Congrats to all those managers who backed Mo Salah for a haul against Southampton, as the Egyptian superstar added 2 goals and 15 FPL points to his already impressive totals. And to those managers who went with Cole Palmer instead, who had a fantastic fixture on paper with Leicester at home: better luck next time! The England international came away with just a single point after missing a penalty in what ended up being a stingy 1-0 victory for the Blues.
On to Gameweek 29 though, because it’s promising to be big one for fantasy managers. A total of four teams have a blank this gameweek and their absence will have a considerable impact on FPL standings. That is because the four teams with a blank in Gameweek 29 are Aston Villa, Crystal Palace, Liverpool and Newcastle. As a result, the (hugely) popular likes of Mohamed Salah, Alexander Isak and Ollie Watkins will not be available for selection this week. That complicates things, naturally, but it also provides an opportunity for fantasy managers to put their knowledge and skills to the test. We expect a peak in chip usage this gameweek, particularly of the Free Hit, so keep that in the back of your mind.
Don’t forget, the deadline for gameweek 29 is set at 13h30 (UK time) on Saturday, March 15th, 2025. The free to play FPL or pay to play season/weekend/daily games like FanTeam are ideal ways of following the Premier League action.
Most transferred in/transferred out players (as per March 13th, 2025)
TRANSFERS OUT | TRANSFERS IN | POSSIBLE REASONS | |
GK | Alisson (LIV), Martinez (AST), Henderson (CRY) | Sels (NFO), Sa (WOL), Pickford (EVE) | BGW29 |
DEF | Hall (NEW), Alexander-Arnold (LIV), Virgil (LIV) | Aina (NFO), Kerkez (BOU), Gvardiol (MCI) | BGW29, Kerkez form + fixtures, Hall injury |
MID | Palmer (CHE), Rogers (AST), Salah (LIV) | Fernandes (MUN), Kluivert (BOU), Gibbs-White (NFO) | BGW29, Kluivert form + fixtures |
FOR | Isak (NEW), Cunha (WOL), Mateta (CRY) | Wood (NFO), Haaland (MCI), Pedro (BRI) | BGW29, Pedro goal-scoring form, Cunha suspension, Mateta injury doubt |
Premium pick
With Alexander Isak and Mohamed Salah blanking, Cole Palmer playing away at Arsenal and Bukayo Saka injured, our premium fantasy pick for the week has rarely been more straight forward. Especially because Erling Haaland (£14.7m) has a home game coming up against Brighton, who are definitely having a great 2024-2025 season, but whose defence is not always as solid as it should be. The Seagulls have already conceded 40 goals in 28 league games this season, of which 24 were conceded away from home. Then again, Man City have been far from prolific in front of goal of late as well, with a 0-2 loss to Liverpool, a 0-1 victory at Spurs and a 1-0 defeat at the hands of Nottingham Forest in the last three. We nevertheless expect Haaland to feature heavily in Blank Gameweek 29, partly because of expected Free Chip usage and partly because of the fact that he still sits in just over 30% of all squads. Let’s see if the Norwegian forward can work on his current totals of 20 goals and 3 assists when Brighton visit the Etihad on Saturday.
Non-premium pick
With an ownership of 47.8%, Chris Wood (£7.3m) is not exactly a very differential kind of non-premium fantasy pick, but one we believe may pay off handsomely in Blank Gameweek 29. On top of that, the New Zealand international also looks like a great and relatively budget-friendly option until the very end of the season. First of all, this weekend’s game, because we see possibilities for Wood and the rest of the Tricky Trees when they visit Ipswich Town on Saturday. The Tractor Boys are fighting against relegation and have already conceded 58 goals in 28 league games this season, which must sound like sweet music to the ears of Wood, who already sits on 18 goals and 3 assists. Second of all, Forest gave got a good-looking fixture on paper coming up after that, which includes home games against Manchester United, Everton, Brentford and Leicester plus visits to Crystal Palace and West Ham, among others. Our opinion: if you are using the Free Hit Chip in Blank Gameweek 29, Wood should be part of your squad and if you are not using the Free Hit chip… as well.
The budget enabler
From one of the major surprises of the season to another, as we move from non-premium fantasy pick Chris Wood from Nottingham Forest to budget fantasy pick Antoine Semenyo (£5.7m) from Bournemouth. The Cherries currently find themselves in 9th place, five points off fourth place. With 12 goals and 6 assists, Justin Kluivert has been taking up much of the spotlight at Bournemouth and the Dutchman is an excellent inclusion for any Blank Gameweek 29 squad, but we have opted for Semenyo instead, as the Ghana international comes in £0.5m cheaper. At the same time, he can also show more than decent stats with 7 goals and 5 assists from 27 Premier League starts. His direct goal involvement has dropped off a bit in past weeks, but with a home game against Brentford coming up, we hope that he will get at least a few opportunities to continue building on his current totals.
The differential
For our differential fantasy pick for Blank Gameweek 29, we are sticking with Bournemouth. Or better said, with the Bournemouth attack, as the Cherries are expected by the bookmakers to be the highest-scoring team behind Manchester City (at home to Brighton). Enter Evanilson (£5.6m), who was brought in for about £35 million from Porto last summer. The Brazilian got off to a decent start on the English South Coast, with 5 goals and 4 assists in his first 18 league starts, but he then suffered a broken foot that kept him out of action between Gameweeks 21 and 26. Evanilson returned to the pitch for 13 minutes in GW27 against Brighton and returned to the starting eleven last weekend for the visit to Spurs. Bournemouth got a 2-2 draw in London and their Brazilian striker got on the scoresheet for 8 FPL points. Up next are Brentford at home on Saturday, followed by Ipswich Town at home in GW30, West Ham away in GW31, Fulham at home in GW32 and a visit to Crystal Palace in GW33. In other words, plenty of opportunities on the short and medium term for Evanilson, who is currently part of just 2.2% of all squads in the official fantasy fame, to get some attacking returns.
The (vice-)captaincy
In Blank Gameweek 28, we are captaining Erling Haaland for Manchester City’s home clash with Brighton.
Good alternatives to the Norwegian goal machine include Chris Wood for Forest’s visit to Ipswich Town, Bruno Fernandes for Manchester United’s visit to Leicester on Sunday, and Justin Kluivert for Bournemouth’s home encounter with Brentford.
Out of sorts Cole Palmer should not be disregarded for the armband neither, though Chelsea are playing Arsenal at the Emirates on Sunday.
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