FPL Top Picks For Gameweek 29
Newcastle United, Crystal Palace, Aston Villa and Liverpool will all be out of action in game week 29 thanks to scheduling changes as a result of their domestic cup responsibilities.
Liverpool and Newcastle United will be battling it out for the EFL (Carabao) Cup for the 2024/25 season, while the other two will be resting, having faced off earlier. This leaves Fantasy Premier League managers with lots of missing talents to build their squads with: no Mohamed Salah, Alexander Isak, Ollie Watkins or Jean-Philippe Mateta for week 29.
Read our FPL expert analysis on how to navigate the blank gameweek for a fruitful end to the season, which is much closer than you think!
Gameweek Analysis
Should you use your chips?
Managers are faced with the dilemma of playing their Free Hit or Wildcard chips ahead of week 29 because of the absences of the players mentioned in the intro and more.
One argument in favour of using either of these chips goes like this: with week 29 drawing near, the realisation that the game is almost up is a reason to deploy either one of these chips. There may be no more blank gameweeks to use them in and chip-spamming close to the end of the season has never been a good strategy in the Fantasy Premier League.
Another argument is that the presence of Mo Salah, Watkins, Isak and Mateta in more than 70 percent of FPL teams combined necessitates using a chip.
However, the argument that makes the most sense to our experts is this: the FIFA international break will interrupt proceedings for a while and many understand how things change after the international break. And so, for this reason, applying the Free Hit chip for week 29 to give you a fighting chance, then using the Wildcard chip ahead of week 31 or double gameweek 32 is the way to go.
Most importantly, avoid taking hits on transfers if you choose not to use any chips. You will be setting yourself up for disappointment.
Differentials
Despite being a blank gameweek, there are still differentials you can select to help your squad haul in maximum points in bank gameweek 29.
It is important to remember the advice: use your Free Hit chips to bring them in if you have a team with one or more of the 20 most popular assets from the four teams that will not be in action in week 29.
Rayan Aït-Nouri (£4.8m) — Wolverhampton Wanderers
The Morocco national team defender will be turning up for Wolves against bottom side Southampton and though he does not have Matheus Cunha (£6.9m) to service, he will have Jorgen Strand Larsen (£5.2m) and Jean-Ricner Bellegarde (£4.9m) to play with.
As one of Wolves’ biggest attacking threats, having him in your team to replace Daniel Muñoz (£5.0m) of Crystal Palace may just be the way to go. The only worry would be clean sheets, as Wolves are not the best defensive side either.
Raúl Jiménez (£5.6m) — Fulham
The Mexican striker is back to being Marco Silva’s first pick and has flown a little bit under the radar with his performances thanks to the bigger strikers in the game. He has started 22 games this season and has been substituted very early in most of them.
Yet, he has been able to rack up 10 goals and three assists with that little game time. With the big strikers (Isak, Watkins and Mateta) out, Jiménez could come into your squad to partner Chris Wood and/or Erling Haaland (£14.7m) for week 29.
Best FPL Players for Week 29
Chris Wood (£7.3m) — Nottingham Forest
As one of the top strikers in FPL and the only top striker left thanks to the blank gameweek, having Chris Wood in your FPL squad for this weekend is a no-brainer. Nottingham Forest face Ipswich Town, who have not kept a clean sheet this season, which means that FPL fans and managers will most likely be celebrating a goal (or two) from Wood this weekend.
Bruno Fernandes (£8.4m) — Manchester United
According to official FPL data, Manchester United’s captain was owned by less than 10 percent of managers heading into week 28, when United faced Arsenal. In the end, he racked up a significant haul thanks to his free kick goal and the myriad of chances he was involved in.
Now that Salah is absent and Cole Palmer’s form is unstable, this is the perfect time to bring in Bruno Fernandes—even if with a chip. One key reason is that most of his attacking FPL returns have come against the newly promoted teams. In fact, he racked up 17 points against Leicester City, who are Man United’s gameweek 29 opponents. He is also our top choice for captain.
Morgan Gibbs-White (£6.5m) — Nottingham Forest
We were torn between choosing Morgan Gibbs-White or his teammate Callum Hudson-Odoi (£5.2m). This is because of how important the former Chelsea man has been for the Tricky Trees in recent fixtures. Hudson-Odoi returned to Forest’s starting lineup in week 26 but in that time has managed more shots on target than Gibbs-White, who is one of the first names on the team sheet for Forest.
Two differences exist between them and tilt the scales in favour of Gibbs-White, however. The first is that Hudson-Odoi has almost no big chance created in recent games, while Gibbs-White is literally behind most of Forest’s attacks alongside Anthony Elanga (£5.3m), who is another strong choice. Ipswich Town is an opportunity for all of them to get points, but with Gibbs-White more than likely to assist multiple goals or create multiple chances, it is wiser to select him for this week.