In partnership with

✍️ Welcome to the Fantasy Football Scout Bulletin - everything you need to know the day before the GW28 FPL deadline!

➡️ An FPL-less weekend ended up causing more stress than usual for many. More information has arrived for future blank and double Gameweeks but - while our Gameweek 28 Wildcard drafts fix the latest bunch of unavailable players and effortlessly buy Erling Haaland - managers still don’t know enough to finalise chip strategies….

✍️ Read the rest of the ‘Scout Report’ further down this email…

🚨 If you’re tinkering with your GW28 team, check out FPL Gameweek 28 tips: Best players, predicted line-ups, team news + more

❓ FPL General: Gameweek 28 team reveal + transfer plans

🗓️ Who has the best fixtures from FPL Gameweek 27 onwards?

🃏 Free Hit or no Free Hit in Blank Gameweek 29? Read our article on this NOW

🎲 Fantasy EFL Double Gameweek 31 team reveal: FPL Reactions­­­

🚑 Lewis Hall: Injury latest + best FPL replacements. Fantasy Premier League (FPL) managers who were thinking about keeping Lewis Hall (£5.0m) through Newcastle United’s Blank Gameweek 29 will have to think again…

🧢 FPL expert Pras’s chip strategy tips. In his latest article, Pras – who has finished inside the top 40k of Fantasy Premier League (FPL) in each of the last seven seasons and now ranks 14th in our Live Hall of Fame – offers some chip strategy tips.

🚌 You can see the Scout’s GW28 ‘Bus Team’ below or by clicking here

An FPL-less weekend ended up causing more stress than usual for many. More information has arrived for future blank and double Gameweeks but - while our Gameweek 28 Wildcard drafts fix the latest bunch of unavailable players and effortlessly buy Erling Haaland - managers still don’t know enough to finalise chip strategies.

Four matches are currently confirmed for Blank Gameweek 34 and we’ll know the full picture by Gameweek 31, which is why Lateriser advises not Wildcarding until then. The Pras plan relies on Crystal Palace’s quarter-final at Fulham and the Eagles are in great form, with the best xG and xGC numbers during everyone’s last six league matches. Defender Daniel Munoz has eight returns in seven and forward Jean-Philippe Mateta has nine in eight.

It’s therefore no surprise to see Munoz be a unanimous Scout Squad pick and he’s the leading candidate to replace Lewis Hall, whose season is unfortunately over. Mateta is also injured, while popular picks Matheus Cunha and Anthony Gordon got themselves suspended for several matches. A lot of managers will be forced to buy a replacement forward.

Meanwhile, another recent issue has been captaincy. 15 of The Great and the Good’s 18 trusted Cole Palmer with it in Gameweek 27 but the Chelsea star continued his bad form with another blank. We used data and the eye test to determine if he’s on the decline or simply being unlucky. Still, it’s hard to look beyond Mo Salah – he could even become Triple Captain, as it’s the league’s best player at home to last-placed Southampton, part of possibly the worst-ever promoted trio.

But Zophar’s Q&A addresses the concern that Salah’s minutes might be managed. Alternatively, placing the armband could repeat Lateriser’s aggressive recent moves. He bought Christopher Nkunku – one of this week’s differential suggestions - in time for 12 points and found great success moving the Assistant Manager chip around. This time, West Ham’s Graham Potter looks a great way to achieve table bonus, against decimated and distracted Newcastle. It makes Jarrod Bowen attractive for both that and Blank Gameweek 29.

As well as regular weekly coverage of the Fantasy EFL game, we’ve put out a light-hearted quiz that takes 10 minutes. The Captain Sensible and FPL General pieces will come before Saturday’s deadline.

As always, check out the FPL Gameweek 28 page to quickly access all recent articles and the standard press conference updates from managers. Visit our Members Area for comparison tools and an in-depth collection of Opta and StatsBomb data.

Over on our YouTube channel, alongside the regular Scoutcast, Burning Questions and Deadline Dilemmas episodes are team reveals from FPL General and Tom Freeman.