Gameweek 20 Preview - The Silly Season

Greetings all, the very happiest of new years, and the warmest of welcomes to your Gameweek 20 preview in FPL.

We’re right in the middle of the silly season right now, with the games – and the previews, for James and I (Joe)! – coming thick and fast.

So, let’s try to make this a swift, streamlined preview, shall we?

(I’ve said something to that effect many, many times… and ended up waffling on anyway. Let’s see if I can actually do it this week!)

Best Upcoming FPL Fixtures – Gameweek 20

All the fun AFCON mini-wildcard – and actual late wildcard – stuff is behind us now. Yep – we’re back to being sensible with our transfers, and that means looking ahead at least a little bit.

To that end, here are the best upcoming fixture runs in FPL, for both attacking and defensive players. These are generated, as always, by our lovely little fixture ticker.

Best Attacking Fixtures

Man City are suddenly not rotating… and I still don’t really love any of their non-Haaland attackers. The underlying stats have caught up with Foden, and it’s still hard to trust Cherki to start every week, particularly through the current fixture congestion. Chelsea at home is a fine, but not great fixture too… in general I’d just stay away from buying them in this week
Arsenal actually scored some goals last week! I still wouldn’t really want any attackers right now, though. Partly, that’s because none of them actually appeal. Mostly, it’s because I’d just far rather spend my Arsenal slots at the back
Newcastle have been a bit crap all season, if you look back through their results, but I do like these next three fixtures. They made a bit of a meal of the Burnley game, scoring twice quickly… then just keeping it at 2-1 for 90mins until Bruno got a goal to make it a more flattering scoreline. In general I’d be fine to take one of their more attacking players for these three games. Bruno is tempting, and more nailed, but I’d probably just gamble on the upside and penalties of Gordon… then kick myself when he got rested for Barnes
I continue to not want any part of Palace – particularly when they’re about to go away to Newcastle. Nice to see Mateta back on the scoresheet, though
How can we trust Liverpool right now? They just got shut out 0-0 home to Leeds, and only managed to beat awful Wolves and a pretty poor Spurs side 2-1. I’m still happy to keep Ekitike up top, and keep on starting him, but wouldn’t go near anyone else right now
God, remember the old days, when we used to own Spurs attackers? Kane, Sonny, Kulusevski, Maddison; a spot of Brennan Johnson last season; even a gamble on Kudus early this season? Happy memories, and they all seem so long ago now!

Best Defensive Fixtures

Even though I’m absolutely fuming at Arsenal for letting in another stupid late goal, to go with the recent Wolves one, they’re still the best defence in the league by miles. Timber and Gabriel owners got lucky with early subs against Villa… Saliba and Raya owners like myself did not. Either way, I continue to back at least a defensive double-up here, and will keep my own triple-up
I’m also absolutely fuming with Pep, for running my O’Reilly clean sheet by hooking him before 60 minutes. I can’t believe how much fuming I’m doing, frankly, considering it’s the holidays. Anyway, the City defence continues to impress, these defensive fixtures are very good indeed, and you should probably have at least one of their back line… just not stupid O’Reilly, grumble grumble
Did I have the suddenly injured Michael Keane, to go with my Saliba/Raya combo, and my O’Reilly lost clean sheet? Yes I did, thank you for asking! Regardless, Everton keep getting the job done, with six cleans in their last nine games, and they’ve still got some very easy fixtures to come. Get at least one of their defenders, and I’m fine doubling up with Pickford in goal too
I wouldn’t back Newcastle to clean against a Sunday League team this season. No thanks
We’re not interested in Chelsea defenders before City away either. In general their defence has fallen off a cliff recently anyway, so I’d probably just bin your Cucurellas, your Chalobahs, and so on
And, finally, we’re not interested in Palace defenders right now either, since they have the unfortunate habit of conceding goals every week. I’d just sell Guehi et al, at this point, and double-down on Arsenal, City, and Everton

FPL Transfer Tips – Gameweek 20

Who to buy, and who to sell? Decisions, decisions. Who wants to make all these decisions just after a jam-packed holiday season?

Well, conscientious FPL managers, of course – that’s who!

To help guide said decisions, let’s cast our beady, judgemental eyes over the most bought and sold players among the FPL public right now.

Should I Buy?

Gabriel – Yes. The best defender in FPL came back and immediately scored from a corner. Get him in, if you’ve got any Arsenal spots left
Rogers – Maybe. This is a tricky one. He unsurprisingly blanked in his two tough fixtures, following his run of form against much easier opposition. Now his fixtures are a pretty mixed bag – Forest home and Palace away are fine, but then he has Everton and Newcastle away. If you want to gamble on the upside, that’s fine… just be prepared for him to go off the boil again in a couple of weeks
Bruno G – Yes. He’s had an excellent season, and is nailed for three very good upcoming fixtures in a row
Cherki – Maybe. James and I keep urging caution. He keeps starting, and returning points. I still wouldn’t go there myself – partly because I think he could be rotated at any moment, and also because I could see Chelsea going to the Etihad this week and just shutting up shop
Tarkowski – Yes. Excellent defence, nice fixtures, DefCons… he just ticks every box
Bowen – Yes. One of my favourite ever FPL players got the job done for me again last week, he’s been in form for a while, and now he has three good fixtures in a row
Calvert Lewin – Maybe. You can’t argue with the results, or the price, and he’ll start this week after being benched for the last game. I don’t love the post-Man U fixtures, though, and wouldn’t go there myself
Garner – Maybe, as an actual starter. Yes, as your budget mid. He’s not going to have the brilliant attacking performance he managed against Forest every week. But he’s only 5.0, nailed, will get cleans, and has been racking up DefCons recently. With the fixtures, I’d have him ranked over Stach and Xhaka as the best budget midfield enabler right now
Watkins – Maybe. He’s in excellent form (even if the Arsenal goal obviously came incredibly late). As with Rogers though, I don’t love his mid-to-long term fixtures, and he’s always a minutes risk. I’d just take the safety of Bowen, for far less money
Pickford – Yes. He’d be second in my keeper rankings right now, after Raya
Trossard – Maybe. We’ve seen him get on hot streaks before, and – Liverpool aside – the upcoming fixtures are fine. I just don’t trust that he’s actually nailed, though, and he always gets injured, so he’s definitely not a long-term proposition
Semenyo – No. Not before he plays Arsenal, and not when he’s about to get a real-life transfer and presumably miss at least one game

Should I Sell?

Rice – Maybe. He’s almost certainly out for the Bournemouth game. If we knew he’d be straight back after that, I’d say just hold him, because he’ll be a good pick again as soon as he returns. It basically just depends on whether you have enough starting-calibre mids to keep him on your bench for now
Cucurella/Chalobah – Yes. Chelsea defence is all over the place, they just binned their manager, and City away feels like the perfect time to sell
Thiago – Yes. It was nice while it lasted, but he hasn’t scored for six games in a row, and now has a tough run of fixtures coming up
Foden – Maybe… and I probably will. Like Thiago, it was nice while it lasted, but in this case felt even more unsustainable, since – Morgan Rogers style – he was largely just relying on scoring worldies
Woltemade – Maybe. The fixtures are good, so you could try holding him for one more week, and hope he was just rested against Burnley. Wissa could take his spot at any moment, though
Semenyo – Yes. Quality player, obviously, but going to City will probably tank his production, and Arsenal this week is a good time to sell
Timber – No… obviously. He plays for the best defence in the league, and just got 9pts!
H Wilson – Maybe. We don’t really trust him to keep up this level of production, but I doubt it’s a priority transfer
Eze – Yes. Has been benched by Odegaard
Guehi – Yes. Palace’s defence is poor right now, and he’s not even getting DefCons

Captaincy Corner

It’s Haaland, and it’s not particularly close. Chelsea’s defence has been rubbish recently, and now he gets to play them at home after tough away games at Forest and Sunderland. Yummy yummy.

Your more fun alternatives are Bowen away to Wolves (although they’ve looked a bit better recently), and… that’s about it!

Just captain Haaland.

Final Thoughts

Right-o, that’ll just about do it for your Gameweek 20 preview. That was fairly streamlined in the end, actually – kudos to… myself!

As always, feel free to reach out to us on Reddit with any queries, concerns, feedback, praise, memes, cute cat pictures, and just about anything else you fancy.

Cheers for reading, everybody, and best of luck out there in Gameweek 20!