18 February 2022

FPL tips: Liverpool and Arsenal to feast on double gameweek

18 February 2022

Arsenal and Liverpool look set to thrive on double fixtures in what could be an important Fantasy Premier League gameweek.

Liverpool’s fixtures against Norwich and Leeds hold obvious appeal, while the Gunners take on Brentford and Wolves with a chance to make up the ground on the top four.

Here, the PA news agency looks at the key men to target.

Grab Gab

Arsenal defender Gabriel tops the double gameweek form rankings (PA graphic)

Arsenal defender Gabriel is the form player among those with a double gameweek, having scored the winner against Wolves last time out to add to back-to-back clean sheets.

That helps him to a huge rating of 94 out of 100 on PA’s Transfer Score system – which combines form, cost, ownership and upcoming fixture difficulty rating (FDR) – when filtered to players with double gameweeks.

Gabriel’s impressive run stretches back further despite his sending-off against Manchester City in gameweek 21.

He burned the resulting suspension in the FA Cup tie against Nottingham Forest and has scored six points or more in five of the last seven gameweeks thanks to clean sheets and a pair of goals – the only exceptions being the City clash and the win over Leeds.

Team-mate Ben White is another alternative and cheaper at £4.5million to score 81 in transfer score, while Liverpool full-back Andy Robertson (82) is one of several tempting picks from his club.

Grab Fab

Fabinho’s scoring run vaults him to the top of the midfield rankings (PA graphic)

Second in the transfer score rankings on 83, narrowly edging out Gunners goalkeeper Aaron Ramsdale, is Liverpool midfielder Fabinho.

Gabriel’s fellow Brazil international has been the surprise figure to shoulder the goalscoring burden in the absence of Mohamed Salah and Sadio Mane at the Africa Cup of Nations, with his three in the last four games helping to almost double his season’s FPL score.

Having managed 37 points in the first 21 weeks, he since has 32 in the last four but, while his form score is handy, his true value would be as a differential – only 1.2 per cent of FPL managers have been seduced.

His form in front of goal may be unsustainable – his penalty against Crystal Palace is unlikely to be repeated with Salah back in the picture, and doubtless a popular double gameweek captaincy pick – but his form stands out among those doubling up, with Wolves’ Leander Dendoncker (68) the next midfielder.

League-wide the numbers skew in favour of Chelsea, whose only game in the form window was their 2-0 victory over Tottenham and produced an inevitable bump for goalscorers Thiago Silva and Hakim Ziyech. The Blues face Crystal Palace before yet another blank gameweek, but then have favourable fixtures the rest of the way.

Play Che

Does Che Adams’ one fixture hold more appeal than other strikers’ two? (Martin Rickett/PA) (PA Wire)

Up front, the options from the double gameweek sides are limited – though Arsenal’s Alexandre Lacazette (57) has assists in four of his last six games and Burnley’s Jay Rodriguez (58) scored against Manchester United.

Managers may want to avoid the temptation of the double-up and instead turn to Southampton’s Che Adams, who has scored in his last two games and three in five since returning to the side despite facing strong opposition.

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