An uneventful opening to Gameweek 32 saw a Chris Wood (£6.7m) penalty separate Newcastle and Wolves whilst on the following day, Everton triumphed by the same 1-0 scoreline against Man Utd with midfielder Anthony Gordon(£4.6m) the hero. Saturday afternoon saw Brighton shock Arsenal by winning 1-2 at the Emirates Stadium and Raphinha (£6.5m) on the scoresheet as Leeds Utd dispatched Watford 0-3. Chelsea stole the show however, with a 0-6 thrashing of Southampton which saw both Mason Mount (£7.5m) and Timo Werner (£8.6m) at the double. Saturday concluded with Spurs comprehensively beating Aston Villa 0-4 and FPL managers feasting as Harry Kane(£12.6m), Heung-Min Son (£11.1m) and Dejan Kulusevski (£6.4m) recorded all eight attacking returns between them.
Only one match was the talk of the town on Sunday, although a number of matches took place. Brentford overcame a West Ham side likely distracted by their Europa League commitments, whilst Leicester and Norwich were victorious against Crystal Palace and Burnley respectively. But, all eyes were on the Etihad Stadium as first-placed Man City and second-placed Liverpool played out an enthralling 2-2 draw. Twice Man City led, first through Kevin De Bruyne(£11.8m) and then Gabriel Jesus (£8.4m), but both times the Reds pegged them back with goals from Diogo Jota(£8.3m) and Sadio Mane (£11.7m).
A total of 12 fixtures make up Double Gameweek 33 as FA Cup semi-final weekend affects the weekend schedule, alongside teams such as Everton and Burnley continuing to play out those all-important games in hand. We mark out the teams who stand out as potentially lucrative from an FPL stand-point as well as the players who could gain big points.
DOUBLE GAMEWEEK 33 FIXTURES
Saturday 16th April
Spurs vs Brighton (12:30)
Man Utd vs Norwich (15:00)
Southampton vs Arsenal (15:00)
Watford vs Brentford (15:00)
Sunday 17th April
Newcastle vs Leicester (14:15)
West Ham vs Burnley (14:15)
Tuesday 19th April
Liverpool vs Man Utd (20:00)
Wednesday 20th April
Chelsea vs Arsenal (19:45)
Everton vs Leicester (19:45)
Newcastle vs Crystal Palace (19:45)
Man City vs Brighton (20:00)
Thursday 21st April
Burnley vs Southampton (19:45)
SON SHINING OVER SPURS ASSETS
As was the case in our most recent fixture analysis article, we have no choice but to focus on Spurs first up, when considering their quite brilliant recent form from an attacking perspective, which has not only seen them crash the Champions League places, but also hand out huge hauls of FPL points to grateful managers. Antonio Conte’s side have racked up 25 goals across their last 7 Premier League games, keeping a clean sheet in four of those matches and boast assets across all positions who are likely to be among the FPL points once again as Spurs host Brighton in Double Gameweek 33.
You can make a case for owning all three of Harry Kane, Heung-Min Son and Dejan Kulusevski. Whilst Son bagged a hat-trick last time out against Villa, Kane managed a hat-trick of assists and Kulusevki both a goal and an assist. When factoring in the opposition, it is Kane who perhaps appeals the most having scored three goals already against the Seagulls this season across both league and cup. Son is the form player however, with six in his last three games. Elsewhere, injury to Matt Doherty is set to rule him out for the season, which should lead to Sergio Reguilon (£5.1m) gaining an extended run in the side. The left-wing-back is Spurs’ highest scoring defensive asset from an FPL point of view.
MAN CITY APPEAL, BUT IS KING KEV KO’D?
Although Man City contain just one fixture in Double Gameweek 33, the quality they possess going forward still makes their players huge attractive FPL prospects. Like Spurs, Pep Guardiola’s men take on Brighton at home, but may be without talisman Kevin De Bruyne, who was forced off with an injury away to Atletico in their Champions League quarter-final second-leg clash. De Bruyne’s absence would be a blow, but it would allow other players to grab the spotlight in terms of FPL.
Having started in Man City’s last two Premier League fixtures, Raheem Sterling (£10.5m) is likely to feature against Brighton, whilst Bernardo Silva (£7.0m) could prove a rotation risk but may also wind up hugely profitable when factoring in his attacking form the last time De Bruyne was injured for an extended period of time. Defender Joao Cancelo (£7.0m) has been suspended for Man City’s semi-final first-leg against Real Madrid, adding to his already vast FPL appeal and centre-back Ruben Dias (£6.1m) is also worth a mention, with Double Gameweek 33 arguably the ideal time to ease him back into Premier League action.
GUNNERS GOING DOUBLE BARRELS IN TOP FOUR CHASE
A massive Double Gameweek 33 is on the horizon for Arsenal, who know that six points would be crucial for them in their battle to finish in a top four spot at the end of the season. On the back of two straight defeats, it is a risk for FPL managers to put faith in their players, especially with Chelsea (a) of their fixtures alongside Southampton (a). However, Arsenal aren’t expected to give up and with no choice but to attack in a bid to gain those all-important wins, owners of their offensive assets may profit.
Key to the Gunners’ success going forward is likely to be Bukayo Saka (£6.8m) who still maintains an extremely healthy FPL ownership of over 30% as he aims to build on his nine goals and six assists already accumulated this season. Emile Smith-Rowe (£5.7m) had huge opportunities to score against both Crystal Palace and Brighton, so provided he continues to get into those promising positions, then the Gunners’ midfielder could well be on the scoresheet in at least one of Arsenal’s two Double Gameweek 33 matches.
