We take a look at which teams have the best and worst fixtures over the coming gameweeks, as well as the significance of Gameweeks 34 and 37, plus potential chip strategies depending on which chips you have left – even if that’s none.

Check out our Ultimate Guide to FPL for all our best player articles and much more ahead of this week’s deadline.

Firstly, a quick recap of the upcoming double and blank gameweeks.

Double Gameweek 34

Seven teams will have two fixtures in Gameweek 34, the Premier League confirmed on Saturday, March 23.

Tottenham Hotspur are the only team to have a blank gameweek, with the teams to double as follows:

Arsenal – v Wolves (A) and Chelsea (H)
Bournemouth: v Aston Villa (A) and Wolves (A)
Crystal Palace: v West Ham (H) and Newcastle (H)
Everton: v Nottingham Forest (H) and Liverpool (H)
Liverpool: v Fulham (A) and Everton (A)
Sheffield United: v Burnley (H) and Manchester United (A)
Wolves: v Arsenal (H) and Bournemouth (H)

Double Gameweek 35/36

This double has yet to be announced, although one of these gameweeks is expected to accommodate the postponed Chelsea v Tottenham Hotspur match, creating a double for these two teams.

These four matches are still to be rescheduled following the announcement of Double Gameweek 34:

Chelsea v Tottenham Hotspur
Brighton v Chelsea
Tottenham Hotspur v Manchester City
Manchester United v Newcastle

Manchester United play Burnley at home in Gameweek 35, while Newcastle host Sheffield United, so there is potentially a strong double on the cards for both of these sides.

Double Gameweek 37

This double has yet to be officially confirmed, however with the above in mind, it would be a double gameweek for the following teams:

Brighton – v Newcastle (A) and Chelsea (H)
Chelsea – v Nottingham Forest (A) and Brighton (A)
Manchester United – v Arsenal (H) and Newcastle (H)
Newcastle – v Brighton (H) and Manchester United (A)
Tottenham Hotspur – v Burnley (H) and Manchester City (H)
Manchester City – v Fulham (A) and Tottenham Hotspur (A)

Blank gameweeks in FPL 2023/24

Gameweek 29 was the last main blank gameweek of the season, with only four fixtures going ahead.

Gameweek 34 has been confirmed as a blank for Tottenham Hotspur, but a double for seven other teams, as outlined above. Spurs will also have two further double gameweeks.

Best and worst FPL fixture runs up until Gameweek 34

Best FPL fixture runs: Overall

Chelsea look to be the standout side in terms of their upcoming fixtures over the next four gameweeks.

Their run starts against Burnley at Stamford Bridge, with Sheffield United to come in Gameweek 32, sandwiched between another two home games.

Cole Palmer (£5.7m) will be an extremely popular option for FPL managers given his price tag, and the Chelsea man could even be a captain option this week given how open Burnley have been at times this campaign.

Newcastle also rank highly, although it’s difficult to make a case for their assets outside of Alexander Isak (£7.5m) and the currently injured Kieran Trippier (£6.7m).

Bournemouth and Nottingham Forest are just behind the Magpies, with both teams boasting three home games in their next four. Dominic Solanke (£7.2m) will remain a popular option, but it’s slim pickings as far as Forest are concerned.

Liverpool complete the top five, and FPL managers may need to consider finding a way to squeeze Mohamed Salah (£13.1m) back into their team, especially given that the Reds have a strong double in Gameweek 34 too.

Best FPL fixture runs: Attack

When filtering the fixtures by attacking difficulty alone, Newcastle pip Chelsea to first place in the rankings.

It’s a sea of green in attack for Eddie Howe’s side, and the same can be said of Bournemouth’s next four fixtures too.

This could mean two good options up top for FPL managers, with Alexander Isak and Dominic Solanke potentially battling it out for a spot in our teams.

Brentford creep into the top five here ahead of more proven attacking sides in Liverpool, Manchester City, and Spurs, who sit fifth, sixth, and seventh respectively.

While Ivan Toney (£7.2m) hasn’t been in scintillating form as of late, the Bees talisman still throws his name in the hat as yet another useful forward option with good fixtures over the next four.

With the big guns sitting just behind Brentford however, we’d expect to see Erling Haaland (£14.3m) and Darwin Nunez (£7.5m) occupying the forward spots in many teams – particularly for respective home games against Luton and Sheffield United.

Best FPL fixture runs: Defence

The key difference in ranking when looking at defence specifically, is that Wolves sit significantly higher for defensive fixtures than they do in attack.

Given that Wolves have two home games in Double Gameweek 34, it could therefore be worth considering one of their defensive assets in the weeks to come.

The standout option is Rayan Ait-Nouri (£4.5m) with the Algerian wing-back having stepped up his attacking returns in recent weeks.

Otherwise, the discussion centres largely around the same handful of teams once again.

Assuming that Bournemouth and Forest defenders are best avoided, Chelsea, Newcastle, and Liverpool appear to be the teams to target for clean sheets.

Chelsea and Liverpool in particular offer defensive options with plenty of attacking upside, even for those on a tight budget.

With Reece James and Trent Alexander-Arnold out injured, deputy right-backs Malo Gusto and Connor Bradley have been providing FPL managers with cheap routes into both teams, producing goals and assists alongside their clean sheet potential.

Alexander-Arnold is expected to return from injury sooner than James however, with Liverpool’s vice-captain targeting a return to the squad for the Sheffield United game, which gives Gusto a potential edge over Bradley here.

For those still keen on a Liverpool defensive asset, Virgil Van Dijk (£6.5m) is by far the most secure starter, and the Dutchman offers plenty of goal threat too.

Goalkeepers Caomhin Kelleher (£3.8m) and Dorde Petrovic (£4.5m) are also strong options, with Alisson Becker (£5.7m) injured and Robert Sanchez (£4.5m) out of favour, so particularly for those on a wildcard, both of these budget keepers are worth serious consideration.

Worst FPL fixture runs

It’s hard to imagine that there is now any reason to bring in a Luton player for the rest of the season.

Not only do the Hatters have a terrible run of fixtures on the horizon, but they have no double gameweek to come unlike many teams, and have already burned FPL managers in their recent disappointing double.

Palace aren’t far behind in terms of poor fixtures, but the Eagles have an enticing pair of home games in Double Gameweek 34 to make up for it.

Moving upwards from the bottom two, there are some stronger teams in Arsenal and Manchester United, whose prime assets may still be worth keeping an eye on, despite the tricky run ahead.

Aston Villa also rank poorly for fixtures, with Manchester City, Arsenal, and Chelsea still to come for the Villans – but it will likely take more than that to convince FPL managers to part with Ollie Watkins (£9.0m) who is currently the highest scoring player in the game.

Potential FPL chip strategies

Here are some chip strategies to consider based on some different scenarios with various chips used, including a strategy for those who have no chips remaining.

Wildcard, Free Hit and Bench Boost remaining

If you have all three of these chips still in your pocket, wildcarding early in Gameweek 30 or 31 looks like a solid move.

You can use the Free Hit to navigate Gameweek 34, when Spurs blank and popular assets like Palmer have tough fixtures.

The players you select on Wildcard can include some potential doublers for 37 with relative ease, so you can set yourself up for a Bench Boost in Gameweek 37.

This strategy allows you to avoid stacking up on players from Double Gameweek 34, when teams with less popular players double, and focus on optimising your squad for the rest of the season.

Wildcard and Bench Boost remaining

If you don’t have a Free Hit chip to navigate Gameweek 34, you can utilise the Wildcard to get around this tricky period.

This will involve focusing your transfers on Gameweek 34, which could include bringing in doublers from less reliable teams such as Everton and Crystal Palace, and then wildcarding them out in Gameweek 35.

As you will be playing the Wildcard just two gameweeks prior to Gameweek 37, this should allow you to set up nicely for a Gameweek 37 Bench Boost.

Wildcard and Free Hit remaining

In this case, it would make sense to Free Hit in Gameweek 34, as that is where the low ownership doublers are likely to be found.

You could Wildcard now, or further down the line with Gameweek 37 in sight, but because you have no bench boost anyway, you can probably navigate Gameweek 37 using free transfers alone.

There is a good chance that many FPL managers will have to bench good players over this period, but your starting eleven will be well set even if there are points on your bench.

Free Hit remaining

Gameweek 34 still looks like the standout week for a Free Hit, even if it’s your only remaining chip.

As both a Double and Blank Gameweek, it will be trickier than most to navigate using only transfers.

The other option however would be to Free Hit in Gameweek 38, when some teams will have more to play for than others, often leading to final day rotation.

This would likely involve picks from Arsenal, Chelsea and Liverpool who have good home fixtures, as well as Spurs who travel to Sheffield United.

Bench Boost remaining

If Bench Boost is all you have remaining, you should focus your transfers on ensuring that your fringe players have a double in either Gameweek 34 or 37.

These look to be the gameweeks with the toughest potential benching dilemmas for those without the Bench Boost chip, although there are other smaller double gameweeks to come too.

Triple Captain remaining

Triple Captain looks best used in Gameweek 35 or 36, when a small number of teams are expected to double.

Options here could include a Newcastle or Manchester United asset, with both hosting a promoted side as part of their potential double gameweek.

No chips remaining

For those with no chips remaining, the teams to target right now are primarily Chelsea and Liverpool.

You may need a couple of hits to make the most of the double gameweeks, and you will likely have to bench players with good fixtures, but there will be plenty of opportunities to exploit even without chips.

In this case however, it may be worth considering forgoing doubling players from the likes of Everton and Wolves who have a tough fixture in their double, as you’ll potentially end up removing or benching reliable players to start them just for one gameweek.

If you want more detailed information on how to use each individual chip, we have separate guides on these, which can be found by clicking on the links below:

What is the best chip strategy according to AI?

Check out Hub AI’s weekly recommended Free Hit and Wildcard teams!

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Best and worst fixture runs before Double Gameweek 34, plus potential chip strategies

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