Season So Far

After averaging a final overall rank of around 50k in the previous two seasons, it is safe to say that being ranked at 500k before the winter World Cup was not the position I had hoped to find myself in. This season has felt a little topsy-turvy; the Gameweeks I have felt positive about have resulted in red arrows, and the ones I have been dreading have seen me go up the ranks.

Alas, giving up is not an option for the FPL obsessed. Especially because I know all too well that this stage of the season is where the real gains can be made. Where engaged FPL managers can gain the upper hand on those not watching the schedule closely. But to make those gains, careful planning is required to navigate the fixture chaos. If I am to achieve my minimum aim of a Top 100k finish, then a careful plan must be hatched.

My intention is to attack the doubles whilst not causing myself a headache for the blanks further down the line. The Future Gameweek Planner helped me to map out this journey:

Future Gameweek Planner

Fantasy Football Fix is committed to delivering the most useful, data-driven tools for super charging your Fantasy Premier League (FPL) experience. The FPL Plus Browser Extension is packed with features, but the latest update is a game changer.

Imagine if you could use the existing FPL interface but fast forward and plan for many Gameweeks in advance. With the Future Gameweek Planner tool, you can!

You can add FPL Plus to the Fantasy Premier League website by clicking HERE

Double Gameweek 23

With triple-Arsenal already boxed off, courtesy of bringing in Nketiah in Gameweek 22, the focus now shifts to the one other team who double in Gameweek 23: Manchester City.

City’s defensive numbers have fallen off a cliff recently – the team has only managed 4 clean sheets since Gameweek 10. Add to this the fact that defensive rotation is currently rife at the Etihad, and the case for bringing in City defenders is diminished.

A move which excites me however is bringing in Riyad Mahrez (£7.7m). Historically, a frustrating FPL asset, Mahrez is far from being nailed, but he doesn’t require that many minutes on the pitch to make a difference, and could offer a big haul across two fixtures.

Fernandes goes the other way, which is not ideal against a leaky Leeds side, but it is a positive future move as, not only does it free up funds, but it reduces my Manchester United triple-up – something I will thank myself later for when United blank in both Gameweeks 25 and 28. I'm hoping for a green arrow, as the Future Gameweek Planner is predicting my team to score 88.5 points.

Double Gameweek 23 - using the Future Gameweek Planner

Gameweek 24

The aforementioned moves, set the squad up nicely for Gameweek 24, with most of my squad facing decent opposition. In fact, if Nathan Patterson (£3.9m) is back fit for this Gameweek, I may even consider using my Bench Boost, which I can schedule in by pressing the 'Plan Bench Boost' button at the bottom of the Future Gameweek Planner.

On that basis, I will be rolling the transfer so that I have 2 x free transfers in Blank Gameweek 25.

Gameweek 24 - - using the Future Gameweek Planner

Blank Gameweek 25

While not the biggest blank in terms of the number of missing fixtures, there are some key teams, hosting highly owned FPL assets, who blank in Gameweek 25. My previous moves have been deliberately engineered to reduce the number of blanking players to a manageable level and leave me with enough free transfers to deal with any new issues.

With so much subject to change, my proposed moves become less set in stone. If Patterson is still injured, a quick switch to a Villa defender – Tyrone Mings (£4.3m) for example – could work nicely. Aston Villa’s defensive fixtures get really nice around this time and, crucially, they will not blank in Gameweek 28.

Blank Gameweek 25 - - using the Future Gameweek Planner

WHAT’S NEW?

The Future Gameweek Planner is designed to closely emulate the standard FPL experience while providing subtle, but valuable, enhancements.

Firstly, the squad screen can be configured to allow each player to display additional helpful information below their name. As with the FPL Plus ‘Pick Team’ tab, this will default to showing the fixtures, but can also be configured to show Fixture Difficulty, Player Prices and Player Points Projections.

Fixture Difficulty View

Player Prices View

Projected Points View

Above the squad screen is the Planning Console. Powered by the Algorithm, the Planning Console enables users to organise up to five drafts, allowing multiple transfer routes to be explored. Each draft version is neatly summarised with the Projected Points total for the next five Gameweeks. This allows managers to see, at a glance, which of their drafts is likely to yield the most points.

The Planning Console can display multiple drafts and a summary of projected points for each

Below is the Gameweek Section; this is where managers will navigate between the Gameweeks and lock (or unlock) their changes. This section displays Gameweek specific score predictions and highlights necessary information such as Free Transfers (including those carried over), Cost (if applicable) and Money In The Bank.

The Gameweek Section displays important information about each Gameweek

Below the squad screen are the chip buttons which allow the user to emulate playing a chip (distinguishable from actual chip buttons because they read ‘Plan’ rather than ‘Play’) and the ‘Save Your Team and Lock Draft’ button which replaces the ‘Confirm Changes’ button.

Once this has been pressed, any changes will carry forward to subsequent Gameweeks and can only be undone by hitting the ‘Reset Draft’ or ‘Reset Gameweek’ buttons. Below these, users will also see a breakdown of all the planned transfers for the highlighted Gameweek.

The chip buttons allow you to emulate using your chips and the Planned Transfer section summarises your planned moves

The Future Gameweek Planner is a fantastic new tool which is both easy to use and packed with customisable options. Click HERE to add it to the Fantasy Premier League website now.

By Matt Whelan