Fantasy Premier League double gameweek 19: Kevin De Bruyne, Jamie Vardy, Tomas Soucek and more

How many of our picks are in your squad?

West Ham midfielder Tomas Soucek (Getty Images)

Whether you used your Free Hit chip or fought your way through with free transfers and hits, here’s hoping you navigated Fantasy Premier League’s first big blank gameweek of the season successfully. Now it’s time for the first big double.

Eleven Premier League teams play twice over the next week, including Liverpool, Manchester City, Manchester United and Chelsea. If you still have your Bench Boost or Triple Captain chips to hand, this is a good time to play one of them.  

If you’ve got a deep squad of regular starters, consider bench boosting to earn points from all 15 players - especially if they are playing twice.  

Alternatively, premium picks like Kevin De Bruyne, Mohamed Salah and Bruno Fernandes have two fixtures and could be worth triple captaincy.

Beware though, as Covid-19 postponements continue to wreak havoc with the schedule. Although Aston Villa play twice, their outbreak means Everton - who they were due to play on Sunday - do not have a fixture in double gameweek 19.

Kevin De Bruyne

This week’s captaincy is a difficult call with three options who each have their pros and cons. Salah is usually the most reliable but is out of form after three straight blanks. Fernandes, meanwhile, has been a bit fortunate to pick up points recently.

De Bruyne has not been particularly explosive this season, despite being more involved in City’s attack than ever. The fixtures swing it in his favour this week though, with home games against Crystal Palace and Covid-affected Aston Villa.

Jamie Vardy

While everybody scrambles to fit De Bruyne, Salah and Fernandes in their squad, there is a risk of overlooking Vardy. He is worth considering, even if Leicester’s pair of fixtures - Southampton and Chelsea at home - are not the easiest.

Vardy has recovered from a hip problem, is on penalties and leads the way in the top flight when it comes to xG per-90. If you have a way of fitting him in your squad alongside that premium midfield, the combination could prove powerful.

Tomas Soucek

No team has a better pair of fixtures this week than West Ham. David Moyes’ side welcome Burnley and West Bromwich Albion to the London Stadium and could be a significant source of points for those managers capitalising on the double.

Soucek’s appeal continues to grow, even if he is still in just 15% of squads. The £5.3m midfielder has four goals in his last seven appearances and provides a constant threat from set pieces.

Vladimir Coufal

Staying with West Ham, the other Czech member of Moyes’ squad could be a source of points too. Coufal has shown attacking potential from full-back since joining from Slavia Prague, with three assists and plenty of chances created.

Clean sheets are a possibility too, after back-to-back shutouts against Southampton and Everton. Burnley are the joint-lowest scorers in the top flight, level with Sheffield United on nine goals. West Brom have only scored 11.  

Christian Pulisic

One for the risk-takers. Pulisic is by no means nailed-on given the competition for places on Chelsea’s flanks but a run of five league starts and his low ownership - just 2.3% - makes him a tempting differential.

The United States international has just one league goal to his name but is finally getting a run of regular minutes after recovering from a hamstring injury. Chelsea face a pair of away days at Fulham and Leicester.

Honourable mentions: Sam Johnstone, Joao Cancelo, Mohamed Salah, Bruno Fernandes, Michail Antonio