Here, The Scout looks at how domestic cup and European competitions could affect future Blank and Double Gameweeks in Fantasy Premier League to help managers to plan for the run-in.
As a reminder, a "Blank Gameweek" contains fewer than the normal matches, with at least two clubs having no Premier League fixture, and players from such a club having no chance of scoring Fantasy points.
A "Double Gameweek" contains more than the normal 10 fixtures, with at least two clubs playing two Premier League fixtures in one Gameweek, and players from those clubs getting two chances to score Fantasy points.
What we know
Gameweek 34 will be the next Blank Gameweek
The next Blank Gameweek of the season will be Blank Gameweek 34 (BGW34), which takes place on the same weekend as the FA Cup semi-finals.
Six Premier League clubs have reached the FA Cup quarter-finals – Arsenal, Chelsea, Leeds United, Liverpool, Manchester City and West Ham United – and those ties will be played on the weekend of 4 April.
Any Premier League club who WIN their quarter-final will be unable to play their scheduled Premier League fixture on the weekend of BGW34, because they will be playing in the FA Cup semi-finals instead that weekend - and their Gameweek 34 opponents will also be left without a match to play.
However, in some scenarios the matches COULD stay in BGW34, and be played in midweek. More on that later.
A minimum of two and a maximum of four GW34 matches will need to be rescheduled
As you can see from the FA Cup quarter-final matches below, four Premier League clubs will go head-to-head, with Man City hosting Liverpool and West Ham facing Leeds.
Therefore, it is guaranteed that a MINIMUM of two Premier League clubs will reach the semi-finals and that two league fixtures will need to be removed from the weekend of BGW34 and rescheduled for a later date.
Then if Arsenal and Chelsea also win against their lower-league opponents Southampton and Port Vale respectively - which seems likely - there would be two more matches removed from the weekend of BGW34, giving us a total of four.
In other words, up to EIGHT clubs could be without a weekend match in BGW34, a scenario which could be ideal for managers to play their Free Hit chip and pick a whole new team for that one Gameweek only.
FA Cup quarter-final ties
Southampton v Arsenal
Chelsea v Port Vale
Man City v Liverpool
West Ham v Leeds
GW34 matches that could be rescheduled
| GW34 match* | Match to be rescheduled if... |
|---|---|
| Arsenal v Newcastle | Arsenal beat Southampton in QFs |
| Bournemouth v Leeds | Leeds beat West Ham in QFs |
| Brighton v Chelsea | Chelsea beat Port Vale in QFs |
| Burnley v Man City | Man City beat Liverpool in QFs |
| Liverpool v Crystal Palace | Liverpool beat Man City in QFs |
| West Ham v Everton | West Ham beat Leeds in QFs |
*Teams still in FA Cup are in bold
At present, only four matches are confirmed to be going ahead in BGW34, because all eight clubs have been eliminated from the FA Cup.
Confirmed GW34 matches
Man Utd v Brentford
Wolves v Spurs
Fulham v Aston Villa
Sunderland v Nott'm Forest
When will we know more?
FA Cup AND European progress could determine Blanks and Doubles
There's a big reason why so many managers are awaiting the outcomes of the FA Cup quarter-finals before deciding on their chip strategy for the run-in.
As mentioned above, we will know the four clubs who have made it through to the FA Cup semi-finals before the end of Sunday 5 April. That's five days before the Gameweek 32 deadline at 18:30 BST on Friday 10 April.
In terms of logistics, those extra five days could allow enough time for any matches which require rescheduling to be given new dates, meaning we may know when the Blank and Double Gameweeks will be for the run-in.
Should that be the case, many managers will activate their Wildcard chip before the Gameweek 32 deadline and load up on players who have a subsequent Double Gameweek, before then playing their Bench Boost chip in the Double Gameweek to get points from up to 15 players who have two matches.
In Europe, meanwhile, five Premier League clubs have advanced to the quarter-finals.
Arsenal and Liverpool have progressed in the UEFA Champions League, plus Aston Villa and Nottingham Forest in the UEFA Europa League, and Crystal Palace in the UEFA Conference League.
Crucially here, it is not only the progress in Europe of any FA Cup semi-finalists that will determine any fixture rescheduling, it is also the progress in Europe of their respective Gameweek 34 opponents.
A look at the six fixtures that are still at risk of being removed from the weekend of BGW34 shows that both Liverpool AND their Gameweek 34 opponents Crystal Palace are still involved in Europe, along with Arsenal.
Those three clubs will therefore have fewer empty midweek slots where postponed league matches could be added.
GW34 matches at risk of postponement
Bournemouth v Leeds
Liverpool* v Crystal Palace*
West Ham v Everton
Arsenal* v Newcastle
Burnley v Man City
Brighton v Chelsea
*Still involved in European competition
What’s likely to happen?
Arsenal and Chelsea progress to FA Cup semi-finals
Both Arsenal and Chelsea have to be backed to make it through to the FA Cup semi-finals, which means that their respective Gameweek 34 matches against Newcastle United and Brighton & Hove Albion would need to be removed from the weekend of BGW34 and given new dates.
Again, European competition matters here when it comes to when those matches can be rescheduled.
Should Chelsea defeat Port Vale, their match against Brighton could yet remain in GW34, moving into a midweek slot, because they are no longer in Europe.
But it could be a different matter for Arsenal and Liverpool due to their progress to the Champions League quarter-finals.
Essentially, if either Arsenal or Liverpool also progress to the FA Cup semi-finals, they will definitely "blank" in BGW34 because their progress in Europe means there is no space in their calendar for their scheduled Gameweek 34 fixtures against Newcastle and Everton to simply be moved by a few days into midweek and remain in the same Gameweek.
Certainly, Arsenal look far likelier to make it through to the last four of the FA Cup, bearing in mind that Liverpool visit Man City.
Nonetheless, it's worth noting that Liverpool's progress in the FA Cup AND Aston Villa's progress in the Europa League could yet lead to a further Blank and Double Gameweek for each team.
If Liverpool progress to the FA Cup final, their Premier League home match against Villa would need to be removed from the weekend of Gameweek 37 as it would clash with the Wembley Stadium showdown.
And if Villa make it all the way to the Europa League final, their progress in Europe would mean the match could not be moved into the midweek slot of Gameweek 37.
Gameweeks 33 and 36 are likely to be Double Gameweeks
Both Gameweek 33 and Gameweek 36 are expected to be Double Gameweeks for the simple reason that the midweek days do not clash with European competitions.
Should Arsenal progress in the FA Cup, and if their Gameweek 34 match against Newcastle is moved forward into Gameweek 33, Arsenal would have a Double Gameweek 33 (DGW33) - but it would be made less appealing by the fact that their first match in that Double would be away to Man City.
If Liverpool beat Man City in the FA Cup and if their Gameweek 34 match against Crystal Palace is moved into Gameweek 33, they would also get a DGW33, with a visit to rivals Everton being the first match on their agenda.
Potential Double Gameweek 33*
Arsenal: Man City (A), Newcastle (H)
Crystal Palace: West Ham (H), Liverpool (A) OR Man City (A)
Liverpool: Everton (A), Crystal Palace (H) OR Man City = Arsenal (H), Crystal Palace (H)
Newcastle: Bournemouth (H), Arsenal (A)
*If Arsenal and Liverpool reach FA Cup semi-finals
Similarly to Chelsea, Man City's exit from European competition last week means they are now free for any rescheduled league matches.
So even if they progress to the FA Cup semi-finals by defeating Liverpool, they might not "blank" in Gameweek 34 because their scheduled league match against Burnley could simply be delayed by a few days and moved into the midweek slot, now that their calendar is free.
Finally, Man City’s home match against Crystal Palace (which was originally scheduled for Gameweek 31) has yet to be given a new date, with both clubs expected to be given a Double Gameweek later in the campaign.
This could create opportunities to use the Triple Captain chip, because a big-hitting player like Man City's Erling Haaland (£14.5m) would be given TWO matches in the same Gameweek.