Gameweek 25 is the first double gameweek in a while and while it’s not a major one in terms of the number of teams doubling, the doublers do offer great FPL potential.
| DOUBLING TEAMS | FIXTURE 1 | FIXTURE 2 |
| Brentford | Liverpool (home) | Man City (away) |
| Liverpool | Brentford (away) | Luton Town (home) |
| Luton Town | Man United (home) | Liverpool (away) |
| Manchester City | Chelsea (home) | Brentford (home) |
As you can see, the fixtures of Manchester City and Liverpool jump out. Brentford’s and Luton’s doubles, on the other hand, look like a real challenge, on paper at least. Bear in mind that Liverpool and Luton (plus Chelsea and Spurs) blank in GW26. In any case, the doubles dominate our fantasy picks for gameweek 25.
Before continuing to the actual picks, we also want to briefly highlight some of the single gameweek sides whose fantasy assets could deliver nicely this weekend. On Saturday, for example, Aston Villa visit Turf Moor and Bournemouth travel to Fulham before Spurs host Wolves. On Sunday, Brighton and Manchester United’s away games, against Sheffield United and Luton respectively, look like encounters worth considering as well.
Don’t forget, the deadline for gameweek 25 is set at 11h00 (UK time) on Saturday, February 17th. If you fancy playing a fantasy premier league game just based on Saturday’s or the Weekend’s fixtures then have a look at FanTeam’s Daily Fantasy Games (18+ only).
Most transferred in/transferred out players (as per February 15th, 2024)
| TRANSFERS OUT | TRANSFERS IN | POSSIBLE REASONS | |
| GK | Areola (WHU), Alisson (LIV), Leno (FUL) | Pickford (EVE), Alisson (LIV), Flekken (BRE) | DGW25 |
| DEF | Alexander-Arnold (LIV), Porro (TOT), Zinchenko (ARS) | Gabriel (ARS), Aké (MCI), Van Dijk (LIV) | DGW25, Alexander-Arnold + Zinchenko injury doubts, BGW26 |
| MID | Bowen (WHU), Palmer (CHE), Richarlison (TOT) | Jota (LIV), Foden (MCI), Diaz (LIV) | DGW25, Foden form, BGW26 |
| FOR | Solanke (BOU), Watkins (AST), Alvarez (MCI) | Haaland (MCI), Darwin (LIV), Hojlund (MUN) | DGW25, Haaland fit and back scoring, Hojlund form |
Premium pick
On his return to full fitness in gameweek 23, after an injury kept him out of action since gameweek 16, Erling Haaland (£14.4m) slightly underwhelmed with “just” an assist and 5 FPL points away at Brentford. Wasn’t he supposed to score at least a brace in every game? We’re joking, of course, but less than a week later, against Everton in GW24, he did exactly that. With an Expected Goal Involvement of 0.79, the Norwegian forward still managed 2 goals for a 13-pointer in the official fantasy game. This suggests that he might just continue where he left off in GW16, when he already had 14 goals and 5 assists to his name from 15 Premier League starts. Up next for Erling and his friends is a double gameweek 25, featuring two home encounters (Chelsea and Brentford), so we really didn’t have a choice in terms of our premium fantasy pick for this round. What’s more, like many fantasy managers, we’re considering the Triple Captain for Haaland.
Non-premium pick
One thing we didn’t mention when talking about Haaland is the considerable risk of rotation that looms over Manchester City this gameweek. As we know, this is always a concern when considering Man City assets, but extra when they are doubling. Haaland is probably rotation-proof at the moment (kind of), but that doesn’t go for a majority of the squad. Still, we have decided to go for Phil Foden (£8.0m) as our non-premium fantasy pick for double gameweek 25. Considering Foden’s recent form, with 4 goals and 4 assists in his last seven Premier League starts, we expect him to accumulate at least 120 minutes of action over the coming double, which is enough for us to include him here. On top of that, the England youngster has been a guaranteed starter for City over the past weeks, playing 90 minutes in each of the club’s last eight league games. With home games against Chelsea and Brentford coming up, we wouldn’t be surprised to see him add a few to his current league goal (8) and assist (7) tallies.
The budget enabler
We recommended Luton striker Elijah Adebayo (£4.9m), whole name Elijah Anuoluwapo Oluwaferanmi Oluwatomi Oluwalana Ayomikulehin Adebayo, as a stand-out budget enabler in the build-up to gameweek 24 for a couple of reasons. First, the Hatters were preparing for a home game against Sheffield United and Adebayo was coming into that game in good form, scoring 4 goals between gameweeks 20 and 23. Second, we figured that bringing him in for gameweek 24 meant thinking ahead to double gameweek 25 already as well, when Luton play at home to Man United before rolling up to Anfield. Keeping that in mind, it only makes sense to repeat Adebayo as our budget fantasy pick as we prepare for the DGW25 deadline, especially after his assist for his side’s only goal (he won the penalty albeit his header accidentally hit a defender’s arm). That made it three consecutive league games with at least one attacking return for the attacker, which makes him our preferred budget-enabling fantasy pick for double gameweek 25. It won’t be easy to get something from it for Luton, but if they do, Adebayo involvement looks inevitable at the moment.
The differential
With Alexander-Arnold ruled out of the Carabao Cup, which takes place on February 25th, a potentially huge (and very budget-friendly) differential for double gameweek 25 presented himself. Conor Bradley (£4.1m) shone from the moment he had to step in for TAA, providing an assist in the 0-4 victory over Bournemouth in gameweek 21 and then scoring a goal and providing 2 assists in the 4-1 victory over Chelsea. The Northern Ireland international then missed the next two games and is currently flagged in the official game following the passing of his father, but he returned to training earlier this week. Whether it will be him or Joe Gomez who will rack up more minutes over the coming double against Brentford (away) and Luton (home), we’re not sure, but our feeling says that Bradley will be the one. Therefore, if you have the luxury of being able to bring in a double gameweek player who might not get many more minutes on the longer term, meaning that he will likely have to be transferred out again in a few weeks’ time, Bradley could be a very interesting differential fantasy pick.
The (vice-)captaincy
It’s Haaland for the Man City double of home games against Chelsea and Brentford. Perhaps we’re even giving him the Triple Captain.
Plenty of alternatives on offer if you’ve got picking-City-players-in-a-double-gameweek-induced PTSD, though. Those include Darwin Nuñez for Liverpool’s double against Brentford (away) and Luton (home), his teammate Diogo Jota and Tottenham’s Richarlison for his home game versus Wolves. For the real differential captain hunters, Brentford’s Ivan Toney could be golden for the double against Liverpool at home and Man City away, as could Luton Town’s Elijah Adebayo.