let the FA Cup quarter-finals shape your BGW34 strategy
The results of the FA Cup quarter-finals will go a long way in helping millions of managers finalise their plans for the remainder of the campaign.
The four matches take place across the weekend of 29-30 March, which is the weekend prior to the Gameweek 30 deadline of 18:15 BST on Tuesday 1 April.
Depending on the results, there will be either three or four matches removed from DGW34, which means up to eight clubs could be WITHOUT a fixture.
Although there are only four matches currently confirmed to be taking place in BGW34, owning two Liverpool players and two or three Newcastle players looks a smart move already, while Cunha and Chelsea’s Cole Palmer (£11.1m) also have kind home encounters which are bound to make them popular targets.
For now, that’s all you really need to know.
By waiting until the rescheduled matches caused by FA Cup postponements have been announced, and giving yourself the time to take in as much information on Blank and Double Gameweeks as possible, you are then able to make far more informed transfer decisions when finalising your strategy for the run-in.