Did you follow the “common wisdom” from the Double Gameweek 24 preparations and did you captain Mohamed Salah? The you must be pretty happy with yourself right about now, seeing as the Egyptian superstar (for a change) delivered big in Liverpool’s first fixture away at Bournemouth’s Vitality Stadium. He scored both of the goals in Liverpool’s 0-2 victory for a 16-point haul and the Reds still have the visit to Goodison Park coming up tonight (Wednesday night, February 12th) where Salah also got a goal and an assist. That’s why we do recommend waiting at least for the result of tonight’s game before making any transfer decisions with regard to Gameweek 25.
Or better said, DOUBLE Gameweek 25, because the Fantasy Premier League is offering up consecutive double gameweeks. And what’s more, after Bournemouth away and Everton way in DGW24, Liverpool are doubling again in DGW25, together with Aston Villa this time.
| TEAM | DGW24 FIXTURE 1 | DGW24 FIXTURE 2 |
| Aston Villa | Ipswich Town (home) | Liverpool (home) |
| Liverpool | Wolves (home) | Aston Villa (away) |
In other words, there is quite a lot to take into account in the build-up to Double Gameweek 25, which kicks off on Friday evening. Make sure to check out the Everton – Liverpool game on Wednesday night (a 2-2 draw with a last second equaliser by Everton), keep an eye on the exploits of Premier League teams in Europe (yes, that is a major factor again as well) and don’t forget the doubling sides. Both the Reds and the Villans have juicy double match-ups coming up.
Don’t forget, the deadline for gameweek 25 is set at 18h30 (UK time) on Friday, February 14th, 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 February 12th, 2025)
| TRANSFERS OUT | TRANSFERS IN | POSSIBLE REASONS | |
| GK | Sanchez (CHE), Raya (ARS), Flekken (BRE) | Sels (NFO), Henderson (CRY), Martinez (AST) | |
| DEF | Hall (NEW), Alexander-Arnold (LIV), Martinez (MUN) | Kerkez (BOU), Gabriel (ARS), Aina (NFO) | Bournemouth form + fixtures, Alexander-Arnold injury doubt (now fit), Martinez injured |
| MID | Gordon (NEW), Amad (MUN), Diaz (LIV) | Kluivert (BOU), Rogers (AST), Mbeumo (BRE) | DGW25, Mbeumo and Kluivert form + fixtures, Gordon injury doubt |
| FOR | Isak (NEW), Watkins (AST), Jackson (CHE) | Wood (NFO), Mateta (CRY), Gakpo (LIV) | DGW25, Mateta and Wood form, Watkins and Jackson injury doubts |
Premium pick
Obviously, it’s Mohamed Salah (£13.7m). Liverpool have a double coming up for the second time in a row and even without having played the second match of their Double Gameweek 24, Salah is already sitting on 16 FPL points. With 21 goals and 13 assists from 23 league starts, the Egyptian is the best attacking player in the Premier League season bar none. And we’ve still got fourteen matchdays to go, mind you. Is he going to break his incredible 2017-2018 season record of 32 goals, 12 assists and 303 FPL points? No one knows, but what we can tell you is that he is well on his way. In a gameweek as complex as Double Gameweek 25, with so many factors to take into account, don’t complicate life more than strictly necessary; just take Salah as your premium fantasy pick for GW25 (and captain him as well, but more about that later). Oh, and Liverpool are facing Wolves at home and Aston Villa away in Double Gameweek 25.
Non-premium pick
Where the premium fantasy pick for Double Gameweek 25 was a no-brainer for us, the non-premium category gave us a bit more of a headache. Not because there are no good options available (there are), but because our initial first choice is currently flagged in the official fantasy game. Ollie Watkins should be a shoo-in for Ipswich at home plus Liverpool at home in Aston Villa’s Double Gameweek 25, but that would mean going against conventional FPL wisdom of not risking a flagged played for a double gameweek, as the risk of simply getting him for one (or even none) of the two games is real. For that reason, we have decided to play it safe and go with Cody Gakpo (£7.6m) instead. We are aware that this is a repetition of last week’s non-premium fantasy pick, but with Liverpool’s consecutive doubles, the Dutch forward is simply a very good option. He has started every league game since his feature from the bench back in GW11 and is currently at what we can only hope in the start of a nice run of attacking returns. Gakpinho got a brace plus an assist in GW23 against Ipswich at home and then an assist in Liverpool’s first fixture of DGW24, against Bournemouth last weekend. The second game, against Everton, is played on Wednesday night where he didn’t return, after which the Reds return to action against Wolves at home on Sunday. Their second DGW25 fixture, against Aston Villa at Villa Park, is planned for next Wednesday, February 23rd, and we expect Gakpo to feature heavily in all of these games.
The budget enabler
Even without a double gameweek, the Aston Villa roster has been a rich source of budget enablers so far this season. So, now that the Villans have got a nice double coming up, consisting of Ipswich Town at home followed by Liverpool at home, it’s no surprise that a Villa player features in budget category this week as well. We are, of course, talking about Morgan Rogers (£5.6m), who has been our stand-out budget fantasy pick on more than a few occasions this season. The thing is, he simply represents incredible value. For a player who started the season with a price tag of £5.0m, the fact alone that he is a nailed-on part of the attack of a top-10 (and possibly even top-7) side is great. Add to that his current 6 goals and 5 assists from 23 league starts, and what we’ve got here is a bonified FPL budget gem.
The differential
Our differential fantasy pick for Double Gameweek 25 could just as well been our budget enabler of the week, but we’ve decided to put Ethan Nwaneri (£4.5m) in here for now. The Arsenal youngster is having his breakthrough season and is far from being a starter for the moment. At the same time, manager Mikel Arteta is giving him opportunities of late and he has definitely showed himself during those few minutes he get. Nwaneri actually currently sits on 3 goals from just three league starts and a total of 281 Premier League minutes, which includes a goal in Gameweek 24 against Manchester City. We have a feeling that he might be getting more minutes in DGW25 and beyond, at least on the short to medium term, as the Gunners are dealing with a bit of an injury crisis amongst their attacking players. The likes of Kai Havertz, Gabriel Jesus, Bukayo Saka and Gabriel Martinelli are all ruled out for the upcoming game against Leicester city at the King Power Stadium. The Foxes have the leakiest defence in the entire league and we’re hoping Nwaneri, with his current ownership of just 0.8%, will get plenty of opportunities to benefit from that.
The (vice-)captaincy
Mo Salah for Liverpool’s Double Gameweek 25 against Wolves (home) and Aston Villa (away).
If for some reason you feel Salah is a bad option for Double Gameweek 25, then Martin Odegaard away at Ipswich Town or Erling Haaland, after his 2 mid-week goals in the Champions League, at home to Newcastle could be interesting alternatives.
Riskier options for the armband include Cole Palmer away at Brighton, the flagged Ollie Watkins for his double against Ipswich Town and Liverpool (both at Villa Park), and Justin Kluivert for Bournemouth’s visit to Southampton.
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