Well, it's finally upon us then. Not as epic a double gameweek as in some recen seasons, with only four teams involved, but better than nothing. Chelsea, Liverpool, Leicester and Hull were the teams involved, and with some FPL managers getting caught out a few weeks ago in not loading up on QPR and Villa players, it was a case of “once bitten, twice shy”. Before we get to the teams playing twice, there was the small matter of a game down on the South coast...

SOU v TOT
Pochettino returned to his old club looking not only for bragging rights; both clubs are fighting it out for a place in the much maligned Europa League and the opportunity to play on Thursday evenings next season. With Spurs not featuring in the double gameweek, Kane was not only a not very popular captain choice, he had also been benched by many (myself included). The first goal came from the reenergised Graziano Pellè. Having gone fourteen games without a goal, this was his second in three games. It came after half an hour when Pellè took advantage of a hesitant Ben Davies and prodded in from close range. No assist was awarded.

Spurs equalised courtesy of Erik Lamela - or rather his arm - as he tried to head in a cross from the other Eric (Dier). APPARENTLY it brushed some part of Harry Kane on its way through to Lamela so he was awarded the assist. Can you guess I benched him this week? Pellè scored his second of the game in the 65th minute, with a powerful header from substitute Shane Long's cross. Spurs equalised again as Nacer Chadli scored for the second week running (chalking up double figures for the season in the process) driving home from close range. The through ball was from Eric Dier, who eventually got the assist he was robbed of earlier in the game. 2-2 the final score, with bonus points awarded as follows:

Pellè - 3pts
Lamela - 2pts
Chadli - 1pt

BUR v LEI
The first of Leicester's two games got off to an inauspicious start, with the news Jeffrey Schlupp - a popular transfer this week - was missing after picking up a knock at some point over the last couple of days. After an uninspiring 45 minutes with the scores level, it was Schlupp's replacement Paul Konchesky who provided the first incident of real note. He brought down Matt Taylor in the area, who dusted himself off to take the resulting spot kick. He sent Schmeichel the wrong way, but the ball hit the outside of the post. Leicester promptly went up the other end and scored. Initially Albrighton's cross looked to come off Burnley defender Duff for an own goal but the replay showed it was Foxes striker Jamie Vardy who put it over the line. Schmeichel made a couple of impressive saves to keep the visitors ahead and seal a fourth successive win to pull Leicester out of the drop zone with a game in hand on everyone else.

Schmeichel & Morgan - 3pts
Vardy - 1pt

CRY v HUL
Another of the teams playing twice, Hull travelled South to take on a Palace side who had been humbled by West Brom last time out. The first half was uneventful and the teams headed into the tunnel at halftime with the score 0-0. After the restart, N'Doye (who had looked dangerous in the first half) scored after Aluko found Robbie Brady who sneaked the ball into him to fire past Speroni. Hull sealed the points in injury time when they hit Palace on the break and N'Doye grabbed his second of the game. The assist went to Gastón Ramírez this time. This was a vital win for Hull in the survival fight, and a second successive 2-0 home defeat for Palace.

N'Doye - 3pts
Brady - 2pts
Chester - 1pt

NEW v SWA
Newcastle hosted Swansea looking to avoid a seventh straight defeat. They are still not mathematically clear of relegation and in this kind of form could still be involved in a final day fight for survival. Swansea are now just playing for position and probably have one eye on their Summer holidays. It took 20 minutes, but Newcastle took the lead with Ayoze Perez scoring for the first time since 28 Dec courtesy of a cross from Rivière. Swansea equalised deep into first half injury time when Nélson Oliveira powered home a Gylfi Sigurdsson corner.

After the break the ever impressive Jefferson Montero sent in a ball that Oliveira left setting up Sigurdsson to score his sixth goal of the season and put the Swans 2-1 up. Newcastle allowed Oliveira to swap passes with Jack Cork and he scored his third of the season, and first since GW8. There was time for Newcastle to nick a consolation as Swansea took their foot off the gas towards the end; Siem de Jong scoring his first for the club. Admittedly it was only his third league appearance in an injury ravaged season, but he put Jack Colback's cross away well. Seven defeats in a row now - the trapdoor is looming large for the Magpies.

Sigurdsson - 3pts
Cork - 2pts
Colback - 1pt

QPR v WHU
QPR know what they have to do to beat the drop - win games. At the moment, hosting West Ham at home is about as easy a fixture as you can hope for. This looked to be the case as the home side were awarded a penalty, but Charlie Austin put it straight down the middle and allowed Adrián to save his feet. This was the second spot kick the Rangers striker had missed this season. It was about as interesting as the game got. In the second half Rob Green saved well from Jenkinson and Downing, with his opposite number Adrián getting lucky when the Ref blew for a foul before Richard Dunne put the ball in the net. 0-0 the final score with QPR now four points from safety.

Adrián - 3pts
Burke - 2pts
Collins - 1pt

STO v SUN
Another team playing for position taking on a team with their backs very firmly against the wall. Peter Odemwingie was back on the bench for the first time this year for Stoke. It was Sunderland who got off to a flying start though; Connor Wickham doing a Connor Wickham and finding some end of season goal scoring form. This was his second in two games and it came after a minute as Begovic dropped Buckley's cross. No assist as the Stoke keeper made the error. Stoke were back on terms on 15 minutes, Charlie Adam finding the top corner. This was his third goal in four games. Marko Arnautovic was credited with the assist. Begovic saved well from Jones in the second half, with Pantilimon doing the same from Diouf and Adam. Neither team could find a winner and it ended 1-1.

Adam - 3pts
Arnautovic - 2pts
Wickham - 1pt

WBA v LIV
Another popular transfer target for the double gameweek was Liverpool defender Alberto Moreno who - like Leicester's Schlupp - had picked up a mystery knock at some point between the Thursday press conference and kick-off. With Sterling hobbling around during the warm-up, the world appearing to be caving in on many fantasy managers worlds! Luckily, the Reds forward was ok to start. I'm not going to lie to you, I'm going to struggle here...nothing happened. At all. Despite Steven and making his 500th Premier League appearance, and Mario Balotelli starting, the game was completely uneventful. Masses of possession for Liverpool but Albion held firm. Coutinho was the most likely to make something happen, but even he couldn't manage to unlock a West Brom side that had rediscovered the art of defending. 0-0 the final score, and as Gerrard would say, “we go again” - away to Hull on Tuesday night.

Skrtel - 3pts
Myhill - 2pts
Mignolet & Lovren - 1pt

MCY v AVL
The late kick off saw Man City take on FA Cup Finalists Aston Villa at the Etihad. David Silva had made a miraculous recovery from his injury last time out, with City nervously looking over their shoulders at Manchester United and Arsenal. It took 3 minutes for Sergio Agüero to seize on a defensive error, Vlaar with an innocuous back pass that Guzan made a hash off to allow the Argentine to net his 21st of the season. Benteke was looking dangerous for Villa and should have done better when the ball came to him, but he looked to be of the opinion that he was offside and fired tamely.

Yaya Toure went off injured at halftime to be replaced by Fernandinho. It took until the 66th minute for City to double their lead; Kolarov finding his range after his recall last week by scoring a long range free kick. The assist was given to substitute Fernandinho. Two minutes later, City conceded their inevitable goal, ex-United player Tom Cleverley scored following a poor clearance from City (no assist).

Villa equalised in the 85th minute. Yet again City could only clear their lines as far as the opposition; this time the grateful recipient was Carlos Sanchez. A point away at the reigning champions would have been useful for Villa, but it wasn't to be. City got the winner. An 89th minute corner was put in by Kolarov and went through everybody to reach Fernandinho at the far post who had time to control it and volley it past Brad Guzan. Cruel on Villa perhaps, but the football they are playing under Sherwood should see them safe, and maybe even a cup winning European team next season.

Fernandinho - 3pts
Kolarov - 2pts
Cleverley - 1pt

Not a great start to the double gameweek for many, but it's still early days I guess. Join me for Part Two of the Suffix son. May your arrows be green!