What does the FA Cup mean for FPL?
The FA Cup fourth round will be played on the weekend of the 27-30th of January. Here we take a look at what the FA Cup means for FPL and how managers should plan for it.
The FA Cup Third Round
The FA Cup third round resulted in eight Premier League sides being knocked out of the competition.
- Aston Villa
- Bournemouth
- Brentford
- Chelsea
- Crystal Palace
- Everton
- Nottingham Forest
- Newcastle
In addition Liverpool v Wolves and Cardiff v Leeds ended in draws. These sides therefore required a replay. The reply resulted In Wolves being knocked out of the competition.
The FA Cup Fourth Round
The Premier League teams who are left in the competition will play their fourth round fixtures next weekend. This means that the teams that were eliminated in the third round of the competition will not have a fixture at the weekend.
The Premier League teams have the following FA Cup fixtures:
- Preston North End v Spurs
- Southampton v Blackpool
- Man United v Reading
- Derby County v West Ham
- Walsall v Leicester City
- Man City v Arsenal
- Brighton v Liverpool
- Fulham v Sunderland
- Borehamwood or Accrington Stanley v Leeds United
As a result of the fourth round Arsenal or Man City and Brighton or Liverpool will definitely be out of the cup as they are all Premier League ties.
What impact does the FA Cup have on FPL?
There are a couple of impacts of the FA Cup on FPL. Firstly it adds to the number of fixtures that a team has to play, especially in the busy January period. This means FPL managers need to be more mindful of rotation around the FA Cup and the league.
However, the bigger impact of the FA Cup is Blank Gameweeks. The Quarter and Semi Finals of the FA Cup are played during Premier League weekends. This means that any teams who are still in the FA Cup will have a Blank Gameweek during these gameweeks.
Gameweek 28 will lose matches because of the FA Cup Quarter Finals. Gameweek 32 will lose matches because of the FA Cup Semi Finals.
The outcome of the fourth round of the FA Cup will also impact rescheduled fixtures. If Man United and Leeds have a result in their FA Cup ties that does not require a replay, FPL managers will have Double Gameweek 22.
What do we know about Gameweek 28 so far?
As a results the outcome of the third round fixtures we already know that some of the Gameweek 28 fixtures will definitely go ahead. This is because both teams were knocked out of the FA Cup in the third round.
The following fixtures will definitely be played in Gameweek 28:
- Aston Villa v Bournemouth
- Chelsea v Everton
- Nottingham Forest v Newcastle
The other fixtures in Gameweek 28 will only be on if both teams exit the FA Cup.
What about Gameweek 32?
The fixtures in Gameweek 32 will depend on what happens in the fourth and fifth rounds of the FA Cup as well as the Quarter-Finals of the competition.
As less teams are left in the competition the impact on FPL should be less. However, if all four teams left in the FA Cup are from the Premier League then we could have four postponed Premier League matches.
Brentford v Aston Villa and Crystal Palace v Everton will definitely be on regardless of what happens in the later rounds of the FA Cup. This is because all four teams are already out of the competition.
