Chelsea’s 3-1 FA Cup fourth-round win at Aston Villa may mean it’s popular Fantasy Premier League Players Bucayo Saka (£9.0m) and Cole Palmer (£5.9m) is uncontested in Blank Gameweek 29 (BGW29).
The FA Cup quarter-finals – the sixth round of the competition – will take place on the same weekend as FPL Gameweek 29, meaning any Premier League games against clubs still involved in the cup will have to be rescheduled.
This will lead to BGW29 for many teams.
So, if Chelsea beat Leeds United in the FA Cup fifth round at Stamford Bridge on Wednesday 28 February, their trip to Arsenal in the Premier League on BGW29 will be rescheduled.
Saka and Palmer, the most owned midfielders in Fantasy, found in 60 and 39 percent of teams respectively, would both be empty in such a scenario.
Villa’s exit from the cup means they will visit West Ham in BGW29 as scheduled, one of only three games confirmed to take place in Blank Gameweek 29, along with Burnley v Brentford and Fulham v Spurs.
Ollie Watkins (£8.8m), the third most popular player in Fantasy with 53 per cent ownership of both the Hammers Jarrod Bowen (£7.9m), found in almost a quarter of the squads, will both feature in the reduced round of fixtures.
Nottingham Forest beat Bristol City on penalties in their FA Cup fourth-round replay, setting up a fifth-round tie at home to Manchester United. If they progress to the quarter-finals, or if Luton Town beat Manchester City, their BGW29 match will also have to be rescheduled.
The list below shows which matches are at risk of being postponed at BGW29 because at least one of the clubs – the clubs in bold – are in the FA Cup and could still reach the quarter-finals.
BGW29 matches are at risk of being postponed
Arsenal v Chelsea
Brighton v Man City
Crystal Palace v Newcastle
Everton v Liverpool
Luton v Nott’m Forest
Manchester United v Sheff Utd
Wolves v Bournemouth
FA Cup fifth round draw
Monday, February 26
Coventry v Maidstone
Tuesday, February 27
Blackburn v Newcastle
Bournemouth – Leicester
Luton v Man City
Wednesday, February 28
Chelsea v Leeds
Liverpool against Southampton
Nott’m Forest v Manchester United
Wolves v Brighton