Fantasy Premier League: The differentials for big gains in Double Gameweek 32

New York Times

10-04-2025

Double gameweek season is upon us, a time when big gains can be made.
We have a double gameweek next and one in Gameweek 33, followed by a blank gameweek in 34.
Newcastle United and Crystal Palace have a double this week, so we will focus on them, casting an eye on some low-owned options which might help you shoot up the ranks.
We will also look at some single gameweek players that might help you rise the ranks, too.
Newcastle are at home to Manchester United on Sunday and at home to Palace on Wednesday.
Alexander Isak (£9.5m) is the clear best captaincy choice for this week and some will even use the Triple Captaincy chip on him. He will be owned by the majority of engaged managers and Jacob Murphy's (£5.1m) ownership will rise after his brace against Leicester City.
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However, there are still a few low-owned options for Newcastle that could help you make the difference.
Tino Livramento (£4.6m) not only looks great value, but he's nailed to start at left-back. He has attacking threat and picked up an assist in his last game, against Leicester City.
Livramento is only owned by 6.4 per cent of managers at the time of writing. The other advantage with him is that he is cheap enough to hold on your bench for the remainder of the season and you can play him for his easier fixtures.
If you are looking for more upside in your defence, then Kieran Trippier (£5.6m) is a fine option.
Trippier hasn't had a great campaign due to injuries and losing his place early in the season, but with Lewis Hall (£4.8m) out for the season, Trippier is now certain to start at right-back.
He managed one goal and 10 assists last season, so he can offer points at both ends of the pitch. He also takes some set pieces and has many avenues to points. The England international is only owned by 4.3 per cent of managers at the moment.
He is pricier than the likes of Livramento and Dan Burn (£4.5m), but he could well be worth the extra outlay.
Finally, in attack, Harvey Barnes (£5.9m) has an ownership of only 1.3 per cent. He has started the last three games, picking up two assists, one goal and played 90 minutes in the last two.
He has filled in for the suspended and then injured Anthony Gordon (£7.4m), who wasn't in the squad against Leicester in Gameweek 31.
Eddie Howe's update after the game didn't look too positive for the England international either: 'Anthony wasn't close (to being in the squad at Leicester). He hasn't been able to train with us yet. He's still feeling the effects of that tackle with England. We hope that we may see him soon, but I've got no certainty on that.'
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So it looks like Barnes' spot is safe for now and certainly for Double Gameweek 32. He is £0.8m more expensive than Murphy, but he does historically have more goal threat and his underlying numbers back that up with an xG (expected goals) of 0.36 per 90 compared to 0.28 for Murphy this season.
He scored 13 goals for Leicester City in the 2022-23 season, so him being given a run in the team can be a great option.
Jean-Philippe Mateta (£7.7m), Ismaila Sarr (£5.7m) and Daniel Munoz (£5.2m) are the three most popular options in the top 10,000 and top 100,000. Mateta and Munoz are around 50-60 per cent owned, and Sarr around 35 per cent.
Eberechi Eze (£6.8m) has only a 10 per cent ownership in the top 100,000, so if you are looking for the biggest differential from Palace, it's him — and he might well even be the best option.
He has come into a bit of form, with two assists in his last match, and he's also been playing plenty more minutes lately. The England international has started the last five in the league, averaging 88 minutes per start.
He has goals and assists in his locker and is on set-pieces, too, so has many routes to picking up points.
In general, Palace players will be quite highly owned, but they won't be captained by many. So, another differential path is to captain one of them. If I were to go for a captain from Oliver Glasner's side, it would be one of Mateta or Eze.
The fixtures aren't the best, but there is a high likelihood that they score against both of their next opponents: away to Manchester City on Saturday and away to Newcastle on Wednesday — and one attacking return per game should end up with a good score.
Our priority should be to maximise the double gameweek picks, but there are still some great single gameweek options this week too if you already have the full roster of double gameweek options.
Aston Villa players are an interesting one as they have a fantastic fixture against Southampton (A) and then a double against Newcastle (H) and Man City (A).
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On paper, it looks like a great entry point to bring their assets in and many who are bench boosting in Double Gameweek 33 will have a few of their players.
I think we might be able to make a good prediction of how Unai Emery will line up against Southampton by the team he picked against Paris Saint-Germain. If Marcus Rashford (£6.7m) or Marco Asensio (£6.2m) don't start, then I think they will play against Southampton.
Rashford, Ollie Watkins (£8.9m), Asensio and Morgan Rogers (£5.6m) are all low-owned now. The former three are owned by less than 10 per cent of managers in the top 100,000 with Rogers around 20 per cent.
Their ownerships will no doubt increase as we approach Double Gameweek 33, but if you are willing to take the risk and jump on a week early, you could profit hugely.