1 week Ago
Blank Gameweek 34 seems to have been a successful one for the majority of those who played their Free Hit chip in Fantasy Premier League, but there is still one game to go as Nottingham Forest take on Brentford on Thursday. Liverpool’s 5-1 win over Tottenham Hotspur cemented them as the league champions and wins for Newcastle United and Chelsea meant that the fight for Champions League football heats up even more. Advertisement Manchester City and Crystal Palace also won their FA Cup semi-finals, which could now have an impact on future gameweeks.
Here are the main talking points. Cole Palmer’s (£10.6m) abysmal form continued as he registered another blank.
He has now gone 13 games without a goal and has only managed three assists in that time. Chelsea’s final four fixtures read: Liverpool (H), Newcastle (A), Manchester United (H) and Nottingham Forest (A). If you still own Palmer or any other Chelsea assets, I think now is the time to get rid of them for the season.
There was an argument to hold Palmer until now, despite his run of blanks over the last few gameweeks, as the fixtures for Chelsea were good. But as excellent as Palmer is as an FPL asset, the fixtures don’t justify holding on to him any longer. Manchester City and Crystal Palace made it through to the FA Cup final this weekend with wins against Nottingham Forest and Aston Villa, respectively.
This could have implications for Gameweeks 36 and 37. Aston Villa are objecting to the Premier League regarding changing the date for their match against Spurs at Villa Park on Sunday, May 18, which falls in Gameweek 37 — logically, that game could be moved to midweek in Gameweek 36. Ange Postecoglou’s side could have the Europa League final on Wednesday, May 21, to prepare for — should they get there — but Villa believe that a change to the date of that fixture could cause disruption to their own season as they chase Champions League qualification.
Manchester City vs Bournemouth and Palace vs Wolves will have to move from their original dates in Gameweek 37 as City and Palace will play in the FA Cup final on that weekend. These games could get moved to the midweek in Gameweek 36, which would mean a double in 36 and blanks in Gameweek 37 — but they could also stay in 37 and be played during the midweek instead. Advertisement There is a lot of uncertainty but there is a high chance these fixture rearrangements get announced before this week’s Gameweek 35 deadline, s o do not make any transfers yet, as these changes will have huge implications on your plans for the remainder of the season.
You can see exactly which teams this might impact from Ben Crellin’s post here: Man City vs Bournemouth and Palace vs Wolves will have to move from the weekend of GW37 to either the midweek in GW36 or the midweek in GW37 – and the midweek in GW37 is probably more likely. Spurs have requested that Villa vs Spurs be moved from the weekend of GW37 to the..
. — Ben Crellin (@BenCrellin) April 27, 2025 It’s going to be a tricky period if you own Arsenal assets, especially Bukayo Saka (£10.5m) .
With their title chances officially over and a top-three finish very likely, we might see Mikel Arteta ring the changes, especially against Bournemouth in Gameweek 35. The game is sandwiched between their two Champions League semi-final legs against Paris Saint-Germain, meaning we could see big names rested. We have already seen Arteta do this between Champions League quarter-final games.
There is no reason to think he won’t do it again. Since Saka returned from injury in Gameweek 30, he has only started one game in the league, while any of their other attackers are going to be at risk of rotation too. Arsenal’s next four games are against Bournemouth (H), Liverpool (A), Newcastle United (H) and Southampton (A).
If they make it to the Champions League final, then they will play it a week after their final league game against Southampton. So we could see rotation from now until the end of the season. Therefore, I think it’s very reasonable to sell Saka this week.
Brentford’s Bryan Mbeumo (£8.0m) is looking like a worthwhile replacement, and he may well be the best captain next gameweek against Manchester United (H). After that, his side’s final three games against Ipswich (A), Fulham (H) and Wolves (A) are as profitable as they come.
I think David Raya (£5.6m) , William Saliba (£6.6m) and Jakub Kiwior (£4.
8m) should be safe from rotation by Arteta. However, don’t make any moves until the end of the week. Arsenal play PSG on Tuesday, and we still have Brentford and Forest to play on Thursday too.
Advertisement Liverpool won the title this weekend with four games to spare. There is also an argument here that Arne Slot might rotate or even give some of his peripheral players or youngsters some minutes. Although I think we may see some of this, I would be largely surprised if we see mass rotation from the newly crowned champions.
One player who I think will be totally safe from any type of rotation is Mohamed Salah (£13.8m) . The Egyptian can still surpass his own best-ever goals record of 32 in a season, and he can still beat the most ever assists (20) and goal contributions (47) in a single season.
He currently has 28 goals and 18 assists, so he is well on his way to breaking those records. Naturally, there might well be a drop in performance levels as a team, and we may see fewer clean sheets, for example. Also, players such as Luis Diaz (£7.
6m), Diogo Jota (£7.2m) and Cody Gakpo (£7.2m) , who are already minutes risks, will likely see more rotation.
With the fixtures Liverpool have left, I don’t think we will see many clean sheets. So, barring Salah, I would be looking to sell their assets too. If we get the double-gameweek announcements this week, then this might help you with your replacements.
(Top photo: Carl Recine/Getty Images).
