FPL Gameweek 22 Preview – Blanks and Doubles, Chips Strategy, & More!

Greetings all, and welcome to quick-turnaround edition of your Fantasy Premier League preview! This week, we’ve decided it seemed appropriate to provide a preview of FPL Gameweek 22… that being the current one. 

Let’s get stuck straight into it!

Blanks and Doubles

We do have fewer blanks and doubles this season, compared to years prior. There are still a few to keep track of though, and the best way to do so is basically to follow Ben Crellin on Twitter.

That said, here’s a nice, quick summary for you. 

• GW24 – Double Confirmed: The postponed Everton vs Liverpool game from GW15 has been rescheduled here.

• GW29 and GW33 (League Cup): League Cup Finalists + Their PL Opponents
  Teams reaching the League Cup final will have their GW29 fixture postponed, creating a BGW for themselves and their opponents.
  These matches will then be rescheduled for GW33, resulting in a DGW for those teams. This means four teams (two finalists and their opponents) will blank in GW29, and double in GW33.
  With the first leg of the League Cup semi-finals already played, we can make an educated guess about which teams might blank and double here (more on that below).

• GW34 and GW36 (FA Cup): FA Cup Semi-Finalists + Their PL Opponents
  Teams reaching the FA Cup semi-finals will see their GW34 fixture postponed, creating a BGW for themselves and their opponents. These matches will move to GW36, resulting in a DGW.
  Since the FA Cup is only at Round 4 (with Rounds 5 and the Quarter-finals still to come), it’s impossible to predict the semi-finalists just yet.
  However, this will involve four semi-finalists and their opponents, meaning 6–8 teams could be affected (fewer if two semi-finalists face each other in GW34, or a non-PL team reaches the semis).

James’ Chip Strategy

If you like looking long-term in your FPL strategies, James is your guy… far more so than me (Joe), at least. 

His current chip strategy reads like an elaborate string of code:

TC24, DE29, WC30, BB33, FH34, AM36-38

Here’s that code deciphered, with James’s reasoning in each case!

• Triple Captain (TC) Salah in 24, because he is… Salah. And we don’t trust bench boosting with Liverpool assets on a double gameweek, due to rotation.
• Dead end (DE) into the blank gameweek 29 to save using a chip.
• Wildcard (WC) after that (probably 30, but depends on team).
• Bench boost (BB) in 33 – pretty close to wildcard to minimise risk of injury
• Free hit (34) to avoid the blanks
• Assistant Manager 36-38 to get points in mini league head to head playoffs and cups. Also, we’ll have the most information at this stage.

Plenty of alternative strategies also work. For example:

• AM24-26, DE29, WC30, BB33, FH34, TC38.
• TC24, DE29, WC30, AM31-33, FH34, BB36.

Just… have a good think about it beforehand!

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Already used a chip or two? Fear not – here’s what to do in each case:

• What if you already used your TC?

Then use your AM in DGW 24, or BB in DGW 24 and AM around 33.

• What if you already used your BB?

As above, focus on the DGWs and use your TC and AM around them.

• What if you already used your FH?

Roll, roll, roll – try and not use transfers. Try to make it through both blanks this way.

• What if you already used your WC?

Probably similar to above, and try to roll as much as possible. The most difficult part will be getting through DGW 33 and then BGW 34, so try and FH in 34.

Best Attacking Fixtures

Here are the five sides with the very best attacking FPL fixtures, from FPL Gameweek 22 to 26.

Over the next ten, the following have the best fixtures:

1. Liverpool
2. Crystal Palace
3. Spurs
4. Chelsea
5. Bournemouth

Best Defensive Fixtures

Here are the five sides with the very best defensive FPL fixtures, from FPL Gameweek 22 to 26.

And over the next ten, the following have the best fixtures:

1. Crystal Palace
2. Spurs
3. Arsenal
4. Liverpool
5. Man United

Should I Buy?

Let’s take a quick look at the most-bought players ahead of FPL Gameweek 22, and pass judgement on whether or not they belong on your team. 

• Wood – Yes. He’s in form, is consistent, and now has Southampton at home (with decent fixtures after that)
• Amad – Maybe. Let’s not overreact to a home game against Southampton. But, at only 5.5, he’s an excellent enabler
• Isak – Yes, always. 
• Sels – Maybe. Generally we don’t love making goalkeeper transfers unless you have to. If you desperately want a keeper, he’s the pick, especially this week against Southampton 
• Aina – No. Just get Milenkovic for 0.5 less 
• Gordon – Yes. I wish I had him. He’s in ridiculous form, and has Southampton next week 
• Hall – Maybe. I don’t love the price, at 5.0, but Newcastle have been keeping cleans, and his underlying stats are okay. Bournemouth isn’t a great defensive fixture, but he has two nice ones after that
• Elanga – Maybe. Similarly to Amad, he’s an excellent enabler, and the Southampton fixture this week is great. He’s a slight minutes risk, but you can’t argue with the value at 5.3 
• Robinson –  Maybe. His underlying stats are solid, and he’s actually converted them into returns over the last couple of months. Leicester is great this week, but he does have Man U (meh) and Newcastle (not good) after that, regarding his clean sheet potential
• Raul – Maybe. Leicester is a nice fixture, but he then plays Man U, Newcastle, and Forest back to back

Should I Sell?

Now let’s take a look at the most-sold players in FPL, ahead of Gameweek 22.

• Diaz – Maybe. He’s flagged right now, and is a minutes risk in general, which is why I’ve avoided him all season. I don’t hate holding him if you’ve got him already though, especially with DGW24 coming up, where he’ll presumably play at least 120mins
• N. Jackson – No. I’m looking to sell soon… but definitely not before Wolves at home
• Cunha – Yes. He’s played 45mins twice in a row, and now has Chelsea and Arsenal. I’d much rather have Wood, for less money
• Mbeumo – No. He’s easily one of the best mids, tends to do well in tough games (e.g. Liverpool at home), and he has Spurs at home soon afterwards, which I love
• Joao Pedro – Maybe. I’d quite like to sell him myself, but I can’t see an obvious replacement. I also don’t mind the Man U fixture this week, but he has three tougher fixtures in a row after that
• Raya – No, if you’re just doing it to get a different keeper. Yes, if you want to free up a lot of money for other moves. I’d still put Arsenal pretty highly on the clean sheet trust-o-meter, though.
• Saliba – No. Apart from the City game in GW 24, all of the other upcoming fixtures feel like decent shots at a clean
• Maddison – Yes. Can’t be trusted to start (… despite being an excellent player)
• Trent – No. It’s obviously frustrating when he blanks a couple of times, since he’s so expensive. But he has Ipswich at home next week, then the double in GW24

Captaincy Corner

We’ve got three pretty good choices this week, as you can see in the captaincy matrix below. 

If I had Haaland, I’d probably go with him. Since I don’t, it’s a close call between Salah and Palmer.

I’m leaning Salah right now. His blank in GW 21 came against arguably the best defence in the league, which Brentford definitely aren’t. And it was his first since GW 7… which is ridiculous. 

Palmer home to Wolves is obviously a very nice matchup too. I just trust Salah more, and there’s also an injury question mark over Palmer right now. 

Captaincy Matrix

Final Thoughts

Well, that’ll just about do it for your FPL Gameweek 22 preview. Frankly, these quick turnarounds often catch out loads of people… including James and me, sometimes! So, if you just set your lineup, your captaincy, maybe make a transfer or two, you’ll already have a head start!

Thanks for reading, everybody, and best of luck out there in Gameweek 22.