It’s finally here. The last double gameweek of the 2022/23 season. The final opportunity for FPL managers to benefit from players who could potentially play 180 minutes.

Brighton, Chelsea, Man City and Man United all play twice. So do we go all in on double gameweek players?

Many FPL managers will be having benching headaches ahead of the Gameweek 37 deadline. FPL Family’s Sam talks us through her thoughts ahead of Gameweek 37, including her starting XI and benching headaches.

This gameweek is, I think, the one that has given me the biggest headache so far this season.

With just two gameweeks to go of the season there is so much to consider. The form of the players, the fixtures, and whether the players/clubs have something to play for, all play a big part in my decision making. Throw considering the double gameweeks into the mix and working out my strategy for Gameweek 37 has been a challenge.

Gameweek 36 gave me a huge green arrow. I well over halved my rank and now sit at 39,953. There are 15 points between me and the top 25k. This is a place I never thought I would be at the end of Gameweek 16. At that point I sat at 1.1m, but now there is a realistic chance of finishing in the top 25k potentially in the top 10k if I can find 40 points (that might be just out of reach.) The pressure is on!

Gameweek 36 proved that taking a risk and veering lightly away from the template can still give you huge returns. I took a risk going without Alexander Isak because I believed Wilson had the form and the minutes difference between the two was too small to be consider. The 17 point difference between Callum Wilson and Isak has made me more willing to take some risks to try and get myself as high up the overall rankings as possible.

Gameweek 37 plans

I already own three players from both Brighton and Man City.

Heading into Gameweek 37 I am not inclined to change any of them. Swapping from Jack Grealish to one of the other Man City midfielders feels just as likely to back fire as it does to bring huge reward. Alongside the six players from Brighton and Man City, I also own two Man United assets. That means of my 15 man squad, eight currently play twice. Obviously I will start all eight of these meaning that I only have three spaces in my starting XI for single gameweek players.

I have two transfers for Gameweek 37. One of these I would like to roll for Gameweek 38. However, spending the other one is proving difficult. Mostly because I have Cody Gakpo and Kieran Trippier, two players I would like to play this week, on the bench. I would really like to play both of these players, so any further transfers will make my benching headaches harder.

Benching Headaches

I am going to play all eight of my double gameweek players. This means that it will fall to my single gameweekers to it on the bench

Trent Alexander-Arnold has a good fixture at home to Aston Villa. Liverpool have kept clean sheets in their last two matches at Anfield and Alexander-Arnold in all of his last eight matches. The defenders more advanced position means that he is more likely to be able to exploit the left hand side of the villa defence. The majority of the Villa attacks have gone down their left and therefore Alexander-Arnold should be able to exploit the gaps this leaves.

In addition to the Liverpool defender I also have Harry Kane - who under no circumstances can leave my starting XI. Kane plays Brentford in Spurs’ last home match of the season in Gameweek 37. The forward has averaged 7.2 points per match at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium this season. 

Callum Wilson also has a great fixture against a Leicester side who have really struggled defensively. Wilson has returned five double digit hauls in the last ninet matches. In that time he has picked up 74 points. With Newcastle looking to secure Champions League football for the 2023/24 season Wilson is a must start.

Transfer Plans

This team feels very locked in, especially in terms of the starting XI. The one player that my team doesn’t have that I wish it did is Mo Salah.

I would really like to have the Egyptian in my team, however budget limitations along with not wanting to take a big hit mean he is unattainable this week. However, I could use one of my transfers to free up budget. Doing this would potentially allow me to upgrade Gakpo to Salah for Liverpool’s final game of the season, whilst also keeping Erling Haaland, Kane and Alexander-Arnold.

By down grading Kieran Trippier I would be able to free up £1.8m. This along with the money in my bank, means that with my two free transfers in Gameweek 38 Salah is achievable. I am slightly anxious about selling Trippier, especially as he is heavily owned in the game and therefore could damage my overall rank if he isn’t part of my plans.

Ahead of the midweek game against Brighton I was firm in the decision to sell Trippier. His brace of assist in that game showed me that he could still really punish me in Gameweek 37 and against in Gameweek 38 if I don’t own him. His effective ownership in Gameweek 36 was at 97%. This means that his points made me very tiny gains in terms of my overall rank position, but had I not owned him he would have punished me. Even if I do keep Trippier, he can only have a place on the bench this week and therefore selling him, not burning the transfer feels the best option for me.

The fear of selling Trippier is real, but that feels the decision I am most likely to make this week. By downgrading him I am putting myself in a great position to attack Gameweek 38, knowing I have a great team for Gameweek 37 too.

Green arrows all!