⚽ FPL Gameweek 25 Tips

👋 Hello 👋

There's a lot to discuss this week so for anyone short on time, here's a quick overview.

Gameweek 25 deadline - Friday 24 February, 18:30 UK ⏰

👎 4 teams will blank this week - Manchester United, Newcastle United, Brentford and Brighton.

👍 4 teams will Double this week - Liverpool, Arsenal, Everton and Wolves.

🙌 Double Gameweek 29 was announced - 12 teams will Double (more on this later).

 🔥 Gameweek 25 - Hot Topics 🔥

The big talking point this week is which Double Gameweek players to target this week, so let's take a look at each team.

Arsenal vs Leicester (a), Everton (h)

We've talked about Arsenal a lot over the last few weeks, and to be honest not much has changed. I still think a triple up looks great given the Double Gameweek this week, followed by good Single Gameweek fixtures and a guaranteed fixture in Gameweek 28.

My favourite options are in order below:

• Bukayo Saka

• Martin Ødegaard

• Gabriel

• Eddie Nketiah

• William Saliba

• Ben White

I think if you have any combo of the three above you can probably just hold onto them and concentrate transfers elsewhere. I wouldn't completely count out Gabriel Martinelli (£6.5m) either, but he's definitely not one to buy right now. We saw against Aston Villa that Mikel Arteta is prepared to play Leandro Trossard (£6.6m) from the start. If you own Martinelli, you should get at least one, if not two starts in Double Gameweek 25, so he's not a priority to sell.

Liverpool vs Crystal Palace (a), Wolves (h)

Liverpool players have proved a bit more divisive than they normally are for FPL. They certainly haven't performed at the standard we've come to expect from them.

From an attacking point of view they are averaging 1.81 xG per 90 minutes this season. That puts them third behind Arsenal (1.87) and Man City (1.94). They are generating plenty of chances, they just need a run of good finishing to go their way.

Mohamed Salah (£12.7m) is the standout pick as he's the only one guaranteed to start, he also very rarely comes off before the 90th minute and has penalties. He's perhaps struggled a bit more than usual, after all he's only scored 9 goals this season, but for this Double he's one of the best picks.

The only other two options I would look at are Darwin Núñez (£8.7m) and Cody Gakpo (£7.8m). Both have seen reduced minutes over the last few games because of the return of Roberto Firmino (£8.0m) and Diogo Jota (£8.8m) who are both building up fitness.

I think there's a chance that Darwin and Gakpo start both games in the Double, but the maximum minutes we're likely to see is 120-130~ combined over both games. They will likely continue to come off around the 60th minute and there is a chance that one or both of them might only start one of the two games. If one of them is to miss out my money would be on Gakpo ahead of Darwin who I do think is first choice but it's very hard to know for sure. I would probably avoid going for both of them either way as they could become issues to deal with sooner rather than later.

Defensively Liverpool have not been great all season. They've conceded 1.34 xG per game which puts them 12th in the league. That being said, it doesn't put me off buying their defenders completely.

Fixtures wise they have Crystal Palace (a) and Wolves (h) in the Double followed by Man United (h), Bournemouth (a) and possibly Fulham (h) in Gameweek 28 depending on FA Cup results next week.

There aren't a huge amount of other defenders to pick from given the Blank and Double Gameweek schedule, so it might be time for a punt on a Liverpool defender. Because of a lack of faith in their clean sheet potential I think you've got to go for the attacking upside as well. So Trent Alexander-Arnold (£7.3m) would be the top pick. Andrew Robertson (£6.8m) isn't a bad second choice if you don't have the additional £0.5m. My only worry with Robertson is he always feels more likely to be rested at some stage because of Kostas Tsimikas (£4.4m).

That being said, without a miracle in the Champions League, Liverpool will soon be out of all cup competitions, so there's less rotation needed in the Premier League. If you want to have assured minutes then Virgil Van Dijk (£6.5m) is the one, but I'd personally rather Alexander-Arnold or Robertson.

Everton vs Aston Villa (h), Arsenal (a)

One of the benefits to Everton players is the Double this week and guaranteed fixtures in Gameweek 28 and Gameweek 32 where some teams will blank based on FA Cup results. They are also mostly cheap enough to bench when needed.

If you need a new goalkeeper then Jordan Pickford (£4.4m) is an option, and if you're after a cheap defender I'd look at James Tarkowski (£4.3m).

There are other defenders available, but Tarkowski's minutes should be pretty secure, and he's shown some decent goal threat over the last few weeks. Seamus Coleman (£4.4m) did get on the score sheet recently and with Nathan Patterson (£3.9m) suffering from a knock he should be fine for the Double. But long term Coleman's minutes could be affected by Patterson at times.

Side note, if you're a Patterson owner I'd be very tempted to take a 4 point hit for Tarkowski if you're not planning on bringing him in as part of another move. I think you could profit from the hit in the Double, and if not you at least have another regular starter in your squad.

Most of you aren't going to be in the market for an Everton attacker, but if like me you need a cheap placeholder you could look at either Alex Iwobi (£5.4m) or Dwight McNeil (£5.1m). The idea would be to get them for the Double Gameweek before moving them onto a Brighton midfielder for their Double in Gameweek 27.

Iwobi has the minutes advantage, there's only one game where he hasn't played 90 in the league all season. McNeil's minutes were more questionable under Frank Lampard, but under Sean Dyche he has played 277 of a possible 290 and looks slightly more attacking.

Neither option is particularly brilliant or exciting, nor are they great long term picks. But as a one week punt for a Double Gameweek they might be useful.

Wolves vs Fulham (a), Liverpool (a)

Wolves are probably the Double Gameweek team I'm least interested in for a few reasons.

First of all both of their fixtures are away, to Fulham and Liverpool. They then have to play Spurs and Newcastle in Gameweek 26 and 27 before a fixture in Gameweek 28 that could be affected by the FA Cup.

If you do want a defender then Max Kilman (£4.3m) to save funds, or Craig Dawson (£4.8m) for goal threat are probably your best options.

Some of you may still be holding onto Hugo Bueno (£3.9m). His minutes can't really be relied on, but unless you have the luxury of using a spare transfer on transferring him out, I'd be confident of at least one start in Double Gameweek 25 and you could hold onto him for now.

In attack Pablo Sarabia (£5.5m) could be a fun punt over any of the Everton options. The only downside is what I've mentioned above in terms of the fixture schedule after Gameweek 25. If you're certain you will move onto a Brighton midfielder either way then he could be a better option than Iwobi or McNeil.

If you're looking for a forward then Matheus Cunha (£5.5m) is an option, but he's only played more than 60 minutes twice in the last five fixtures so I'm not sure I'd want to risk it.

Double Gameweek 29 Announced

There are 12 teams that will Double in Gameweek 29. There's not enough time to go into things in great detail for this newsletter, but in general it shouldn't change the plans for most people in Gameweek 25.

Chip Strategies are still quite dependent on what happens in the FA Cup. We will know these results ahead of Gameweek 26 and it'll then be easier to decide how to start using them.

Anyway, these are the Double Gameweek 29 fixtures:

• Liverpool vs Man City (a), Chelsea (a)

• Man United vs Newcastle (a), Brentford (h)

• Brighton vs Brentford (h), Bournemouth (a)

• Brentford vs Brighton (a), Man United (a)

• Bournemouth vs Fulham (h), Brighton (h)

• Aston Villa vs Chelsea (a), Leicester (a)

• Nottingham Forest vs Wolves (h), Leeds (a)

• Chelsea vs Aston Villa (h), Liverpool (h)

• Leeds vs Arsenal (a), Nottingham Forest (h)

• Newcastle United vs Man United (h), West Ham (a)

• Leicester vs Crystal Palace (a), Aston Villa (h)

• West Ham vs Southampton (h), Newcastle (h)

The headline news is no Doubles for Arsenal, Man City and Spurs. That might increase the appeal of Free Hit 29, but again, we'll know more about that next week.

For those of you with fewer Chips available, both Aston Villa and Chelsea play in Blank Gameweek 25 and 28 as well as have a Double in Gameweek 29. Players from those sides might be worth looking at to cover multiple weeks.

📈 Transfer Activity 📉

As you can imagine, lots of the heavily transferred in players all have a Double Gameweek this week and I've covered them above. So for this section I'll stick to those being transferred out.

Who'd have thought 4-5 Gameweeks ago that we'd be saying Kieran Trippier (£6.0m) is the most transferred out defender this week. Points will be hard to come by in Gameweek 25 and 26 with a Blank Gameweek followed by Man City (a). To prepare for the Blanks and Doubles I don't think he's a bad transfer out, but if you can hold onto him he has Wolves (h) in Gameweek 27 and Nottingham Forest (a) in Gameweek 28 where plenty of other teams will end up blanking.

If you are choosing between Trippier and Luke Shaw (£5.4m) to be sold, I would go for Shaw. Like Trippier he blanks this week and then has a tough fixture in Gameweek 26 - Liverpool (a). But more importantly, Manchester United are one of the teams very likely to blank in Gameweek 28, whereas Newcastle will definitely play Nottingham Forest (a).

Kevin De Bruyne (£12.4m) is the most transferred out midfielder this week. He's currently flagged as a doubt because he missed the Champions League game against RB Leipzig through illness. Pep Guardiola should hold a press conference on Friday where he may give us positive news. If you haven't got Salah then I think the De Bruyne to Salah swap is pretty much a no brainer, even if De Bruyne is passed fit.

Another popular heavy hitter being transferred out is Harry Kane (£11.8m). A bit like with De Bruyne, if you are selling him to fund Salah then I think it's a good move. I would rather take the upside on the Double Gameweek than have Kane against Chelsea (h). It's worth noting that all of De Bruyne, Salah and Kane will likely blank in Gameweek 28, but if any of them does end up playing, the most likely is Salah.

If you are simply selling Kane to a different forward like Darwin, but don't need the cash to fund another move, it becomes much trickier. The chances are Darwin will outscore Kane in Gameweek 25, but beyond that I wouldn't be so sure. If you're the type of FPL manager that will panic as soon as Darwin loses minutes, I would just keep Kane.

👑 Captaincy 👑

Captaincy is a little more interesting this week with Erling Haaland (£12.2m) only having a single fixture and Rashford having no fixture.

The top two options for me are Salah and Saka. They have everything that we could want from an FPL player - nailed to start, great minutes and both take penalties.

I don't think there's a huge amount to split them in terms of fixtures so for me it comes down to the underlying numbers and I just prefer Salah's goal threat (0.47xG per 90), compared to Saka (0.28 xG per 90).

There really isn't much more in it than that. In terms of how the teams perform when you watch them, I would say that the Arsenal attack certainly looks like it's functioning a bit better, but Liverpool have still been creating plenty of chances.

I think with a lot of the community being skeptical about Liverpool (perhaps rightly so), it just makes me want to captain Salah even more while his stocks are at an all time low ahead of a Double Gameweek.

It's one of those that if you told me you were captaining Saka, I wouldn't argue at all, he's a great option.

If you want to captain someone else from these two teams I would probably put my favoured order something like this:

• Martin Ødegaard

• Eddie Nketiah

• Darwin Núñez

• Trent Alexander-Arnold

I'd have Ødegaard and Nketiah ahead of Darwin purely because of the minutes I expect them to play. It's hard to split the two of them, I just prefer captaining midfielders where possible. The extra points for clean sheets and goals can add up over a couple of fixtures. Nketiah is a great option in his own right though.

Alexander-Arnold is below Darwin simply because I hate captaining defenders unless I have to. That feeling of your captain losing a clean sheet just isn't worth it for me.

💪 My Team 💪

With two free transfers I'm fairly well set up for Gameweek 25, although it has come at the cost of some lost points the last few Gameweeks.

My main transfers will be Bruno Fernandes (£9.8m) to Dwight McNeil (£5.1m) and Nathan Aké (£5.1m) to Alexander-Arnold.

McNeil might seem like a strange choice but I only have £7.6m to spend on that spot, and there aren't many Single Gameweek players I fancy. Ultimately that spot is being saved for a Brighton midfielder ahead of their Double in Gameweek 27, and I will probably buy them next week.

I can afford to get Gakpo in that spot instead, but I also have Aleksandar Mitrović (£6.8m) to think about. Marco Silva didn't give me much confidence that he will be ready for Gameweek 25.

He did say that Mitrović will be assessed tomorrow so there is a chance he will play.

Fulham vs Wolves is the first fixture of the Gameweek so we may get early team news, but for me it just feels like a perfect excuse to triple on Liverpool by bringing in Darwin.

So Fernandes, Aké, Mitrović to McNeil, Alexander-Arnold, Darwin for -4 will likely be my moves. This leaves me with 8 Double Gameweek players total. I feel in a good place for Gameweek 25 but might suffer later on with no Double Gameweek 27 players already in place.

My captain will likely be Salah, although as I said above, I think it's quite close with Saka.

I'm keeping Trippier and Rashford because I'm not quite sure what my Chip plan will be going forward so I want to keep my options open. I have value tied up in both of these players as well.

📽️ My YouTube Content 📽️

Check out my Team Selection and Gameweek Preview videos that went out over the last couple of days.

The Gameweek 25 Deadline Stream should start around 17:00 UK time on Friday!

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