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I’m back for the second time this week, having earlier covered some factors to consider for the upcoming Blanks and Double Gameweeks.
In this article, it’s about the balance between fixture chess versus the qualitative side of things, talking a little about ‘Wildcard Windows’.
READ MORE: FPL Gameweek 24 team news: Friday’s live injury updates
FIXTURE CHESS
Having painfully sold Ollie Watkins (£8.8m) last week for Erling Haaland (£14.2m), my wounds are fresh in terms of not finding a fine balance between football-centric FPL thinking and fixture chess. By this, I mean the obsession with collecting a high quantity of Double Gameweek players and Blank Gameweek starters, at the cost of such tunnel vision making us forget the quality of other FPL assets.
In fact, I appreciated this reply from FPL_Neil on X:
“I love the term ‘fixture chess’ – I feel seen! Had a bad week, after planning so long for Gameweek 26 and beyond it’s easy to neglect the week in front of you. Like planning a 10-move checkmate ahead and leaving your queen en prise on the first move!”
That hit home hard this week as, until an hour before the deadline, I was very close to selling Dominic Solanke (£7.1m) instead of Watkins for Haaland. But as you would have it, once the confirmed Double Gameweek 25 news for Liverpool and Luton Town dropped, I had a bit of free time at work and indulged in some forward planning.
I saw that if I sold Watkins for Haaland, there’d be enough money to then move Cole Palmer (£5.9m) to Diogo Jota (£8.1m), which wouldn’t have been possible if I sold Solanke. Inside this hour, I lost sight of Watkins possibly having a better immediate fixture. Maybe it’s all in hindsight but my learned lesson is to now find the balance between quality and quantity when planning.
Just a few weeks ago, my pod partner Zophar made the move to buy Richarlison (£7.2m) despite his Blank Gameweek 26. He simply thought that fixtures were great and his strength as an FPL asset was much better than some with a double in Gameweek 25 or participation in Blank Gameweek 26.
WHEN TO WILDCARD?
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In this week’s episode of The FPL Wire, we cover these blanks, doubles and chip strategies in detail, which you can view below:
8 months, 23 days agoDubravka
Trent Porro Gabriel
Saka Foden Richarlison Palmer
Haaland(c) Watkins Darwin
Areola Gordon Cash Guehi
1.7m 1ft
A) Roll
B) Gabriel to Walker (feels like this move should just wait a week)