Fantasy Premier League managers set for a NIGHTMARE in Blank Gameweek 29 with only four matches going ahead because of the FA Cup – our THREE top strategies to navigate the schedule

The FA Cup fifth round cooked up disaster for Fantasy Premier League managers as far as Blank Gameweek 29 is concerned, with only four matches set to go ahead that weekend.

After Man City’s 6-2 triumph over Luton and Newcastle’s narrow victory on penalties against Blackburn on Tuesday, Wolves, Liverpool, Man United and Chelsea all confirmed their place in the quarter-finals of the competition on Wednesday night.

As a result, only four Premier League matches can go ahead during the FA Cup quarter-final weekend in March: Burnley vs Brentford; Luton vs Nottingham Forest; Fulham vs Tottenham; and West Ham vs Aston Villa.

If GW29 was not already chaotic enough, it comes directly after a double for both Bournemouth and Luton in GW28, with Andoni Iraola’s side set to blank immediately after glorious fixtures against the Hatters and Sheffield United at home.

FA Cup fifth round action in midweek has produced a tricky period for managers to navigate

As a result only, four Premier League fixtures will take place on the weekend of March 16

Planning how to navigate this tricky period – and, in turn, the double gameweeks towards the back end of the campaign – will likely have a significant impact on your end-of-season rank, but there is no one-size-fits-all strategy to deploy. 

Some managers are blessed with both the Wildcard and Free Hit chips still in play, and others – albeit very few – will have several players from the likes of Aston Villa, Tottenham and West Ham already.

In an attempt to attack the current FPL landscape from all angles, Mail Sport takes a look at the three best chip strategies to deploy ahead of a challenging period for managers.

Strategy 1: Wildcard NOW

The Wildcard is without question the most powerful chip in the game and thus should not be used lightly. That being said, for a lot of managers, GW27 could present the ideal time to hit the button.

As much as it can be tempting to hold on to your chips in search of the ‘perfect’ time to use them, FPL has a habit of spring up chaos and forcing your hand. And with several popular players injury doubts ahead of GW27, including Pedro Porro, Dominic Solanke and Hwang Hee-chan, now could present as good a time as any.

The key advantage to playing the Wildcard ahead of GW27 is to load up on Bournemouth and Luton players ahead of their double gameweek next week. 

If fit, Dominic Solanke will be very popular in double GW28 – but he doesn’t play in blank GW29

Popular GW26 transfer Hwang Hee-chan is a doubt to face Newcastle after suffering an injury

Most FPL managers will not have a Bournemouth asset outside of Solanke and targeting the likes of Neto and Marcus Tavernier against Sheffield United and Luton looks very appealing.

Neto would almost certainly be in my team if I were wildcarding – which could very well be the case depending on injury updates during the Friday press conferences – as the Bournemouth goalkeeper doesn’t take up and valuable outfield spot and can be easily benched for a player who features in GW29.

Meanwhile, with Luton, a GW27 Wildcard would enable managers to triple up on these assets against Crystal Palace and Bournemouth away during the double and carry them through GW29 against Nottingham Forest at home.

The obvious downside to this is that managers are unlikely to want three Luton players in their teams during the Premier League run-in. It may be tricky to hop off the likes of Ross Barkley, Carlton Morris and Alfie Doughty if you’re prioritising getting back the likes of Manchester City, Arsenal and Liverpool attackers with free transfers.

It’s also crucial to note that, aside from Tottenham who still have a fixture with Chelsea to rearrange, all the GW29 teams are without a double gameweek until the end of the season. 

Getting the balance right between enough players for GW29 and enough double gameweek players for later is tricky but a crucial part of the planning process for Wildcard GW27.

Another drawback from hitting the button this week – and why some managers may be tempted to wait until GW28 – is you will likely have to take out Man City and Arsenal players for enticing fixtures against Man United and Sheffield United. Of course, you could keep a few on Wildcard, but that will likely limit the number of GW29 players in your squad.

Strategy 2: Free Hit in GW29 

Perhaps the simplest plan, and one I anticipate will be the most popular heading into GW29, is to play the Free Hit during the troublesome blank.

Essentially, the Free Hit will enable managers to ignore GW29 players altogether until the week arrives and keep hold of these assets long-term after the blank has been and gone.

Therefore, despite Arsenal, Man City, Liverpool and other popular FPL teams blanking in GW29, those who play the Free Hit can keep them, deploy a full team from the likes of Tottenham and Aston Villa for one week only and then switch straight back ready to attack the rest of the season.

Playing a Free Hit in GW29 would allow managers to deploy players from the likes of Tottenham, West Ham and Aston Villa before switching back to their original team in GW30

Cherries goalkeeper Neto is a shrewd pick on Wildcard as he can be easily benched in GW29

For anyone out there without a Wildcard, this is undoubtedly the best strategy as it allows you to keep hold of the players who will double later in the season.

Players looking to manage GW29 with just free transfers will likely have to swerve Bournemouth players – aside from possibly covering Solanke as captain – so a Free Hit allows you to target the likes of Neto, Ilya Zabarnyi, Marcos Senesi and Marcus Tavernier.

The disadvantage to playing your Free Hit in GW29 is that there is a lack of high ceiling options to choose from that weekend. With Man City, Arsenal and Liverpool all absent, and the majority of managers able to get to Son Heung-min, Ollie Watkins and Ivan Toney with relative ease, ‘Free Hitters’ will be forced to punt on the likes of Douglas Luiz, Anthony Elanga and Taiwo Awoniyi. 

Of course, as was the case with Luiz in GW26, these lower ceiling players can still explode with double digit hauls, but they are no doubt less appealing than double gameweek players if you Free Hit in GW34 or GW37.

Finally, as the two big double gameweeks later in the season are set to include different teams, a Free Hit would help maximise this period. Managers could load up on players from double GW37 and simply Free Hit the other teams in during GW34.

Strategy 3: Manage with free transfers

This, in my opinion, is the ideal strategy. But there are few managers out there who have the luxury of this approach. 

The key advantage of a Wildcard is that it allows managers to hit the reset button after a tricky period and start afresh. By holding on to the Wildcard until after GW29, you could feasibly load your team up with short-term picks before refreshing and attacking the remainder of the season. 

By keeping back the Free Hit as well, it allows for maximum opportunity during GW34 and GW37 as well. It has been projected, due to Wolves’ likelihood to reach the FA Cup semi-finals after drawing Coventry in the last eight, that Arsenal’s fixture against the Molineux outfit could be rescheduled from GW34 to GW37.

With this in mind, Arsenal, Man City and Liverpool could all double in GW37 provided there are no upsets in the FA Cup. 

If possible, the ideal strategy may be to manage GW29 with just free transfers and a few hits

Aston Villa’s Ollie Watkins is the highest scoring player in FPL so far – and he plays in GW29

The obvious issue navigating blank GW29 with only free transfers is that many FPL managers only have a few players from that week in their teams right now. 

Of course, taking copious hits now only to optimise potential points later seems a fruitless strategy. You may as well play the road that’s directly in front of you.

However, if there are some of you out there with five or six players already in blank GW29, it may be worth looking at managing through the tricky weekend with eight or nine important players, particularly in attack. 

If you’re able to get to seven or eight of Son, Watkins, Toney, Jarrod Bowen, Richarlison, James Maddison, a Brentford defender, a Tottenham defender and a playing goalkeeper, you pretty much have most of the Free Hit picks covered.

It’s also worth mentioning that Luton players are valuable assets to target in double GW28 even for a hit, as they play an extra game that week before featuring in blank GW29. In theory, by playing in these two additional fixtures, they effectively cancel out the four points lost with appearance points alone.

Naturally, if you commit to this strategy, it means limiting the number of Bournemouth players you can get for GW28, as they will leave you in a tricky spot for the following blank. It also prevents you from reacting to injuries and suspensions over the next few weeks, which could prove extremely problematic.

Ultimately, by trying to navigate the blank with free transfers and a couple of hits, you’re banking on the upside of GW34 and GW37 later on.

According to FPL fixture gurus Ben Crellin and Planet FPL on X, here’s how those two double gameweeks could look based on predicted outcomes in the FA Cup quarter-finals. Please note that these are only projections.

Teams projected to double in GW34:

Crystal Palace (West Ham at home, Newcastle at home)

Man United (Newcastle at home, Sheffield United at home)

Newcastle (Man United away, Crystal Palace away)

Sheffield United (Burnley at home, Man United away)

Luton players could prove valuable assets in double GW28 as they also play the following week

Man City striker Erling Haaland plays Liverpool and Arsenal either side of his blank in GW29

Teams projected to double in GW37:

Arsenal (Man United away, Chelsea at home)

Bournemouth (Brentford at home, Wolves away)

Brighton (Newcastle away, Man City at home)

Chelsea (Nottingham Forest away, Arsenal away)

Everton (Sheffield United at home, Liverpool at home)

Liverpool (Aston Villa away, Everton away)

Man City (Fulham away, Brighton away)

Wolves (Crystal Palace at home, Bournemouth at home)