GW36 DGW Players: Picks and Considerations

We've been planning for this week for a while. At least I have. I'm sure lots of you that are reading this now would've at least made SOME preparation for DGW36.

Without sounding TOO much like an FFS article, I will attempt to delve into the GW36 options, but most importantly I would like to stress on the potential SINGLE Gameweek options that you can/should bench and even play, because some of these players are simply not worth taking out for a -4, and I will spend as much time as possible to help you draw the line between SELL and HOLD.

I'll also touch on any Wildcard strategies people have, as I can imagine there are managers who have planned to use their wildcards now. Congrats if you are doing so. I let mine go in GW6, and the feeling was somewhere along the lines of something I heard quoted by 2D in Gorrilaz' "Double Bass":

"All of which makes me anxious, at times unbearably so".

DGW Planning, 9 April

Dear FPL Managers,

I hope that everyone survived this week's horrendous Gameweek. How the average jumped from 20 points to 32 is still beyond me. Must be that all the ghost teams had their subs come on consisting of Demels and Hooivelds or something.

Since most of you are probably almost well setup for the DGWs with planned Fellaini transfers in, I'll refer a lot to the previous article (which is also on this site) but I'll update the tiers with a new type of recommendation - Worth a Hit. There are managers out there who are very, very keen on profitting off these DGWs and I'm going to offer my 2 cents on who to take hits/ not take hits for and why.

DGW Planning, 5 April

A new twist in the buildup to the DGWs is Bale's ankle injury in the Europa League match last night. The massive Baleout has already begun, so I'll be doing a quick update on what's hot and hopefully by the time you finish reading this you'll have a sound decision in mind. Tiers will also be updated as well (which the Bale tier really).

Updates on DGWs and blanks can be found here.

Visual on the DGWs and blanks can be found here.

IMPORTANT Note: Use this link for now, but treat the CHE GW33 Fixture as "ful" only, and the TOT GW33 fixture as a blank. 

TL;DR - Since the last article,

Arsenal, Man United, Everton, Fulham and West Ham are CONFIRMED to have Double Gameweeks while

Swansea, West Brom and Spurs have blanks.

On top of that, Bale is injured. I refuse to post pics.

The gist of this article will be planning for Gameweeks 33, and possibly Gameweek 36.

I'll also touch on what you should expect out of your Chelsea players, but expect it to be similar to the last article.

This article will cut to the chase and I'll go straight to the strategies involved in tackling these Gameweeks. The tiers will also be automatically updated.

DGW Planning: 1 April

Hope you guys had a good GW31, lots of chatter going on already on GW33 so I'll get right to it. What a goal by Ba.


Updates on DGWs and blanks can be found here.

Visual on the DGWs and blanks can be found here.

IMPORTANT Note: Use this link for now, but treat the CHE GW33 Fixture as "ful" only, and the TOT GW33 fixture as a blank. 

TL;DR - Since the last article, Chelsea have beaten Man United, implying that their game v Spurs will be called off. (Spurs blank). Chelsea will now have 1 game instead of two, while Man United will have 2 games, and Stoke will not have a blank.

The gist of this article will be planning for Gameweeks 33, and possibly Gameweek 36.

I'll also touch on what you should expect out of your Chelsea players, but expect it to be similar to the last article.

This article will cut to the chase and I'll go straight to the strategies involved in tackling these Gameweeks. The tiers will also be automatically updated.

DGW Planning, 24 March

Happy international break guys. It's a week before the games resume and I thought to myself that instead of doing chores, I might as well start making some recommendations, when to get them and what are the pros and cons of picking up said players.

Updates on DGWs and blanks can be found here. 

TL;DR - Since the last article, Fulham v Chelsea have appeared in GW33, implying a DGW for Fulham that Gameweek as well as a GUARANTEED fixture for Chelsea, with a DGW a possibility (similar to Man United).

The gist of this article will be planning for Gameweeks 33, and possibly Gameweek 36.

I'll also touch on what you should expect out of your Chelsea players since as I write this they have beaten Steaua Bucharest and are through to the next round of the Europa Cup.

This article will cut to the chase and I'll go straight to the strategies involved in tackling these Gameweeks. The tiers will also be automatically updated.

DGW Planning - 15March (Will be Updating Together With CocoBomb's news)

Don't ask what level of Candy Crush I'm on.

Updates on DGWs and blanks can be found here. 

TL;DR - Since the last article, City v Wigan has been moved to GW33, while City v West Brom has not been rescheduled. Wigan v Swansea also have officially appeared at GW36.

The gist of this article will be planning for Gameweeks 33, and possibly Gameweek 36.

I'll also touch on what you should expect out of your Chelsea players since as I write this they have beaten Steaua Bucharest and are through to the next round of the Europa Cup.

This article will cut to the chase and I'll go straight to the strategies involved in tackling these Gameweeks. The tiers will also be automatically updated.

Special Piece: GW 29 - Transfer Planning + Talk of the Town

With Projections and Verdicts out of the way, time for a game of Candy Crush and I can start this.

OK let's go. Level 101 woohoo.

Much has been discussed about the dreaded blanks this season. While the past 4 FPL blanks for Sunderland/Reading, Chelsea/Southampton, Liverpool/Swansea and Arsenal/West Ham have been relatively straight forward, the coming FA Cup/EPL clashes  have affected multiple Gameweeks in advance, and the first blow has been landed already.

Gameweek 29. United, Chelsea, Wigan, Everton, Arsenal, City, Fulham and West Ham all didn't play due to the former 4 playing in the FA Cup Quarters. The butterfly effect has caused Arsenal v Everton to resurface at Gameweek 33, which is the only confirmed DGW so far.

Due to Wigan and City beating Everton and Barnsley respectively in the FA Cup, Wigan's game against Swansea, as well as City v West Brom in Gameweek 33 has also disappeared, making Lukaku, any City forward and Kone/Maloney decent pickups after then.

So with this being the only information available so far, this article will serve as a "tracker" of all info available, but I'm hoping to split this into "Transfer Planning' and "Talk of the Town" later in the season (or next season) so that people can see the logic behind my transfers, whether short term or mid term. Expect lots of speculation and fixture planning in the rest of this article.

My WildCard team 12/13

After 2 weeks of tinkering and drafting, the final decisions have been made with my Wildcard team for the second half of the season. There were experiments with 3-5-2, 3-4-3 and even a team revolving around Leighton Baines, but the Liverpool DGW swayed me and this post will be the landmark where I will deviate from most fantasy managers.

I will state my reasons here, as well as recommendations from another friend (which I'll attempt to put up every week and better hopefully), but this is where things get messy. 

Pre-GW 24 Transfers

OK I know that the lesson last week was to wait for the watchlist, but with my WC planning to be played soon, I couldn't afford the price drop of Wilkinson, so I transferred him out.

Pre-GW23 Transfers

Skadoosh. The move to accommodate Walcott, Ruiz and Harte didn't work. 5 points between them. Lesson learnt. Going low risk this week.

So the priority of people "out" are Flops, followed by Injured, then Expecteds with Bad stats. Sounds about right.

Winter Wildcard 2012/2013

Wildcard is here BUM BUM BUMMMMMM. Beyond the countless debates on WC teams, there were many thing to consider, and this post shall not be one of them. This will serve more as a record on what WERE considered, as well my "theoretical XI if I were to WC this week.

Factors considered were (a) fixtures over the 2 weeks (b) what happens after Jan and (c) liquidity and transfer plans.

Guest Article: The Double Gameweek Scenario

Another guest article yay. VanTheMan talks about wildcard choices, his personal 15 and the talk of the town on the winter wildcard. 

Pre-Gameweek 22 Transfers

The high risk transfers didn't exactly work out, but at least the points I made were enough to offset the points deduction. Krul (5) + Nolan (0 since I don't have 11 starters with Nolan) + 4 = 9, Turnbull (3) + Fellaini (5) = 8. Just the 1 point loss. This week however, I'm going really high risk...


So the priority of people "out" are Flops, followed by Injured, then Expecteds with Bad stats. Sounds about right.

Pre-Gameweek 21 Transfers

So from The Verdict, the options were either (A) Michu out, (B) Nastasic out or (C) Nolan out. Went with (C) because 1. No alternatives for Nastasic and 2. Michu's tweeted about being back soon.

So the priority of people "out" are Flops, followed by Injured, then Expecteds with Bad stats. Sounds about right.

Pre-Gameweek 20 Transfers

Broke the rule this Gameweek. Needed Bale. Don't wanna take a hit.


So the priority of people "out" are Flops, followed by Injured, then Expecteds with Bad stats. Sounds about right.

Pre-Gameweek 19 Transfers

Right so the priority of people "out" are Flops, followed by Injured, then Expecteds with Bad stats. Sounds about right.

Guest Article: The Hairy Situation that is Fellaini

I have my first guest article! Many thanks to Ameenkw for writing this up, this article will be up on the Guest Column Archive and I hope that this will be the start of many :D

The Fellaini Dilemma

Fellaini was definitely the name that was mentioned the most in all FPL forums and chats this week. After a few impressive weeks (GW11, 12, 14, 15), his ownership had reached around 47%. As a consequence of his headbutt incident this week, not surprisingly, Fellaini got banned for 3 weeks. This shouldn’t be a surprise since Fellaini is the player with the most fouls committed in EPL this season, and this act is predictable from him.

However, we are not here to discuss his behavior. What we care about as FPL managers is the fact that Fellaini will be out for 3 weeks. This is a long-term suspension, and removing Fellaini is the obvious solution. The real question is who do we get to replace him? This article will discuss the different alternatives, by looking across the different ranges of players.

Pre-Gameweek 18 Transfers

Another Green Arrow! A bittersweet feeling though. The "bad decision" to drop Cazorla instead of Silva last week was a lost opportunity. But we learn.

GW16: The Watchlist

New piece! Seems like I am bringing on too much, but I at least would like to try. The purpose of the Watchlist is to pinpoint "outstanding performers" from each game individually, and then put them on the "Watchlist" literally. Hopefully this will also provide me consistent signals on who to bring in. This will definitely be added to the "Big Picture" later.

Pre Gameweek 17 Transfers

One green arrow. Thank the FPL heavens. This Gameweek however I"m making my free transfer before my verdict, hopefully it won't be too much of a risk.