First and foremost, we must take a look at what’s happening with the fixtures. Every team plays 38 matches in a season, and therefore there are 38 GWs.
But, in the second half of every season some weeks clash with the domestic cup competitions (Carabao Cup Final, FA Cup QFs and SFs), therefore the affected fixtures are rearranged. The teams in those fixtures will have no match in FPL on those weeks, creating blank game weeks (BGW), and when they are rearranged the teams will have 2 games in a single game week, known as double game weeks (DGW).
The Carabao Cup final will be played on 24th Feb between Chelsea and Man City, therefore Chelsea vs Brighton and Everton vs Man City have both been rearranged. We don’t yet know when Chelsea’s match will be played because Brighton are in an FA Cup replay on Feb 6th, so they cannot play another match in that midweek. But Everton vs Man City has been changed to Feb 7th, creating a DGW25 for those 2 teams!
Therefore, now there is a balancing act for FPL managers to perform. You want to get decent exposure to DGW25, but there are some issues
- Everton are not in great form and play Wolves and Man City
- Man City’s other game that week is Arsenal (also not too enticing)
- Both teams will have a BGW just 2 weeks later in GW27
The final decision will also depend on your current squad, injury issues you face and how much cash you have in the bank, but I’ve got Sane and Richarlison and I might as well add a 3rd DGW player before the weekend.
There will be more to come as the FA Cup QFs clash with GW31 and the FA Cup SFs with GW33. It’s too early to discuss these in much depth as there’s another round of the FA Cup before we get to the QFs. However, we do know that the following teams will NOT have a BGW at all this season (although that also mean no DGWs), and therefore should be a good focus for your squads for now).
- Bournemouth
- Burnley
- Huddersfield
- Leicester
- Liverpool