FPL Gameweek 34 Preview – Double Gameweek Special

We’re very much at the business end of the FPL season. 

This is when James and I (Joe) tend to make our best progress of the season, thanks mostly to all the doubles. True to form, I’ve gone up around 400k in the last few weeks (admittedly partly because I was embarrassingly low before). 

If you’ve still got your wildcard and at least one hit intact, you’re in a great spot. If you don’t have your wildcard, you really have to plan ahead carefully to cover all your double gameweek bases. 

Either way, your pals at Full 90 Football are here to help, courtesy of a nice little FPL Gameweek 34 preview. 

Doubles Galore

Unless you’ve been living under a rock/aren’t as sad as we are when it comes to FPL, it’s a massive double gameweek! 

My job’s pretty easy here, to be honest. I’m just going to point you towards James’ fantastic Double Gameweek 34 special. He’s collected all the fixtures, and gone through your player options team-by-team and position-by-position. 

I’d really advise you to take a few minutes and read that. For the super-time constrained, here are your doubling teams this week:

• Arsenal
• Liverpool
• Crystal Palace
• Sheff Utd
• Everton
• Bournemouth
• Wolves

And James’ three quick takeaways:

• Palace have the best fixtures
• Arsenal and Liverpool are the best teams – try to triple up
• Sheff Utd are crap, but play two rubbish defences

(Beginner-Focused) General DGW Strategy

For the less experienced FPL players out there, these are the sorts of gameweeks you have to attack. Use any free transfers you’ve got, take a hit if you really need to. 

By hook or by crook, aim for at least nine doublers, preferably more. But, remember that they still have to be good players and/or have good fixtures! 

Year in, year out, people go after doubling players literally just because they double, with no regard for form, fixtures, or team quality. This does not usually work out. 

You’re better having a single gameweek player for a really good team (like Man City, in this case), over a great number of double gameweek players. In this case, for example, Bournemouth do double… but they play Villa and Wolves, both of whom are solid. Would I back anyone except Solanke here (who I’d back anyway)? Not really! 

In the News

The lesson, as always – don’t make transfers before European fixtures. 

Both De Bruyne and Haaland came off for Man City during their marathon game against Real Madrid. 

It sounds like De Bruyne will be fine, and was just (understandably) tired. In classic Pep fashion, he provided basically no helpful update on Haaland. I literally have no idea whether he plays or not (so will probably sell him, then get him back on my wildcard next week if he’s fit). 

Here’s a quick round-up of the other FPL-relevant injury news:

• Bradley is out for Liverpool. Trent started against Atalanta and presumably will again now, even if he ‘ran out of juice’ in that game

• Jota came off the bench, and I’d guess won’t come straight back into the starting league lineup

• Cunha is out again, for a week or two, so that’s one of our forward options gone

• Ait-Nouri won’t start, and neither will Hwang

• DCL is back in training but can’t possibly be trusted in FPL

• Garnacho liked some tweets having a pop at the manager, but Ten Haag says he’s done what Sancho would never, and actually apologised. He’ll presumably be starting again straight away

• Callum Wilson is back, yet again. Another reason I wouldn’t get Isak this week (see Should I Buy? below)

• Estupinan is injured, didn’t train, and can obviously be sold 

• Toney is playing through a hip injury. He wasn’t returning anyway, and since we don’t even know if he’ll play against Luton, can easily be sold

Best Upcoming FPL Fixtures

A lot of FPL players will either be free hitting this week, or dead-ending into GW 35 (i.e. planning to use your wildcard next week). In either case, I’d again refer you back to James’ double gameweek special, which is heavily targeted at those two plays.

If you haven’t got either of those options, here are the best fixture runs for the remaining five gameweeks.

(Home games in caps)

• Newcastle don’t double in 34, but do in 37, and have excellent fixtures the rest of the way. You can’t get their players right now, since they don’t double this week, but hold any Newcastle players you’ve got
• Chelsea have three tough fixtures in a row, so – again – you’re not rushing to get their players now. They do double twice between now and the end of the season though, so hold whoever you’ve got, and look to target them from 36 onwards

• Man U have two incredible home games back to back. Their DGW 37 isn’t great, but Palace and Brighton are both fine

• Man City always win every game at this time of the year. Getting knocked out of Europe makes it easier to trust Foden, but injuries are muddling the rest of the picture right now

• Palace have a nice double this week. Who the hell knows with Fulham, but Man U is another excellent attacking fixture after that. Eze and Mateta are both fine picks for the next three weeks 

At the far end of the spectrum, Spurs have an awful run-in. They blank this week, then have Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool, and City between their nice games against Burnley and Sheffield Utd. I’d bin any assets you have, with a view to potentially getting at least Son back in 37. 

Should I Buy?

Let’s have a quick whip through the most-bought players in FPL right now, and decide whether or not they belong on your team. 

(Note: I only have limited space here! But, if you want to ask about anyone else, just hit us up on Reddit). 

• Gordon – Maybe… but I’d prefer to wait. He’s got Palace away this week, and Newcastle are much better at home. Get him in 35 for Sheff U at home, then Burnley and Brighton after

• Saka – Yes. He’s clearly out of form, if you watch Arsenal play. But he’s also Saka – he gets returns even when he’s not playing well. Arsenal double this week, and he’ll probably play almost every minute. 

• Luis Diaz – Maybe. He’s a bit of a boring pick, but the fixtures are fine, his underlying stats are fine, he’ll probably start both games (although Jota is back). I’d rather have Eze, but Diaz is a solid choice

• Eze – Yes. Love him IRL, love him in FPL the next few weeks. He and Olise were great against Liverpool, and both his DGW fixtures are at home, then he has Man U home in 36. Get him now, hold him a few weeks

• Isak – See Gordon. Like him in general, but I’d prefer to wait a week

• Cunha – No, he’s confirmed injured (again)

• Schar – No. Wait until 35 if you really want him

• Palmer – No. If you haven’t got him already for some reason, wait until after the Arsenal game this week, and get him for double gameweek 35

• Solanke – Maybe. He’s a solid player, but Villa and Wolves away is not a nice double gameweek for an attacker. There are other forwards with nicer fixtures, like Mateta

• Salah – Yes. He’s obviously not at his peak right now, but it’s still Salah on a double gameweek

• Bruno – Yes. I’m completely fine with it, even if he doesn’t double. He’s in great form, his underlying stats are solid, and now he has Sheff U and Burnley back to back at home

• Watkins – Maybe. It’s a tricky one, which – as a non-owner – I’m wrestling with. He’s great, and his fixtures the rest of the way are fine… but he has no doubles. He’s so good that he probably outscores doublers anyway, though. Hold him if you’ve got him… have a bloody good think about it if you haven’t

• White – Yes. I don’t think he’s a major minutes concern, now Arsenal are out of Europe. Arsenal’s defence is still excellent, and he’s still got the best attacking potential of the bunch

• Havertz – Maybe. Overall he’s still in fine form, and the DGW fixtures are okay. But Arteta has started messing around with his position, bringing Jesus in, and so on. There are safer options, like Eze and Luis Diaz

• Mitchell – No. I wouldn’t back Palace to clean in any of their remaining fixtures, and his underlying attacking stats are terrible

• Darwin – Yes. The misses make him incredibly frustrating to own, but he’s still doubling up front for one of the best attacks in the league

Should I Sell?

In turn, here are the current most-sold players in FPL, along with my recommendation for whether they should indeed be binned from your team.

• Son/Porro – Yes. They blank, and Spurs have tough fixtures

• Bowen – Yes. Fixtures aren’t great, and he’s playing through an injury

• Foden – Maybe. I’m holding for City’s nice fixtures, and because he probably starts thanks to injuries elsewhere and being out of Europe. If you need to sell him for a good doubler, however, that’s fine

• Toney – Yes. I understand if you want to hold him for Luton, but he just hasn’t been returning at all, has no double gameweeks the rest of the way, and is an injury question mark

• Bradley – Yes. Injured, and Trent is back

• Haaland – Maybe. Obviously you don’t ‘have’ to, but I’m completely fine with it, since he’s a big injury risk this week. If you don’t have your wildcard though, I’d lean towards just holding. 

• Muniz – Yes. His underlying stats are still fine, but Liverpool is a tough fixture, and he doesn’t double the rest of the way

• De Bruyne – Maybe. It sounds like he’ll be fit to play, and Brighton is a nice matchup. He hasn’t been Prime Kev recently though, and I’d be fine selling him for a doubler like Eze or Diaz

• Darwin – No. Hold the course for his double, and probably move him after that if you’re wildcarding

• Alvarez – Yes. The Haaland injury basically means we have no idea if he starts or not. I’d strongly lean towards selling for a doubling forward like Mateta or Darwin

Captaincy Corner

A relatively tough call, for once! Between Son (blanks), Palmer (single game against Arsenal) and Haaland (injury doubt), that’s three of our usual suspects gone, and the doubles obviously make it a trickier decision than usual. 

I’m being boring and going for Salah. He’s just the safest choice. As noted, I know he’s not been in form, but it’s still Salah on a double. 

Eze and Mateta are more exciting options, and arguably higher upside right now. 

Saka is basically the same as Salah, from an FPL captaincy perspective, but with worse fixtures. A safe pick, but probably not a super-high upside. 

Joe’s Moves

I’ve already moved Palmer to Eze, before Eze rose in price. I only got Palmer back in again recently, so I didn’t lose much money on him, and I’ll get him back on my wildcard next week. 

I’ve got one more free transfer, and will almost certainly use it to move Haaland to Mateta, then get Haaland back again next week. 

Final Thoughts

Well, what an exciting week we have in store! Plenty of points will indeed be scored – the trick is in working out who’s going to score them (they don’t call me an FPL expert for nothing). 

Cheers for reading everybody, good luck in Gameweek 34, and check back next week for a wildcard special.