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Greetings one and all, and welcome to your Gameweek 29 preview. If it feels like we literally only just started Gameweek 28… that’s because we did!
Unless you didn’t know (which you obviously did, conscientious FPL manager that you are) – this week’s deadline is bright and early, on Tuesday evening UK time.
Hence, the equally early preview, from your old pal Joe here at Full 90 FPL.
What have we got coming up this time? What haven’t we got?!
Well… lots of things, I suppose.
But what we have got is fixture runs, transfer tips, and a particularly intriguing captaincy corner.
Onwards!
Right-o, let’s get the ball rolling in earnest with our tried-and-true fixture look ahead.
Here are the best attacking and defensive fixture runs to target, starting in Gameweek 29.
These have, as ever, been generated by our lovely little fixture ticker:
(Briefly – despite being the two best teams in the league, Arsenal and City are both conspicuous by their absences, due to the Gameweek 31 blanks. They’ll undoubtedly be back towards the top of our tables straight after).
Liverpool kicked off their nice attacking run in style, with a 5-2 demolition of West Ham at home.
Of course Wirtz didn’t play, since I just got him (along with plenty of other managers, admittedly). Salah also somehow didn’t return, despite playing 90mins – any excitement about him being back into the fold is well and truly over.
Ekitike actually did return, breaking his cold streak. He had blanked in five of his last six games before that, but if you want to get him in before they play Wolves, with an easy game against Spurs straight after, I’m not going to stop you.
Gakpo is obviously a much cheaper way into these fixtures, but it’s hard to trust him yet – this was his first attacking return since Gameweek 20. So, he feels like more of a gamble.
I’m sure Mac Allister will become one of the most-bought players soon enough, but I wouldn’t go there.
His goals in his last two games were literally his first of the season, and there are other cheap midfield options (like Dango) whose returns feel more sustainable.
Unlike Liverpool, Bournemouth did not get their nice fixture run off to an explosive start, to say the least. 1-1 against a pretty dodgy away side, in Sunderland, doesn’t really fill you with confidence. Especially after they just failed to score against West Ham – another easy fixture – in the previous game.
That being said, Evanilson remains a solid pick. He’s frustrating and inconsistent, but so is every non-Haaland forward. His underlying stats are fine, he’s a decent player… he’s definitely not explosive, but if you’re playing three forwards then he’s probably the next-best option to pair alongside Thiago.
Apart from that, it’s basically as you were, since Tavernier was the only other attacking player who returned.
I’d be slightly wary of him starting again so soon, after just coming back from a while out, so I probably wouldn’t buy him right now.
Rayan remains a fun and cheap gamble. He hasn’t returned in the past couple of games, but he keeps getting plenty of minutes, and his underlying stats have been fine in both fixtures.
Good job we’re focusing on the attack, because shipping three goals to Burnley is pretty hard to do! For now, we’ll simply generously applaud them for getting four goals of their own too.
Thiago’s many finger-crossing owners breathed a sigh of relief, thanks to his goal. He still feels like the second-best forward right now, and is highly-owned… so you should probably get him.
Schade also returned, much to James’s delight. He’s been up and down this season, to say the least, but he’s ended up with 11 returns one way or another. I wish he was a bit cheaper, but he’s still a solid pick at 6.9.
Dango got an assist from a corner, and remains one of the top budget midfielders right now. Hindsight is 20/20, but I wish I’d just gotten him over Wirtz right now.
For the record, I don’t love Bournemouth away as Brentford’s next fixture. If you can possibly resist, I’d prefer waiting a week for their Wolves/Leeds combo, and the fixtures after that are fine too.
How good do Spurs’ fixtures have to be for us to consider them? Better than these, unfortunately.
In fairness they’ve had tougher fixtures recently – Man U away, Newcastle home (… not the hardest fixture, admittedly), Arsenal home, Fulham away (also not the hardest…). Predictably they have scored zero, one, one, and one goals.
Palace at home is a decent fixture, but Liverpool away is so-so (though not terrible, as we literally just saw). I’d probably wait those two games out, see if they miraculously show any signs of life under Tudor, then look again for their easier three games after that.
Villa’s attack has been dire recently. In their past six games (including the FA Cup against Newcastle) they’ve scored one goal four times, and been shut out twice. They also struggled for goals to start the season (to put it lightly), and seem to have reverted to that.
Chelsea at home is a fine fixture, Man U away isn’t great, and after that the matchups become better. As with Spurs, I’d wait out the next two games, then check back for the easier fixtures.
Man U is a harder fixture than it looked last time we updated the ticker… but Chelsea away is easier, so that balances out for this little run! Overall, I think all these matchups are fine.
Newcastle’s attack has picked up over the last seven games or so. Even if you take out the Qarabag fixtures, they’ve still scored two or more goals in four of their last five domestic games, with City away being the only time they didn’t.
Actually finding players to pick, however, is quite the challenge!
Gordon remains very inconsistent, and Bruno is apparently never coming back.
I did always like Ramsey at Villa, and he’s hit 7, 6, and 6pt returns in his last three games. Those have also been his only returns of the season, however. At 5.3 he’s one to keep an eye on, as a potential budget fifth starting midfielder, but we have to see a bit more first.
The forward situation remains the most frustrating in the game. Wissa was one of the best forwards in FPL last season, and Woltemade looked well on his way this year. Now they’ve just cancelled each other out. Booo!
I continue to have no idea if we can actually trust them for cleans or not. They keep three in a row against Sunderland, Brighton (FA Cup), and Forest, then ship two to West Ham at home.
They also looked absolutely terrible in that game. They gave the ball away at the back, and the man-to-man defending was poor too. They could easily have conceded another three in the first half alone.
Overall though, I guess nobody cleans every week, and they’ve kept enough recently that we can just about buy into these fixtures… and cross our fingers! Looking at these matchups on paper, they could clean in every one. That won’t actually happen, but surely they get at least a couple.
Obviously, Big Virg is the pick of the bunch. He’s pricey at 6.1, but he’s also in ridiculous form. He’s got a ludicrous 35pts in his last three games, and has returned in seven of his last 10 starts. I’d have him ranked ahead of everyone except Gabriel right now, and (looking ahead to blank GW 31) might move Saliba to him this week myself.
I wouldn’t take any of the full-backs. They’re too expensive considering they all have question marks, plus Frimpong is the only one with attacking threat, and you’ve got literally no idea when he’s going to play.
I think Konate is… fine. Obviously you’re still getting the clean sheet potential. He only averages 9.21 DefCons/90 though (there are much cheaper CB’s who average 10+), and he offers almost no attacking threat, with one goal all season. I’d either just find the money and go for VVD, or cheap out and get a DefCons-based CB like Andersen.
Nope. Nope nope nope.
I don’t want to overreact to one bad game, and they had cleaned a couple of times recently… but also I don’t particularly trust them to keep cleans in general, and none of their defenders appeal anyway.
Konsa is cheap and finally hit DefCons in GW 27… but they were his first since GW 18. James likes Cash, but I don’t really – I’d rather just save some money and get a 4.0-4.5 defender, or splash out for someone much better.
And… that’s about it!
Also nope. Conceding three to Burnley is terrible (plus the two that were marginally ruled out), but they also recently shipped two to Brighton at home, two to a so-so Newcastle side, two to Forest at home.
If you’re just looking for someone in the 4.5 range with a decent shot at DefCons, and fine defensive fixtures, then I guess you could get Van den Berg or Ajer.
I’d still just take Andersen in that spot though, or cheap out and get someone around 4.0, like Hill.
Fulham (as usual) have been almost impossible to predict from week to week. Regardless, their next three fixtures – West Ham, Forest, and Burnley – are about as good as it gets.
To clarify, this is not a good defence. They’re lower-mid table in both GA and xGA.
I just think – as noted several times already – that Andersen represents that sweet spot right now between price (4.5), DefCons (comfortably over 10/game), and fixtures.
I will also note, however, that those fixtures turn after GW 31. So, you can bring him in now for these next three (including as Blank GW 31 coverage), but then you’ll be looking to wildcard him out shortly after.
Overall they’re another meh defence, though they’ve been better recently. In their last seven games they’ve cleaned twice, and only conceded one in four others (the other game was the 3-2 over Liverpool).
These aren’t dream fixtures. The next two are good, the following three are definitely worse.
This is all basically a long build up to say that Bournemouth aren’t perfect, but Hill absolutely remains worth it. He’s still nailed, still only 4.1, and is still averaging almost 11 DefCons/game, which is pretty crazy. Outside of the obvious premium picks – Gabriel and VVD – I’d probably have him ranked as my third-favourite defender right now, when you take value into account.
Truffert and Senesi have also been strong recently. Bournemouth aren’t good enough to double-up on though, and I’d easily rather save the money and just get Hill.
Who to buy, and who to sell?
The age-old questions, in FPL.
You know the drill – we look at the most-bought and most-sold players in FPL right now (in this case, heading into GW 29), and cast our wand of judgement upon them all.
Let’s hop to it!
As of now, the titular Norwegian is injured, and Pep (ever a reliable source) claims not to know when he’ll return.
If he’s miraculously passed fit by GW 29, he’s the obvious captaincy choice at home to Forest.
If not… we’re in a tricky spot, since there aren’t that many good options!
The next-best choice is a two-man tie… if that makes any sense.
Wolves away isn’t the easiest fixture nowadays – they just drew against Arsenal and beat Villa there – but it’s one of the two standout fixtures we’ve got this week. So, Ekitike looks a good option.
Right there with him is Semenyo, home to Forest. I’d pick him, if you’ve got them both, since he’s been in better form for longer.
If you don’t have either of them (like this guy), you’ll have to gamble a bit.
Bournemouth vs Brentford feels pretty even, so I’d be fine backing Evanilson or Thiago. It seems unlikely they get big returns, but they could both easily get a goal.
Following basically the same logic, Bowen feels fine against Fulham too.
Personally though, I’m leaning towards simply backing Bruno’s pedigree. Newcastle away isn’t the best matchup, but they’re hardly 04-05 Chelsea at the back, and Bruno can return against anyone.
Finally, while some of us are still a bit bruised from our recent triple captaincy disappointment, Arsenal are still the best defence in the league, and Brighton’s attack is mediocre, so Gabriel is a reasonable shout.
Right, that’ll wrap things up for your Gameweek 29 quick turnaround special. We’ve all got a bit of a break to catch our breath after this, with a weekend of FA Cup action meaning the next deadline isn’t until March 14th.
James and/or I will see you then – don’t you worry about that. In the meantime, best of luck out there in Gameweek 29, everybody!
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