Cianan’s Column: It’s time for double GW33

Ladies and gentlemen, it is upon us: the largest double gameweek of the season. Many (if not most) will be playing their bench boost chip this week, while others will be free-hitting ahead of a GW35 wildcard. Regardless of your strategy, it’s time to put the inevitable captain’s armband on Haaland and look at who you should be looking to bring in ahead of what is likely to be the highest average scoring gameweek of the season.

Doing this somewhat systematically, we can go through all the doubling teams and outline the best players to own from each, starting with the Citizens, who face a formless Arsenal (H) and Burnley (A). I’ve already mentioned their Norwegian number 9, on whom I will elucidate no further, but elsewhere there are quite a few options. Semenyo fared rather poorly last week against Chelsea, but this is a rare blip in what has been an electric start to his City career. You could instead opt for or double up with Cherki after his brace of assists, especially if O’Reilly is injured, having gone off with an issue in their last game (while bagging 14 points in the process). For those who wildcarded last week and already have Semenyo, you can simply swap O’Reilly for Guéhi, which is an exchange of high quality for high quality, though you’ll want to wait for Guardiola’s press conference to ensure the Brit is actually out for the double.

Next up, Chelsea. Given they were thrashed by City last time out, I can’t say I’m confident in the Blues to get particularly strong results, and so it feels weird to be recommending their assets, but that’s double gameweeks for you. They face United (H) off the back of their 2-1 defeat to Leeds and then Brighton (A). Palmer is the most likely Chelsea attacker to be on the goals, and is on penalties, hoping to replicate his 32-point GW25/26 combined haul, given he hasn’t scored more than four points on one occasion since. Pedro is the ideal forward, who, despite similarly languishing in form as of late, still has five goals in his last seven matches. Elsewhere, you could entertain Cucurella, who almost scored a brace in his last game, though he is very expensive at £6.0m, or Fernández, though his minutes are somewhat unsafe following internal disciplinary action after comments he made while on international duty.

The Cherries have a rather odd duo of fixtures in GW33, as they face Newcastle (A), which is never easy, and then Leeds (H), who are playing the best football they have all season. Still, you can easily secure DEFCON points across both games with the likes of Senesi/Hill, and the joy of that is, if Bournemouth were to lose both games 1-0, you would still come away with an eight-pointer. Not too shabby. Their ownership will be very high this week, so you could opt for Truffert instead, who’s picked up an assist in his last two matches. Further up the pitch, you have a choice between safety (consistency and DEFCON) and upside (penalty opportunities and a great chance of goal contributions), with Scott and Tavernier, respectively. For those looking longer-term, veer towards the former, and for those with their eyes fixed purely on the here and now, the latter is your man.

In terms of Brighton, who will square up to a downtrodden Spurs side (A) and then face Chelsea (H). The Seagulls’ assets I mentioned last week came up with the goods and still hold value, with Verbruggen and Van Hecke netting 14 points combined. Groß also grabbed an assist for a somewhat unsuspecting six-pointer. Given Brighton have very good fixtures for the latter weeks of the season, including Wolves (H) and Leeds (A) in GW36 and 37, for those looking to navigate this week with a less orthodox chip strategy, they offer a peculiar utility, especially given neither defender listed above is more than £4.6m, while Groß is only £5.5m.

Finally, Leeds (excluding Burnley, see below if you’re so inclined), who face soon-to-be relegated Wolves (H) and Bournemouth (A). Calvert-Lewin has always been FPL marmite, able to score with ease when it seems least probable and unable to produce much of note when he ought to. Still, he takes penalties and is the sixth-highest point-scoring forward for a reason. With two clean sheets in their last three games, you’ll probably want to fill up your remaining defender slots with the likes of Strujik if you prefer DEFCON defenders (he’s been either one off or hit DEFCON points in all three of his matches), or Gudmundsson/Bijol if you favour attacking fullbacks (the latter perhaps offering the best of both worlds).

Rapid Recommendations

● For the sake of completeness, if you want a doubler from Burnley (for some godforsaken reason), look at Dúbravka, Flemming, or Anthony. They’re very cheap and could haul, but I could also win the lottery.
● If you have three transfers or more, I’d be willing to change a bench-sitting single gameweeker (Gabriel, Fernandes, Thiago, Bowen, etc.) for a doubler. Any less, and I’d hold off, as those free transfers will be more helpful later down the line, and to navigate any sudden injuries and/or suspensions.
● In terms of going against the grain this week, you have two options. First, don’t captain Haaland and go for Palmer Either could outscore the other, but it always seems silly to go against someone as explosive as the City striker.
● Secondly, you can bring in a differential doubler. Bournemouth’s Evanilson, Leeds’ Okafor, or Brighton’s Wieffer are all extremely low-owned (all less than 3%), somewhat knee-jerky punts you could choose to take.
● The best single gameweek players this week are probably Liverpool assets, who often show up in Merseyside derbies. It’s unlikely anyone can afford Salah, but it wouldn’t surprise me to see the likes of Szoboszlai or Van Dijk on the scoresheet.

The Boar Standings

1st: Dwight Club (1879) – managed by Cianan Sheekey
2nd: Meganerd FC (1850) – managed by Megan Green
3rd: parths11 (1845) – managed by Parth Malik