RADIO
Welcome to Double Gameweek 35, RotoBallers! This is our third year covering FPL, and we are bringing you more coverage than ever. We publish two weekly articles: a staff roundtable preview and our weekly rankings. Then, once a month, we have our newest report, The Watchlist, which reviews the previous month and eagerly looks ahead to the upcoming fixtures.
Thirty-four gameweeks down, four to go. The league is down to a two-horse race after Liverpool dropped out midweek with their loss to Everton. However, the Reds will still battle for Jurgen Klopp's final four games. The fact that there is a title race this late in the season means we can trust Pep Guardiola and Mikel Arteta to play their strongest teams every game. It provides FPL managers with a little less of a headache each weekend.
The Fantasy Premier League Double Gameweek 35 deadline is 6:00 a.m. EDT on Saturday, April 27, when West Ham welcomes Liverpool to London. Also, look out for the rest of our excellent soccer coverage, as the squad gets you all set for every English Premier League, Major League Soccer, and UEFA Champions League slate from a DFS and betting perspective.
I seldom play #EPL #DFS. But when I do, I make sure I check out my @RotoBaller buddies @EuanFPL and @df_solutions
before creating my lineup https://t.co/rmQTeGmSRg pic.twitter.com/b0xGTcSxp4— Jamie Steed (@Baseball_Jimbo) February 10, 2024
Fantasy Premier League Staff Roundtable - Double Gameweek 35 Preview
The Staff Roundtable is an attempt to get you inside the mind of our FPL staff. Our top soccer writers will answer questions each gameweek to give you an idea of how they view the games. So, without further ado, let’s kick off Double Gameweek 35!
Who is keeping a clean sheet in Double Gameweek 35?
- Euan Leith: On the season, Newcastle sits eighth for expected Goals Allowed (xGA) at home and faces a Sheffield United squad that's scored 15 goals in 17 away fixtures. If you have one Magpies defender, you should think about adding another.
- Jamie Steed: Newcastle’s defense hasn’t come close to matching last year’s numbers. But they have kept eight clean sheets at St. James’ Park and two in their previous four home games. Sheffield United have failed to score in four of their nine away games against the current top 10. The Magpies should shut out Sheffield United this weekend.
- Tom Bellucco: Manchester City should be able to keep Nottingham Forest off the scoreboard in the Sunday late match. Outside of that, nothing really stands out as a great clean-sheet spot.
What defensive player is providing attacking returns?
- Euan: Double Gameweek 35 is the last hurrah for Rayan Ait-Nouri in my FPL squad for the 2023/24 campaign. The Algerian defender has been an excellent pick for me since my Gameweek 31 Wildcard, and I'm banking on one last return against Luton this weekend. During the previous six matches, the 22-year-old is fourth among all defenders with 1.62 expected Goal Involvements (xGI).
- Jamie: Conor Bradley’s injury has left Liverpool needing to rely on Trent Alexander-Arnold to rediscover his early-season form. He scored last weekend in his first start since February. Liverpool’s title chances are hanging by a thread, and they’ll want to rebound from their midweek disappointment. Alexander-Arnold might need to find his best form to do that.
- Tom: I'll take Pedro Porro to log at least one assist in Spurs' crucial double-game week against Arsenal and Chelsea.
Who's a midfielder or forward rostered on less than 10 percent of teams that will grab us those FPL points?
- Euan: Brennan Johnson (1.2 percent) has five fixtures over the next three gameweeks and is the first-choice winger on the right side of Tottneham's attack. He's started five of the previous six games and has six attacking returns in the last seven games. With two games, I'm backing the young Welshman to add a few returns to the five goals and nine assists he accumulated in his debut season with Spurs.
- Jamie: Jean-Philippe Mateta has been the in-form forward. Yet, he's still on less than 5% of FPL rosters. Back-to-back braces and seven goals in seven games should be enough to see him the most popular addition to teams this week. He was a star during the double gameweek and should be able to keep up his goal-scoring run at Fulham.
- Tom: Eberechi Eze is still under-rostered at 8.5% of teams. The Palace midfielder has been crucial to their recent offensive improvements, and he'll get a chance to provide more production at Fulham on Saturday.
Jean-Philippe Mateta has been loving life at Selhurst Park recently 😍
He netted four goals across Crystal Palace's Double Gameweek 🔥#FPL pic.twitter.com/ExawN4tWxl
— Fantasy Premier League (@OfficialFPL) April 25, 2024
Who is one player you want to have but can’t for the Double Gameweek 35 fixtures in Fantasy Premier League?
- Euan: It will depend on how risky I want to get. The current thinking is a dull Conor Bradley to Harry Maguire trade to fix an injury hole in my lineup. However, the spicy option is Mohamed Salah to Bruno Fernandes and Alejandro Garnacho to Brennan Johnson. Regardless, I'll go without a sensible or a fun pick heading into Double Gameweek 35.
- Jamie: After using my Wildcard for Gameweek 34, I am left with only one Manchester City player in my squad. I will bring in Bruno Fernandes for Manchester United’s home game with Burnley, so I cannot bring back Phil Foden. Unless I take a minus, of course, which isn’t something I want to do after clawing back so many points last week.
- Tom: Between the knock that has kept him out of the last two matches and the tough matchup against Liverpool, Jarrod Bowen will have to be left on the bench again. We'll have to wait a week to see if he can cap off a fantastic FPL season in style.
A special return for a special player 💫#FPL #BHAMCI pic.twitter.com/En23kW1BvQ
— Fantasy Premier League (@OfficialFPL) April 25, 2024
Who’s getting the Captain’s armband?
- Euan: Cole Palmer is having a phenomenal breakout campaign for Chelsea, and he will get the armband this week. He's integral to Chelsea's attack, and should they earn one, he should be on penalties. Plus, with some FPL managers using their Triple Captain chip on the English midfielder, it will prevent too much damage in your mini-leagues and overall rank.
- Jamie: With Tottenham and Chelsea having two games this week, most captains will come from those two teams. My choice is Cole Palmer, who would be in the running even without the additional fixture. Aston Villa away and Tottenham at home aren’t the best two games on paper, but Palmer should still outscore any other option I have this week.
- Tom: Chelsea desperately needed Cole Palmer against Arsenal last week. Now that he's returning, he's the easy selection for captainship in a double gameweek situation. Let's hope he doesn't show any lingering effects of his illness.
Finally, what’s your bold prediction for Double Gameweek 35?
- Euan: With FPL managers attacking the double gameweeks, Mohamed Salah drops in price twice on Friday and Saturday night to suddenly become a differential for the final three gameweeks of the season. On the pitch, Alexander Isak is the highest-scoring single gameweek player, and Brennan Johnson is the highest-scoring double gameweek player.
- Jamie: Palace’s trio of Jean-Philippe Mateta, Eberechi Eze and Michael Olise continue to shine and all three bag a goal involvement at Fulham. Burnley keep their slim survival hopes alive by leaving Old Trafford with at least a point following another high-scoring game.
- Tom: Burnley and Sheffield United combine for at least four goals at Manchester United and Newcastle United, respectively. Two scrappy clubs will find a way to pressure two middle-of-the-table clubs with massive defensive holes.
What a day for a trio of Crystal Palace attacking assets 🦅
Mateta 🅰️⚽️⚽️
Olise ⚽️🅰️
Eze ⚽️🅰️#FPL #CRYWHU pic.twitter.com/Tod3YcWYY5— Fantasy Premier League (@OfficialFPL) April 21, 2024
Is there a question you would like to have answered every week? Hit us up on X @RotoBaller. We would love to hear your feedback and ideas!
