A fortnight ago, we ran an article comparing the pros of a Wildcard in Gameweek 30 versus those of Gameweek 31.
It’s fair to say quite a bit has changed in the interim!
With that in mind, we’ve decided to rewrite and republish this piece to react to the weekend’s events.
Wildcard: Gameweek 30 – The pros
Deal with international break + FA Cup issues
FPL notes: Haaland injury, Dango hope + Watkins returns
The gap between Gameweeks was largely due to an international break for Nations League play-offs and World Cup qualifiers, which took place between Wednesday 19 and Wednesday 26 March.
Having an active Wildcard provides the perfect cover to deal with any injuries that have cropped up while players were on national team duty.
There’s also the fallout from the weekend’s FA Cup ties to assess.
You may find yourself, for example, two forwards down due to injuries affecting Erling Haaland (£14.8m) and Chris Wood (£7.3m). While we await more updates on those two, there is some concern for Gameweek 30.
React to FA Cup results – and make an educated guess on the Blank/Double Gameweeks
Fantasy EFL: FA Cup round one notable scores and fixtures 1
After the weekend’s FA Cup quarter-final results, we have a good idea of which teams are set to blank in Gameweek 34.
Three matches will be rearranged due to clashes with the FA Cup semi-finals, although one – Nottingham Forest v Brentford – could feasibly stay in Gameweek 34.
We might not have final confirmation of where those rearranged fixtures are moved to by the Gameweek 30 deadline (more on that shortly…), but there’s a decent chance there will be a Double Gameweek 33 for Aston Villa, Manchester City, Arsenal and Crystal Palace.
It’s a risk to second-guess the Premier League after previous shock announcements but this is an educated gamble, given the few guaranteed midweek slots elsewhere for Villa and Arsenal (both of whom are still in Europe).
Reuniting with Gameweek 29 blankers
FPL notes: Mateta again, Rogers goal + why Robinson was benched 1
In-form assets who might have been sold due to blanking in Gameweek 29 – the likes of Daniel Muñoz (£5.1m), Jean-Philippe Mateta (£7.5m) and Alexander Isak (£9.3m), to name a few – can be brought back into our squads for some more promising fixtures.
That aforementioned trio, and the rest of their Newcastle and Crystal Palace colleagues, also play twice in Double Gameweek 32.
Bigger window for Assistant Manager
FPL Mystery Chip revealed: What is it + when can it be played? 2
For any FPL bosses still holding on to their Assistant Manager chip, Wildcarding earlier (i.e., in Gameweek 30 instead of Gameweek 31) opens up more options.
For example, the three-week chip could then be played from Gameweek 31-33, potentially giving five matches worth of returns due to the confirmed and predicted Double Gameweeks.
Gameweek 32-34 is doable too with a Gameweek 31 Wildcard but if, for example, you’re going for Oliver Glasner, he and Palace will very likely blank in Gameweek 34 – so you’ll be forced to use a transfer to recruit another Premier League boss then.
A Gameweek 30 Wildcard will probably largely resemble a Gameweek 31 Wildcard anyway!
Which Newcastle assets to buy before Double Gameweek 32? 7
Even if you hold out to Gameweek 31, is your Wildcard going to look much different?
It’s still likely to be going big on Palace and Newcastle. It’s still likely to contain Man City assets, who we a) know are going to double at some point, even if it’s not Gameweek 33 and b) have great fixtures anyway. The same is partly true of Arsenal, whose fixtures are perhaps not as strong but still good enough to warrant investment.
There likely won’t be much difference between the Gameweek 30 and 31 Wildcard templates, so there is a debate to be had about whether to just move early.
Wildcard: Gameweek 31 – The Pros
On the other hand, there are a few pros of waiting to Wildcard after Gameweek 30 has passed – the main one being…
Get Double Gameweek confirmation
FPL notes: Rogers injury, Neto up front + Enzo advanced
As mentioned above, we may not have the rescheduled dates for rearranged Blank Gameweek 34 fixtures in advance of the Gameweek 30 deadline. The FA Cup quarter-finals finished on Sunday evening, with the Gameweek 30 deadline set to pass just under 48 hours later. The schedulers may not act that quickly when it comes to announcing new dates.
They will, however, likely have done so before the Gameweek 31 deadline.
Given this second Wildcard will presumably be used by FPL managers with future doubles and subsequent strategies for when to play a Bench Boost and/or Triple Captain in mind, it will be safer to wait until we get final confirmation of which matches will be moved where, so we know who plays twice in Double Gameweek 33.
While we can make a good guess at Double Gameweek 33 (as previously discussed), FPL have surprised us with Double Gameweek 32 and 25 announcements already this season – so they may have a shock up their sleeves!
What’s the rush?
FPL notes: Mixed City debuts + in-form Bournemouth midfielders
There’s also the simple fact that FPL may not even necessarily need to Wildcard as soon as Gameweek 30 – so what’s the rush?
This point is, of course, team-dependent, but consider this: the likes of Wolves, Nottingham Forest, Bournemouth and Man City will all be fairly heavily owned by those among us who chose not to Free Hit their way through Blank Gameweek 29.
Rather than immediately rushing them out on Wildcard, you could still cash in on some appealing Gameweek 30 fixtures for assets from those teams with a view to restructuring after that.
Gameweek 30 v Gameweek 31 Wildcard: The arguments for each
You may have to deal with the Haaland/Wood headaches, of course, but the chances are that your FPL team may not be otherwise looking too bad for Gameweek 30.
Waiting for Saka news…
Saka + Palmer among eight to pull out of England squad 1
The return of Bukayo Saka (£10.2m) shouldn’t be far away after the break. Good luck hoping for Mikel Arteta to give us the green light ahead of Gameweek 30, however – expect “we’ll see”, “hopefully” or “we’ll assess after training” when he’s grilled in his pre-match presser today.
Waiting to see if Saka features in Fulham in Gameweek 30, and to what extent, will be our most reliable gauge of the winger’s fitness. Why wait? Well, the Gunners may well have a Double Gameweek 33 and Saka could feature in some FPL managers’ Wildcard plans as a result. There’s no guarantee of getting an update on Saka before Gameweek 31 either, of course, but we’re likelier to have a better idea.
…and more information on Haaland
3pm team news: Lewis + Rogers start, Watkins, Digne + Gordon benched 3
While a Gameweek 30 Wildcard may omit Haaland, the big Norwegian will be desirable for Man City’s Gameweek 33 if a) he’s fit and b) City do indeed double then.
Pep Guardiola may not know or indeed tell us about the severity of Haaland’s injury in Tuesday’s pre-match press conference, so opting for a Gameweek 31 Wildcard will give existing and prospective owners a few more days to hopefully learn more about his condition.
A short-term replacement with a great Gameweek 30 fixture (ie Mateta at Southampton, Marmoush v Leicester) could instead be brought in with a view to getting Haaland back on a Gameweek 31 Wildcard.
The Gameweek 30 Wildcard counter-argument to that, of course, is just to leave money in the bank to get the Norwegian back in if and when he recovers.
LESS TIME BEFORE A GAMEWEEK 32/33 BENCH BOOST
Why FPL managers should be thinking about their Bench Boost now 1
Many Fantasy managers will be looking to play their Bench Boost in either Double Gameweek 32 or, should it materialise as expected, Double Gameweek 33.
As discussed above, it’d be great to get the Double Gameweek picture before committing to a Wildcard full of ‘boostable’ bench options. Again, that’s information that might not come before Gameweek 30.
Another reason to leave the Wildcard till closer to the actual Bench Boost is to be as certain as you can that your players are going to play when the latter chip is activated. Lewis Dunk (£4.2m) could be a great boostable option for Gameweek 32, for instance, but it’d be good to see him start in midweek first before committing to him on a Wildcard.
Lots to think about, then, over the next 24 hours or so.
For those who are playing their Wildcard in Gameweek 30, we’ll be back soon with a look at a few new potential drafts.