There&#8217;s no Premier League games until next weekend (Saturday, March 8) &#8211; but every Fantasy Premier League (FPL) manager should be keeping an eye on the FA Cup in the coming days.
The results of the fifth-round games will play a part in setting the FPL fixture schedule for the rest of the season.
Below, we explore everything you need to know. Cup games will be played between today (Friday, February 28) and Monday.

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<h2>How does the FA Cup fifth round affect FPL?</h2>
Premier League teams who reach the FA Cup semi-finals will not have a league match in Gameweek 34.
The cup games clash with the Premier League fixtures that weekend, causing a <a href="https://www.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/blank-gameweek-in-fantasy-premier-league">blank gameweek</a>.
The fifth round is one step away from the quarter-finals, so it&#8217;s still a little while before we&#8217;ll know the Blank Gameweek 34 schedule for certain.
But we&#8217;ll have a better idea of the teams likely to blank once this round and the quarter-final draw is completed.
There are four all-Premier League ties in the fifth round, so we could see some Gameweek 34 fixtures locked in early next week.
Here is the full FA Cup fifth-round draw, with Premier League sides in bold:
<ul>
<li>Preston v Burnley</li>
<li>Aston Villa v Cardiff</li>
<li>Crystal Palace v Millwall</li>
<li>Manchester United v Fulham</li>
<li>Newcastle v Brighton</li>
<li>Bournemouth v Wolves</li>
<li>Manchester City v Plymouth</li>
<li>Nottingham Forest v Ipswich</li>
</ul>
<h2>Which games are definitely going ahead in Blank Gameweek 34?</h2>
Chelsea v Everton and Liverpool v Spurs are already confirmed to be going ahead in Blank Gameweek 34, with all of these sides out of the FA Cup.
The other eight scheduled matches all depend on one or both teams&#8217; progress in the cup, with 11 Premier League teams still in the competition.
<div id="attachment_71179" style="width: 430px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-71179" class="size-full wp-image-71179" src="https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/Blank-Gameweek-34-fixture-grid.jpg" alt="Confirmed Blank Gameweek 34 fixtures are highlighted in blue, with teams out of the FA Cup in red. Those still in the cup are left white" width="420" height="366" srcset="https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/Blank-Gameweek-34-fixture-grid.jpg 420w, https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/Blank-Gameweek-34-fixture-grid-300x261.jpg 300w" sizes="(max-width: 420px) 100vw, 420px" />Confirmed Blank Gameweek 34 fixtures are highlighted in blue, with teams out of the FA Cup in red. Those still in the cup are left white</div>
<h2>Why does this matter for FPL?</h2>
Teams with blank gameweeks can cause problems because it may leave our FPL teams short of players.
The next blank is in Gameweek 29, when Liverpool, Crystal Palace, Newcastle and Aston Villa don&#8217;t play.
Many FPL managers are well stocked with players from these teams and could get through this by using the Free Hit chip.
But those who do could have difficult in Blank Gameweek 34, when mostly different teams will be without a fixture.
Knowing what&#8217;s coming can help us plan for the rest of the season.
We won&#8217;t know the full Blank Gameweek 34 schedule until the FA Cup quarter-finals are played just before the Gameweek 30 deadline.
The starting point for your team will therefore be looking at how many players you have blanking in Gameweek 29 and whether you can use your free transfers to field a full starting 11.
While blank gameweeks can be a headache, there is a positive. Postponed games will slot into other FPL gameweeks, creating <a href="https://www.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/double-gameweek-in-fantasy-premier-league">double gameweeks</a> where teams play twice. Gameweek 33 and 36 are expected to be doubles this season as a result.
Our <a href="https://www.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/fpl-chip-strategy-guide">chip strategy guide</a> discusses options for playing the various chips and will be updated early next week after the cup matches.
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-70240" src="https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/FPL-chip-strategy.png" alt="" width="720" height="377" srcset="https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/FPL-chip-strategy.png 720w, https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/FPL-chip-strategy-300x157.png 300w, https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/FPL-chip-strategy-610x319.png 610w" sizes="(max-width: 720px) 100vw, 720px" />
<h2>When are the other FPL blank and double gameweeks this season?</h2>
Follow our <a href="https://www.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/fpl-blank-double-gameweek-guide">Blank and Double Gameweek Guide</a> for full details of the schedule &#8211; we update this regularly as new information emerges.
<h2>Check out our fantasy football ultimate guides</h2>
Our <a href="https://www.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/fantasy-premier-league-ultimate-guide-fpl-tips">Ultimate Guide to FPL</a> has everything you could ever need to guide you through each gameweek. Regularly updated, it includes all our FPL content in one handy place – from team reveals from some of the best FPL managers in the game to tips on the best players and much more.
We also have ultimate guides for <a href="https://www.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/dream-team-fantasy-football-tips-the-ultimate-guide">Dream Team</a> and <a href="https://www.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/telegraph-fantasy-football-tips-the-ultimate-guide">Telegraph Fantasy Football</a>, which are also home to tips and regular articles from experts in these formats.
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