FPL Double Gameweek 34 – Free Hit & Dead-End Special

We are getting into it early this week because we are super excited about FPL double gameweek 34! And why wouldn’t we be?

The actual Premier League title fight seems to be over after the weekend. It is bad for the neutrals and, personally, I was very sad to see this on Sunday night.

But it’s important to stay positive in fantasy. So let’s deal with our misery by focusing in on FPL double gameweek 34 and looking at the best doublers we could buy.

This guide will be most useful to those of us free-hitting or dead-ending in FPL double gameweek 34. If you are dead-ending then you should probably wait before making your transfers as there is European football this week.

We will be back later in the week with our normal preview.

This piece was written before the Chelsea Everton game on 15^th April.

FPL Double Gameweek 34 Fixtures

These are the teams doubling in FPL Gameweek 34 in order of fixture difficulty:

Three things strike me from this list:

1. Crystal Palace have the best fixtures by a long way.
2. Arsenal and Liverpool have the best FPL assets so a triple up seems good.
3. Sheffield United suck but they play two of the worst defences in the league.

Team by Team Analysis of FPL Double Gameweek 34

In this section we will go team by team looking for viable fantasy options for each team that doubles. A viable option will be someone that we think has a good chance of delivering a good number of points for their cost.

Crystal Palace

This defence is solid enough, if not super appealing. They are the 6^th best defence in the league according to xGC which isn’t much considering how bad all defences are but they aren’t bad for the price. Henderson, for example, is super cheap at only £4.4mn. Munoz and Mitchell have attacking threat in terms of assists (probably the former is better) and Andersen is a set piece threat for goals.

In terms of attack, over the course of the season they are one of the worst in terms of xG. But, we know that Eze and Olise are good fantasy options with 0.61 and 0.66 xGI per 90 over the season. For context, Ollie Watkins has an xGI per 90 of 0.61, respectively. Eze probably edges it because we think he is on penalties. Mateta is more of a risky differential pick that I wouldn’t be super comfortable with if I wasn’t chasing rank. His xGI per 90 is only 0.39 (same as Garnacho to be fair) but he does have three goals in five games.

Arsenal

The best defence in fantasy, if not the league. For my money, worthwhile doubling up on their defence. Gabriel and Saliba are the standout options for me as we are confident that they play 180 mins over both games. White has a risk of rotation or at least being subbed early. Yes, he can get assists but Gabriel and Saliba can get set piece chances. Raya is easily the worst pick as his ceiling is much lower than these guys because he cannot get attacking returns.

In attack, there aren’t many good options. Saka is the 6^th best player in the league in terms of xGI per 90. He is a given for me. I know he can be frustrating when he doesn’t return but probability wise he is the second most likely of all the players I will name to get an attacking return. Havertz is in excellent form and is now slightly on par with Odegaard in terms of xGI per 90 (0.51) over the course of the season. The key difference for me is that Havertz now plays up top most of the time. I don’t trust that Martinelli, Trossard or Jesus will play 180 mins. Whilst I think it likely Nketiah plays some minutes, and takes away from Kai, I think Havertz is pretty nailed on.

Sheffield United

I don’t really think there are any options from Sheff U. They are terrible.

But, if you want to do something fun/crazy then taking one of Hamer or McAttee is the way to go. Their xGI per 90 doesn’t quite get to 0.3. But, they do play two of the worst defences in the league.

Brereton Diaz is the best option here though. 0.53 xGI per 90. Admittedly this only comes from eight appearances so there is a chance that these numbers don’t hold. Still, we know from his days in the Championship that he is a fairly solid goalscorer.

Liverpool

Statistically the third best defence in the league but somehow Liverpool never look solid at the back. They are way overperforming their xGC but are still a class above everyone but City and Arsenal. On that basis, and the basis that all defenders suck, I’d be happy to take one defensive pick. My preference is for Virgil or Robertson as both have attacking threat too. Alisson, like Raya, feels like a wasted Liverpool spot because of his low ceiling.

As for the Bradley/Trent Alexander-Arnold dilemma, I just wouldn’t get involved. I don’t trust that either of them will play 180 mins. Even though Bradley went off injured last weekend, we don’t know if that means he doesn’t start. We also haven’t seen Trent start yet. And, don’t forget, they still have Gomez. It’s just not worth the heartache when your player doesn’t play.

In attack, you should have Salah without a doubt. Second best player for xGI in the league and twice as many opportunities to score points in FPL double gameweek 34 so he’s a lock. I don’t care about his form. He is class.

Diaz and Darwin are the next best options for me. I don’t think Jota is fully fit and Gakpo is not good enough. I think Diaz and Darwin will get 120 mins each and you just have to accept that fact. They have high upside and its worth having one or both for that reason.

Everton

There are not many options for Everton in FPL double gameweek 34. Defensively, they are okay but not excellent. You’re having these guys just because they are cheap and because you can’t have more than three Arsenal or Liverpool players. So, Pickford is actually a good choice in goal. If, like me, you had him when he had zero clean sheets for like a million weeks at the start of the season you may have PTSD. But, he is a good option and frequently makes saves.

Mykolenko is the defender to go for, just because of his small attacking threat (0.1 xGI per 90). Branthwaite is cheaper and has similar attacking threat.

With DCL flagged, I can’t recommend anyone in attack.

Bournemouth

These are tough fixtures and both away so I’m not exactly expecting clean sheets for Bournemouth. But, Neto is the fifth highest scoring goalkeeper in FPL due to saves and an unexpectedly high number of clean sheets. I also like Senesi who has the same xGI as Gabriel. Before you say this is knee-jerking after two assists this weekend, I have had Senesi in my team for weeks.

As for attack, this is a fairly middle of the road team and with Sinisterra injured it is only Solanke that we can consider. I don’t think you’ll be surprised with that as he is the third highest scoring forward in FPL.

Wolves

Lots to choose from here despite having the worst fixtures. Defensively, Wolves aren’t that solid. But Kilman is cheap and Ait-Nouri has attacking threat if he is fit. The only concern with Ait-Nouri is that he has been playing more attacking because of an injury crisis up top which seems to have come to an end. As for Sa, he makes this list just because there aren’t many options at goalkeeper but he is too expensive for my tastes.

In attack, Sarabia, Hwang and Cunha are all having great seasons. Statistically speaking, Sarabia is the best and Hwang and Cunha are pretty much the same. Hwang is coming back from injury so might not play. He is a risky differential and I’d probably take one of the other two first.

All The Options By Position

Okay, now we have gone team by team let’s look at the full list.

Feeling lazy for your free hit in FPL double gameweek 34? Alright, pick Salah, Saka, Gabriel; make sure you have three Liverpool and three Arsenal and then pick some combination from the below.

Questions & Answers

Can I pick Haaland/Palmer/Single Gameweek Player Anyway?

Yes.

My current plan involves bench boosting and playing Haaland, Palmer and Garnacho. The latter has a great fixture and the others are just great.

Statistically speaking, Haaland averages 1.06 xGI per 90 and Palmer 0.84. They’re both excellent.

If you have too much money tied up in them (because of the difference in purchase and selling price) then just keep them. You don’t need to consider this issue if you are on free hit.

Can I Take a Hit in FPL Double Gameweek 34?

Yes.

Try to limit it as much as possible but a -4 is fine, a -8 might be okay. Mainly because loads of other managers will be doing this too.

But also, if you are getting rid of a player that doesn’t play then it should essentially be a -0. For example, if you sold Son for a hit and your replacement only got appearance points then it costs you nothing but your upside is improved in case your player scores FPL points.

That’s It

That’s all for this FPL double gameweek 34 special. We will look to do a normal preview later in the week.

If you have any questions best to ask us on X (formerly Twitter) or Reddit when we post.

Good luck all!