Fantasy Premier League, Gameweek 29 tips: Time to revive faith in Chelsea stars as double and blank gameweeks loom

It’s a quick turnover from the midweek Premier League action as another gameweek of Fantasy Premier League (FPL) is upon us. Ten more FPL gameweeks remain and this is by far the most crucial period of the season with blank and double fixture weekends in the offing. Chips which most FPL owners preserve for this final push in the season have to be planned well for desired results.

As we close in on the second double gameweek in GW 32, it’s advisable to start planning for it in advance. GW 29 is a good time to start. However, before the fixture-heavy week in GW 32, GW 31 has a depleted fixture list thanks to the FA Cup quarter-finals and involvement of six Premier League teams. A similar truncated fixture list will be seen in GW 33 that will coincide with the FA  Cup semis.

There’s a lot of head scratching for FPL owners in the coming weeks especially with the different chips in the mix. Things will be a lot less complex if you have already exhausted your chips, but be assured that you may have missed a trick or two if that’s the case.

Here’s how you should be preparing for the unusual gameweeks to come and use the chips to its best effect. Using the free hit for GW 31 or 33 when a lot of fixtures are expected to be postponed seems quite a logical solution. However, with less number of teams in action, there will be a limited choice of players for FPL managers leading to fairly similar teams. This reduces the effect of the chip and hence the free hit chip should be preserved for double gameweeks 32 or 35.

Similarly, triple captain and bench boost are more effective are also more effective when your players will play two matches within a gameweek and thus postponing their use till GW 32 or 35 seems to be a good option.

However, you can only use one chip at a time and hence if you have all chips intact, there’s a lot more work to do make sure your patience with the chips is converted into top fantasy points. It is still advisable to avoid using any of the chips for GW 31 or 33 as there would be limited scope to buy top players with most of the big teams missing.

Things get a lot less complicated for FPL managers if you still have your second wildcard at hand. If that’s the case, you can start preparing your team for GW 31 and 33, use free hit for GW 32, use wildcard after GW 33 and prepare a team for GW 35.

However, if you don’t have a wildcard at your disposal, it makes more sense to sacrifice GW 33 — not try to fill all eleven players — and prepare your team for one of GW 32 or 35 for which you don’t plan to use a free hit for.

In order to prepare for GW 31 and 33, picking Chelsea and Liverpool players is key. The two teams are out of the FA Cup, have an easy run of games and are certain to play every week.  The Reds players though are already owned by a large number of FPL managers, but that’s not the case with Chelsea players whose recent struggles have forced FPL managers to do away with them. After finding form in the 2-0 win over Tottenham on Wednesday, Chelsea’s FPL prospects are suddenly looking bright. They face Fulham, Wolves, Everton, Cardiff and West Ham in their next five games.

Eden Hazard and Gonzalo Higuain have already seen benefits of their kind fixture list after being picked up by a host of FPL owners. Same is the case with centre-back David Luiz who has appeared quite solid at the back in the last two matches.

As for Liverpool players, there’s a debate over whether managers should pick Sadio Mane over Mohamed Salah with the former showing much better form at the moment. The Egyptian has just one goal in five games, while Senegalese has five in as many matches. With a price difference of £3.8m, Mane has always tempted FPL managers to swap him for Salah. However, the Egyptian has recovered his form and left Mane in his wake every time. Thus, it is better for FPL managers to stick to Salah for another week before making a change. However, if there’s an urgent need for funds, that swap won’t be the worst option.

GW 32 is expected to be the biggest gameweek and keeping your free hit chip for that week is the most sensible option. Triple captain can be used in GW 35 when Manchester City play twice.

Focusing on the GW at hand, it has a look of a high-scoring week. Manchester United, Chelsea, Liverpool and Manchester City have easy games and the chances of goals galore in those games are quite high. Apart from the big guns, sides like Wolves, Brighton, West Ham and Burnley have decent home games where their players could generate plenty of points.

Here are the top picks for GW 29

Ashley Barnes (Burnley): The Burnley striker has scored four goals in his last five games. Crystal Palace endured a tough midweek game against Manchester United and will have to gather their players for the trip to an in-form Burnley. Clean sheets haven’t come Palace’s way in recent times and Barnes profit from it at the weekend.

Issa Diop (West Ham): The West Ham defender is a central figure in the side’s rearguard and has recently emerged as a real threat on set-plays. The Hammers have a very easy run of games and a few clean sheets may be coming the way of Manuel Pellegrini’s team. At a price of £4.3m, he’s worth the shot.

Eden Hazard (Chelsea): The Belgian has disillusioned many FPL managers with his inconsistency. It’s a drawback which is very hard to carry after paying a £10.8m for a player. However, Hazard could be back among the points after Chelsea have shown signs of improvement. Fulham have conceded two goals per game on an average and hence it’s a good time to snap up Hazard before he attracts attention.

Divock Origi (Liverpool): Origi has earned the faith of manager to Jurgen Klopp to deputise for the injured Roberto Firmino. Few FPL managers own the Belgian and at a low price of £5m, Origi could be a real differential for your side.

Captain’s conundrum: Paul Pogba is a top choice for captaincy this week after high-flying United welcome relegation-threatened Southampton at Old Trafford. Rivalling him for the armband is City’s Raheem Sterling who will face a Bournemouth side who have the habit of leaking plenty of goals against the big sides. The former Liverpool forward was rested in midweek and will be raring to go at the weekend. With Sergio Aguero battling fatigue, Sterling will be City’s main man. So if it’s down to Pogba or Sterling or Aguero or Hazard, Sterling has the edge.