If you’re in a rush and need some last-minute Fantasy Premier League (FPL) advice, here’s a quick round-up of what you need to know about Gameweek 34.
WHEN’S THE FPL GAMEWEEK 34 DEADLINE?
All transfers and team selections need to be done by 13:30 (BST) on Saturday 20 April.
CHIP SEASON IS IN FULL SWING
Five deadlines remain, kicking off with Double Gameweek 34. Seven teams will play twice and Spurs aren’t featuring at all, so naturally there are lots of Free Hit chips being activated.
Numerous Pro Pundits (further down) have already done so, whilst another chunk of FPL managers are making one-time punts before unleashing their Gameweek 35 Wildcards. There’s even the occasional Bench Boost that hopes to maximise this season’s largest double.
Arsenal and Liverpool triple-ups are popular, Crystal Palace assets are in demand and there’s some Bournemouth love too. We’ve dove deeper into some of the biggest conundrums facing the FPL community, whether it’s part of a chip or just regular free transfers.
Don’t get emotionally invested in Wolverhampton Wanderers doublers, though. On Friday, Gary O’Neil ruled out Matheus Cunha (£5.6m) and downplayed the availability of Rayan Ait-Nouri (£4.8m) and Hwang Hee-chan (£5.4m).
GUESSING LIVERPOOL’S XI
Meanwhile, outside of Virgil van Dijk (£6.6m), Alisson (£5.7m) and possibly Mohamed Salah (£13.5m), it’s tough to confidently say who’ll start both of Liverpool’s matches.
Diogo Jota‘s (£7.9m) return means five names are fighting for three forward spots. It could be interpreted positively that Darwin Nunez (£7.7m) didn’t start Thursday’s Europa League outing. But, at the same time, a very strong XI didn’t include the low-on-goals Uruguayan.
Conor Bradley (£4.3m) is absent but Jurgen Klopp called it “insane” that Trent Alexander-Arnold (£8.4m) took part in Bergamo. Not a promising quote for the premium defender’s game time?
DON’T NEGLECT THOSE WITH ONE MATCH
However, despite the temptations of those with multiple matches, we’ve seen before that it’d be foolish to overlook the big-name players who’ll feature just once. From a single appearance, Ollie Watkins (£8.9m) was Double Gameweek 7’s top scorer and he’s very capable of doing it again at home to Bournemouth.
Erling Haaland (£14.2m) has recently seemed rusty by his world-class standards but is still the leader for shots on target (46) and big chances (46).
Then there’s Cole Palmer (£6.2m). Monday’s stunning display versus Everton means that his last five runouts have delivered two hat-tricks, 10 goals and 79 points. A sole occasion at Arsenal will be difficult but penalty takers are fixture-proof.
These are the top trio for 2023/24 goals and attacking returns. Ignore them at your peril.
BEST FPL GAMEWEEK 34 CAPTAIN
Home blanks against Sheffield United and Crystal Palace have disappointed many but Mohamed Salah is still the recommended armband recipient of our Rate My Team (RMT) algorithm.
Voters and Captain Sensible writer Hibbo concur.
TEAM REVEALS
SCOUT PICKS + DIFFERENTIALS
Our weekly selection – which is essentially a Free Hit in all but name – is unsurprisingly dominated by Arsenal, Liverpool and Crystal Palace.
After comparing him favourably to team-mate Eberechi Eze (£6.1m) in a Members article, Michael Olise (£5.6m) is one of our three differential suggestions alongside Tyrick Mitchell (£4.5m) and Gustavo Hamer (£4.9m).
PREDICTED LINE-UPS
We’ve predicted the starting XIs of all 19 participating Premier League teams.
Whatever you decide to do, good luck with FPL Double Gameweek 34!