Double gameweek season has been in full swing in Fantasy Premier League since the World Cup, but this weekend has a classic feel to it, with all 20 clubs playing just once. Every single match is being played on either Saturday or Sunday too, further adding to the retro vibe.
That won’t last long, however, with both a double and blank gameweek to follow next week, which should play into your transfer thinking ahead of Saturday’s deadline. We’ve sprinkled a few future double gameweekers into our team early ahead of next week, with representatives from all four clubs – Arsenal, Everton, Liverpool and Wolves – earning call-ups.
Prioritising assets from those clubs with your transfers makes sense this week. Conversely, only two players from the four clubs not playing at all – that’s Brentford, Brighton, Manchester United and Newcastle – in Gameweek 25 make it into the squad this time. Both of those players selected are in great form, are already highly owned and can warm the bench temporarily if needs be.
One club that is neither doubling or blanking imminently and offers promising investment opportunities is Chelsea – stop sniggering at the back – who host manager-less Southampton on Saturday. A couple of their most recent recruits make the cut after quickly establishing themselves in Graham Potter’s plans.
Gameweek 23 top scorers
Goalkeepers:
- De Gea (Man Utd) -10
- Raya (Brentford), Leno (Fulham), Alisson (Liverpool) – 6
Defenders:
- Shaw (Man Utd) – 12
- Emerson (West Ham) – 10
- Tomkins (Crystal Palace), Ream (Fulham) – 9
Midfielders:
- Mahrez (Man City) – 12
- Maddison (Leicester), Salah (Liverpool) – 11
- March (Brighton), Rodri (Man City), Almiron (Newcastle), Alcaraz (Southampton) – 10
Forwards:
- Iheanacho (Leicester) – 12
- Toney (Brentford), Felix (Chelsea) – 9
Everton are also in action against a manager-less club in Leeds United, while Sunday’s London derby between Tottenham and West Ham looks like the pick of the fixtures.
Here is i‘s team for Gameweek 25:
Gameweek 24 fixtures
Saturday 18 February
- Aston Villa vs Arsenal
- Brentford vs Crystal Palace
- Brighton vs Fulham
- Chelsea vs Southampton
- Everton vs Leeds
- Nottingham Forest vs Man City
- Wolves vs Bournemouth
- Newcastle vs Liverpool
Sunday 19 February
- Manchester United vs Leicester
- Tottenham vs West Ham
Jose Sa (Wolves)
Wolves have spent the entire campaign hovering in or around the relegation zone, yet only three goalkeepers have outscored Jose Sa in FPL.
Sa has three double-digit scores this season (15, 14 and 10) and could be of interest to FPL managers given Wolves’ improvement under Julen Lopetegui, their upcoming double gameweek and the lack of goalscoring potency carried by this weekend’s opponents Bournemouth. The Cherries have scored just twice in their last seven matches.
Price: £5.0m Points: 90 Gameweek 24 fixture: Bournemouth (h)
Trent Alexander-Arnold (Liverpool)
Similarly to Sa, this is a pick with this week as much as the next in mind, with Liverpool in action twice in Gameweek 25. There is logic to buying Trent Alexander-Arnold a week early though, given the goals have dried up for Newcastle who may (understandably) have one eye on the Carabao Cup final in a couple of weeks’ time.
Alexander-Arnold is statistically the second-most creative defender in FPL post-World Cup restart, although there is a comical gap between him and the leader Kieran Trippier (11 chances created to 31). He passed the eye test against Everton too, with an excellent display that looked to have yielded an assist for Cody Gakpo, only for FPL to controversially take away the points. Spoilsports.
Price: £7.3m Points: 73 Gameweek 24 fixture: Newcastle (a)
Benoit Badiashile (Chelsea)
Chelsea’s new-look attack hasn’t yet clicked into gear, as shown by a return of four goals from seven league matches in 2023. However, their defence is beginning to gel quite nicely with Reece James returning from injury, Thiago Silva continuing to defy the ageing process and Benoit Badiashile slotting in nicely after signing from Monaco.
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The Frenchman has taken no time to replace Kalidou Koulibaly in the Blues’ backline and has impressed so far, helping his new side keep three clean sheets in their last four games. Badiashile also carries a decent goal threat too: only Kai Havertz (with 11) and Hakim Ziyech (seven) have had more shots for Chelsea than his four since Gameweek 21.
Price: £5.0m Points: 21 Gameweek 24 fixture: Southampton (h)
Ivan Perisic (Tottenham)
Ivan Perisic was hot property in FPL after his move to Spurs was announced, however, his ownership has steadily dwindled due to his shared minutes with Ryan Sessegnon. That is now much less of a concern given Sessegnon is set to miss the next six weeks due to a hamstring injury.
FPL managers may wince at the inclusion of a Spurs defender in this week’s picks after the calamitous showing at Leicester, but Cristian Romero should make a difference after serving a one-match suspension. Perisic’s attacking threat makes him worth the risk in any case: he is the joint-top assist provider among defenders this season with five, alongside Liverpool’s Andy Robertson.
Price: £5.5m Points: 71 Gameweek 24 fixture: West Ham (h)
James Tarkowski (Everton)
Forget Monday’s Merseyside derby defeat, Everton’s performance against Arsenal at Goodison Park is what we can expect from Sean Dyche’s side moving forward. The Toffees were compact, resolute and disciplined, just as Burnley were before years of under-investment eventually caught up with them.
James Tarkowski knows all about Dyche’s methods and impressed alongside Conor Coady in the surprise win over the Gunners, even popping up with a match-winning goal. Tarkowski’s price tag is now just £4.2m ahead of back-to-back home fixtures and two matches in Gameweek 25.
Price: £4.2m Points: 62 Gameweek 24 fixture: Leeds (h)
Riyad Mahrez (Man City)
Manchester City’s most in-form attacker generally merits inclusion and it is difficult to overlook Riyad Mahrez given his recent performances. After starting only four of City’s opening 16 league matches, Mahrez has since got the nod in seven of their last eight.
In that time, he has provided scores of 17 and 12 points against Tottenham and Aston Villa respectively and only failed to register attacking returns on two occasions. Furthermore, he looks to have wrestled penalty-taking duties away from Erling Haaland for the time being, after taking and converting a spot-kick against Villa last weekend.
Price: £7.8m Points: 80 Gameweek 24 fixture: Nottingham Forest (a)
Bukayo Saka (Arsenal)
Aston Villa are a much different proposition under Unai Emery than they were under Steven Gerrard, but they did show some vulnerability during last weekend’s defeat at the Etihad, particularly down their left-hand side.
Lucas Digne struggled badly to contain Riyad Mahrez and while his replacement Alex Moreno fared better, the Algerian still eluded him en route to missing a glorious late chance. It doesn’t get any easier for Villa’s left-backs with Bukayo Saka their next opponent. Saka has blanked just three times in his last 10 appearances.
Price: £8.3m Points: 117 Gameweek 24 fixture: Aston Villa (a)
Marcus Rashford (Man Utd)
Move over Kieran Trippier, there’s a new Mr Consistent in town. Since the World Cup, Marcus Rashford has only failed to register a goal or assist once in nine matches. Even then it hardly mattered, coming in the second match of a double gameweek in which he’d already scored 10 points in the first.
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Rashford’s statistics since the Premier League’s resumption demonstrate why he is simply a must-have at the moment: he is joint-top with Harry Kane for shots (with 29), outright top for shots on target (15), second to Erling Haaland for big chances (on eight) and fourth behind Haaland, Ivan Toney and Eddie Nketiah for xG.
*Manchester United do not play in Gameweek 25 due to the Carabao Cup final
Price: £7.3m Points: 136 Gameweek 24 fixture: Leicester (h)
Julian Alvarez (Man City)
As is customary, a Manchester City forward is picked in our team, but it’s not the one you might expect. Haaland generally starts whenever he is fit and available, but after suffering a knock against Aston Villa last weekend and with City returning to Champions League action in midweek, there seems a reasonable chance he’ll be given a breather on Saturday.
Even if Haaland does play, he could well link up with Julian Alvarez anyway given the Argentine’s increased game time since the World Cup. In the corresponding fixture at the Etihad, Alvarez scored twice in a 6-0 win, earning a 12-point haul which is still his best FPL score of the season.
Price: £6.0m Points: 44 Gameweek 24 fixture: Nottingham Forest (a)
Ivan Toney (Brentford)
Ivan Toney’s equalising goal against Arsenal should not have stood – the PGMOL have admitted as much – but it was no less than the Brentford striker deserved after a performance that had i‘s chief football writer Daniel Storey comparing him to Didier Drogba.
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Mo Salah was the only player to record a higher xG figure than Toney this week, which is noteworthy given he was up against the league leaders on their own patch. If he can torment Gabriel and William Saliba to such an extent, he can have a field day against an out-of-sorts Crystal Palace at the Community Stadium.
*Brentford are without a fixture in Gameweek 25.
Price: £7.6m Points: 120 Gameweek 24 fixture: Crystal Palace (h)
Joao Felix (Chelsea)
Joao Felix fared far better on his second Premier League appearance than he did on his first. A few weeks after a red card on his debut against Fulham, Felix registered his first Chelsea goal in last weekend’s 1-1 draw with West Ham with a smartly taken finish from close range. The Atletico Madrid loanee had another effort ruled out for offside.
Selecting Chelsea assets carries a risk given the number of options that Graham Potter has at his disposal, but Felix’s inclusion in the club’s 25-man Champions League squad – at the expense of Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and four permanent signings in January – suggests he will get plenty of game time. He is this week’s most-bought player in FPL.
Price: £7.5m Points: 7 Gameweek 24 fixture: Southampton (h)
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