Gameweek 35 represents a second double gameweek in a row, though it’s a considerably smaller double compared to DGW34. Just two teams are doubling this week, including Tottenham Hotspur, who were the only side to blank in FPL double gameweek 34. Unfortunately, we feel that neither of the doubling teams’ fixture combinations look particularly attractive from a fantasy point of view.
| TEAM | FIXTURE 1 | FIXTURE 2 |
| Chelsea | Aston Villa (away) | Spurs (home) |
| Spurs | Arsenal (home) | Chelsea (away) |
Before we continue, we also want to mention that, at the time of writing, there is still one game of double gameweek 34 left to be played. Tonight (Thursday), Brighton will be hosting Manchester City in a game that could see the visitors go 2 points clear at the top of the Premier League table after Liverpool’s shock defeat in the Merseyside Derby. Keep an eye on developments in and around that game, especially if you are considering transfers that involve City and/or Brighton assets.
Check out FISO’s FPL Forum for the latest discussion and don’t forget, the deadline for gameweek 35 is set at 11h00 (UK time) on Saturday, April 27th, 2024. 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 April 25th, 2024)
| TRANSFERS OUT | TRANSFERS IN | POSSIBLE REASONS | |
| GK | Areola (WHU), Dubravka (NEW), Neto (BOU) | Onana (MUN), Vicario (TOT), Petrovic (CHE) | DGW35 |
| DEF | Udogie (TOT), Van Dijk (LIV), Bradley (LIV) | Schär (NEW), Gusto (CHE), Dalot (MUN) | DGW35, Bradley injury, Udogie injury doubt |
| MID | Salah (LIV), Saka (ARS), Diaz (LIV) | Son (TOT), Fernandes (MUN), Gordon (NEW) | DGW35, Salah/Saka too few returns to justify price |
| FOR | Darwin (LIV), Haaland (MCI), Solanke (BOU) | Isak (NEW), Jackson (CHE), Watkins (AST) | DGW35, Haaland injury doubt |
Premium pick
Even though Mo Salah and Erling Haaland have relatively favourable away games this weekend, against West Ham and Nottingham Forest respectively, we are going with Son Heung-Min (£10.1m) as our premium fantasy pick this week. The South Korean forward might not have as favourable-looking fixtures coming up as the other two mentioned previously, but he does have a double this gameweek. First, there is the North London Derby against Arsenal at the Emirates, followed by a visit to Stamford Bridge, home of possibly the most incomprehensible Chelsea team we have seen in a long time. No easy games by any stretch of the imagination, but picking Son means we’re picking a world-class attacker who can deliver against any opponent. As far as his returns go this season, he has managed 15 goals and 9 assists in 28 league starts so far, and we can see him add a few in DGW35, especially against Chelsea later in the week. Oh, and he’ll be starting both games as well.
Non-premium pick
To be honest, we are a bit surprised that it took so long for Cole Palmer (£6.2m) to break out of our budget fantasy pick category, or in other words, for his price tag to grow beyond the £6.0m mark. Just to refresh your memory: the youngster transferred from the Manchester City bench to Chelsea’s heap of multi-million signings on the final day of the summer transfer window for about £ 42 million, got a starting price tag of £5.0m from FPL Towers, and proceeded to bang out 20 goals and 10 assists in just 23 league starts. Only Ollie Watkins has scored more than Palmer’s current 208 FPL points, whose average per league game so far sits at no less than 9 FPL points. We haven’t looked into the FPL history books in great detail, but we’re pretty sure the Chelsea attacker is one of the best-value fantasy assets to ever grace the official fantasy game. He now has Aston Villa away and Spurs at home coming up in DGW35, and despite Chelsea’s shocking lack of reliability in terms of performances and results, Palmer has shown this season that we can count on him. Therefore, that’s what we are doing by making him our stand-out non-premium fantasy pick for double gameweek 35.
The budget enabler
Though not as dramatic as Chelsea’s 2023-24 campaign, Manchester United’s season so far has not exactly been fantastic either. Manager Erik ten Hag’s men do manage to grind out results most of the time, but truly convincing performances have been few and far between this season. At an individual level though, there have been a few highlights and one of those is the definite breakthrough of Alejandro Garnacho (£5.0m). The Argentinian winger started the season on and off the bench, but managed to clinch a spot in the United starting eleven around gameweek 10, which he has managed to hold on ever since. In 25 league starts so far, Garnacho has delivered 7 goals and 7 assists for a total of 120 FPL points, which is not bad for a player carrying such a light price tag. What makes him particularly interesting as a budget enabler, on top of him being a nailed-on starter with proven points potential, is the fact that United have two very favourable fixtures coming up. First up is a home game against Burnley on Saturday, followed by a visit to Crystal Palace next weekend. In other words, we don’t think there are many better budget enablers in the official fantasy game than Garnacho at this moment.
The differential
At the moment of writing, Jean-Philippe Mateta (£5.1m) is still just within the limits of our differential fantasy pick category, so we’re including him this week. The Crystal Palace has been on fire of late, scoring 5 goals and providing 1 assist in his last four league games, while managing 8 goals and 2 assists in his last ten league outings. Overall, the Frenchman has already scored 11 goals and provided 6 assists from 21 league starts this season, which already constitutes the best Premier League season of his career so far. The run-in for The Eagles is not the easiest, but at the same time, we do see opportunities for Mateta to add a few more to his impressive totals. In gameweek 35, Palace travel to Craven Cottage, which is followed by a home game against Manchester United. The remaining two matches after that are Wolves away and finally, Aston Villa at home on the final matchday. If you’re looking for a cheap forward with considerable differential value, Mateta is definitely worth looking into.
The (vice-)captaincy
As mentioned earlier, the doubles for those teams playing twice this week are not great in terms of fixtures, but we still think captaining a double gameweek player is the way to go here. That’s why we have put the armband on Heung-Min Son for double gameweek 35.
In terms of double gameweek players, Chelsea’s Cole Palmer also feels like a perfect choice. If you are not convinced and are prepared to captain a player with a single fixture, the likes of Alexander Isak and Anthony Gordon at home to Sheffield United, Bruno Fernandes at home to Burnley and Erling Haaland away at Forest are worth considering.