FPL Gameweek 27 Preview – Quick Turnaround Edition!

Did you miss quick turnarounds and sudden deadlines in FPL, after having had a ton of them over the festive period? Us neither! 

Well, we can moan and groan all we like, but we are where we are now. And where we are is Gameweek 27 – already! And, if we want to get any points, we should probably just get on with it and set our teams. 

In that positive, go-get-em spirit, here’s your full FPL Gameweek 27 preview!

Gamweek 27 Talking Points

We’ve just got a couple of very quick-hitters, before we get into the usual stuff. 

Early Deadline

Set your lineup! 

Yep – that’s the kind of hard-hitting analysis you can expect from your resident experts here at Full 90 FPL.

But also, seriously – it’s an early deadline, on Tuesday evening UK time! 

As always, just remembering to do this will get you a leg-up on all those losers who aren’t completely obsessed with fake football teams. 

Fun Picks for Gameweek 29 Dead-Enders

We’ve talked a couple of times recently about our chip strategy over the rest of the season. You can see James’ most recent update here, in the ‘Double Gameweek 32 and Dead-End 29’ subsection. 

The TLDR is that James is planning to dead-end into GW29. And James is much better at FPL than me (Joe), so I’ll just copy his strategy but get slightly different players to pretend I’m actually making my own mind up. 

If you also want to do the (probably) right thing, and copy James, here are three transfer targets ahead of GW 29:

• Bowen – looked good against Arsenal, and plays Leicester this week… who are awful
• Fernandes – plays Ipswich in 27 and Leicester in 29 (but has been playing a bit deeper recently)
• Nkunku – plays Southampton in 27 and then Leicester in 28 – both at home. But, Chelsea seem to suck at the moment.

Best Attacking Fixtures

Here are the five teams with the top attacking FPL fixtures, from gameweeks 27 through 31.

For the long-term thinkers among you, the following have the best attacking fixtures over the next 10 games:

1. Wolves
2. Forest
3. Man City
4. Bournemouth
5. Brighton

If you are looking shorter-term, and dead-ending into gameweek 29, these teams have the best fixtures:

1. Everton
2. Leicester
3. Bournemouth
4. Wolves
5. Chelsea

Best Defensive Fixtures

Right on cue, here are the five sides with the tastiest defensive FPL fixtures, from gameweeks 27 to 31.

Over the next ten the following have the best fixtures:

1. Wolves
2. Man City
3. Brighton
4. Chelsea
5. Man United

And once again, if you are dead-ending into gameweek 29, these are the sides to focus on:

1. Wolves
2. Man United
3. Chelsea
4. West Ham
5. Brentford

Should I Buy?

Between some pretty tasty fixture runs for decent players, several affordable players being in great form, and the potential for dead-ending into Gameweek 29… there are basically a lot of good options right now for FPL managers!

Here are quick takes on the most-bought players by the Fantasy Premier League public, ahead of Gameweek 27. 

• Cunha – Yes. He’s in great form, is a fair price, Fulham just lost 2-0 at home, and he plays Southampton after Everton

• Bowen – Yes. He looked dangerous against Arsenal, and now has one of the best fixtures in the league – Leicester at home

• Mbeumo – Yes. Super-dependable, excellent underlying stats, returns regularly. I don’t really care about his fixtures – he’s just an automatic ‘own’ for me

• Munoz – Yes. The Palace defence has been very good recently, and he’s had attacking returns too, including a great goal last GW. He blanks in GW29… but also has Ipswich and Southampton either side of that, so he’s still worth it 

• Mitoma – Maybe. He’s a good player, in form. I just don’t love the fixtures, and he’s benefited from some easy recent matchups. I’d rather have a Bournemouth midfielder for significantly less money

• Asensio – No. It’s far too early to buy in, and he blanks in GW 29 anyway

• Beto – Yes. He’s ridiculous value at only 5.0, is in excellent form, and his next three fixtures are all fine… then they get brutal, so prepare to sell him after

• Rashford – Maybe. He’s looked absolutely fantastic – basically like his old self again – and has high upside. If you’re dead-ending into GW29 (when he blanks) I think he’s fine… otherwise I’d probably wait and see until after that

• Marmoush – Maybe. He’s talented, and did very well in Germany, but he’s only playing 70mins right now, seems something of a Pep Roulette risk (especially on a quick turnaround), and has middling fixtures, and City obviously don’t look great. I wouldn’t go for him yet

• Palmer – Yes. I couldn’t care less about his recent form – he’s about to play the two worst teams in the league, back to back, both at home. Delicious!

• Kluivert – Maybe. He’s obviously not as appealing as he was a couple of weeks ago, but I still like Bournemouth overall, and their upcoming fixtures are fine. I’d probably still gamble on Dango for 0.8 cheaper, even with the Evanilson threat, but I still think Kluivert is good value

• Bruno – Maybe. As noted earlier, he’s playing a bit deeper, and his goal at the weekend did come from an excellent free kick (impressive, but not ‘sustainable’). He’s got Ipswich and Leicester coming up… but also Arsenal, Forest, Man City, and Newcastle. I don’t mind him as a bit of a gamble for the next three weeks, but – at a fairly pricey 8.3 – how realistic that is depends on your team composition 

• Dango – Yes. Evanilson is nearing a return according to Iraola, which makes him a little Dango-rous to buy. But at only 5.2, for such a good team, with fine fixtures, I still think he’s worth the gamble

Should I Sell?

We’ve got to make way for all those tasty transfer targets somehow. And the only way is through cold-hearted binning of the poor players we’ve got now! 

Here are the most-discarded players by the vicious FPL public, ahead of Gameweek 27. 

• Rogers – Yes. He’s not returning, they blank soon, and you could just have a Bournemouth midfielder for around the same price (or cheaper)

• Amad – Yes. Injured for ages

• Gakpo – Maybe. He did come on against City, and has Southampton in GW 28 before the blank. He’s not cheap though, and there are loads of other good forwards (Cunha, Raul, Wissa, etc.), so I’m fine with just freeing up the spot

• Gordon – Yes. Liverpool away this week, then he blanks in GW 29 anyway. 

• Palmer – Absolutely not. He’s about to get the two easiest fixtures in the league

• Aina – Yes. Pricey, at 5.4, and now has Arsenal and City back-to-back. You can just move him to Munoz and save 0.5, or get a cheaper defender from one of our preferred sides in the defensive fixture ticker if you want to chase cleans

• Kluivert – No. He’s still a good price, for a good team, and his fixtures are fine

• Haaland – Yes. His injury is worrying, and he’s obviously super-expensive

• Wood – Maybe. Arsenal and City are tricky matchups on paper, but his fixtures get fine again after that, and he’s obviously in great form. I wouldn’t buy him right now, but I’m fine with holding if you’ve got him

• Watkins – Maybe. He’s in good form, his underlying stats are fine, and Palace and Brentford aren’t the worst fixtures. This doesn’t feel like a priority transfer

• Isak – No. If you were ever going to sell him, now would be the time, before Liverpool away and a blank in GW 29. He’s just so good that I don’t want to sell him regardless

Captaincy Corner

Technically, captaincy this week isn’t quite the usual foregone conclusion. 

I’ll still be picking Salah against Newcastle, since he’s putting together one of the most dominant seasons in Premier League history, and always returns regardless of who he’s playing. 

Palmer against Southampton is the fun/differential pick, though!

Captaincy Matrix

Final Thoughts

Well, that’ll wrap things up for this week. Hopefully you remembered Gameweek 27 was starting tonight. Presumably you did, or you wouldn’t be reading this article. So, that was a pretty stupid thing of me to say. 

I won’t ramble on any more. Give us a follow on Reddit, if you fancy it, and best of luck out there in Gameweek 27 everybody!