🧠 The cheat-sheet to DGW29 👀

Summary for the lazy

⏰ Big Bastard Double Gameweek 29's deadline is 11:00 BST, Saturday 1st April

😍 12 teams will double in Gameweek 29

🌏 We summarised everything that happened over the international break here

🪑 Most top managers will be Bench Boosting this week

Stick around to find out which player is in the top 10 most transferred IN and the top 10 most transferred OUT this week.

Good morrow,

Well, its finally here. The biggest Double Gameweek of the season is bearing down upon us and, blimey, it's a little heavier than it looked in the photos.

To transition from the perpetual boredom of an international break into the inordinate thrill of a juicy double might be overwhelming for some of you, but don't worry: we're trained for this. We've got energy gels, mini-cheddars and those tin-foil blankets that St John ambulance workers wrap around marathon runners, for reasons that nobody can quite fathom.

If those fail, we've also got an email packed full of the essential nutrients your body needs to withstand 1440 minutes of disappointment from Saturday afternoon to Wednesday evening.

Before we start, some housekeeping: apparently the email we sent on Wednesday found its way into some spam folders, which makes sense, because it was mostly about tinned meat.

Not really - it was about everything that happened over the International Break, including injuries, managerial departures, Double Gameweek 34 and dodgy curries (yes, really). Read it here.

A festival of fantasy football

Our sponsor this week is Fantasy Football Fest, who will host the biggest gathering of FPL managers the world has ever seen in London on Friday August 11th, from 4pm until midnight (Fridays are for knocking off early, right?). We went last year and it was excellent.

By the way, Friday August 11th isn't just any Friday: it's probably also going to be the kick-off to the 2023/24 season. Want to see in the new season with people who actually understand why you spend so much time checking your phone on Saturday afternoons? Of course you do.

Lloyd Griffith will be there (thankfully he'll be doing stand-up, not dishing out FPL advice), and your £20 ticket will include a free drink too (which, with London prices, basically means the ticket is free).

Early bird tickets went on sale this morning and, according to the founder, they're already selling out fast. Get yours by clicking the link below and we'll see you there.

The biggest double of the season

Twelve teams will double in Gameweek 29. They are:

Aston Villa (che, lei)Bournemouth (FUL, BHA)Brentford (bha, mun) Brighton (BRE, bou)Chelsea (AVL, LIV)Leeds (ars, NFO)Leicester (cry, AVL)Liverpool (mci, che)Man United (new, BRE)Newcastle (MUN, whu)Nottingham Forest (WOL, lee)West Ham (SOU, NEW)

Double Gameweek 34 was also announced during the international break. The six teams that blanked last gameweek will all play twice.

That means @BenCrellin's fixture chart of destiny now looks like this:

Who should you transfer in this week?

Okay, answering this question requires a bit of chip discussion, but it's brief and simple. Promise.

Most managers are planning to use their Free Hits in Blank Gameweek 32. Brighton and Man United are among the four teams blanking in BGW32, but they still have loads of fixtures to cram in before the season ends. Brighton have 13 games left, Man United have 12. Just look at Ben's chart.

So stockpiling players from those teams - assuming you have your Free Hit to cover their BGW32 absence - is the conventional move.

Four of the top five most transferred in players are from Man United and Brighton, and that's because NOT ONLY do they have solid DGW29 fixtures but they're also ripe for the rest of the season.

Luke Shaw and Bruno Fernandes are the popular picks from United. Those three pesky Brighton midfielders, along with the penalty-scoring Estupinan, are the targets of choice from the Seagulls.

But finding enticing players doesn't seem to be the problem for managers this week. The real head-scratcher is who to get rid of.

Lazy summary: Brighton and Man United players.

Who to get rid of this week?

It's tricky. Largely because the players you own who only play once - an Arsenal trio against Leeds, Harry Kane against Everton, Erling Haaland against anyone at all - are all very capable of scoring points in their lonesome fixture.

If you've still got Haaland, your decision could be a little easier. The Norse God is a genuine doubt for Saturday's early kick-off, and a transfer for a doubling alternative seems justified. Aleksander Isak is the most popular pick of the forward options.

Kane is also on the chopping block, which is harsh considering the man seems to score in every game he plays these days. Still, he's one of the more unexciting premiums, and post-Dyche Everton aren't the pushovers they used to be.

Those with Arsenal players sat on their bench have a harder problem. Is transferring in the likes of Bruno Fernandes worthwhile?

It's a question as old as time. Not "should I get rid of Saka for a United player?", but "should I get rid of [great single gameweek player] for [double gameweek player I'd never usually consider]?". The answer is invariably "no", regardless of how tempting it is. Just because a player has a double, it doesn't suddenly make them an excellent pick.

There are two caveats here:

1) Arsenal have tough fixtures after Double Gameweek 29 and no doubles either. Are you going to miss your Arsenal midfielders? Perhaps not as much.

2) Owning doubling players is fun.

Cards on the table: I'm keeping two Arsenal players (Saka and Gabriel) and swapping out Kane and Odegaard for Isak and Fernandes. Doublers have more fun.

Mind you, there is one other who could face the chopping block...

Lazy summary: if you have Haaland, consider shifting him. You probably won't miss Kane and you can probably afford to lose your weakest Arsenal players.

I don't like your Tone

It's been well documented that the doubling Ivan Toney is one yellow away from a suspension. You just know (because this is FPL) that he's going to pick up this yellow in the first of his two games, thus effectively giving himself a single gameweek.

Whether you get rid of him depends on the extent to which you have faith in Toney's ability to behave, but would you keep him if he just had Brighton away? Perhaps not.

Oh, and by the way, Michael Oliver is in charge of that game. No referee gives fewer yellows to away players.

Lazy summary: Toney is a yellow away from a suspension and could well get it against Brighton.

A note on strategy

As most of you know, we're boring bastards in these parts.

The reason The Professor (we'll get to his team shortly) has never finished outside of the top 100k is mostly because he doesn't go rogue.

However, we're now within 10 gameweeks of the finish line, which means if you are unhappy with your rank, you'll need to start making bolder moves relatively soon. Keeping up with the Jones' won't be enough to significantly move the needle.

Double Gameweeks are a good opportunity for sticking your head above the parapet because doubling differentials have a higher ceiling. The potential gains are more emphatic.

Need to make up ground? The sprint starts here.

Lazy summary: if you're struggling this season, you'll need to start getting bolder.

The best captain for Double Gameweek 29

The most popular captain and the "safe pick" this week is Marcus Rashford. As we reported in our last email, he is an injury doubt, but most expect him to come through.Here he is pulling some cord in what looks like a public toilet - if that's not reassuring, I don't know what is.

Differentials will be aplenty, but most who aren't opting for Rashford will instead go for a Brighton midfielder. Bruno Fernandes will also pick up some traction before the deadline.

It's easy to see why Rashford is popular, but Brighton definitely have the better fixtures. The difference really comes down to Rashford's talismanic status at Man United. Indeed, he's likely to be involved in over half of any goals that his team score over Double Gameweek 29.

Keep an eye on press conference news, but assuming he's fit to play, Rashford is our pick.

Lazy summary: Rashford.

The key stats

The key digits you need ahead of Double Gameweek 29.

The Professor's team

Our resident expert, the Professor, is yet to make his transfers because he's awaiting further news, but he plans to remove Saka, Martinelli and Gabriel to bring in Shaw, Fernandes and Maddison. In his words, "it's not optimal, but I'm just a man who loves doubles."

Overall rank: 27,903 Captaincy: provisionally on Rashford.

Bench Boost: active.

The Prof is using the BetterFPL chrome extension here. Try it for free for a month using the code [FPLTIPS].

Other tidbits

• William Saliba will be managed "very carefully" after a second scan revealed his injury was not season-ending as first thought.

• An eagle-eyed Redditor spotted that, of all the teams in the league, Man City have actually started the fewest different players (just 18).

• Here's Wordle but for Premier League players.

• A reminder that our post-international break round-up is here.

Lazy conclusions

😍 This week is a Double Gameweek, with 12 teams doubling.

🤕 Haaland is a serious doubt for the weekend.

🧠 Consider the possibility that your single-gameweek players might still outscore the doublers.

🧢 Rashford will be the most popular captain.

⚔️ this week could be a good opportunity to be bold if you're lagging behind.

Remember folks, it ain't over 'til the fat gameweek sings. Get your tickets for FF Fest and we'll see you next Friday.

Stay lazy,The LazyFPL team.