The Scout is tipping four players for big success in Blank Gameweek 34 (BGW34) of 2025/26 Fantasy Premier League ahead of Friday’s 18:30 BST deadline, to help managers gain an edge over their mini-league rivals.

SIX teams have no Premier League fixture this weekend – giving them a BGW34 – because they played twice in Double Gameweek 33 (DGW33) instead. Players from the following clubs will therefore score zero points – AFC Bournemouth, Brighton & Hove Albion, Burnley, Chelsea, Leeds United and Manchester City.

BGW34 schedule
Sunderland v Nott’m Forest
Fulham v Aston Villa
Liverpool v Crystal Palace
West Ham v Everton
Wolves v Spurs
Arsenal v Newcastle
Man Utd v Brentford

These picks below are not just recommendations for anyone playing the Free Hit chip this week, but also for those Fantasy managers simply using free transfers to bring in good options for the remainder of the campaign. 

Mohamed Salah (Liverpool) £14.0m

Salah’s nine-year spell on Merseyside will come to an end once 2025/26 is over, and he’s threatening to finish with a flourish.

The Egyptian has scored in each of his last three Premier League starts, with his latest strike coming in Sunday’s Merseyside derby.

He’s averaged an impressive 9.0 points per match in those three outings.

 

After a stop-start season, he’s starting to post the kind of underlying numbers that once made him an essential pick in FPL.

Over his last four matches, no midfielder can better Salah’s totals of 10 shots in the box and four big chances.

Everything seems to be aligning for a fitting, high-scoring farewell to a veritable Fantasy legend.

Ollie Watkins (Aston Villa) £8.6m

Having delivered a 16-point haul against Sunderland on Sunday, Watkins is the most-bought player in BGW34.

The Villa striker has already attracted over 270,000 transfers in at the time of writing, almost double the number of the next most-popular target.

Many Fantasy managers are in the market for a forward this week, as the highly-owned Erling Haaland (£14.5m) and Joao Pedro (£7.7m) are without a Premier League fixture.

Watkins fits the bill not just for those using their Free Hit chip, but also for the upcoming three Gameweeks, with none of Villa’s fixtures scoring higher than three in the Fixture Difficulty Ratings (FDR).

Despite midweek European involvement and the arrival of positional rival Tammy Abraham (£5.8m) in January, Watkins has started each of the last 14 Premier League matches he’s been fit and available for. There are few concerns around rotation, then.

Watkins’ underlying numbers are on the up, too, with the supply line aided by the returns from injury of influential midfielders Youri Tielemans (£5.9m) and John McGinn (£5.3m).

Across the last five Gameweeks, no forward can better Watkins’ tally of seven big chances.

Xavi Simons (Spurs) £6.5m

The appointment of Roberto De Zerbi could bring the best out of Spurs’ exciting Dutchman.

Xavi marked his first start under his new head coach with an 11-point haul in Gameweek 33.

The Netherlands international not only bagged two attacking returns against Brighton & Hove Albion, but was also the leading Spurs player for shots, chances created and Expected Goal Involvement (xGI), with four, two and 0.90, respectively.

It’s a small sample, but De Zerbi has also made some encouraging comments about his playmaker in the last few days.

“He’s lucky to work with me – not because I’m good, because I was a No 10,” De Zerbi told the official club website. “What he thinks now, I thought 20 years ago. So, we have a special connection. I have a special connection with all No 10s I work with. I love a No 10. A No 10 has to understand that he has to score and he has to make assists, not just play to be nice to the people – goals and assists.”

BGW34 gives Xavi the opportunity to kick on. Relegated Wolverhampton Wanderers provide the opposition and come into this match having conceded seven goals over their last two matches.

Beyond that, Spurs could be encountering Gameweek 35 opponents Aston Villa at a good time, in between the Villans’ two-legged UEFA Europa League semi-final.

De Zerbi’s side then face Leeds United and Chelsea in Gameweeks 36 and 37. One of these clubs will have the distraction of an FA Cup final close to those fixtures in mid-May.

Konstantinos Mavropanos (West Ham) £4.4m

The Hammers are one of the Premier League’s form defences.

Over the last nine Gameweeks, no club can better West Ham’s total of five clean sheets.

Key to their impressive defensive displays has been centre-back Mavropanos.

And it’s not just clean-sheet potential that the Greece international offers.

A huge threat from set-pieces, he’s scored three goals across his last four appearances.

At the other end of the pitch, Mavropanos has delivered defensive contribution points in 14 of his 22 starts. That’s an impressive success rate of 63.6 per cent. Even James Tarkowski (£5.7m), Joachim Andersen (£4.5m) and Maxence Lacroix (£5.1m), who have all garnered 30+ defensive contribution points in 2025/26 Fantasy, can’t top that.