FPL tips: Erling Haaland, Cole Palmer and the best one-week punts to back in Double Gameweek 34

Managers would be foolish to ignore the big-name players who will feature just once

The next midweek is without any European competitions or cup football, giving Premier League schedulers a place to accommodate some previously postponed games.

As a result, seven teams will appear twice in Double Gameweek 34 while Tottenham are not taking part at all.

That is forcing Fantasy Premier League (FPL) managers to think hard about chip strategies and immediate transfers.

There is an obvious temptation to focus only on those with multiple matches but wejave seen before that it would be foolish to ignore the big-name players who will feature just once.

With this in mind, here are a few single Gameweek assets that deserve loyalty, courtesy of Fantasy Football Scout.

Cole Palmer last time out recorded the biggest score of the season so far
Getty Images

Cole Palmer (£6.2m)

Alongside him on the most points is Palmer, whose first 2023-24 start did not come until Gameweek 7. His phenomenal breakthrough season has somehow found a way to escalate over the last five matches.

Monday’s stunning display versus Everton means that this period has delivered two hat-tricks, 10 goals and 79 points, averaging 15.8 each time.

However, the downside to such a cheap, penalty-taking player being this good is that his ownership is nearly unanimous.

Most managers were frustrated to gain absolutely nothing from this latest haul.

It also highlights how dangerous it could be to go without Chelsea’s midfielder.

Opponents Arsenal have a supreme defence but Watkins just proved that it can be breached.

Premier League - Arsenal v Aston Villa
Ollie Watkins is joint-top for overall FPL points (208) and is about to host Bournemouth
REUTERS

Ollie Watkins (£8.8m)

In two of this season’s other three - albeit smaller - doubles, a highly-owned attacker outscored everybody else in their sole outing.

Heung-min Son (£9.9m) brought in 17 points during Gameweek 28 and Watkins racked up 23 in Gameweek 7’s huge win over Brighton.

Furthermore, recent sellers have been punished by three goals in his latest couple of runouts.

A few successive blanks plus a hamstring issue led to over two million managers ditching Aston Villa’s forward - the most sold individual before Gameweeks 31 and 32.

Yet Watkins finds himself joint-top for overall FPL points (208), the best for assists (15), in second for goals (19) and is about to host Bournemouth.

Erling Haaland is still number one for shots on target (46) and far ahead for big chances (46)
AFP via Getty Images

Erling Haaland (£14.3m)

Finally, FPL’s most expensive asset.

Haaland, Watkins and Palmer are the top trio for both goals and overall attacking returns, so Free Hit users must be careful.

Yes, Dominic Solanke (£7.2m), Darwin Nunez (£7.7m) and Matheus Cunha (£5.6m) all have Double Gameweek 34.

But each comes with a reason to doubt, whether it’s tricky fixtures or rotation fears.

Haaland has recently been rusty by his elite standards but is still number one for shots on target (46) and far ahead for big chances (46).

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