FPL Gameweek 25 Preview – Doubles, Blanks, Chips, & More!

Hello again – it’s been a while! 

There’s been loads and loads of football the past 10 days or so – we’ve had FA Cup, League Cup, and the many, many European competitions. What haven’t we had? FPL! 

(Apart from the final, belated game of GW 24, of course… which kind-of happened out of nowhere, in the midst of the European stuff). 

Well, now we’re well and truly back – hopefully with a bang, but it’s far too early to tell, at this stage. We’ve got a full slate of FPL fixtures in prospect, crucially with a Friday night (UK time) deadline – don’t forget! 

So, time’s pressing, the hours are ticking down until all our amazing transfers need to be finalised – let’s crack on with your full FPL Gameweek 25 preview. 

FPL Gameweek 25 Talking Points

Did I mention it’s a Friday deadline this week? Yes I did, but I’m mentioning it again right now, so you’ve got no excuse if you forget! 

With my duty done there, let’s look at the other main talking points ahead of Gameweek 25.

Fixtures

I’m not even going to pretend that there’s any other source worth checking out for the latest FPL fixtures news. We all know it’s our lord and saviour, Ben Crellin.

You can check out his latest spreadsheet on Twitter here.

Here’s the most important stuff that we know – or almost know – so far:

• DGW 25 for Liverpool
• BGW 29 for Villa and Liverpool (and maybe Palace and Newcastle)
• DGW 33 for lots of teams
• BGW 34 for lots of teams
• DGW 36 for almost every team

Technically some more shenanigans could unfold, and we could have some blanks in 37. But that’s ages away!

Chips

None of the doubles and blanks listed above are particularly surprising – largely since Liverpool and Newcastle both progressed in the League Cup, as expected. 

As such, our resident FPL mad scientist James’s recent advice for what to do with all your chips still holds true (apart from the bits mentioning DGW 24, obviously… since we just had that). 

As a quick reminder, here’s his genius plan:

• Dead end into BGW 29
• Wildcard after that, probably in GW 30
• Bench boost for DGW 33
• Free hit in BGW 34
• Assistant Manager 36-38 if you still have it
• (Or, triple captain DGW 36 if you’ve still got that)

Quick reminder that when you play your Assistant Manager, you can’t play any other chips for those three weeks. Don’t be caught unawares!

Assistant Manager

Loads of us took the plunge and used our first ever Assistant Manager chip in GW 24. How exciting! 

Slot and Moyes were obviously the main picks, since they doubled… and Moyesy outscored Slot handily, which none of us saw coming.

(As a current Moyes owner, I’m mildly smug about this outcome). 

If you haven’t used your chip yet, then per James’s instructions, you could just save it for the last three weeks, when we’ve got a double gameweek. That’s particularly appealing if you already used your TC. 

If you’ve played it already, know that you can transfer your manager. 

If you’ve got Slot, you just keep him, since Liverpool double again this week. Easy. 

If you’ve got Moyes, you probably want to move him, if you’ve got a spare transfer. He’s got middling fixtures – Palace and Man U – but this is more about the other options you could get instead. 

I’d originally intended to go for Arteta, who has nice fixtures against Leicester away then West Ham at home. And he also manages a very good team, which helps.

Now though, I’m leaning towards Emery, who is the trendy pick. I’m such a sheep. 

Villa double this week, which is why everyone wants him. Unfortunately one of those games is against Liverpool, but the other is against Ipswich at home, which feels very tasty indeed. Chelsea at home in GW 26 isn’t great either, but to my mind the extra fixture probably, just about, makes it worth getting him over Arteta.

Obviously, this even being a choice assumes you’ve got the budget for either. Emery is 0.8, Arteta (and Slot) are 1.5. So, if you can’t afford either of the latter two, just get Emery. 

Best FPL Fixtures

As a quick reminder, we’re probably looking to wildcard right around GW 30. So, we’re really just looking at the next five gameweeks or so right now. 

What a coincidence, then, that we’ve created a table listing the very best FPL fixtures for those gameweeks!

(Home games are in caps)

To be honest, there’s a pretty big drop-off here from even the top three and the bottom two. Because of the doubles and blanks coming up, ranking fixture difficulties right now is a bit trickier than usual!

Should I Buy?

Coming out of the little FPL break, we’re seeing a lot of interesting names cropping up at the top of the Most-Bought list on the official website. Also some of the same old names like Chris Wood, admittedly…  but some interesting ones too, I promise! 

Let’s take a quick look at all the players currently catching the playing public’s eye. 

• Kluivert/Semenyo/Dango – Yes, in general. Bournemouth are really good, and now play Southampton away, then Wolves at home. Kluivert is the most expensive, but also probably the safest – he’s been in absurd form. I’d prefer him over Semenyo, even for 0.2 more, since he’s on pens. Dango is definitely the value pick though, at an incredibly low 5.1. 

• Rogers – Maybe. It’s becoming a bit of a meme, that he keeps scoring in every competition except the Premier League. But we saw the same with Haaland earlier this season, and that righted itself in the end. He doubles this week… but obviously Liverpool isn’t a great fixture, neither is Chelsea after that, and he blanks in 29. His recent underlying stats have also been woeful. Personally I wouldn’t, but at only 5.6 he’s easy enough to fit into your team without eating a big chunk of your budget… I’d still rather have a Bournemouth midfielder, though.

• Wood – Maybe. He’s in excellent form again, but does have a tricky fixture run coming up, and hasn’t excelled against the top teams this year. He did score against Liverpool last time, but blanked against Villa, City, Arsenal, Newcastle, and Liverpool the first time round

• Kerkez – Yes. He’d be right near the top of my list of non-Trent defenders right now. Bournemouth have nice fixtures, and have kept a few cleans recently. His underlying stats aren’t great, but they’re good enough to roll him out in the easy games, and he’s definitely passing the eye test

• Gakpo – Yes. Keeps getting subbed off after 70-ish minutes, but he’s starting anyway, and doubles again now for the best team in the league

• Mateta – Maybe. He’s in form, but I don’t love the upcoming fixtures against Everton, Fulham, and Villa. I’d rather wait and get him for the Ipswich/Southampton combo (with a plan for his BGW 29)

• Watkins – Maybe, depending on the injury news. I’d definitely rather have Isak at around this price – his fixtures aren’t great, like Watkins’, but I trust him far more

• Rashford – No. It’s far, far too early to buy in yet, even with the DGW (where he won’t start both, or maybe either, game anyway)

• Mbeumo/Wissa – Yes to both. Mbeumo is the easier call, but Wissa’s underlying stats have been excellent despite a lack of returns, and now he plays West Ham and Leicester

• Digne – No. He keeps getting subbed off, he’s not getting attacking returns, and – Ipswich aside – Villa’s upcoming fixtures aren’t great defensively 

Should I Sell?

As a counterpoint to the unbridled positivity of the last section, let’s bring some overdue negativity into the occasion! Here are your quick takes for the most-sold players, ahead of FPL Gameweek 25.

• Gordon – Maybe. His fixtures look tough on paper, but also Newcastle have been good in the big games this season. I’d hold him if I had him (depending on the injury news)

• Amad – Maybe. I’d be surprised if this was a priority transfer for you, and playing Spurs is a pretty tasty fixture for any attacking player

• Hall – Maybe. I don’t like the fixtures defensively, obviously, but he’s had decent returns on similarly decent underlying stats, and the fixtures after the next three are fine

• Isak – No. He’s class, and I couldn’t care less about the fixtures – he already scored against Liverpool, Arsenal, Forest, and Chelsea this season (in addition to just about everybody else)

• Jackson – Yes, he’s injured for ages

• Trent – No. He’s not injured after all, and doubles this week

• Palmer – No, obviously. He’s the second-highest scoring player in the game

• Diaz – No. He’s not returning, which is incredibly frustrating, but you can’t sell him before a double

• Mbeumo – No, definitely not. I’d be looking to buy him right now!

• Joao Pedro – Yes, if you’re actually starting him. If he’s your bench forward… I’d still look to save money there, but it’s not a priority

Captaincy Corner

It’s Salah, on a double gameweek. 

The end!

Final Thoughts

Well, that’ll just about wrap things up for your FPL Gameweek 25 preview. I don’t know about you, but personally I’m feeling much better prepared for what lies ahead! 

(Hopefully you do too… at least a little bit). 

Thanks for reading, everybody; give us a follow on Reddit, if you haven’t already; and best of luck out there in Gameweek 25!