We’ve just entered a much quieter period in Fantasy Premier League (FPL), with international football, followed by the FA Cup and European club competitions, set to take prominence.
Although the Gameweek 32 action won’t get underway until 10 April, plenty will happen between now and then to alter the FPL landscape, which we’ll round up below.
FA CUP QUARTER-FINALS: HOW IT WILL AFFECT BLANK GAMEWEEK 34
The FA Cup quarter-finals will be played over the first weekend of April, with the Gameweek 32 deadline set to follow shortly after (10 April).
There are three matches pencilled in for Saturday 4 April, with the last quarter-final scheduled for Sunday 5 April.
These quarter-final ties have to be settled on the day, potentially using extra-time and penalties.
As you might already know, Gameweek 34 clashes with the FA Cup semi-final weekend, so any team that reaches the last four will have their scheduled Premier League fixture postponed.
Consequently, that will then inform us who could then ‘double’.
Here’s where we stand right now:
GW34 Premier League fixtureStatusMatch will be postponed if the following occurs:Bookies’ odds of postponementWill it definitely be a blank if the match is postponed?Brighton v ChelseaPossible blankIf Chelsea beat Port Vale in the FA Cup quarter-finals91.3%NoArsenal v NewcastlePossible blankIf Arsenal beat Southampton in the FA Cup quarter-finals88.1%YesBurnley v Man CityPossible blankIf Man City beat Liverpool in the FA Cup quarter-finals66.2%NoWest Ham v EvertonPossible blankIf West Ham beat Leeds in the FA Cup quarter-finals55.8%NoBournemouth v LeedsPossible blankIf Leeds beat West Ham in the FA Cup quarter-finals44.2%NoLiverpool v C PalacePossible blankIf Liverpool beat Man City in the FA Cup quarter-finals33.8%YesFulham v Aston VillaOnMan Utd v BrentfordOnSunderland v Nottm ForestOnWolves v SpursOnMaximum number of postponements: 4Minimum number of postponements: 2
However, ‘postponed’ does not necessarily mean a ‘blank’ for the teams in question.
Any postponed league matches could yet stay in Gameweek 34 (i.e. move to the midweek after it) if both affected teams are not involved in/out of Europe.
DOUBLE GAMEWEEK 33 TO BE CONFIRMED?
… but if that’s not possible, the postponed matches will likely move to Double Gameweek 33/36 (probably the former).
Last year, the FA Cup semi-finalists/Blank Gameweek 34 fixtures were confirmed on Sunday 30 March.
The fixture rescheduling announcement that confirmed the related Double Gameweek 33 was made four days later, on Thursday 3 April. This provided the affected club and its fans with 19-20 days’ notice.
However, it’s likely this time that we’ll get the double announcements much closer to the FA Cup weekend, potentially on Monday 6 April.
Therefore, while we don’t currently know who blanks and doubles, we should have clarity on this by the Gameweek 32 deadline.
EUROPEAN QUARTER-FINALS
Away from the Blank/Double Gameweek implications, there’s the UEFA Champions League, Europa League and Conference League quarter-final first legs.
From Tuesday 7 April to Thursday 9 April, five Premier League teams will be in action, all at 20:00 BST.
As previously noted, the Gameweek 32 deadline is on Friday 10 April.
Tuesday 7 April: Sporting v Arsenal (Champions League)Wednesday 8 April: PSG v Liverpool (Champions League)Thursday 9 April: Bologna v Aston Villa, Porto v Nottingham Forest (both Europa League), Crystal Palace v Fiorentina (Conference League)
It’s anticipated that all these teams will send out strong line-ups in Europe, so there could well be injuries picked up, which could then impact their starting prospects in Gameweek 32, especially with the second legs of these ties scheduled for the following week.
Will Hugo Ekitike (£9.3m) be able to start in a Wednesday-Saturday-Tuesday sequence, with the middle match being the home encounter with Fulham in Gameweek 32? Additionally, there is an FA Cup quarter-final against Manchester City to consider prior to that run:
MARCH INTERNATIONALS
The upcoming internationals will obviously have concluded by the Gameweek 32 deadline, but these fixtures could bring fresh injuries, potentially affecting plans.
Indeed, we’ve already seen the likes of Alisson Becker (£5.4m), William Saliba (£6.1m), Dan Ballard (£4.7m), Eberechi Eze (£7.2m), Bryan Mbeumo (£8.6m) and Benjamin Sesko (£7.4m) withdraw from their respective international squads.
Although some of these withdrawals won’t lead to significant issues, given all of the above, holding fire on transfers/chips and waiting to see what happens may be advisable.
