Blank Gameweek 18
The fixture schedule has been released which means managers can access the fixture list of every team in the league. This can help with many things when it comes to starting a Fantasy Premier League season. One thing it can help with is identifying blank Gameweek 18.
A blank Gameweek in FPL is when one or more teams do not play a game in that particular round. Some blank Gameweeks can be small or large and they can also be a great opportunity to use a chip. The most experienced managers usually use their Free Hit chip in blank Gameweeks. So, what type of round will blank Gameweek 18 be?
Fixture schedule
Firstly it is important that we acknowledge the full schedule. The full fixtures have been released for the 23/24 campaign below. Here you can check out the full schedule for any given team. This will help identify the blank Gameweek.
The Club World Cup
The FIFA Club World Cup sees seven teams competing to be champions, with the winners of the leading competition in each of the six populated continents and the host nation’s national champions participating in a straight knock-out tournament.
The host nation’s champions face the Oceania representatives for the right to join the Asia, Africa and North America champions in the quarter-finals.
The European and South American champions join the tournament at the semi-final stage.
This will be the last seven-team Club World Cup before the tournament is expanded to 32 teams in 2025.
When will the Club World Cup take place?
This year’s tournament will be played between 12 and 22 December 2023.
As European champions, Manchester City do not enter until the semi-final stage so their competition will not start on December 12th.
Blank Gameweek 18
Due to the Club World Cup, the fixture between Manchester City and Brentford will not take place. This means that both sides do not have a fixture in Gameweek 18 and so Gameweek 18 becomes a blank Gameweek.
What could this mean?
Reigning English Champions Manchester City have become one of the most investable sides in the game over the last several years. Because of this, when Gameweek 18 arrives managers will have to bench or sell their Manchester City assets. It also means that managers will have to choose and alternative captain other than striker Erling Haaland.
Should FPL managers avoid Newcastle players at the start of the season? Take a look at our article here.
