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After the blank in Gameweek 18, the focus now immediately shifts to Double Gameweek 19 with 11 teams playing twice including the likes of Man Utd ,Man City, Leicester, Liverpool and Chelsea. FPL isn’t as much fun without double gameweeks and it’s the same this time around as well with managers eagerly looking forward to DGW19. In this blog, we extensively cover the teams and players to target in DGW19.
TEAMS PLAYING TWICE IN DGW19
There are 11 teams playing twice in DGW19. After the rescheduling and postponements, Leeds and Southampton missed out on playing twice while Everton now don’t after the Villa vs Everton game was postponed. Aston Villa had their previously cancelled fixture against Newcastle rescheduled to DGW19, much to the relief of FPL managers. Therefore, Newcastle also now have two games.
TEAMS AND PLAYERS TO TARGET IN DGW19
The Hammers have two good home fixtures against relegation teams Burnley and West Brom, who sit 16th and 19th in the Premier League table. West Ham have largely improved this season and are in the top half of the table. West Brom have been particularly woeful having conceded the most goals (39), most shots on goal (276), second most big chances (47) in the league so far this season. This hasn’t changed since Big Sam took over as well with West Brom still conceding the most goals (13) and most shots on goal (71) since Big Sam took over from Bilic.
West Ham, meanwhile, have been solid at the back having kept six clean sheets (fourth most in the league) and could easily have two more clean sheets in DGW19. Out of all the West Ham defenders, Aaron Creswell (£5.4m) and Vladmir Coufal (£4.7m) are the stand-out options.
Creswell is fairly rotation proof as well having played every minute of the Premier League campaign so far for and is also the fourth highest scoring defender with 77 points and is also the defender with most assists (6) so far. Creswell has also registered 33 successful crosses which is only bettered by Andy Robertson (£7.4m). He’s on corners and set-piece duty as well, further elevating his potential. If you can’t afford Cresewell then Coufal is again a very good budget option; the Czech full-back has been eye-catching having been putting crosses through the right flank and has registered three assists already this season.
Looking at the West Ham attack, the Hammers tend to score less and their best attacking threat this season has been Thomas Soucek (£5.3m), who has registered five goals and an assist so far, making him the highest scoring Hammers player. He’s also top of the charts for the highest points per million amongst midfielders this season with 14.50 points per million. Soucek also has the most headed attempts (13) amongst midfielders this season and West Brom have conceded the second most headed attempts (44) this season. Still owned by just 14% managers, he could prove to be an essential DGW19 asset!
Man City vs Crystal Palace (H), Aston Villa (H)
Pep Guardiola has fixed one of the major problems that Man City had which was their defence. Hands down, Man City have been the best defensive team in the league since GW10 with six clean sheets from the last eight games. They have conceded the least big chances (3), have the least xGC (3.61), best xCS (5.08), have conceded the least shots (61) and have conceded just two goals during the period.
Facing a Villa side struggling with the impact of COVID-19 and a leaky Palace side in DGW19, a double-up in defence with two among Joao Cancelo (£5.8m), Ruben Dias (£5.8m) and Stones (£5.0m) would be a great option. Cancelo is the highest scoring Man City defender while Dias has been ever-present having not missed a single minute of Premier League football since Gameweek 4. Stones could be another decent option if you can’t afford Dias or Cancelo.
Not only their defence but their attack is also on the resurgence with Man city registering 15 goals (3rd highest), 33 big chances (highest) and an xG of 18.94 (Second highest) since GW10.
Kevin De Bruyne (£11.8m) of course is pretty much essential going into DGW19 as the Man City playmaker has the best xA (7.06), created the most big chances (13), had seven big chances (3rd among mids), xG-5.77 (5th among mids) and most assists (8) since GW6. He is also one of the best captain choices for DGW19 considering the fixtures and also the fact that the other big teams having a DGW have one tough fixture at least.
Phil Foden (£6.2m) could be another decent option to consider with Pep finally giving him minutes regularly with the City wonderkid starting two consecutive league games for the first time this season and he also scored the only goal in the 1-0 win over Brighton in GW18 courtesy of a KDB assist.
Man Utd vs Liverpool (A), Fulham (A)
Man Utd are certainly on a high having reached the top of the table following a 1-0 victory over Burnley in GW18 and have two away games coming up in DGW19. They have had a stellar away record so far this season registering seven wins and a draw in eight away games, scoring 22 goals in the process (highest in the league). They are up against Liverpool and Fulham in DGW19, making things interesting.
Man Utd last tasted defeat in GW7 and have since have registered 25 goals (highest in the league), 164 shots on goal (highest in the league) 72 shots on target (highest in the league), 39 big chances (highest in the league) and an xG of 25.22 (highest in the league).
Bruno Fernandes (£11.3m) will look to continue his goal scoring form in DGW19 and is pretty much an essential asset, but managers need to remain wary of the fact that he is on four yellow cards and could potentially miss the Fulham game if he gets an yellow card against Liverpool, making him less appealing as a captaincy option for DGW19.
Meanwhile, Marcus Rashford (£9.6m) has been quietly racking up numbers over the last few weeks. The Utd attacker has been enjoying rich form away from home having scored four goals and picked up three assists since GW8 in six away games which has got him 43 FPL points. Only Bruno Fernandes and Mohamed Salah (£12.5m) have scored more FPL points away from home during this period. He’s also got the most big chances (8) amongst midfielders away from home since GW8, much higher than the five big chances Bruno Fernandes has had since GW8.
The defence registered their first clean sheet away from home this season in GW18 and could pick up one more against Fulham but the Liverpool game could be a high scoring one making the Man Utd defence not so appealing for DGW18.
Just like how good Man Utd have been away from home, Liverpool have shown similar form at home having won seven and drawn one in the eight games at Anfield so far. Liverpool have scored 21 goals so far at home which is the best home record this season.
Salah has blanked in the last three games during which Liverpool have scored only once, but he will be hungry for goals and will look to add to the six he has scored at home so far this season. Salah is the third highest scoring player at home this season and also one of the standout captaincy options come DGW19.
If you look to take a punt then Sadio Mane (£11.9m) and Roberto Firmino (£9.3m) could be decent options to consider. The stats back it up as well, as both Mane and Firmino have had more shots, shots in box, xG and big chances than Salah in the last four games.
Leicester vs Southampton (H), Chelsea (H)
Leicester face a Southampton side without Danny Ings who’s been self isolating due to COVID-19 and a Chelsea team who are woefully out of form. The Foxes could silently pick up points against both the teams and the prospects have been further boosted by the return of Jamie Vardy (£10.2m) and James Maddison (£7.1m)
Leicester vs Chelsea could be an exciting match up with the London club keeping just one clean sheet in the last five games and have conceded nine goals during the period, with only five clubs having conceded more. Vardy could be a very good asset for the double gameweek as the striker loves playing the big teams and has always been great when facing Southampton. Leicester have been receiving penalties in bulk which again favours Vardy as he rarely misses from the spot. Still owned by just a quarter of managers, Vardy could prove to be a great captain option.
THE OTHERS
Aston Villa assets could also be great options but there is absolutely zero clarity at the moment on who’s available, making it hard for FPL managers to decide. Newcastle have been terrible over the last few weeks, making the likes of Callum Wilson (£6.6m) and co less appealing. West Brom and Burnley both face tough opponents in DGW19 and are simply a no-go, while Chelsea assets could be a huge gamble which may or may not pay off.
Thanks for reading! I wish all of you managers good luck for DGW19. Follow our work on allaboutfpl.com and drop us a follow on our twitter @allaboutpl