The Premier League season is entering its business end, and the same goes for the 2024/25 edition of Fantasy Premier League.
With Sunday’s Carabao Cup final meaning four sides are not in Premier League action in Gameweek 29 – Liverpool, Newcastle, Aston Villa and Crystal Palace – you’ll almost certainly have changes to make to your FPL team.
Here are some suggestions for what to do at the back…
Two of the most-selected defenders in Fantasy Premier League this term are Liverpool players: Trent Alexander-Arnold and Virgil van Dijk, owned by 31.7% and 21.5% of managers respectively.
Alexander-Arnold is also the highest-scoring defender in FPL with 135 points in 2024/25, while in third place with 112 points is Crystal Palace’s Daniel Munoz – who you’ll also have to do without this weekend. So, who could you bring into your side?
Well, if you’re after a bargain then Jurrien Timber looks a great option right now. The Arsenal star is a man in form, having scored in the Gunners’ 7-1 Champions League last-16 first-leg drubbing of PSV Eindhoven and assisted Declan Rice’s goal against Manchester United last time out in the Premier League.
Timber has been involved in 10 league clean sheets this term, and he ought to have a strong chance of keeping another one – worth four points in FPL – as Arsenal host Chelsea in a big London derby on Sunday. The Blues have generally struggled for goals of late, finding the net more than once in only one of their last six Premier League games and drawing a blank in three of their last six Prem away outings.
If you don’t already own them, Arsenal centre-back pair Gabriel and William Saliba are among the FPL defenders with the most points in 2024/25 – although they would set you back a bit more, being valued at 6.3m and 6.2m respectively.
But there’s potentially a bit of an FPL steal to be found elsewhere in London. Aaron Wan-Bissaka is thriving as a wing-back under Graham Potter at West Ham and can be signed for just 4.5m. The Hammers head to Everton on Saturday and they kept a clean sheet in their last away match – last month’s 1-0 win at Arsenal in which Wan-Bissaka assisted Jarrod Bowen’s decisive goal.
Managers might also consider using their Free Hit chip this week, allowing them to make as many transfers as they like without incurring any points penalty. The squad will then return to its previous state for Gameweek 30, which comes after the international break.
The deadline for FPL team changes for Gameweek 29 is 1:30pm on Saturday, 15 March.
