We round up the key Fantasy Premier League (FPL) talking points of the day in FPL Daily, a weekday series that serves non-Premier League matchdays and days when we don’t bring you a team news/press conference round-up.
Our Scout Notes on Burnley v Leicester City will follow later.
BLANK GAMEWEEK 30 LATEST
We have our first two confirmed blanks of Gameweek 30 of Fantasy Premier League after Tuesday’s FA Cup fifth-round ties.
Manchester City v Brighton and Hove Albion and Crystal Palace v Newcastle United will definitely be postponed after City and the Eagles made it through to the quarter-finals of the cup competition, which happen to clash with the Gameweek in question.
As a result of Tottenham Hotspur’s elimination at the hands of Middlesbrough, one of Burnley v Southampton and Spurs v West Ham United will go ahead in Gameweek 30, while the other won’t. That will be determined by the cup tie between the Hammers and the Saints on Wednesday.
The only three confirmed Gameweek 30 fixtures so far are Arsenal v Aston Villa, Leicester City v Brentford and Wolverhampton Wanderers v Leeds United.
| Gameweek 30 Match | Current status | Game will go ahead if… |
| Wolves v Leeds | Guaranteed to go ahead in Gameweek 30 | – |
| Arsenal v Aston Villa | Guaranteed to go ahead in Gameweek 30 | – |
| Leicester v Brentford | Guaranteed to go ahead in Gameweek 30 | – |
| Man City v Brighton | Blank | |
| Newcastle v C Palace | Blank | |
| Norwich v Chelsea | Possible blank | Chelsea are beaten by Luton *and* Norwich are beaten by Liverpool in the FA Cup fifth round |
| Watford v Everton | Possible blank | Everton are beaten by Boreham Wood in the FA Cup fifth round |
| Burnley v Southampton | Possible blank | Southampton are beaten by West Ham in the FA Cup fifth round |
| Spurs v West Ham | Possible blank | West Ham are beaten by Southampton in the FA Cup fifth round |
| Liverpool v Man Utd | Possible blank | Liverpool are beaten by Norwich in the FA Cup fifth round |
Tuesday’s results ensure that Manchester City will have at least one Double Gameweek at some point between Gameweek 33 and 38, with a possible Double Gameweek 36 against Brighton and Newcastle – both at home – being one scenario.
TEAMS WITH THE MOST UNSCHEDULED FIXTURES OUTSTANDING (INCLUDING THE TWO CONFIRMED GAMEWEEK 30 BLANKS):
- Leicester (3)
- Arsenal, Burnley, Chelsea, Everton (2)
- Aston Villa, Brighton, Crystal Palace, Man City, Newcastle, Norwich, Spurs (1)
- Brentford, Leeds, Liverpool, Man Utd, Southampton, Watford, West Ham, Wolves (0)
JAMES FITNESS LATEST
We had a smattering of pre-FA Cup press conferences on Tuesday, the most interesting of which from a Fantasy perspective was Thomas Tuchel’s.
Chelsea will have a Double Gameweek 28 if they beat Luton Town (and/or Norwich defeat Liverpool) in the FA Cup fifth round, with the Blues’ meeting with Dean Smith’s side brought forward to next week if that happens.
The newly available Reece James (£6.2m) would be top of many Fantasy managers’ shopping lists if he was 100% fit but after two months on the sidelines, the wing-back still has a bit to go before he is fully up to speed.
James played 70 minutes of the EFL Cup final on Sunday, with Tuchel saying in Tuesday’s conference call that the defender was only meant to play 20 minutes.
“Now with a huge overload on his shoulders. The recommendation was 20 minutes before the match and it was like over 70 in a final with extra tension and extra pressure.” – Thomas Tuchel on Reece James
The hope from an FPL perspective is that he is rested in the FA Cup in midweek and comes back into first-team reckoning for Premier League duty, but it might still be a big ask of him to start the following three league matches should a Saturday-Thursday-Sunday turnaround materialise.
Other changes look likely at Luton tomorrow for the European and world champions, meanwhile.
“We have now a lot of players in physical overload and we have some injuries from the [EFL Cup final]. It’s actually, in the moment, too much to comment about it, it would be a long list.
“Hakim [Ziyech] is not available for tomorrow. He feels still uncomfortable, he was not in team training today.” – Thomas Tuchel
Jurgen Klopp also promised to make changes in the FA Cup this week, with Thiago Alcantara (£5.3m) the only reported injury-related absentee for Liverpool.
Southampton and West Ham don’t have any fresh concerns for their cup clash, but Norwich have doubts over Ozan Kabak (£4.3m), Brandon Williams (£3.9m) and Max Aarons (£4.3m) – none of whom have trained since their Gameweek 27 defeat to Southampton.
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