Gameweek 29 is a BIG week for Fantasy Premier League managers, with 12 teams playing two fixtures, making it the biggest double gameweek of the season. Expect to see plenty of Bench Boost and Triple Captain chips in play as Chelsea prepare for two home fixtures – while Newcastle, Liverpool and Manchester United look to take advantage of their games in hand on teams above them, and popular Brentford assets take on two tough away fixtures.
Elsewhere, Manchester City welcome Liverpool to the Etihad, and Arsenal and Tottenham face teams struggling down the bottom of the Premier League table. There’s so much to unpack, so let’s get straight into it!
Must Haves
Of course, no player absolutely has to be in your team, and I wouldn’t advise taking huge points hits to get certain players in. But, if you have a fair few of these players, then you’re in good shape heading into Double Gameweek 29.
Marcus Rashford
Despite being flagged as an injury concern on the Fantasy Premier League website, Marcus Rashford will be highly owned going into this Gameweek, and might just be the best captaincy option for GW 29.
A trip to St James’ Park and a home fixture against a team that United lost 4-0 to earlier in the season might not sound like the best fixtures, but Rashford’s unbelievable Old Trafford record this season makes him very appealing.
Even if you’re not thinking about captaining him, he should definitely be in your team – especially given the fact that Manchester United are likely to have a couple more double gameweeks further down the line.
Bruno Fernandes
Bruno is a great option for similar reasons to Rashford – two okay-ish fixtures, a huge influence on a great team and, perhaps most importantly, a penalty taker.
Players who are on penalties are always great to have, particularly when there are two fixtures in a gameweek because this, in theory, makes it twice as likely that a team will be given a penalty.
The one drawback for Fernandes as an FPL asset is that Casemiro’s red card against Southampton may lead to Fernandes operating in a slightly deeper role, making goals and assists potentially less likely.
This is the reason why many are getting Mo Salah in ahead of Bruno, as they are both similarly priced and both have a double gameweek, but we know exactly where Salah is going to play.
Kai Havertz
It doesn’t feel right calling Kai Havertz a ‘must have’ given the fact he’s only scored 7 PL goals this season, but Chelsea’s fixtures might be too good to look past.
Two games at Stamford Bridge, where Chelsea have been starting to turn around their form of late, make Chelsea one of only two teams to have both fixtures at home in GW29.
Combine that with the fact that Havertz has three goals in his last three games in all competitions, and has been confirmed as Chelsea’s chief penalty taker – everything adds up to make him a great option. Joao Felix is an obvious alternative for similar reasons.
Brighton Midfielders
One of the biggest trends of the past few gameweeks has been managers having two (or even three) Brighton midfielders in their team. Kaoru Mitoma, Solly March and Alexis Mac Allister have all been very popular, and have been providing managers with bags of points.
This week, they play Brentford at home and Bournemouth away meaning they have a trio of in-form midfielders with two very good fixtures. Don’t be surprised to see them all touted as decent captaincy options.
If you had to pick just one, Mitoma is probably the most exciting player and is arguably the most likely to haul – even if Mac Allister is the more consistent choice.
James Maddison
Fresh from his first start in an England shirt, James Madison will be all systems go to try and keep Leicester City in the Premier League as we head into the final stages of the season.
This week, the set piece specialist has two great fixtures of Crystal Palace away and Aston Villa at home. Although he hasn’t exactly been prolific in the Premier League for the past few gameweeks, he has been creating some excellent chances that his Leicester City teammates haven’t been putting away, so expect an assist or two – if his fellow Foxes can find their shooting boots.
Kieran Trippier
Newcastle United have been excellent defensively this season, and Kieran Trippier’s ability to sweep up bonus points left, right and centre has made him almost as essential as Erling Haaland.
This week, Trippier is set to face Manchester United at home and West Ham away. Despite the two difficult fixtures, don’t be surprised if Newcastle keep two clean sheets.
Even if they do concede in both games, Trippier is more than capable of grabbing an assist or once again picking up bonus points to limit the damage to your points tally.
Ben Chilwell
Much like with Kai Havertz, Chelsea’s two home fixtures might make Chilwell an enticing pick.
Chelsea have been good defensively this season (despite their struggles at the other end of the pitch) and previous seasons have shown that a fit and firing Ben Chilwell is a great asset for both clean sheets and goals. In Graham Potter’s system, the ex-Leicester defender has certainly proved his attacking ability – so it wouldn’t be a surprise to see him on the scoresheet or providing assists.
Other Options
It’s important to remember that the two best teams in the league both have home fixtures. They both only play once, but Erling Haaland‘s record at the Etihad is absolutely incredible and, off the back of his greatest ever FPL points return, Bukayo Saka faces a struggling Leeds United side at the Emirates.
Harry Kane also only plays once, but it is against Everton, who are also struggling down the bottom of the Premier League. This means that arguably the three best FPL assets all only play once.
So, will you get double gameweek fever? Or will you go off form?
Other double gameweek players that should be near the top of your thoughts include Aston Villa assets like Ollie Watkins, Emi Buendia and Tyrone Mings, Brighton defensive options such as Lewis Dunk, Pervis Estupinan and Jason Steele, as well as Newcastle’s current main attacking threat Alexander Isak.
Arsenal’s Gabriel Martinelli and Martin Odegaard are also still great options, despite the single fixture against Leeds.
Differentials
Looking to do something a bit different? These could be great for you!
Serge Aurier
Despite the fact that he plays in a Nottingham Forest defence that have conceded 49 goals (the second worst in the league), Serge Aurier could be a good differential option.
Forest arguably have the best double this week with Wolves and Leeds being their two fixtures. They’ll be desperate to pick up points against their relegation rivals. Add to that the fact that Serge Aurier can offer attacking output as well, and you’ve got yourself a good differential option.
Just a side of caution however, it appears he may have a knock so it’s worth keeping an eye on any news from Steve Cooper.
Morgan Gibbs-White / Brennan Johnson
Going for a Nottingham Forest attacking player might not be at the forefront of your mind, but I think I’d rather go with their attackers than their defenders.
As mentioned earlier, Forest probably have the best double and, with Chris Wood being ruled out for the rest of the season, Morgan Gibbs-White and Brennan Johnson are all but guaranteed minutes.
Darwin Nunez
Darwin has become a bit of a frustration for some managers this season. When he’s in your team he seems to miss so many chances, but when he’s not in your team he slots those chances away nicely.
This week, there are a fair amount of good forward options that have two fixtures (as well as Haaland), but not many will have gone with Nunez. Don’t forget that he has scored in some big games this season, and with Liverpool playing City and Chelsea (both away), the omens might be there.
Liverpool also have a couple more double gameweeks coming up, so if you bring him in it’s not just for GW29.
Jarrod Bowen / Said Benrahma
If you don’t want to go with Maddison because of his less-than-impressive stats in the last five gameweeks, then Jarrod Bowen or Said Benrahma could be a good alternative.
West Ham have two home fixtures this week, and have shown some signs of improvement recently. Benrahma absolutely loves a shot so will likely have plenty of chances against Southampton and Newcastle, whilst Bowen is known to occasionally come up with a bit of a haul. Both could be good options.
Andy Robertson / Trent Alexander-Arnold
I wouldn’t be counting on any Liverpool clean sheets this week with two very tough away fixtures, but we know that these two are brilliant attacking options who could easily get a couple of assists.
I certainly wouldn’t go for both of them, but throwing one of them in might prove to be a good decision. Just make sure you pick the right one!
Possible Chips in Play
In Gameweek 29, the Bench Boost is likely to be used by a lot of people. Having 11 players playing twice is great, but imagine having 15! That’s 30 matches that your team will play, meaning you will likely get a great score no matter who the players are.
Don’t be afraid to bench boost even if you only have 11 or 12 double gameweek players. If you’re sat there with Ederson, Martinelli, Saka and Haaland on your bench (for example), when is your bench ever going to look better than that? Remember, these players are just as likely to score more points in one game than a lot of players will in two.
Managers who haven’t used their triple captain yet also might be looking to activate that chip. Although it could work well, I’d advise you to hang onto it if you still have it. Erling Haaland has a very good double in gameweek 34 which may be better than any of the doubles for people you may be looking to triple captain this week.
Some managers may be looking to wildcard this week too. Although that may seem like a good choice (particularly if you don’t have too many doublers going into this week) if you are using it, I would recommend looking ahead.
Use the wildcard to prepare yourself for the blank gameweek 32, when City, United, Chelsea and Brighton are all without have a fixture, and for what is looking like a hefty double gameweek in 34.
It’s tempting to use it to make your team as great as it possibly can be for this week, but that might not be the best choice. If you are using it this week, make players from teams like Liverpool, West Ham and Manchester United your priority to put yourself in the best position for future weeks, as well as having decent coverage for this week.
Managers that wildcarded last week may be looking to free hit this week. That’s because they might have set their team up last week to get them through 32 and 34, but now need the free hit this week to get some brilliant doublers in.
If this is your strategy, then that’s great but if you already have 10 or more doublers this week, I would recommend saving the free hit for 32 or 34.
This part of the season really is where we start to see all sorts of strategy come into play, so do whatever you think works best for your team.
Captaincy Options
The most popular captain this week is likely to be Marcus Rashford, but what if his injury is likely to keep him out of the first game of the double?
We will have more information from Erik Ten Hag before the deadline, but if he does suggest that Rashford might not be able to complete the 90 against Newcastle, Bruno Fernandes would be a safe replacement.
If you want to be brave, captaining a Brighton midfielder would be a good differential choice, but there’s one option that I’m very jealous of.
It’s not often that Erling Haaland can be seen as a differential captaincy option but he is this gameweek. If you’re brave enough to stick the armband on the big Norwegian, then you could be rewarded hugely.
Who’s to say that the man who’s scored 45 goals in all competitions this season can’t go and get a hat-trick at home against Liverpool, who themselves have been very poor away from home this season?
I’m jealous because I made the decision a couple of weeks ago to take Haaland out of my team due to there being more fixtures for others. But if I had him, I’d probably be sticking the armband on him this week.
If, like me, you don’t have Haaland but, unlike me, are a brave FPL manager, then Kai Havertz could be a great differential.
I’m a huge Chelsea fan, but even I have only ever captained Kai Havertz once. That was for a 7-0 win against Norwich City last season. Kai Havertz was the only attacking player on the pitch that didn’t get a goal or an assist.
Having said that, he has been in decent form recently, and is a lot better at Stamford Bridge than away with 6 of his 8 attacking returns in the Premier League this season coming at home. He has two fixtures at the Bridge this gameweek.
I will personally be putting the armband on Rashford unless I hear anything definitive from Erik Ten Hag.
What’s my team looking like?
I head into this gameweek with an overall rank of 18,783, and yes I am bench boosting for this week. Just simply because I believe it’s the best double gameweek of the season. For more great football content, follow @FromTheSpotUK on Twitter, or follow me @SamJackCook300 for Fantasy Premier League tips. Good luck everyone!
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