This blog is written by @FPLNima (overall rank 1,102 in the 19/20 season). Nima writes the weekly transfer tips article for Fantasy Football Hub and you can find more of his work here. Do give him a follow on Twitter here
Blank Gameweek 18 Review
Points: 43 points + Gameweek rank: 1.6 million
Gameweek 18 saw me somehow manage a green arrow despite fluffing my Free Hit selection and bench order. My 43 points took me from 325,961 OR to 325,672 (I rose 289 places – you have to laugh really).
I could have only fielded 4 players without the FH chip and so I believe in my circumstances it was still the best of a bad situation. The sweeping changes in fixtures since my first Wildcard in GW16 meant I was pot-committed to this strategy. Those 4 players were Bruno, Son, Martial and Dias. Only one of them returned points so overall I feel I still did the best I could under the circumstances.
I was happy with my De Bruyne (c) decision despite Sterling doing his best to ruin my mood and stop a big KDB haul. My big mistakes were punting on Gundogan and Saiss instead of Stones and Saka/Neto.
I also changed my Sheffield United bench defender to Yedlin who then came on ahead of Mitchell when Tierney didn’t play.
Lacazette and the Arsenal attack as a whole were disappointing. No doubt a big part of the missing creativity was due to the hole left by Tierney (who has created the most chances for Arsenal this season). I’m just glad that some of these players were only in my team for the one GW!
Overall Rank
I am now 38 points away from the Top 100k (a personal goal I strive for every season). In summary, I am 3 points further behind the pack than I was pre GW18 (so those extra 6 points from Mitchell over Yedlin would have been fantastic).
I feel confident of achieving this by the end of the season but the all elusive consecutive Top 10k finish is looking difficult to achieve whilst I am still 89 points behind! Perhaps a more realistic stretch target for the season is the Top 50k (56 points behind right now).
Fixture changes for FPL DGW 19
Shrewsbury vs Southampton FA cup game is now being played during GW19 and so Leeds vs Southampton has been postponed to be played later in the season.
Leeds now have only one match vs Brighton and Southampton have just the one match vs Leicester. This is a kick in the teeth for FPL managers like me who brought in triple Leeds assets for their Bench Boost strategy in DGW19.
We’ve also been given confirmation that Aston Villa vs Everton has been postponed due to the covid cases at Villa. Lucky for those who own Villa assets, they will still have two fixtures this GW as their match vs Newcastle has been added as the final fixture of DGW19. Consequently, Newcastle also has a DGW now vs Arsenal and Villa.
I would say that Villa assets are in a state of limbo as we will not know who has covid before the FPL deadline. As such I think I would say they are in a don’t buy, don’t sell, don’t captain category. If you own them then they are a solid hold for the double but I would not be bringing them in with the anonymity around who has covid in their squad.
Once DGW19 are over, I shall begin to include an ongoing Watchlist in these Team Reveal articles. Instead of the current discussions being dominated by my personal chip strategy plans. I typically like to only bring in players with at least the next 5 GWs in mind so we can look at the best options for our teams in the medium term post-DGW.
Further Read: FPL DGW19 Differential picks to consider ahead of GW19 Deadline
FPL DGW 19 Team Reveal
Current team with 1FT and £2.5m in the bank
Some thoughts about this plus my overall chip strategy going into DGW19 and beyond:
- I have 3 different transfer plans (see below for these), one of which still includes the option to Bench Boost in Gameweek 19.
- Although I could wait to BB in a future week, I like the idea of getting the chip out of the way early and downgrading the value on my bench for the rest of the season.
- I also think that BB the triple Leeds assets vs Brighton (Bamford, Rodrigo + Raphinha) and McCarthy vs Leicester is pretty decent still despite the loss of their DGWs.
- I have considered Triple Captain on Kevin De Bruyne or Mo Salah if I do not end up activating a BB in DGW19.
- I will most likely still use the second Wildcard in Gameweek 25 once we’ve been given the fixtures for DGW26 and corresponding blanks in BGW 29.
- I’m still eager to use Triple Captain in Gameweek 26 (on Son or Kane, Spurs made the EFL cup final and so it is more likely they will have a DGW26 vs some pretty mediocre teams).
- The second wildcard team will have some BGW29 players as I only need 11 for the DGW26 triple captain team. I can use 4 free transfers between GW26 and 29 to bring in more BGW29 players.
- Finally, the Gameweek 33 blank is likely to be much smaller with just 2 matches being moved out of the fixture list (Spurs and Man City who play the EFL Cup Final)
Further Read: FPL GW18 Preview: Fixture Wise Analysis, Players to consider in Free Hit and Differentials
I believe there isn’t a one size fits all answer for the DGW19 chip strategy. Many FPL managers who were going to BB are now saving the chip for GW26 or another smaller DGW (for instance when Southampton vs Leeds is rescheduled to a mini DGW).
I like my triple Leeds fixture vs Brighton for Bench Boost but would need to take a -4 minimum to do it. I will decide right before deadline tomorrow whether I attempt to steer through DGW19 chipless.
Further Read: FPL DGW19 Differential picks to consider ahead of GW19 Deadline
Captain for FPL Double Gameweek 19
I intend on keeping my captain as De Bruyne for the two DGW19 home fixtures. He managed a tasty 13 point return vs Chelsea in GW17 and was denied an equally impressive haul in GW18 by Sterling’s missed penalty.
Fantastic underlying numbers even if they haven’t all quite yet converted into FPL points. The FFH Predicted Points Tool has KDB at 1st between GW19-24 (43.3 projected points)
Transfers Options for DGW19 (1 free transfer) £2.5m ITB
In GW17 I downgraded Kane to Martial so I would have enough funds to bring in De Bruyne as my captain in the DGW.
The current plan is to transfer Son to De Bruyne which then would leave me with £0.4m in the bank for a second transfer on a -4 point hit. If I decide to not use my BB chip then this is most likely to be my only move and the rest of my team and bench will be as per the team reveal photo above.
If I want to BB, I will likely move Johnson to a £4.3m defender so I can activate the BB chip. My only real option with a DGW is Yedlin from Newcastle (I’m not so keen but better than getting 0 points of Johnson on a BB).
I am also nervous about Martial’s hamstrings after being subbed out injured in the Manchester United vs Burnely match in GW18. If I get any inkling of confirmation that Martial will miss at least one of his two DGW19 fixtures then I am considering a -8 move before activing BB. This would most likely look like Martial > Antonio/ Watkins and Johnson > Cancelo.
In summary these are the 3 options I am going to decide between tomorrow morning:
- Son to KDB on a Free Transfer and Captain or Triple Captain KDB
- Son to KDB and Johnson to Yedlin for -4 and activate BB
- Son to KDB, Johnson to Cancelo and Martial to Antonio for -8 and activate BB
I am most likely to go with option #1 or #2 unless there is definitive information pre-deadline that Martial is injured. I’m also not convinced Antonio will start two games in two days.
Watkins my alternative option could be one of the Villa players who had covid so again this is a risk just like Antonio. The -8 is likely too extreme for me to take.
Further Read: FPL DGW19 Differential picks to consider ahead of GW19 Deadline
*Pre-Deadline Changes to my FPL GW 19 Team*
I may make some late changes on Saturday nearer the deadline but won’t have time to update the article. As such I have included some ideas of what these changes may be in the article above so that you can see the thinking behind my decision-making process.
l look forward to hearing your thoughts and discussing your transfers in the lead up to the Gameweek 19 deadline at 11:00 GMT on Saturday 16th January.
If you are looking to follow more of my content or interact on all things FPL, follow me on Twitter. You can also check out the Transfer Trends article for GW19 on FFH here:
Good luck with Double Gameweek 19 and your chip strategies!
Don’t want to pay and try out a free trial instead?
Get a seven-day free trial for FFHUB now: Free trial
Further reads from ALLABOUTFPL ahead of FPL GW 19:
FPL DGW 19 Captain Picks to Consider Ahead of GW19 Deadline
FPL DGW19 Differential picks to consider ahead of GW19 Deadline
FPL GW18 Preview: Fixture Wise Analysis, Players to consider in Free Hit and Differentials
All that you need to know about FPL cup
History Of Fantasy Football And Origin Of FPL
FPL History: Highest Scoring FPL Players Each Year Since The First FPL Season in 2002/03
Thanks for reading the Chip Strategy, Tips, and Team Reveal checking allaboutfpl.com for regular blogs. Also, follow our 10000+community on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter to stay updated on regular Posts and FPL updates.
What’s next from ALLABOUTFPL ahead of FPL GW 19 Deadline?
All our blogs have now been published for DGW 19 as we build towards a Saturday afternoon FPL GW 19 deadline. Keep checking our Twitter for regular updates!
Our content is always free and if you like our content do drop a comment, follow, subscribe, and support us. Your love is what keeps us going:)
FPL DGW 19 FPL Deadline Countdown
Login and set your team for FPL GW 19 now!
Nima Kafai
Latest posts by Nima Kafai (see all)
- FPL DGW 35 – Chip Strategy, Tips, and Wildcard Team Reveal | FPLNima - May 4, 2021
- FPL GW 34 – Chip Strategy, Tips, and Team Reveal |FPLNima - April 27, 2021
- FPL GW 31 – Chip Strategy, Tips, and Team Reveal |FPLNima - April 8, 2021
