FPL Gameweek 28 Preview – FA Cup Fallout, Plus Blanks & Doubles

Welcome, one and all, to your FPL Gameweek 28 preview. 

It’s been a week-and-a-half in real life since the last Fantasy Premier League gameweek. The players themselves have been busy though, while we’ve been hatching our genius plans for the rest of the season (/taking our eye off the ball completely regarding price changes, fixture changes, and so on). 

Sounds to me like it’s high time to get caught up, and look ahead to both Gameweek 28 and beyond… which is exactly what we’re about to do! 

Gameweek 28 Talking Points

With a full week of both FA Cup and European action, since the last actual FPL gameweek, we’ve got a few important talking points. Let’s get stuck straight in! 

FA Cup Roundup

Well, it was definitely an eventful round of the FA Cup! We had plenty of ramifications for FPL last weekend, as summarised thusly:

• Cunha lost his mind and got himself sent off, and is out for at least three games
• Gordon also got sent off. They might appeal, but he blanks anyway in GW 29… it’s probably time to bin him
• Mateta got kicked in the head. He will definitely miss this game and blanks next week. Get rid
• Raul got benched. I think that means he will play this weekend, but potentially he gets dropped for the suddenly in-form Muniz
• Evanilson is back. He’ll likely be first choice this week or next, so Dango Outtara is out. It was fun and cheap while it lasted
• Hall is out for the season

Pressing Issue – Gameweek 29 Blank

Gameweek 29 is a blank gameweek for the following quartet:

• Liverpool
• Newcastle
• Aston Villa
• Crystal Palace

If you are dead-ending into Gameweek 29, as we’re planning to… 

Probably just hold any transfers. If you bring someone in now for 29, there is a risk they get injured or sent off. As we just saw across a single weekend of destructive FA Cup action.

Honestly, if you get 10 players out, then you should be happy. 

If you are looking at about 7 players, then a free hit feels fine. Remember, you get to keep your transfers after a free hit now.

Hold Isak and Salah through it all. Maybe Trent too. Bin the rest.

Medium Term Issue – Gameweek 34 Blanks

We know there will be blanks in Gameweek 34 (in addition to the one in GW 37, but that’s definitely a long-term concern). Unfortunately, we don’t know who is actually blanking yet. 

We do know, however that there will probably be double gameweeks in 33 and 37 too. 

Overall… we don’t really know enough about any of this yet, and it’s too far away to panic over. Just keep it on your FPL radar. 

Best Attacking Fixtures

Here are the five sides with the very best attacking FPL fixtures, from FPL Gameweeks 28 to 32.

Yes. Despite having a blank next week, Newcastle have the fourth best fixtures. I have added a 6th team, in case you want to ignore them.

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

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

If you are dead-ending into gameweek 29, these sides have the best matchups:

1. Everton
2. Bournemouth
3. Wolves
4. Forest
5. Fulham

Best Defensive Fixtures

Here are the five sides with the very best defensive FPL fixtures, from FPL Gameweeks 28 to 32.

Over the next ten the following have the best fixtures:

1. City
2. Wolves
3. Forest
4. Spurs
5. Everton

If you are dead-ending into gameweek 29, these teams have the tastiest outlooks:

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

Should I Buy?

It’s a bit of a messy ‘Most Bought’ list on the official FPL website right now, with two real-life weeks having elapsed since GW 28. That said, let’s still dive into the most popular players right now, and see if we fancy them or not.

• Cunha/Mateta – No, obviously. The lesson, as always – don’t make ridiculously early transfers. Especially before domestic cup games, where suspensions carry over
• Munoz – Maybe. Palace are in great form, he’s getting attacking returns, and his next two games are against Ipswich and Southampton. Unfortunately there’s a pesky blank between those games! 
• Kluivert – Yes. He’s been in form for ages now, his underlying stats support it, Bournemouth continue to look good (despite mixed results), and I like his next three fixtures
• Wissa – Yes. I love him. He takes plenty of shots, and he’s always sniffing around the six-yard box – exactly what we want from an FPL forward. His fixtures are fine too, and he remains good value at 6.4 
• Szoboszlai – No. He blanks in 29, I don’t like the value compared to Kluivert, for example, and I’m not getting carried away after a couple of good games
• Marmoush – No. He’s still only had one good game in the Prem, still only plays around 70mins, and has Forest away this week
• Beto – Yes. Despite the absolute horror show last weekend, he was at least getting in amazing positions to score. And he’s still absurdly cheap, at 5.0 
• Wood – No. I just wouldn’t bring him in against City, who have recently cleaned against Spurs and Newcastle. He’s fine again from GW 29 onwards 
• Joao Pedro – Maybe. Personally I’m not buying back in yet – he’s had a couple of good games, including against Southampton, but has had very long stretches of blanking this season. I don’t love his fixtures, either. On the plus side, he’s only 5.4, and Brighton are in very good form
• Mbeumo – Yes. He’s just always a set-and-forget yes, for me. I love him 
• I. Sarr – Maybe, for similar reasons to Munoz. The team, fixtures, and price are all fine… but he blanks next week 
• Trent – Maybe. Not to sound like a broken record, but if it wasn’t for the blank, this would be another unequivocal ‘yes’. Whether you can afford him not starting in GW 29 depends completely on your team, what chips you have, etc.

Should I Sell?

Between suspensions and injuries, there are quite a few highly-owned players to bin right now. Let’s cast our damning eye on those and the other most-sold players in FPL. 

• Cunha/Mateta/Hall/Gordon/Amad – Yes to all
• Isak – No. He’s class, and West Ham away is fine. Personally I’d hold him through the blank too, if you possibly can
• Palmer – No. He’s incredibly frustrating right now, but you still can’t sell him before Leicester at home. Arsenal away, in GW 29… now that might be the time to sell him
• Robinson – Yes. Fulham have only kept one clean in their last 10 games, and that was against Leicester. Now they have difficult defensive fixtures coming up. Robinson isn’t getting enough returns to justify his 5.0 price tag
• Wood – No. He’s got Ipswich, then Man U at home, right after the City game
• Gakpo – Yes, even with the Southampton fixture. We just can’t trust that he’ll start right now
• Raul – Maybe. I like him if he starts… but he’s suddenly a rotation risk again, with Muniz being back in form
• Aina – No. I certainly wouldn’t buy him, because you can just have another Forest defender for far less money. That said, if you own him already, hold him. Forest just cleaned against Arsenal, so he’s startable against City, then they have Ipswich in GW 29
• Watkins – No. His minutes are a bit worrying (again), but he’s returning anyway. Hold for the Brentford game, at least, then reconsider in BGW 29
• Marmoush – Yes. I wouldn’t have bought him in the first place, don’t like the Forest fixture, and would much rather have the likes of Beto or Evanilson for far less money

Captaincy Corner

We’re in exactly the same boat as we were in Gameweek 27. 

The fun pick is Palmer against Leicester. There’s no chance I’m actually captaining him, given his form and terrible blank against Southampton. But he’d be a differential!

The boring pick is obviously Salah against Southampton. And I will indeed be boring!

(Don’t read too much into Ramadan, as some people are doing online – Salah normally smashes it anyway). 

Captaincy Matrix

Final Thoughts

Well, there you go. That was your FPL Gameweek 28 preview, in all its enormous glory. Hopefully you gleaned at least some useful advice from it. If not, I have failed miserably in the one job I had to do. 

If you did indeed enjoy the preview, consider giving us a little follow on Reddit, and/or buying us a coffee using the link below. 

If not, I won’t begrudge you. 

Best of luck out there in Gameweek 28, everybody!