Double Gameweek 34 Announced
Double Gameweek 34 was expected to be announced as a Double Gameweek. Today the Premier League confirmed this. Gameweek 37 is also expected to be announced as a Double Gameweek but this has yet to be confirmed.
Fixtures
Along with the announcement of the Double Gameweek, the fixtures have also been confirmed. It is worth nothing West Brom are the only team to have a blank fixture in Gameweek 34.
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As we can see Crystal Palace, Man Utd and Middlesbrough all have a Double Gameweek. To confirm, each of their two fixtures are as follows.
Crystal Palace
- Liverpool (a) – 23/04
- Tottenham (H) – 26/04
Man Utd
- Burnley (a) – 23/04
- Man City (a) – 27/04
Middlesbrough
- Bournemouth (a) – 22/04
- Sunderland (H) – 26/04
FPL Strategy
Double Gameweek 34
The vast majority of the time it is better to have a player with a Double Gameweek than not. In Crystal Palace’s case it may not be though. With fixtures away to Liverpool followed by a home fixture to Tottenham just three days later some FPL managers may ignore Crystal Palace. On the other hand Man Utd and Middlesbrough don’t provide this problem. Whilst Man Utd’s latter fixture is away to Man City, any time Man Utd have a Double Gameweek it would be silly to ignore them. They will be expected to beat Burnley and at the very least be competitive against Man City. With Man Utd’s midfield open to change frequently and Mourinho’s emphasis on defence in big games, a Man Utd defender may prove more fruitful here. Middlesbrough’s two fixtures against Bournemouth and Sunderland will tempt many FPL managers into taking a chance on Middlesbrough. Their Gameweek 33 fixture at home to Arsenal may dampen their enthusiasm however.
No Need to Panic
Any time a Double Gameweek is announced it is big FPL news. However, we know other teams such as Chelsea, Tottenham, Man City and Man Utd (again) are also awaiting Double Gameweek announcements. Because of this, along with the current International Break and four Gameweeks worth of fixtures in between, there is no need to act immediately on this news.
Transfer Strategy
If you still have your wildcard you should be using it inline with the upcoming Double Gameweeks. We discuss this further in our Wildcard Strategy article. If your second wildcard has been used then the simplest way to determine what players you should be bringing in is by looking at the number of fixtures each team has played. For example, Liverpool, Everton, West Brom, Stoke, Bournemouth, West Ham, Burnley, Swansea and Hull have all played at least one more fixture than everyone else. Therefore these players should be transferred out/avoided.