Greetings all, and welcome to your FPL Gameweek 20 preview – our very first of 2025!
I’m making three FPL-related resolutions this year: only make good transfers, captain the right player every week, and never start someone over a bench player who will end up scoring more points.
Will I manage to stick to these resolutions? They all seem pretty realistic to me, but time will tell, I suppose.
Anyway – on with the preview!
Talking Points
Right! As I (Joe) see it, we have four talking points this week, of varying degrees of importance.
Tis the Season
Obviously I’m a pro, so I certainly wasn’t too distracted by seasonal stuff to set my own lineup before Gameweek 19. No chance – not this guy.
But, we are still just about in the silly season in FPL, where people are distracted by celebrating, family matters, and all that other stuff that doesn’t matter as much as made-up football.
Basically – just remember to get your team ready before the Saturday morning (UK time) deadline this week. You’ll steal a march on all those losers who don’t make Fantasy Premier League a priority in their lives.
New Wildcard
Technically, you now have a big, new, shiny wildcard in your possession. How exciting!
Should you use it yet? Probably not!
There’s less of a need to save it than in prior years, since we’re not going to have the usual avalanche of double gameweeks later in the season. Still… there’s half a season still to go, and plenty that can go wrong with your team. And/or you might want to save it to get Haaland back in at some point.
Either way, you should probably be holding onto it for a while.
GW24 Double
This is more of a reminder than a ‘talking point’. Who names these sections, anyhow?
Don’t forget that Liverpool and Everton probably have a double gameweek in 24. So, if you were eyeing up any of their players… that should be a factor!
Suspensions
We’ve got three major suspensions to deal with this week – Cunha, Rogers, and Timber. All are suspended for one gameweek only, so will be back for GW 21.
I try to play the long game in FPL in general. And, in all three cases, I’d prefer just to hold if you can. All three remain good assets, and specifically good long-term players to have.
Obviously, it all depends on the specifics of your particular team. But transfers are still precious, even when we can bank five of them, and – if you can get away with holding for a week, and starting someone else instead – I’d lean towards doing so.
Fixture Ticker
Our resident FPL mad scientist James created our very own Full 90 FPL Fixture Difficulty Rating system a couple of months ago… basically because the official FDR is absolute rubbish. Spurs are currently rated as a harder matchup for attackers than Nottingham Forest – I rest my case.
Per James’ FDR, which actually makes sense, let’s look at the best upcoming fixture runs for attackers and defenders.
Attacking Fixtures
Here are your top five attacking fixture runs over the next five gameweeks:
- Crystal Palace
- Fulham
- Newcastle
- Liverpool
- Man City
And over the next 10 weeks:
- Everton
- Crystal Palace
- Fulham
- Aston Villa
- Leicester
It’s a shame Palace have absolutely nobody we want! Munoz could be back on the menu soon, I suppose, since they also have decent long-term defensive fixtures. Sarr or Eze could become decent mid-price midfield options. Right now though, the cupboard looks pretty bare.
Unfortunately, it’s a similar story with Fulham. I guess I’d hold Jimenez if I had him… but the minutes aren’t great, and neither are either the returns or underlying stats. As with Palace, I’d be more tempted by an attacking full-back – in this case, Robinson.
For Newcastle, I wouldn’t bring in Hall before Spurs, but Gordon feels great. He’d be right at the top of my list as a Bowen replacement, for example.
Defensive Fixtures
These are the best five-game defensive fixure runs:
- Aston Villa
- Fulham
- Newcastle
- Brighton
- Liverpool
And, unsurprisingly, the best 10-game runs:
- Fulham
- Crystal Palace
- Man U
- Chelsea
- Everton
I must say, I’m feeling pretty good about having Robinson from Fulham! Viable attacking full-backs are few and far between – if you’re in the market, he’d be at the top of my list.
Of the other defences listed here, I only really trust Liverpool, Everton, and maybe Newcastle from a clean sheets point-of-view.
Should I Buy?
Let’s whip through all the most-bought players in FPL, ahead of Gameweek 20, and decide whether or not they belong on your precious team or not.
- Wood – Yes. He’s still good value at 6.7, and has nice fixtures either side of Liverpool at home in 21
- Isak – Yes, obviously
- Hall – Maybe. I don’t love bringing him in for Spurs away, but he could always get an assist, since Spurs’ defence is terrible
- Aina – Maybe. On the one hand, he’s quite expensive – at 5.2 – for a defender who has terrible underlying attacking stats (averaging 0.09 xGI). On the other, Forest do keep cleans every week. I’d rather have Milenkovic for 0.5 less, though
- Diaz – Maybe. I keep on not recommending him because he keeps getting rotated. He keeps on returning anyway. Personally I still wouldn’t want him, since I can’t be dealing with the minutes risk… but he is still the 6th-highest scoring midfielder in FPL!
- Gordon – Yes, definitely. In great form, fine value, and nice fixtures
- Trent – Maybe. If you can afford him, he’s obviously a great pick. I don’t actually think it’s that hard to get him right now, especially since we still don’t really need Haaland, so I’d recommend just going for it
- Sels – Maybe. In general we don’t recommend making goalkeeper transfers. If you absolutely must – as a Fabianski replacement, for example – he’s obviously a great shout
- Mbeumo – Yes. Super-reliable, fixture-proof, and still good value
- Jimenez – Yes. His returns haven’t been great, but he has such good fixtures, and is so cheap at 5.6
- Gakpo – No. I know he keeps scoring, but he’s an even bigger minutes risk than Diaz – even when he stars, he usually gets hooked before 70mins. He’s not particularly cheap, either, at 7.3 – especially when you could have Wood, who’s guaranteed to start and get at least 75+ mins
- Robinson – Yes. Nice fixtures, is returning, and one of the few appealing attacking full-backs right now
Should I Sell?
Well, that’s quite a few players that we are indeed interested in acquiring. Who should make room for them? Let’s find out together!
- Cunha – Maybe. As discussed earlier, I’d lean towards just holding. That said, of the suspended players, I’d be most tempted to sell him, since he has tough fixtures when he comes back, and there are cheaper forward options out there
- Jackson – Maybe. He and Chelsea are obviously a bit out of form. The minutes are starting to worry me a bit too, and moving to Jimenez or Wood could save you so much money. As an owner, I’m starting to get tempted
- Rogers – No. He’s only 5.5, and he’s out for one week! He’s established himself as the best budget midfielder – I’d definitely just hold
- Maddison – Yes. It’s a shame, because he’s an excellent player and a consistent FPL returner. Unfortunately, we just can’t trust him to actually play
- Bowen/Saka – Yes, both injured for ages
- Amad – Maybe. Similarly to Rogers, he’s so cheap that it’s surely not a priority to sell him
- Mazraoui – Yes. Man U are rubbish, and he offers no attacking threat
- Joao Pedro – Maybe. I was very tempted to sell last week, then he finally got some actual FPL points. Arsenal obviously isn’t a good fixture, but he has Ipswich then Man U after. At only 5.7, I’ll still be holding him for at least those games
- Porro – Yes. Spurs are terrible, and he’s not justifying his price. I’d rather have Robinson, at 5.0
- Fabianski – Yes if he was your starting keeper. No if you have another keeper who can start. You might lose 0.1-0.2… but I’d rather have that than waste a transfer
Captaincy Corner
I know, I know – it’s a pretty wild idea… but I’m thinking about captaining Salah this week…
Him, Haaland, and Isak all have nice fixtures. But I can’t look beyond Mo. He’s in absurd form, already smashed Man U for 17pts away this season, Man U are rubbish, he’s at home – it all just points towards him having a monster game.
Let’s not overthink this!
Final Thoughts
Well, that’ll just about do it for your Gameweek 20 preview.
We’re officially into the second half of the season now! That’s either exciting, or depressing, depending on your current Overall Ranking. I won’t tell you which side of the spectrum I fall on… but it’s not the happy one.
Best of luck out there in Gameweek 20, everybody!