Managers in Fantasy Premier League can now start planning their chip strategies for the run-in after the three matches which were removed from Blank Gameweek 34 (BGW34) were given new dates.
See: Fixture amendments for teams in FA Cup semi-finals and for Matchweek 36
Two of those fixtures, Arsenal v Crystal Palace and Manchester City v Aston Villa, have been moved into Gameweek 33. This means all FOUR get a Double Gameweek 33 (DGW33), making it the biggest Double Gameweek of the season.
Nottingham Forest’s home match against Brentford, however, will REMAIN in Gameweek 34 and will take place in the midweek following the FA Cup semi-finals.
In this table, for Double Gameweeks the teams in bold will be playing twice. In Blank Gameweeks, the fixtures listed have been postponed, with those teams blanking, and players from those clubs scoring zero points.
Blank and Double Gameweeks remaining in 2024/25
| DGW32 | DGW33 | BGW34 |
|---|---|---|
| NEW v MUN | CRY v BOU | ARS v CRY |
| MCI v CRY | EVE v MCI | MCI v AVL |
| NEW v CRY | AVL v NEW | |
| IPS v ARS | ||
| MCI v AVL | ||
| ARS v CRY |
Thursday’s announcement means managers now have a clearer picture of the Blank and Double Gameweeks for the remainder of 2024/25 Fantasy.
Many have been waiting for this news before playing their Wildcard ahead of the Gameweek 31 deadline at 11:00 BST on Saturday 5 April.
Those managers will surely be targeting players from Crystal Palace, who now have back-to-back Double Gameweeks prior to their BGW34!
The Eagles also have a Double Gameweek 32 (DGW32), which makes Daniel Munoz (£5.1m), Ismaila Sarr (£5.7m) and Jean-Philippe Mateta (£7.6m) great options.
Newcastle United also have a DGW32, which also lifts the immediate appeal of a budget defender such as Dan Burn (£4.4m) or Tino Livramento (£4.5m) to go alongside Jacob Murphy (£5.0m) and Alexander Isak (£9.5m).
Isak looks a strong Triple Captain pick for DGW32, at home to both Manchester United and Palace.
Alternatively, if you still have your Assistant Manager chip, you could use it on Oliver Glasner (£0.8m) as one of your three Palace assets, profiting from FIVE matches in three Gameweeks.
But you must remember you can only play ONE chip in a Gameweek.
So if you played the Assistant Manager chip in DGW32, for example, you can’t use another chip until Gameweek 35 because it lasts for a three-Gameweek spell.
DGW33 now appears likely to be targeted as the best time to use your Bench Boost chip, allowing you to profit from up to 12 players with two matches from the four clubs involved.
Key picks
Those managers who are using their Wildcards will be targeting Arsenal’s David Raya (£5.5m) and Bukayo Saka (£10.3m), Villa’s Lucas Digne (£4.5m) and Morgan Rogers (£5.5m) and Man City’s Josko Gvardiol (£6.1m) and Omar Marmoush (£7.5m), alongside the Palace contingent.
By adopting this approach, you can then play the Free Hit chip in BGW34 to navigate the reduced round of matches.
As always in Fantasy, your strategy will depend on both the players and chips you still have at your disposal.
