Chelsea and Newcastle head into a Fantasy Premier League double gameweek with the chance to pile on the points and nudge you ahead in your mini-league.
The Blues get back to league action following their exploits in various cup competitions while Eddie Howe’s Magpies will be looking to build on a run of four wins in five games when they take on Brighton and Southampton.
While there is no captaincy move as obvious as Mohamed Salah during Liverpool’s recent double gameweek, the PA news agency’s Transfer Score system can help you find gameweek 28’s leading candidates.
Shining Silva
A clean sheet against Crystal Palace in Chelsea’s only league game in the past six weeks took Thiago Silva to a century of fantasy points this season and reinforced the consistency of the Blues’ defensive options.
While the 37-year-old may be subject to rotation in a packed fixture list, he has featured in eight clean sheets this season and chipped in three goals and an assist, most recently scoring against Tottenham in January.
Chelsea Burnley and Norwich this week – both away against teams improving in their respective relegation battles, but eminently winnable.
They are currently scheduled for yet another blank gameweek in a fortnight’s time but will also have two more doubles and face only one game for the rest of the season rated above three on FPL’s fixture difficulty rating (FDR) – against Manchester United in gameweek 37.
That FDR figure combines with cost, ownership and the key factor of form to produce a player’s Transfer Score and among those with two fixtures this gameweek, Thiago comes out on top with 94 out of 100.
Defensive colleague Malang Sarr is second, having impressed in the last two league games, though he has not been a regular over the course of the season. Goalkeeper Edouard Mendy should also be a reliable option, an assessment backed up by his transfer score of 78.
Away from Chelsea, Aston Villa full-back Matty Cash and Southampton keeper Fraser Forster are the pick of the defensive recommendations while further upfield, Newcastle come to the fore.
Willock back among the goals
There is little to choose between the double gameweek’s top three midfielders, who are covered by just one point in transfer score.
Of the trio of Wolves’ Leander Dendoncker and Newcastle colleagues Ryan Fraser and Joe Willock, it is perhaps the latter who stands out after an assist against Aston Villa followed by goals in back-to-back games.
While it is early yet to start thinking about a repeat of his seven-match scoring run while on loan from Arsenal last season, Willock has demonstrated the potential to get hot in front of goal and the Magpies have back-to-back double gameweeks, admittedly with a game against Chelsea on next week’s slate.
Up front, Dendoncker’s team-mate Hwang Hee-chan is back in the side and scored against Arsenal but the top pick is Southampton’s Che Adams.
The Scotland international has scored in three of his last four games with an assist in the other, suggesting he should be counted on for at least one contribution of worth against Villa and Newcastle this week.
