Latest news with #BenchBoost
BBC News
02-05-2025
- Sport
- BBC News
FPL special - recap of the best gameweek 35 tips with Holly Shand
Focus on the Fantasy 606 title race Alistair Bruce-Ball Commentator on BBC Radio 5 Live Image source, Fantasy Premier League We're enjoying our closest title race ever on the Fantasy 606 podcast with Statman Dave just six points behind me at the top of the table. All of us are back to our 'normal' teams having played the Free Hit in gameweek 34 so it's about trying to make those couple of signings over the next four gameweeks that are going to make the difference. Dave has announced he's bringing Ollie Watkins into his team this week which makes a lot of sense given the injury to Marcus Rashford. I'm sticking with Alexander Isak in my front line so there's one point of difference between us and Dave is also a Kevin de Bruyne owner who turned a load of mini-leagues on their heads three seasons ago when he scored four goals against Wolves who he's up against tonight. The manager of our listeners' team, Tim, also went for Ollie Watkins this week and is giving him the armband for the home game against Fulham. The listeners' team is currently 56 points off top spot with the Bench Boost still to play although we now know there won't be any further double gameweeks this season to try and maximise that. If you want to come on the Fantasy 606 podcast to manage the listeners' team then please send us an email on fantasy606@
South China Morning Post
19-04-2025
- Sport
- South China Morning Post
Fantasy Premier League: here's my tip for the best possible team for Double Gameweek 33
Let us cut to the chase here: if you had followed my advice in the previous two FPL articles, you would have scored over 113 points from my tips alone. Advertisement Building on the 63 points I scored in Gameweek 31, I bagged an additional 93 points in Double Gameweek 32, which concluded with Newcastle's 5-0 demolishing of Crystal Palace on Wednesday night. My second green arrow in a row has lifted more than 50,000 places up the world rankings to sit in 145,409th, my highest rank since the dizzy heights of 57,700 in Gameweek 4. This week, I am going to make it very easy for you by highlighting the best last-minute team for Double Gameweek 33. Aston Villa's Morgan Rogers (left) will almost certainly play 180 minutes in Double Gameweek 33. Photo: dpa Lars' line-up Advertisement If I still had my Bench Boost, I would be using it this week as it is very easy to get at least 11 players from Arsenal, Aston Villa, Crystal Palace and Manchester City, who all play twice.
BBC News
10-04-2025
- Sport
- BBC News
How to navigate double gameweeks - FPL tips & team of week
Double gameweek season has arrived in Fantasy Premier League and it starts with a simple two-team one in gameweek means a lot of FPL players will have similar teams - or at least similar players who double - but there are still plenty of questions to I bench boost? Should I play the Triple Captain chip? And which Crystal Palace and Newcastle players are the best picks?Our team of the week should help you with a few of those dilemmas. Set your calendar reminders for Friday 11 April when expert FPL Heisenberg is a special guest on the BBC Sport website for a live FPL question and answer session at 14:30 BST. Bench Boost in gameweek 32? The next few weeks look like this:Gameweek 32 - double gameweek for Newcastle and Crystal PalaceGameweek 33 - double gameweek for Manchester City, Aston Villa, Arsenal and Crystal PalaceGameweek 34 - blank gameweek for Manchester City, Aston Villa, Arsenal and Crystal PalaceGameweek 35 - normal gameweekAnd we know the FA Cup final might bring more doubles in 36 and blanks in got a massive chance for big points, especially if you've kept a few of your chips back.A bench boost would work this week or next. It's obviously team dependant and I'd plan out your squad for both weeks and decide which one feels the most exciting. You're not going to get a full squad of players going twice in either week, so a lot will depend on your single gameweek Forest, Brighton and Chelsea players look good this gameweek 33, Liverpool visit Leicester and you could put in West Ham and Manchester United players against Southampton and Wolves you haven't yet used your wildcard, now could be the time to set you up for two double gameweeks. Should I play the FPL Triple Captain chip in week 32? Picking when you are going to play your Triple Captain chip might be a good way of setting your strategy for the rest of the season - and deciding when Bench Boost is played.I think there are three main choices.1. Newcastle's Alexander Isak this week - safe, high-upside, but lots of players will make the same decision so if you are chasing points look elsewhere.2. Arsenal's Bukayo Saka in week 33 - Ipswich away and Palace at home is juicy, Saka can easily put back-to-back hauls together. But will he start both games?3. Wait for week 36 - your hope is Manchester City get to the FA Cup final as one of their games in a potential double would be Southampton away. It's risky waiting this long but could well pay off. How did last week's FPL team do? Captain Isak did not pay off, with no goal contributions in a 3-0 Newcastle win. Saka and fellow Arsenal forward Gabriel Martinelli being benched also Jacob Murphy (16 points) and Liam Delap (8) saved the day for 47 to the latest Fantasy 606 podcast on BBC Sounds. Keeper and defence Matz Sels, Nottingham Forest, keeper, £5.1m - Everton (h)The top-scoring keeper, the second-most clean sheets in the league (13) and a home game against a hardly-prolific Everton don't need underlying statistics to back up this pick but here is one anyway - Everton's expected goals (xG) on the road (14.18) is lower than every other team, except Leicester and Southampton, who are both set for Williams, Nottingham Forest, £4.4m - Everton (h)Doubling up on a top FPL defence this week. You might look at the points total and think Nikola Milenkovic (£5.1m) is the best Forest asset, having scored four Williams is the underlying data pick. Since gameweek 25, Milenkovic has scored twice from four shots, two of which were on by contrast, leads the team with 10 shots, seven key passes, one big chance created and an xG of is a threat from corners, but Williams has more avenues to points from open Munoz, Crystal Palace, £5.2m - Man City and Newcastle (both a)If Munoz isn't in your team already then what have you been doing? He's more of a right winger than a defender, and only Manchester City's Josko Gvardiol has more shots in the box, goals and big chances as a double doesn't scream clean sheets, but Munoz doesn't need those!Kieran Trippier, Newcastle, £5.6m - Man Utd and Crystal Palace (both h)If you can afford him, Trippier is worth the punt as a Newcastle defender. Fellow full-back Tino Livramento hauled last week, but that was his first assist of the season. Trippier could be taking free-kicks and corners - he's been there and done it as an FPL legend so how about a trip down memory lane? Midfield Kaoru Mitoma, Brighton, £6.5m - Leicester (h)Backing a forward player against Leicester pays off almost every week and Mitoma is easily Brighton's most reliable most shots, shots in the box, on target, key passes, xG, goals - I could go Murphy had a haul from the flanks against the Foxes, now it is Mitoma's Salah, Liverpool, £13.8m - West Ham (h)It is now three scoreless games in the past four for Salah, but the question is 'what would you do with the money if you sold him?'.West Ham at home is a good fixture and Salah can play terribly and still get two returns in any game. So unless you are in a major budget crunch for double gameweek players just hang on to the Egyptian!Cole Palmer, Chelsea, £10.7m - Ipswich (h)I don't blame you if you've been scared off by Palmer's form and last week's benching, but this fixture is too enticing to ignore him on the bench against Brentford didn't exactly work out for manager Enzo Maresca so I'd expect him to play - and Ipswich have conceded more than two goals per a normal gameweek, Palmer would be a captaincy Murphy, Newcastle, £5.1m - Man Utd and Crystal Palace (both h)Anthony Gordon's recent injury makes the pick of a Newcastle midfielder for the double gameweek a simple guaranteed minutes, on form and the winger has 16 goal involvements (GI) this season, which works out at 0.79 GI per 90 minutes on the Eze (vice-captain), Crystal Palace, £6.8m - Man City and Newcastle (both a)Palace's double is not great but you have to take a punt and picking Eze over Ismaila Sarr (£5.7m) depends on how much you value underlying data - and what you take from has more FPL points this season and his 17 big chances is bettered by only five midfielders - two of them the pricey Salah and Eagles forward also has seven goals from an xG of 7.3, while Eze has two from an xG of 6.1 - so the more expensive Palace man is massively underperforming and perhaps 'due' a taken nearly double the shots on goal too, while Sarr's xG in the past two games is there's no correct choice here and budget might dictate who you choose. Strikers Alexander Isak (captain), Newcastle, £9.5m - Man Utd and Crystal Palace (both h)A simple choice for captain this week. Don't be put off by a relative dry patch of one goal in three has hit double figures seven times this season. That's the kind of potential you want and why the Swede is a major Triple Captain Mateta, Crystal Palace, £7.7m - Man City and Newcastle (both a)Another easy double gameweek choice. Scored a lovely goal last week, and was motoring before his recent head injury with eight goals in an eight-game if you watched Mateta in the win over Brighton, his finish oozed confidence and he looks ready to hit top gear. Subs bench Bart Verbruggen, Brighton, keeper, £4.5m - Leicester (h)Pervis Estupinan, Brighton, defender, £4.9m - Leicester (h)Jakub Kiwior, Arsenal, defender, £4.8m - Brentford (h)Iliman Ndiaye, Everton, striker, £5.2m - Nottingham Forest (a)Team total cost: £99.9mThe team of the week is selected based on current FPL prices to fit within a £100m budget, as if you were playing a Free Hit. Player to watch Mikel Merino, Arsenal, midfielder, £6.1mAre FPL players sleeping on the Spaniard? A midfielder playing out of position as a striker, two goals in his past three and 90 minutes in six straight double gameweek is going to be tricky to navigate as it looks like they are going through to the Champions League semi-finals. But Mikel Arteta can't rest every player and Merino has fresh legs after mostly featuring from the bench in the first half of the season. Team to target West Ham - Liverpool (a), Southampton (h), Brighton (a)That Southampton game jumps out in gameweek 33, especially for those considering a bench boost. Jarrod Bowen (£7.6m) is the standout pick, in Hammers could also have a double gameweek if Nottingham Forest knock Manchester City out of the FA Cup.
New York Times
17-03-2025
- Sport
- New York Times
Fantasy Premier League: What we learned from Gameweek 29 – Palmer woes and how to plan for Gameweek 30
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. Advertisement 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. Advertisement 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. — 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.
New York Times
14-03-2025
- Sport
- New York Times
Fantasy Premier League: Selling Mohamed Salah might be the best Gameweek 29 strategy
Mohamed Salah is commonly called the best-ever Fantasy Premier League asset — and it's hard to argue. He has been on a different level this season, scoring 27 goals and amassing 17 assists, while also breaking his own 303-point record that he set in the 2017-18 season. He sits on 306 points with nine games to go. Advertisement It might seem a bad idea to ditch Salah when he is having the season of his life, but there is an argument for selling the Egyptian. Let's explain why. Liverpool blank in Gameweek 29 means selling Salah (£13.8m) is an easy route to buying Erling Haaland (£14.7m), who looks to be the best captain for the next two gameweeks as Manchester City host Brighton & Hove Albion and Leicester City. It's not only that — if we look at Liverpool's fixtures for the remaining league games, there are few gameweeks where Salah will be the best captain. Liverpool blank this week and we have at least two, possibly four, more double gameweeks to come, yet Arne Slot's side are very likely to not double again this season. We can see from the table above that there are good alternatives to Salah. Also, selling him now doesn't necessarily mean going without him for the whole season. You should be more confident selling Salah this week if you are wildcarding in Gameweek 30 or Gameweek 31. It allows you to take advantage of Blank Gameweek 29 and also gives you the choice to re-sign Salah, which means you don't have to commit for the rest of the season. Yes, you will lose value in Salah and have to buy him back at a higher price, but at this time of the season, it doesn't matter as much. Points are better than team value. Haaland and another Manchester City asset are great picks from now until the end of the season given their next two immediate fixtures and double gameweek coming up. If you plan to play your Bench Boost in one of the upcoming double gameweeks, it will be difficult to get a good 15-man squad with Salah, Haaland, Alexander Isak (£9.4m) and Cole Palmer (£10.9m), and the Egyptian is the one who releases the most funds. If you have already used your Bench Boost, you should be much less inclined to sell Salah. Ditching the game's highest-scoring player is a gamble — but if you aren't ranked where you want to be, this is the time to start taking calculated risks. There is an argument that with the league title all but won, we might see Liverpool take their foot off the gas and maybe rotate a bit more as the season draws to an end. However, they are out of the Champions League, so after Sunday's Carabao Cup final against Newcastle United, they will only have the league to focus on. Advertisement Salah is also chasing the single-season Premier League assists record of 20 (he has 17 official assists) and will want to cement the Golden Boot, so he is unlikely to see a reduction in minutes. To get Haaland, other sacrifices could be made, such as Trent Alexander-Arnold (£7.5m), who picked up an injury in the Champions League, Palmer and Isak. You will likely have to get rid of two of these three to afford the Norwegian. Selling Palmer and/or Isak has risks. Isak blanks this week but plays Brentford (H) and Leicester (A) in gameweeks 30 and 31. Also, with a Double Gameweek 32 for Newcastle, you are going to want him for that week. Chelsea travel to Arsenal this week, but Palmer should be back among the points from Gameweek 30 onwards when his side face Tottenham Hotspur (H), Brentford (A) and Ipswich Town (H). There is a strong argument to sell Salah, but it has to be this week. I would only do it if I planned to wildcard in gameweeks 30 or 31. This lets you attack the next few gameweeks and reassess Salah when you play the wildcard. We should have the fixtures for the rest of the season, including Double Gameweek 33 and Blank Gameweek 34, before the Gameweek 30 deadline. Selling comes down to your risk appetite. Swapping out Salah isn't a 'hit and hope' strategy — there are good reasons to do it. I am leaning towards selling this week to bring in Haaland. I plan to wildcard in Gameweek 31, Bench Boost in Double Gameweek 33, and Free Hit in Blank Gameweek 34. I might go without Salah for the remainder of the season, which will allow me to build a better overall team for when I use my Bench Boost and generally adopt a high-risk, high-reward strategy to end the season. When I use my Free Hit in Gameweek 34, I will have Salah back in the team for Liverpool's home game against Spurs.
