STUFF THAT MATTERS
📅 Gameweek 28 Deadline:
Friday, 27 February — 18:30 GMT
Yes, a Friday deadline.
Yes, you’ll remember early.
No, you still won’t check your team before lock.
🚫 Suspensions
Fofana, Krejci — out for GW28
Romero, Potts — out until GW29
🟨 One yellow from a forced transfer
Mosquera
Andre
Both one yellow away from a 2 match suspension.
🏥 Injury News (aka why your -4 becomes a -8)
Arsenal anxiety department
Saka — came off vs Spurs; manager calm, managers in FPL not calm
Ben White — “minor muscle issue”
Defence collapsing league-wide
Hickey — went off at HT, doubtful
Kayode — knock. Keith Andrews - "We'll see how he is over the next few days".
Lacroix — could return
Robinson — Ankle issue. Marco Silva - "It doesn't look serious".
Mukiele — doubtful
Attackers blocking transfers
Chukwueze — could be available vs Spurs.
Estevao — unclear for Arsenal
Brobbey — doubtful
Cook — hamstring doubt
Premium panic
Wirtz — back issue in warm-up, “not serious” (translation: everyone monitoring press conferences)
Lisandro Martínez — precaution only… probably
Confirmed out
Reinildo — weeks
Summary:
Your starters are injured.
Your bench has fixtures.
You are now convincing yourself a 4-point hit is “long-term planning”.
👉 Next: transfers — where good ranks go to die.
GAMEWEEK 28 FIXTURES
PLAYER FORM
TEAM FORM
DEFCON MONSTERS
*Rice, Gomes, Andre has played 28 matches
SAVE MERCHANTS
TRANSFER PLAYBOOK
Let’s separate good decisions from therapy sessions.
🟢 BUY (players you’ll pretend you always liked)
Wilson
Games vs WHU (A) & BUR (H) in the next four and — most importantly — plays in BGW31.
This is the type of player you bring in and suddenly start talking about “fixture targeting” like you invented it.
Dango > Schade (but both fine)
Brentford fixtures look like they were scheduled by their fans.
Both massive differentials
Similar output
Dango cheaper → brain says yes
Already own Schade?
Relax. One benching ≠ tactical betrayal.
Reassess after Burnley.
Rayan
Great numbers + great short-term fixtures = classic FPL trap… except this one is actually good.
Just remember Tavernier & Brooks exist, so minutes may become a discussion topic.
Szoboszlai
Safe minutes
Set pieces
Good fixtures
And if Wirtz misses out, he goes back to midfield instead of emergency right-back cosplay.
Translation: accidentally reliable FPL asset.
Semenyo
Yes he blanks in GW31.
Yes I still like him.
If you can field 11 without hits in BGW31 → buy immediately.
Van Dijk
Premium defender.
Form good. Fixtures good.
You will hate owning defenders until he scores a header and suddenly you’re a defensive structure enthusiast.
Andersen
Cheap. Plays BGW31. Good fixtures.
The kind of transfer that feels boring but gains rank while you tweet about attackers.
Hill
Cheap DEFCON magnet, great short fixtures…
But BGW31 vs MUN.
He can still farm defensive points.
Ekitike
Fixtures good. Form good.
Minutes… suspiciously good.
Managers don’t warn about rotation for fun.
Keep in mind - One random benching is coming and nobody knows when.
Thiago
Safer minutes
On penalties
Still blanking
Yet somehow a pick that makes sense.
🟡 HOLD (don’t panic — yet)
Rogers
Recent blanks aren’t the problem.
Fixtures are. CHE (H) & MUN (A) coming up.
After that? Quite good.
Especially WHU in BGW31.
Wirtz
“Injury not serious” is FPL’s most dangerous phrase.
Close fixtures + recovery timeline = risk
But selling early could be a luxury transfer you regret instantly.
Patience… or at least wait for press conferences like the rest of us addicts.
👉 Up next: Captaincy (where friendships end), Differentials (where hope begins), and my Team Reveal (where confidence disappears).
CAPTAINCY BREAKDOWN
Ok. So lets break in down like sensible managers do… (or at least try to) 👇
🥇Haaland
Ah yes… the weekly ritual: open the app, stare at the armband, end up back here anyway.
Leeds (A) have the 4th-worst defence and have shipped 9 goals in their last 5 — basically a polite invitation letter. Meanwhile, Haaland has 5 attacking returns in his last 4 games and looks like he’s remembered the cheat code again.
Safe? Yes.
Boring? Also yes.
Effective rank protection? Absolutely yes. 🧱
🥈 Bruno Fernandes
Two quieter games and suddenly everyone forgets he’s still the emotional support system of his entire team. Palace (H) have kept a couple of clean sheets recently… but they’ve also conceded 7 in that same period — the FPL equivalent of “I’m on a diet but only on weekdays.”
Add two double-digit hauls in his last two home matches and you’ve got the perfect I want upside but also don’t want therapy captain. 🎯
🥉 Thiago
Minutes: nailed
Penalties: his
Opponent: worst defence in the league
Form: currently buffering… ⏳
This is the classic logic vs vibes captaincy pick. The spreadsheet says yes, the heart says “maybe next week.” If you enjoy living dangerously but still want a statistical excuse, this is your guy.
Honourable Mentions
Semenyo vs LEE (A) — chaotic good differential energy ⚡
Rogers vs WOL (A) — the “if this works I’m tweeting about it for 3 days” pick 📈
🎯 Final Word
Safety → Haaland
Balance → Bruno
Bragging rights → Thiago 😌
DIFFERENTIALS
TEAM REVEAL
GW27?
We don’t speak about GW27.
39 points.
Thirty. Nine.
I’ve seen pre-season friendlies with more excitement. Rank slid from 19.5K to 29K and my OR graph now looks like a ski slope in January. 🎿
Anyway. Emotional reset complete. We pivot. We rise. We pretend it was “variance.” 😌
Here’s the squad before moves:
I’ve got 2 FTs… but naturally I want 3 changes. Because peace was never an option in FPL.
Targets locked in:
• VVD
• Semenyo
• Thiago
The issue? Budget doing budget things.
VVD + Thiago together? Not unless I start fielding ball boys in midfield. So compromises must be made.
Current plan:
➡️ Palmer ➝ Semenyo
➡️ Mané ➝ Thiago
Cleaner structure. Better fixtures. More chaos potential. I like it.
And here’s how we line up after the surgery:
Now… am I tempted to take a hit for VVD over Timber?
Absolutely.
Do I enjoy the idea of a last-minute, unnecessary -4? Also absolutely.
There’s a non-zero chance I press confirm.
You’ll have to tune into the next newsletter to see whether I stay disciplined… or spiral responsibly. 🔄
Armband?
Haaland. No drama. No overthinking. Just vibes and expected goals. 🎩
GW28 redemption arc loading…
We’ve done the research.
We’ve made the moves.
We’ve convinced ourselves this is the week. 🤝
GW29 is around the corner and trust me — planning ahead now could be the difference between green arrows and therapy sessions.
Until then - may your arrows be green and your punts be powerful.
See you on the other side of GW28. 💚⚽🔥