FPL Gameweek 30 Preview – International Injuries & Double Gameweek Look-Ahead

It’s fair to say that Gameweek 29 didn’t exactly go the way most of us planned. Some were calling it the worst free hit gameweek ever, and that’s certainly how it felt to yours truly. 

Fortunately, while all the actual players have been playing in/withdrawing from international games, we’ve had a nice little break! 

I’d call this the unofficial beginning of the FPL run-in now. We’ve got some nice fixtures in the next few weeks, the doubles to look forward to as well. In short, there are a whole lot of points still up for grabs, and plenty of time to still sort out a lacklustre OR.

(This is a pep talk for myself as much as you). 

Without further ado, let’s quickly review the main international break news, look ahead to the double gameweeks, and run through our usual fixture ticker and Should I Buy/Sell sections. 

International Break Injuries Round-Up

We actually got off relatively lightly this international break, considering some of the nightmares we’ve had already this season. Here’s the main injury news for the players that… actually matter in FPL:

• Saka, Martinelli, and Gabriel all have a ‘chance’ to play. Really helpful, Mikel. I’m starting Saka and Gabriel anyway, but bench the latter if you have a better defensive matchup this week
• Walker (and Stones) are both out. Arsenal wasn’t a great matchup for Walker anyway. I think it’s more important for the Arsenal attack – Walker is so brilliant at recovering on the counter, so his absence should help whoever’s playing on the left (presumably Trossard or Martinelli) a lot, and the rest of the attack in turn
• Jota is out. Robbo is questionable. Nunez is fit, so hold him if you’ve got him – Liverpool play Brighton and Sheffield United next
• Richarlison should be fit for the Luton game
• Trippier’s questionable. I’d bin him anyway
• Matty Cash is out for a few weeks

Rest of Season Double Gameweeks

I won’t even pretend to be any kind of actual source for the incredibly complicated Premier League scheduling. Just follow Ben Crellin on Twitter and be done with it! 

Here’s his current predictions for double gameweeks the rest of the way:

So to summarise, we’re currently looking at doubles in:

• Gameweek 34
• Gameweek 36
• Gameweek 37

If you’re like me, and on a middling-to-poor run of form, having three doubles in eight gameweeks is a lovely prospect. We might all have wasted our free hit in GW 29, but – if you’ve hung onto your second wildcard – this is the run you should be targeting. 

Two teams double twice:

• Chelsea
• Spurs

So, if you haven’t got your wildcard, start thinking about getting their players in. 

(Spurs having Arsenal, Liverpool, Chelsea, then Man City after Burnley admittedly isn’t ideal, though. I won’t be tripling-up). 

In the next section, I’ll go through the teams with the best fixtures over the short-term. Looking rest of the season though, these are the sides that stand out, between doubles and/or general fixture quality:

• Arsenal
• Chelsea
• Man City
• Liverpool (up to 36)

Yeah yeah, they’re four of the biggest teams in the league anyway… I can only report what the fixtures are telling me! 

Best Upcoming FPL Fixtures

We can basically break the rest of the season into two blocks. Gameweeks 30-33 are business as usual. Gameweeks 34-38 is a sprint to the finish. 

Since the doubles will dominate so much in those last five weeks, I’m going to use a different format than usual in this section. Instead of the usual five weeks, I’ll just look at the next four gameweeks, up to those doubles. 

(As always, home teams are in caps)

• Between these games, then the doubles, Palmer is basically must-own through the rest of the season. Jackson is okay too, if you don’t fancy the standard Haaland/Watkins/Solanke trio. Chelsea very rarely keep cleans, but Gusto has decent underlying stats, and is only 4.2
• Solanke should probably be in your team, if he’s not already. Nobody else interests us at Bournemouth
• We’ve talked ad nauseam about the Liverpool attackers. I’d advise a simple Salah and Chill strategy right now. Keep Nunez if you’ve got him – it sounds like he’ll be fit, after the injury worry
• Brentford have at least been a bit more competitive recently… but I’d still hold off for now. Even Toney has blanked five games in a row, including against Burnley. We’ll see if Mbeumo’s return sparks the attack into life
• Forest’s fixtures are fine, especially defensively… but not good enough to actually get any of them in 

Should I Buy?

The transfers are flying in now that the break is over. Here are quick thoughts on all the most-bought players in FPL ahead of Gameweek 30. 

• Salah – 100% yes. He’s the top priority this week
• Palmer – Also 100% yes – see above
• Muniz – Maybe. He’s in form, and now has Sheffield United and Forest back to back. Personally I’d rather play it safe with the Big Three, but he’s a nice differential
• Son – Always yes. He’s great, incredibly consistent, and has Luton at home this week. If you can get him and Salah in your team… do so! 
• Gusto – Yes. Again, Chelsea’s fixtures are generally good, and he’s cheap
• Robinson (Fulham) – No. I’d much rather have Gusto for less money
• Haaland – No. Who knows what happens on Sunday, but if you don’t have him already I genuinely wouldn’t bring him in against Arsenal’s big tough centre-backs
• Van Dijk – No. I don’t really care about the fixtures, I just don’t want to spend 6.5 on a centre-back (especially when Liverpool’s clean sheet hot streak has dropped off anyway)
• Foden – No. Again, I just wouldn’t get him in before Arsenal
• White – No. Obviously not before he plays Man City away
• Porro – I don’t mind it. Luton home is obviously a nice fixture. He’s just so expensive, I’d prefer to wait until his attacking form picked up again. I’d rather have Gusto right now
• Solanke – Yes. Very nice fixture run
• Isak – Maybe. As in, he ‘may be’ the least dependable forward in the game. Getting him makes sense on paper… but he will immediately get injured/become terrible when you do (not that I’m bitter from my own experiences

Should I Sell?

As Newton’s third law of FPL states, every transfer in also requires a transfer out. Here are the most-binned players in the game right now, along with my recommendation on whether you should also chuck them or not. 

• De Bruyne – Yes for Salah or Son… but he does tend to perform well against Arsenal (source: I’m an Arsenal fan)
• Bowen – I sold him for Salah. He’s a great player, but there are just options I prefer right now (Salah, Son, Saka, Palmer for starters, and 3-4-3 feels the way to go right now)
• Doughty/Morris – Yes. Luton have Spurs and Arsenal back to back now
• Toney – I’d hold. He hasn’t been returning but he’s an excellent player, and Brentford’s fixtures are okay for now, and soon get excellent
• Saka – Definitely not. He could certainly return against City anyway, then has Luton and Brighton after
• Trippier – 100% yes. Still almost 30% owned, somehow!
• Watkins – No. I don’t care he’s blanked a couple of times – he’s set-and-forget
• Solanke – No. See above
• Gabriel – No. Maybe bench him against City, if you can, but he has Luton straight after
• Estupinan – Yes. Don’t be lured in by the clean sheet. Forest are rubbish, and so is the Brighton defence really. Now they have Liverpool and Arsenal in their next three games
• Nunez – It sounds like he’ll be fit to play, and Liverpool have two great fixtures

Captaincy Corner

Salah gets my armband this week, and it’s an easy choice home to Brighton’s terrible defence. 

If you don’t have him and can’t get him, I like Son home to Luton and Palmer home to Burnley, probably in that order.

Joe’s Moves

I got Salah. What an incredible brainwave by me! 

In general my team is a bit messy. I’m having to throw Doughty out there in defence this week, and will look to get Gusto in next week if nobody else in my team gets injured. 

I also accidentally have Gordon instead of Palmer. I’m quite tempted to hit Palmer in for the injured Neto… I’ll see how I feel on Saturday morning. 

Final Thoughts

Well, I for one am quite excited for Gameweek 30! The break came at a very good time, and I’m now feeling completely ready to get my heart broken once more. 

Thanks for reading, everybody, and don’t forget to follow us on Twitter and Reddit to get all our future stuff hot off the press.