FPL Gameweek 34 Preview – Free Hit Special

Are the old ways dead? Probably not… but it all feels mighty disappointing right now.

It used to be, back in the day, that you could save all your chips for these last few weeks, cash in with all the doubles and blanks, and get tons and tons of points. 

James and I each tried to do the same this year… and it’s failed pretty spectacularly.

We both followed the template of Wildcard/Triple Captain/Bench Boost. None of them have worked out.

Our wildcards (which targeted doubles) have been mediocre at best. Triple Captain Isak only got 11pts (33 with the chip) across a double gameweek. And my bench boost – with loads of doubles – got me an unspectacular 83pts, to James’s 68pts. 

Lessons to Be Drawn?

Perhaps not many, and we can simply accept it’s been a down year for the late-season doubles.

I do think there’s an argument to be made that we overvalue double gameweeks. Or, at least, that we:

• Can accept that there’s a higher baseline – at the very least, we can expect that a nailed player will get us 4-5pts for two starts, which is more than a single gameweek player would
• But also that we should: 
  • Give more attention to the actual fixtures
  • Not be afraid to still target single gameweek players with higher potential ceilings. 

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All that being said… Here’s the Gameweek 33 Team of the Week:

Of those 11 players, 8 were on a double.

The other 3? Sessegnon is 3% owned, and Chelsea was hardly a plum fixture. Mbeumo and Wissa are quality players, but Brentford’s form has been mixed to say the least, and Brighton also didn’t look like an amazing matchup. 

Meanwhile, we might kick ourselves for tripling up on the likes of Arsenal and City, and not getting returns… but their players did return. It just wasn’t the players we’d often picked. It wasn’t the De Bruynes or Marmoushes who returned for City; it was the Nuneses and O’Reillys. It wasn’t Saka for Arsenal; it was Trossard. It wasn’t Rogers or Rashford for Villa; it was Watkins. 

For the record, in Double Gameweek 32, Newcastle players – who many of us tripled up on – also dominated the Team of the Week, taking 5/11 positions. 

Overall then, if – like us – you saved your chips for a big late season surge, it probably feels a bit rubbish right now.

That doesn’t necessarily mean, however, that it was a mistake to do so. Double gameweek players did outperform their single gameweek counterparts… we just might not have picked the right ones. 

Moving On

Right, with that off my chest, let’s crack on with your Fantasy Premier League Gameweek 34 preview!

Proceedings right now are being dominated by the free hit, which loads of people have saved for the blank. To recap, here are the teams that aren’t playing:

• Arsenal
• Villa
• Palace
• Man City

I.e. the teams that just doubled. I.e. the teams we just loaded up on. Hence the free hit!

As such, we’ll be concentrating heavily on free hit-related stuff in this preview. Apologies to those of you who’ve already played it – please just ask any other questions at the bottom of this article, or on Reddit.

Finally, if you want a refresher on all the rules regarding the free hit, I’ve laid them out here. 

With all that cleared up, let’s get on with the show!

Gameweek 34 Free Hit

As noted, loads of people are playing their free hit this week, including James and myself (Joe).

Let’s run through all your main options, then I’ll pop my own Gameweek 34 free hit draft at the bottom. 

Goalkeepers and Defence

I’m lumping these together, since we’re obviously targeting the same fixtures at both positions. 

The best fixtures of all are:

• Newcastle home to Ipswich
• Wolves home to Leicester

We’re definitely tripling up on Newcastle. One of those spots goes to Isak, so you then have to decide whether you risk a midfielder with higher upside (see below), or take 2 GK/DEF. If the latter, it’s obviously Pope and Livramento.

We’re definitely taking at least one Wolves defender here too, and Ait Nouri is the obvious candidate. If you’re taking a Newcastle midfielder, Sa would be a fine Pope alternative in goal… but he’s also an injury doubt, at the time of writing. So, I’m definitely leaning towards just taking Pope.  

The other best fixture this week is Fulham away to Southampton. The Saints have at least scored a few goals recently… but they’re still rubbish. Sessegnon is in better attacking form than Robinson, and is much cheaper. 

The biggest question mark at the back is Trent. He’s coming back from injury, and only got 19mins against Leicester. With Liverpool having nothing else to play for, and the chance to wrap up the season, and still hoping he stays… I’m backing him to start. I just think he’s worth the upside, over gambling on a clean sheet elsewhere. 

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Ideally, we’re only starting three defenders. 

I will gamble on Trent, I want Ait Nouri too… and then whether you pick Livramento or Sessegnon somewhat depends on your Newcastle GK/MID situation.

In a vacuum, I slightly prefer Livra. He gets more minutes, and I’m more confident in Newcastle’s clean. Given I’m probably taking Pope in goal though, and a Newcastle mid, plus Isak, it’ll have to be Sessegnon for me instead.

Midfielders

Liverpool can and will wrap up the title on Sunday, and I think they’re going to absolutely destroy Spurs at home in the process. I want at least two of their attacking players. 

Salah is a lock, obviously. The choice then is between Diaz and Jota. 

I much prefer Diaz. Positionally, Jota has a better shot at scoring. For me, that doesn’t outweigh all the extra minutes Diaz gets (around 30), and the reduced injury risk… and Diaz is hardly bad at scoring goals himself. 

In theory also want at least one Newcastle midfielder, home to Ipswich.

Murphy is the cheapest, and always starts… but also keeps getting subbed-off at around 60-70mins. He remains the safest pick. 

I’m considering a Gordon gamble – he’s played twice since he came back from injury, looked fit enough against Villa, and Newcastle are right in the Champions League hunt. It does feel risky though, since Barnes and Murphy have both done well in his absence, and Howe might not want to chance him against Ipswich.

Similarly, I couldn’t completely trust Barnes to start… in case Gordon does come back in. 

Overall, this is just a bit of a mess. I want one of them, but can’t guarantee any of them actually start. Looking at the starts over the long-term, and the production, Murphy feels the safest pick, then Barnes, with Gordon the riskiest. 

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After that, to be honest, there are no other midfielders I’m enthusiastic about. We’ll take four ideally though, and three forwards… since there are definitely three forwards I like. 

I wish Fulham had better mids, for their Southampton game. Iwobi is the pick of the bunch, and has had solid underlyings recently… but just feels a bit boring, and isn’t explosive. Meh. 

I’m sick to death of Palmer. We’ve got plenty of money to spend on this free hit, so we could definitely afford him. He just hasn’t past the eye test, faces a good defence in Everton, plays for crap attack, and hasn’t scored/hit double digit FPL points in 12 gameweeks. Apart from that, he’s a good pick. 

I’m quite tempted to just back Mbeumo. Forest away is a terrible matchup, but he’s just a quality player, dependable, and maintains good underlying stats (while actually delivering, unlike Palmer). 

Bruno has good underlying stats too, and Bournemouth haven’t been great recently. Unfortunately he plays for one of the worst attacks in the league, and has blanked four games in a row now. Sigh.

I don’t mind the idea of just backing Bournemouth to put a few past Man U. Semenyo has been in better form, but you probably have to back Kluivert anyway, for the track record and extra penalty threat. 

Bowen plays for a rubbish team… but has put together another solid campaign regardless. Brighton have also shipped a few goals recently – 2 or more in each of their last 5 games. And he’s a goal threat, and has nice underlying stats. You could do worse! 

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As you can probably tell, I’m not enthused by our midfield options this week. 

I’m locked in on Salah and Diaz… the latter, partly because there are so few other good midfield options. 

Apart from that… God, what a mess. 

Newcastle have that great fixture, and Murphy – despite the minutes risk – feels like the safest starter. And he’s been in good form. 

For the last spot… It’s Bowen or Kluivert for me. I don’t like Mbeumo’s matchup, and I don’t like Palmer or Bruno full-stop.

I’m leaning towards Bowen, but I do prefer Bournemouth’s fixture. I’ll have both in my team overall, and make the final call on Saturday, but right now it’s Bowen.  

Forwards

Isak and Cunha pick themselves here. They’re quality forwards, with excellent matchups. 

I’m backing Evanilson for the third spot. I trust him in general, and Man U at home is a nice fixture. 

Wood would be my second choice, for his home game against Brentford. He doesn’t actually play that until next Friday though, after his FA Cup game, so there’s a small chance of an injury. I wouldn’t call you crazy for taking him over Evanilson, though. 

My Draft

Right! After all that, here’s where I’m at:

I’m locked in on my forwards. 

I don’t really like my midfield… but also don’t like any alternatives.

Ideally, I’d prefer Livramento over Sessegnon. But I don’t want to gamble on Sa’s fitness, so want Pope instead. 

Overall, I quite like it! 

Best Remaining FPL Fixtures

I’ve not done our normal ‘Should I Buy/Sell?’ sections this week, since the current Most Bought/Sold player listings are dominated by free hit transfers… so it’s quite tricky to know who’s actually relevant to talk about. 

To that end, however, let’s look at the best FPL fixtures the rest of the way. If you’ve used your free hit already, and are just making regular transfers, these are the teams to target! 

Best Attacking Fixtures

These five sides have the best attacking fixtures, the rest of the way:

• Forest
• Wolves
• Everton
• West Ham
• Fulham

Best Defensive Fixtures

And here are the teams with the best chances at cleans. I’ve added a couple of extra options, since absolutely none of us are bringing in Ipswich or Leicester defenders.  

• Forest
• Ipswich
• Leicester
• Brentford
• Newcastle
• Everton

Captaincy Corner

We’ve actually got a number of good options this week, for once! 

For me, there’s a clear big three:

• Salah vs Wolves
• Isak vs Ipswich
• Cunha vs Leicester

All three fixtures are at home, too. 

It never feels good to bet against Salah… and that’s particularly true at home, against Spurs. But, he just hasn’t been in great form recently. 

I like Isak the most. He also hasn’t been in the best form, but Ipswich is an even easier fixture than Spurs, his side have been scoring more goals recently, and he does happen to be the top scorer in the league. 

I’d be pretty confident in Cunha scoring too. I just think Isak could hattie, whereas Cunha feels more like a one-goal return.

Captaincy Matrix

For the longer-term planners among you, not just the fellow free hitters, these are your main captaincy options the rest of the way. 

Final Thoughts

Phew, that was a bit of an epic. If you’re on a free hit, hopefully I helped you out a little bit. If you’re not… apologies. And, again, feel free to fire away with any extra questions, and James or I will get back to you. 

If you did enjoy the article, please consider following us on Reddit, and/or chucking a few quid our way below.

Either way, best of luck in Gameweek 34, everybody!