We have had yet another late double gameweek announcement and it is not the one we were expecting.
Watford and Burnley will both play twice in double gameweek 23, facing Norwich and Arsenal this weekend respectively, then coming up against each other at Turf Moor on 5 February.
Two relegation battlers are not usually candidates for heavy investment so do not be blinded by this double. There are still plenty of others to come, given all the postponements.
That doesn’t mean their players aren’t worth some consideration, though.
Josh King
Both King and his strike partner Emmanuel Dennis will be extremely popular this picks this week. You cannot ask for a better double than Norwich and Burnley, really. After scoring eight goals as a budget forward this season, Dennis is especially well-owned in 40% of squads.
King by contrast is in just 8% of squads and has similar underlying numbers to Dennis. King was the central attacker in the 1-1 draw at Newcastle and could be the designated penalty taker. It’s a risk to bet against Dennis due to his ownership but one that could pay off handsomely.
Matthew Lowton
The only reason to invest in Burnley players at the moment is the sheer number of games they still have to play, with five postponements to reschedule and fulfill. That means a lot of double gameweeks, of which this is the first provided that there are no more Covid complications at Turf Moor.
It’s slim pickings when looking around the squad for a decent asset going forward but if you are in need of a cheap defender ready to come off your bench when needed, you could do worse than Lowton. Though he has little attacking upside, he has a security of starts at 4.4m and could come in handy when the doubles start rolling in.
Lucas Digne
No Villa player will be anticipating the trip to Goodison Park as eagerly as Digne after his acrimonious £25m move was completed only a week ago. The left-back will need no extra motivation to perform, even if there will be no reunion with the dismissed Rafa Benitez.
Digne showed plenty of attacking potential on his debut against Manchester United last weekend, playing more crosses than any other Villa player while shooting inside the penalty area twice and creating two chances of his own. At 5.0m, he could be a bargain.
Andy Robertson
Although Trent Alexander-Arnold is in every team going, most managers are not using all three of their Liverpool spots while Mohamed Salah is away. It’s wise to keep at least one spare, to make it easier to bring the Egyptian back, but Robertson is still worth consideration.
After a slow start to the season, the Liverpool left-back has now returned either a goal, assist or clean sheet in six of his last seven appearances, albeit with a break for his red card against Tottenham. With that suspension now served, he is giving us a decision to make.
Kevin De Bruyne
City are one of the few top-flight teams without a single postponement to play, meaning no doubles expected further down the line yet, but their fixtures are still fantastic starting with this weekend’s trip to Southampton.
A move for one of their premium midfielders is tempting, provided you still have a route back to Salah. De Bruyne looks about as rotation-proof as any City player can be and has delivered an average of nearly eight points-per game in his last six.
