Following recent action in the FA Cup and Champions League, Premier League football returns this weekend with Fantasy Premier League also back for Gameweek 30.
With our last league outing coming a week-and-a-half ago via our 1-0 victory at Brighton & Hove Albion, we’re now back at Emirates Stadium to take on Everton.
TIMBER AND GABI DOUBLE UP
Our determined victory over the Seagulls was inspired by an excellent defensive display, as reflected in the FPL scoring, with Jurrien Timber (£6.3m) amassing 13 points, while Gabriel (£7.2m) achieved an 11-point scoop. Big Gabi is now leading our overall FPL points table with a total of 164, while Jurrien ranks third with 148 with Declan Rice (£7.4m) in the middle with a 160-point tally.
Our south coast success also brought healthy points deliveries from Piero Hincapie (£5.1m) and goalscorer Bukayo Saka (£9.8m), who both claimed nine points. David Raya (£6.0m) was astute between the sticks to add seven points, which now sees him leading the way for all goalkeepers with a season total of 122. Raya notably overtakes the stopper who is set to be his opposite number this Saturday, Everton’s Jordan Pickford (£5.6m), who has 117 points.
The Toffees visit north London harbouring hopes of a long-awaited return to European football, and boast six players to have reached the century mark this term in FPL. The leading point-scorer in blue is James Tarkowski (£5.7m), who is owned by 11.2% of squads, has 136 points to his name and has secured DefCon bonuses in 18 of his 29 Gameweeks thus far. While Tarkowski’s point hauls have slowed somewhat recently, GW29 was a lucrative one for those who have kept faith, as he scored and kept a clean sheet against former club Burnley.
Another key operator for Everton – who has been largely overlooked this season – is budget midfield option James Garner (£5.2m). Owned by only 4% of FPL sides, Garner has played almost every minute of action for his side in 2025/26 – and is often the architect of set-pieces for the Toffees. He has an impressive tally of 129 thus far, and could be an effective acquisition to accommodate premium-priced targets in your side.
Other well-priced stars among the Everton squad to have entered the 100 club are Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall (£5.1m), Michael Keane (£4.6m) and Iliman Ndiaye (£6.2m).
BUILDING SQUAD VALUE
With a little over two months to play in the Premier League campaign, the top-flight is shaping up for the run-in with several key players in red-hot form. Their prices will quickly rise as they continue to haul in the points, but they will also be far less effective for your team if you’re trying to chase down your mini-league rivals who also have them in their squads.
The key is to identify players whose form is beginning to build without the spotlight. There have been numerous examples of this throughout the campaign, none more so perhaps than surprise packages such as Brentford’s Igor Thiago (£7.2m) – who began the season priced at just £6.0m – and Fulham’s Harry Wilson (£6.0m), the midfielder priced as lowly as £5.2m as recently as Gameweek 15 before consistently delivering at a bargain price.
While simply chasing price-rise-bound stars is not the ideal approach, going after squad value is a vital element to FPL success. Profit mechanics in the game work to add £0.1m value to each player owned for every £0.2m that their price rises; for instance, you added Gabriel to your team for his starting fee of £6.0m in the summer and kept him until now with his price tag at £7.2m, you could sell him for £6.6m. As a result, Big Gabi has raised your squad value by £0.6m all on his own.
Of course, the disadvantage to selling high-performing assets – even if they become injured, suspended or have a Blank Gameweek (BGW) – is that you would have to pay the full price should you wish to return them to your squad, and this is where the challenge of the upcoming Gameweek 31 kicks in.
BLANK GAMEWEEK IN SIGHT
As previously mentioned, the Gameweek that follows this one – during the weekend of March 21-22 – is this season’s first Blank Gameweek, as four sides are left without a Premier League fixture due to our participation in the Carabao Cup final against Manchester City. That means the table’s top two – featuring an abundance of FPL favourites – as well as Wolves and Crystal Palace will deliver zeroes across the board.
For managers who have not banked any free transfers up to now, there will be just two of these available to use ahead of the GW31 deadline, and many squads contain three players apiece from Arsenal and City – perhaps alongside additional assets from Palace or a Wolves side whose form has changed for the better.
From here, there are three options to navigate the schedule: the Free Hit chip, taking a points hit to pay for further transfers, or ploughing on with a depleted team for one week. Next week’s edition will delve deeper into how best to hurdle the obstacles of Gameweek 31, along with further rounds towards the business end of the campaign.
The FPL dilemmas are in full flow – and it’s all part of the journey. Make sure to finalise your squad before this week’s deadline of Saturday, March 14, at 1:30pm UK time for Gameweek 30!
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