The progress of Arsenal and Manchester City to the EFL Cup final means a host of highly-owned players in Fantasy Premier League will have a Blank Gameweek 31 (BGW31).

As a reminder, a Blank Gameweek contains fewer than the normal 10 matches, with at least two clubs having no Premier League fixture, and players from such a club having no chance of scoring Fantasy points.

Managers essentially have five more Gameweeks – and therefore five more free transfers – to prepare their squads for the reduced round of matches, where Crystal Palace and Wolverhampton Wanderers are the other two clubs without a fixture.

For managers who still have their Free Hit chip available, there is the option to use it in BGW31, picking a new team just for that one Gameweek and avoiding all the players who don’t have a Premier League match.

However, it’s worth noting that there is also set to be a Blank Gameweek 34 (BGW34), due to the FA Cup semi-finals taking place on the same weekend of 25-26 April.

This means that any Premier League clubs who reach this stage – along with their respective Gameweek 34 opponents – would have a BGW34. Depending on clubs’ progress over the next three rounds and the cup draws, BGW34 could be a BIGGER and more problematic Blank Gameweek than BGW31, with more Premier League clubs being without a league fixture, so the Free Hit chip could be even more useful.

For this Wildcard squad then, The Scout is planning to navigate BGW31 without deploying the Free Hit chip, using the players selected (including four who have a BGW31) and the free transfers over the coming Gameweeks to field 11 players in BGW31, while also attacking the short-term fixtures.

Keep the top performers

While a Gameweek 27 Wildcard has to have one eye on BGW31, there’s no need for a major refresh with those five free transfers to come.

The squad below costs £99.8m and contains Arsenal’s Gabriel (£7.1m), who is the top-scoring defender in Fantasy, and Man City pair Antoine Semenyo (£7.9m) and Erling Haaland (£14.9m), the top-scoring midfielder and forward respectively.

Gabriel and Haaland offer strong captaincy options in any given Gameweek and are easily placed on the bench for BGW31.

Semenyo has outperformed the Norwegian by 33 points to 24 since joining from AFC Bournemouth last month. 

Palace’s cut-price defender Chris Richards (£4.4m) has home matches against Wolves and Leeds United over the next four Gameweeks. 

Unlike Gabriel and Haaland, the latter two are a lot more replaceable, with Liverpool’s Florian Wirtz (£8.4m) among the top alternatives to Semenyo.

Fernandes and Joao Pedro the form picks

Manchester United’s Bruno Fernandes (£9.8m) and Chelsea’s Joao Pedro (£7.7m) have somewhat mixed fixtures over the coming period, but their form under new head coaches is too good to ignore.

Fernandes has 37 points and three double-figure hauls in five matches under Michael Carrick.

Home matches against Crystal Palace, Aston Villa and Leeds over the next six Gameweeks make Fernandes a strong contender for the captaincy.

Joao Pedro, meanwhile, has 48 points and three-double figure returns in the same five-Gameweek spell under new head coach Liam Rosenior.

The Brazilian has been involved in two goals in each of the last four Gameweeks and has to be among the very best captaincy options in Gameweek 27, when Chelsea entertain Burnley.

Target Villa and Bournemouth’s GW27-31 schedules

By using each club’s schedule as a guide, you can help navigate the upcoming period more successfully.

According to the Fixture Difficulty Ratings (FDR)  – where the difficulty of each match is ranked from one to five, with one being the easiest possible match and five being the hardest – both Aston Villa and Bournemouth have the best runs of opponents ahead, with three of their next five matches scoring only two. 

Both clubs are backed at each end of the pitch in the Wildcard squad.

Villa pair Emiliano Martinez (£5.0m) and Morgan Rogers (£7.6m) face Leeds, Wolves and West Ham United in that spell. 

Midfielder Rogers scored twice to collect 15 points in the reverse fixtures against both Leeds and West Ham earlier this season.

Aston Villa’s next five matches

GW
Opp.
FDR*

27
Leeds (H)
2

28
Wolves (A)
2

29
Chelsea (H)
3

30
Man Utd (A)
3

31
West Ham (H)
2

1=easiest possible fixture, 5=hardest possible fixture

In Bournemouth’s case, the recent emergence of James Hill (£4.0m) and Amine Adli (£5.4m) as regular starters can offer great value against West Ham, Sunderland and Burnley.

Centre-back Hill has supplied an assist in three of the last four Gameweeks. He’s also collected defensive contribution points in each of those four matches.  

Adli, meanwhile, has secured a role on the wing thanks to Semenyo’s departure. He has two goals, two assists and just one blank across the last five Gameweeks. 

Notably, Adli’s run of starts comes at a point where the Cherries’ budget forward Junior Kroupi (£4.7m) was benched against Everton in midweek.

Kroupi has been a popular pick for managers playing a 3-5-2 or a 4-4-2 formation, as he is handy as a first substitute to come off your bench in the event of injuries. 

However, there have to be question marks regarding his minutes now, suggesting we can’t rely on him as a starter for the reduced BGW31.

Bournemouth’s next five matches

GW
Opp.
FDR*

27
West Ham (A)
2

28
Sunderland (H)
2

29
Brentford (H)
3

30
Burnley (A)
2

31
Man Utd (H)
3

1=easiest possible fixture, 5=hardest possible fixture

Popular pair Thiago and Wilson also have fixtures to flourish

Brentford‘s Igor Thiago (£7.0m) and Fulham‘s Harry Wilson (£6.0m) have the schedules and high ownership that indicates going without them could be dangerous to your overall ranking if they deliver big hauls.

In Thiago’s case, Brentford have an outstanding run of opponents which can help him reward his 30 per cent ownership.

Across Gameweeks 28-35, as many as five of his eight matches score just two – the Bees visit Burnley and host Wolves, Everton, Fulham and West Ham.

The 20-per cent owned Wilson, meanwhile, has three home matches and a trip to Nottingham Forest in a four-match run across Gameweeks 28-31. That includes a very favourable home encounter with Burnley in BGW31.