Blanks, Doubles and Chip Strategy (19/20)

[TheRumourMill]

From FFS:

"Confirmation of the first Blank Gameweek of the season came on Wednesday morning.

West Ham United v Liverpool in Gameweek 18 has been postponed due to the Reds’ participation in the FIFA Club World Cup.

A new date for the fixture is yet to be announced but, given that Gameweek 18 takes place on the weekend of Saturday 21 December/Sunday 22 December, the match can’t be moved into the following midweek.
Liverpool will play two fixtures in the Club World Cup, with a semi-final scheduled for Tuesday 17 December/Wednesday 18 December and final or third-place play-off taking place on Saturday 21 December.
Fantasy Premier League managers can use their first Wildcard up to the Gameweek 20 deadline on Saturday 28 December, so those who have managed to retain their chip by the time we approach Christmas may consider using it around this Blank Gameweek – although the announcement of the mini-Double Gameweek for Liverpool and West Ham, whenever that may come, could change all that.
The Reds won’t have a free midweek until 2020 if they progress to the quarter-finals of the Carabao Cup but, should Jurgen Klopp’s side and the Hammers both be eliminated from that competition early, there is a slim possibility that the postponed Premier League fixture could be rearranged for a midweek when that competition is taking place.
It does seem, at this point, that the likeliest scenario is a reschedule for the New Year."

Its a long way off yet and certainly won't be influencing my plans at this stage, however it is something to bear in mind. As this arrives slap bang in the middle of a good run of fixtures for Liverpool, I think benching rather than mass selling is my initial thought on where to go. There is an opportunity to switch one or 2 of them to spurs assets however, who play Chelsea at home that week (assuming Chelsea still have a porous defence), followed by Brighton at home and Norwich away.

Would anyone consider a free hit? With Chelsea also playing spurs away there may be enough players blanking/with unfavourable fixtures in our squads to make it a consideration.

The flip side of Liverpool blanking is of course that it makes a first DGW in 4 years for them much more likely.

[SirMattBugsby]

Hmm.. reconsidering my TC on Sterling now (although, from past experience, Dec/Jan is not a good time to play it even in a DGW)

[Stemania]

Yep. This year we have:

GW18 (LIV/WHU Blanks)
GW28 (Small blank - LC Final)
GW31 (Main blanks - FAC QF)
GW34 (Small DGW and potential blanks - FAC SF)
GW37 (Main DGW)

Plus a probable early extra DGW somewhere for the LIV/WHU Club World Cup postponements of GW18. And, of course, there's always potential for further DGWs if a team progresses in both domestic cups.

Assuming that extra LIV/WHU DGW does end up outside of 31/34/37, that's been my vague plan for TC position too - it's potentially the equivalent of City's DGW25 last year. Obviously depends on the precise details etc

[Finisher1]

I think GW18 is a potential time to play wildcard for ditching all Liverpool players. Now someone will say "but you want them back soon", which is true, but it's a massive advantage to have three more premium players in GW18 rather than having them sitting on your bench.

[SirMattBugsby]

I think GW18 is a potential time to play wildcard for ditching all Liverpool players. Now someone will say "but you want them back soon", which is true, but it's a massive advantage to have three more premium players in GW18 rather than having them sitting on your bench.

Don't know Finisher. Hopes of a massive advantage always lead me to making a massive mistake can't make this one though, having already spunk my WC

[Gambit]

What other premiums would appeal in GW18?

Arsenal are away at Everton which is a tough fixture, Spurs and Chelsa play each other, i've not included Man City as most people will already have three of their players. There looks a distinct lack of standout fixtures in GW18, can't see anybody at this early stage who I would want to bring in for Liverpool players (or Haller for that matter), premium or otherwise.

[Finisher1]

What other premiums would appeal in GW18?

Arsenal are away at Everton which is a tough fixture, Spurs and Chelsa play each other, i've not included Man City as most people will already have three of their players. There looks a distinct lack of standout fixtures in GW18, can't see anybody at this early stage who I would want to bring in for Liverpool players (or Haller for that matter), premium or otherwise.

You are right there aren't too many standout picks, but still far better options than what you have on the bench.

[Gambit]

What other premiums would appeal in GW18?

Arsenal are away at Everton which is a tough fixture, Spurs and Chelsa play each other, i've not included Man City as most people will already have three of their players. There looks a distinct lack of standout fixtures in GW18, can't see anybody at this early stage who I would want to bring in for Liverpool players (or Haller for that matter), premium or otherwise.

You are right there aren't too many standout picks, but still far better options than what you have on the bench.

Hmmm, depends on the squads people have, anybody with Brighton defenders, Villa players, Palace players etc should be able to bench the Liverpool players and still have a resonable team out. Perhaps not as good as if they transfered out their high value Liverpool players or WC'd them out, but the weak overall fixtures for GW18 make me think that benching the likes of TAA and playing Dunk etc will be more than adequate.

[Finisher1]

What other premiums would appeal in GW18?

Arsenal are away at Everton which is a tough fixture, Spurs and Chelsa play each other, i've not included Man City as most people will already have three of their players. There looks a distinct lack of standout fixtures in GW18, can't see anybody at this early stage who I would want to bring in for Liverpool players (or Haller for that matter), premium or otherwise.

You are right there aren't too many standout picks, but still far better options than what you have on the bench.

Hmmm, depends on the squads people have, anybody with Brighton defenders, Villa players, Palace players etc should be able to bench the Liverpool players and still have a resonable team out. Perhaps not as good as if they transfered out their high value Liverpool players or WC'd them out, but the weak overall fixtures for GW18 make me think that benching the likes of TAA and playing Dunk etc will be more than adequate.

Man United, Spurs and Arsenal players are likely to score better than Brighton, Villa and Palace players in GW18. They also have absolutely delicious fixtures in GW19.

[Smurphy Paw]

Without analysing this yet I would have thought that:
Haller can easily be switched to a similarly priced player a few weeks before (on current form Abraham/Pukki/Barnes; by then who knows).
Then by saving up 2FTs for the actual GW it would be easy enough to avoid too much cash on the bench. Who for would, for me, be a decision for nearer the time noting the Man U/Spurs/Ars GW19 point above

[Finisher1]

Without analysing this yet I would have thought that:
Haller can easily be switched to a similarly priced player a few weeks before (on current form Abraham/Pukki/Barnes; by then who knows).
Then by saving up 2FTs for the actual GW it would be easy enough to avoid too much cash on the bench. Who for would, for me, be a decision for nearer the time noting the Man U/Spurs/Ars GW19 point above

Sure, but then you miss other potential transfers before GW18 (or take hits for them).

[Gambit]

What other premiums would appeal in GW18?

Arsenal are away at Everton which is a tough fixture, Spurs and Chelsa play each other, i've not included Man City as most people will already have three of their players. There looks a distinct lack of standout fixtures in GW18, can't see anybody at this early stage who I would want to bring in for Liverpool players (or Haller for that matter), premium or otherwise.

You are right there aren't too many standout picks, but still far better options than what you have on the bench.

Hmmm, depends on the squads people have, anybody with Brighton defenders, Villa players, Palace players etc should be able to bench the Liverpool players and still have a resonable team out. Perhaps not as good as if they transfered out their high value Liverpool players or WC'd them out, but the weak overall fixtures for GW18 make me think that benching the likes of TAA and playing Dunk etc will be more than adequate.

Man United, Spurs and Arsenal players are likely to score better than Brighton, Villa and Palace players in GW18. They also have absolutely delicious fixtures in GW19.

I'm not so sure about that at all, I'd take a Brighton defender in GW18 before I took an Arsenal or United defender, no doubt at all, possibly also a Palace defender too.

Lets revisit closer to the time, for a clean sheet GW18 I'll back Brighton/Villa/Palace above United/Arsenal/Chelsea. Atacking players may be different but everyone has at least one Liverpool defender and lots still have two, so it would be defensive assets benched and I'd say there is enough good fixtures for the popular bench players that TAA/VVD/Robertson can be benched fairly easily.

[Finisher1]

I'm not so sure about that at all, I'd take a Brighton defender in GW18 before I took an Arsenal or United defender, no doubt at all, possibly also a Palace defender too.

It's close because Brighton and Palace have a better fixture, but the thing is Man United and Arsenal are better defences than Brighton and Palace and they have a better attacking potential as well. But we should also compare Brighton and Palace defenders to Man United, Spurs and Arsenal attacking assets, because with wildcard you can do that trade-off.

Lets revisit closer to the time, for a clean sheet GW18 I'll back Brighton/Villa/Palace above United/Arsenal/Chelsea. Atacking players may be different but everyone has at least one Liverpool defender and lots still have two, so it would be defensive assets benched and I'd say there is enough good fixtures for the popular bench players that TAA/VVD/Robertson can be benched fairly easily.

I'm not sure Liverpool defenders are worth their price in GW19-23. I think only GW21 is a very likely clean sheet during that run. So I could easily ditch all Liverpool defenders in GW18 wildcard and bring in Man United, Spurs and Arsenal attacking assets instead.

[Smurphy Paw]

Without analysing this yet I would have thought that:
Haller can easily be switched to a similarly priced player a few weeks before (on current form Abraham/Pukki/Barnes; by then who knows).
Then by saving up 2FTs for the actual GW it would be easy enough to avoid too much cash on the bench. Who for would, for me, be a decision for nearer the time noting the Man U/Spurs/Ars GW19 point above

Sure, but then you miss other potential transfers before GW18 (or take hits for them).

Sure. That’s the essence of FPL and of a thought through transfer strategy. I never plan transfers for a single week in isolation, I look at arcs of transfers over numbers of weeks and would build this new information in to that process.

Equally there’s nothing wrong with utilising a wildcard around this time to prepare for the Christmas period if you still have it. Not a luxury I enjoy, having used mine last week but I can see how it could play out positively.

I guess what I am saying is that, even without using the WC, this should not be difficult to navigate

[carlitobrigante]

Keep your wildcard... plan for the blank with some FTs, then wildcard the week after?

[Billy Bongo]

Anyone thought about the Liverpool blank yet?

How will you plan? Its an awful week for a free hit. And cap choices are thin

Anyone any ideas when the dgwk will be ? Nothing on Ben Crellins spreadsheet as a possible week and look at the carnage before Liverpool's blank

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[blahblah]

I'll have 6 in the Citeh match

I think ignoring it has some merit....

[Stevieste]

The way my last few games weeks have gone,
I dont feel missing 6 players will even make any difference

[blahblah]

The way my last few games weeks have gone,
I dont feel missing 6 players will even make any difference

Fancy going to the Citeh match?

[Stevieste]

The way my last few games weeks have gone,
I dont feel missing 6 players will even make any difference

Fancy going to the Citeh match?

My mrs is a city fan, so ive actually been there more times than OT this season.

You asking me on a date Blah ?

[blahblah]

My mrs is a city fan, so ive actually been there more times than OT this season.

You asking me on a date Blah ?

With your luck I would be lucky to survive

[Stevieste]

With your luck I would be lucky to survive

Run over before we got into ground haha.

Im not being positive on here anymore, its not working.
Im going for the reverse psychology mentality, where i cry the results home for 90 mins like the rest of them

[blahblah]

Run over before we got into ground haha.

Im not being positive on here anymore, its not working.
Im going for the reverse psychology mentality, where i cry the results home for 90 mins like the rest of them

Sounds sensible

Tbh that could be an interesting game and be key for 2nd place...

Not sure about crossing Manchester with Xmas Shoppers....

[Zimmerman]

Looks a great week for a bench of Lundstram, Rico and Connolly to earn their corn.

[Billy Bongo]

Tbh however I cut it a double Sheffield defence looks a goer

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[Hotstepper]

Looks a great week for a bench of Lundstram, Rico and Connolly to earn their corn.

Agree with that. Same for Norwich if I haven't shaken off Cantwell by then.

[Hotstepper]

As for Haller and any other West Ham players, their fixtures leading up to the blank week aren't anything like remotely tempting enough to want to have them nevermind keep through a blank. I have two of them and they both go after Newcastle at home next week.

[Pulpy]

So Liverpool and Leicester both have five nice fixtures ahead after today. Then Liverpool blank and Leicester have City away before they play each other GW19.

Having two frees (or the wildcard for those who still have it to use) going into GW18 would be useful as would considering the GW18 fixture for all players transferred in from now on.

I definitely would not suggest avoiding Liverpool or Leicester though as both look set to do well in the interim period and both offer captaincy options for GW17.

[ajcairns]

The upside to Leicester’s run to GW18 is worth it and even their attacking assets might do okay against City. That should be a great game to watch.

[snout]

The upside to Leicester’s run to GW18 is worth it and even their attacking assets might do okay against City. That should be a great game to watch.

Cue Man City 0 - 0 Leicester. Which it almost was last season.