How midweek FA Cup ties will affect your FPL team

The FA Cup fifth-round matches which take place this Tuesday and Wednesday will have a big impact on how managers shape their plans for the upcoming period in Fantasy Premier League.

Each of the sides who progress through this stage to the quarter-finals of the FA Cup will be unable to play their Premier League fixture in Gameweek 29, which happens on the same weekend. These clubs will have a "Blank Gameweek 29" (BGW29) in FPL, with their players scoring zero points in Fantasy.

As BGW29 is typically the most-reduced round of matches in the season, it is also a popular time to play the Free Hit chip to help navigate the schedule.

Monday 26 Feb
19:45 Coventry v Maidstone

Tuesday 27 Feb
19:30 Bournemouth v Leicester
19:45 Blackburn v Newcastle
20:00 Luton v Man City

Wednesday 28 Feb
19:30 Chelsea v Leeds
19:45 Nott'm Forest v Man Utd
19:45 Wolves v Brighton
20:00 Liverpool v Southampton

Currently, there are only three Premier League matches confirmed to be taking place in BGW29, because all six sides involved are already out of the FA Cup.

BGW29 confirmed fixtures
Burnley v Brentford
Fulham v Spurs
West Ham v Aston Villa

BGW29 fixtures at risk of postponement*
Arsenal v Chelsea
Brighton v Man City
Crystal Palace v Newcastle
Everton v Liverpool
Luton v Nott'm Forest
Man Utd v Sheff Utd
Wolves v Bournemouth
*Teams in bold are still in the FA Cup

Four sides - AFC Bournemouth, Chelsea, Liverpool and Newcastle United - will be without a Premier League fixture in BGW29 if they win against lower-league opponents in the FA Cup this week. 

This would immediately impact Bournemouth’s Dominic Solanke (£7.1m), who is the most-bought player this week ahead of his very favourable short-term schedule.

More than 185,000 managers have rushed to the Cherries' top scorer ahead of his visit to Burnley this weekend in Gameweek 27, and then his Double Gameweek 28 against Sheffield United and Luton Town.

Solanke's growing band of 23 per cent owners should therefore be aware that the Cherries will be without a Premier League fixture in BGW29 if they beat Leicester in the FA Cup. 

Elsewhere on Tuesday, a victory for Manchester City over Luton Town at Kenilworth Road would probably hasten sales of Kevin De Bruyne (£10.7m). The Belgian is the most-sold player of the current Gameweek, moved on by over 200,000 FPL bosses after featuring for only six minutes in the last two matches.

If Man City beat Luton, they would essentially have a three-Gameweek schedule that includes matches against Liverpool and Arsenal on either side of a Blank Gameweek in FPL. That would also limit the appeal of Phil Foden (£8.1m) as a double-up option alongside Erling Haaland (£14.4m) in the short term, at least.

On the positive side for managers in Fantasy, a Man City win would also guarantee that another match would be added to BGW29.

Why? Because if Nottingham Forest defeat Manchester United the following evening, then Man Utd would be free to face Sheff Utd in BGW29. On the other hand, if Forest lose the cup tie then they would be free to face Luton in BGW29.

Certainly from a Fantasy perspective, managers will be hoping Chelsea’s visitors Leeds United can spring a cup upset on Wednesday evening and help solve a major midfield problem ahead of BGW29.

Such a scenario would mean Arsenal’s encounter with Chelsea at Emirates Stadium would be added to BGW29. This would not only be a huge relief to owners of Bukayo Saka (£9.2m) and Cole Palmer (£5.7m), it would be likely to force another reassessment of chip and transfer strategies for the period ahead, with the Free Hit possibly not being needed in BGW29.

With so much still to be decided, then, it’s vital that FPL managers stay both patient and flexible with transfers and chips at this point as the BGW29 picture will be a lot clearer after Wednesday’s matches.

Handily, the draw for the FA Cup quarter-finals also takes place on Wednesday evening. 

This will affect both short-term and long-term planning, particularly with a number of managers looking to Wildcard around Gameweek 30 after the reduced round of BGW29 matches has passed.

By bringing in the key players from the clubs who "blanked" in Gameweek 29, managers can be ready to profit if the rescheduled matches for those teams result in a Double Gameweek later in the season.