Possibility of postponements creates additional concerns for FPL managers

The snow has arrived in the UK with a vengeance and it threatens to cause havoc to the weekend’s sporting calendar. Seven Premier League games were postponed one weekend in December 2010, while postponements also occurred in February 2014, so FPL managers  should keep a careful eye on the elements and it’s likely ramifications.

It seems highly unlikely that any postponed games will be rearranged for the upcoming midweek slot, so if you do select players whose fixture subsequently falls to the weather, you will effectively be sitting on a blank gameweek.

Whilst most grounds have adequate undersoil heating, it is safety concerns of fans traveling to and from the stadium, that might result in postponements.

Fantasy Premier League managers can keep their fingers crossed, in the hope that their bench players step up to the plate or be more pro-active by taking action in the transfer market, if games are called off before the GW21 deadline. However, if the whole calendar is decimated, there is little they can do.

GW21 Fantasy Premier League Selections

We’ve decided to get rid of two players, Belgian duo Christian Benteke and Kevin de Bruyne. Our Benteke experiment backfired spectacularly. A missed penalty was to prove costly in FPL Cup week, while a shoulder injury has his availability in question. De Bruyne has also been somewhat underwhelming, although, it could be argued that he has been a bit unlucky, having hit the woodwork more times (6) than any other player. However, the arrival of Gabriel Jesus, Champions League football and Pep Guardiola’s rotation policy puts a question mark against how much playing time he will actually get.

Diego Costa comes in and is given the armband, something we expect him to keep for at least another week, with Hull City set to visit Stamford Bridge in Gameweek 22. We seem to be chasing the Tigers every week and that is certainly the case with our second GW21 capture – Junior Stanislas. The Bournemouth winger had a day to remember when the Cherries hosted Hull earlier in the campaign and a repeat performance will do nicely!

Marcos Alonso and Chris Brunt are both rated at 50-50 and the fact that Nathan Aké has been recalled from his loan spell raises additional concerns about the former’s fitness.

Furthermore, with two Clarets in our provisional line-up and the Burnley vs Southampton fixture being one of the games that is likely to be most under-threat from the inclement weather, getting 11 players on the pitch has to be the priority.

If we can achieve that, we can then continue to focus on squad building and preparation for those crucial double game weeks later in the season, as we look to claw our way up the FPL rankings!