Fantasy Premier League: What we learned from Gameweek 29 – Palmer woes and how to plan for Gameweek 30

New York Times

17-03-2025

Blank Gameweek 29 was quite low-scoring in Fantasy Premier League, which was expected given four teams weren't playing.
The match of the weekend was Nottingham Forest's 4-2 win against Ipswich Town, where Anthony Elanga (£5.3m) scored twice.
Surprisingly, there were no goals for the most popular captain Chris Wood (£7.3m), who has failed to score in his last five games, while Cole Palmer (£10.9m) missed out entirely after missing Chelsea's 1-0 loss against Arsenal with a muscle injury.
Here are the main FPL talking points ahead of the final international break of the season.
The Chelsea playmaker has no goals and one FPL assist since Gameweek 22, a run that includes a blank against Southampton (H) and a missed penalty against Leicester City (H).
His absence against Arsenal this week was unexpected and concerning for owners. Palmer was also subbed off early in Gameweek 28 against Leicester due to an illness.
We have an international break coming up, so there is plenty of time for Palmer to recover before the next deadline (on Tuesday, April 1 at 6.15pm BST; 1.15pm ET).
Chelsea play Tottenham Hotspur (H), Brentford (A) and Ipswich (H) next, which are all great fixtures for attacking purposes. If Palmer recovers in time, he is one to keep but if his injury is more serious, he is an easy sell. He is too expensive to hold on the bench during the tail end of the season.
Nottingham Forest are still in third after beating Ipswich. They are well and truly in the hunt for a Champions League spot.
Wood has been their standout option in FPL but Elanga, Morgan Gibbs-White (£6.6m) and their starting defenders have been great value, too.
It is not too late to invest in Forest assets and considering the fixtures they have coming up, their players can be great enablers, especially if you are looking to use your Bench Boost chip soon.
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Nico Williams (£4.4m) is the best-value way into Forest's defence and looks nailed in the starting XI. He has started all of their matches since Gameweek 15.
Forest play Manchester United (H), Aston Villa (A), Everton (H), Spurs (A) and Brentford (H) in their next five, so the fixtures are good for them.
Despite being nowhere near their best, Manchester City players should be on your radar, regardless of chip strategy.
Next, they play Leicester (H), who have conceded 65 goals (the second-most in the league, five fewer than Southampton) from an expected goals (xG) conceded of 52.5 (third-worst).
They have also scored the second-fewest goals (25, four more than Southampton) from a league-worst xG of 24.6.
This game is offensively and defensively appealing from a Manchester City standpoint. They also have great fixtures until the end of the season and are very likely to have a double in Gameweek 33.
Find a way to get Erling Haaland (£14.8m) and Josko Gvardiol (£6.0m) into your team — they are the closest things Manchester City have to nailed-on starters.
We have an unusual period coming up — an international break that goes into an FA Cup weekend. This means that Gameweek 30 will kick off on April 1 as a midweek gameweek.
Over the next few weeks, we will have international fixtures and the FA Cup quarter-finals, which will include Fulham, Crystal Palace, Brighton & Hove Albion, Forest, Villa, Bournemouth and Manchester City.
We shouldn't even think about making any transfers before these teams play their matches on Saturday, March 29, and Sunday, March 30. A lot of football is being played over the next fortnight, and players can get injured. Crucially, the FA Cup quarter-final results will determine which teams will have a double gameweek and which teams blank in Gameweek 34.
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We are nearing the end of the season and have a lot of doubles and blanks. If we use our chips right, this is where the most gains will be made, and the FA Cup quarter-finals will probably determine how you plan for the run-in — but we will only have two days to react. So, knowing the permutations beforehand will help you be better prepared.
Here is a handy table from Ben Crellin, which shows the confirmed fixtures for Blank Gameweek 34 and the possible blanks according to the results.
Here's my updated GW34 graphic.
I'll update it later this week with postponement percentages based on the FA Cup QF odds. pic.twitter.com/SIstxWR0E5
— Ben Crellin (@BenCrellin) March 3, 2025
We could get the fixtures for Gameweek 33 and Gameweek 34 before the Gameweek 30 deadline, or at least before the Gameweek 31 deadline.