fantasy premier league return – An update on Project Restart

Fantasy Premier League

A pivotal week has passed for the Fantasy Premier League return and we update contact training, a start date, venues as well as FPL fixtures.

fantasy premier league return – An update on Project Restart

I outline my  FPL strategy along with 10 other FFGeek contributors in our new EBook.

This Fantasy Premier League return article is an update on my “the week ahead for Project Restart” article.

Here I go through the week as I outlined it in that article:

Latest Covid testing results

4 unnamed players tested for Covid 19 from 3 clubs.  There were 1,008 tests carried out on Monday and Tuesday – and a fourth round will take place on Thursday and Friday, with up to 60 people from each club to be tested.  The next set of testing will be the first to be conducted when at least some of the Premier League clubs have resumed contact training.

The number of results is generally seen as good news as it’s a low figure and there are no clusters at 1 particular club

Premier league clubs unanimously approved contact training protocols

Clubs voted unanimously to pass “stage two” medical protocols on Wednesday as reported below in the Guardian.

Stage two protocols deal with contact training, including tackling and aerial duels, actions which require breaching physical distancing guidelines. Players who test positive for coronavirus are expected to isolate for seven days, but there had been uncertainty as to the policy regarding players who might come into close contact with those with the disease.

The new rules appear to be following the principles of the government’s test and trace programme, announced on Wednesday, which would require someone to isolate for 14 days if they came within two metres of someone with the virus for 15 minutes or more.

The stage two protocols are built to minimise such encounters, with the aim of keeping continuous contact between groups as short as possible and under the 15-minute limit. Any close contact will be measured using GPS units that track players’ movements.




Restart date is 17 June and fixture list announced

Clubs agreed a provisional date of 17 June for a restarting of the league with the fixtures ordered, I believe,  as previously between GW30 -GW38.  Crucially the 2 postponed matches,  Man City v Arsenal and Aston Villa v Sheffield United, will be played first before a full weekend of matches.

These are the proposed times matches will be played with 6 weekend matches and 3 midweek matches.  That would give an end date of 25 July if it is played over 6 weekends.

Kick-off times will be as follows (all times BST):

Friday: 20:00
Saturday: 12:30, 15:00, 17:30 and 20:00
Sunday: 12:00, 14:00, 16:30 and 19:00
Monday: 20:00
Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday: 18:00 and 20:00

Interestingly, the plan for the FA Cup final is to be staged on Saturday 1 August – one week earlier than expected and after the season has finished.  There will be sufficient midweek gaps under the plan to play the quarters and semis without postponing Premier League matches.  There are no replays at this stage remember.

And in terms of European competition, the last 16 second-leg matches in the Champions League and Europa League are set to be played between 6 and 8 August according to 1 report I read. The UEFA website says all fixtures are  still under review in terms of the remaining matches.  Manchester City, Manchester United and Wolves are all still involved. Uefa will discuss the plans at an executive committee meeting in June before a decision is made.

Neutral venues

One of the main issues to be resolved is where they will be played. Continued negotiations with police may mean some matches are played at neutral venues.  Likely to be the games with the most potential for trouble or fans gathering at the venue.

Rebate to TV Companies

It is understood clubs have agreed in principle to repay the requested sum of £340m in full, spread over two years.

No mention of player quarantine before the restart date

I’m even boring myself over mentioning this as they did for the Bundesliga.

Fantasy Premier League considerations




fixture related issues

The first is the fixture list and the postponed games being played first.  Again those are Man City v Arsenal and Aston Villa v Sheffield United

Will these fixtures be part of a GW30 double gameweek or will they be the subject of a small blank gameweek.  That is the question for the moment.  And what is the best way of dealing with it from an FPL team perspective?

Also it seems at the moment that the FA Cup and the European games will be played without interrupting the Premier League fixture list.  That would rule out postponements and further blanks and doubles which would naturally follow for fixture clashes.  The Premier League in trying to get all teams with the remaining number of games by playing the postponed games first is possibly recognising this fact.  If that is the case we may be tempted to use a free hit or wildcard for that initial gameweek.

I guess there could still be Covid related postponements which could cause the season to be abandoned or matches postponed which could cause blanks and doubles if the season continues.  Crowd trouble outside grounds maybe also could see postponements?

FPL issues

Will we keep our teams as they are, will we get the old GW30 team back, will we get a wildcard to start?  These are questions nobody (maybe even the site itself?) don’t know the answer to.

Hopefully we will get some sort of guidance soon but I won’t be holding my breath.

I outline my  FPL strategy along with 10 other FFGeek contributors in our new EBook.

Other Posts

10 top FPL Managers teams post GW38 

Best fixtures until the end of the season attackers

Best fixtures to the end of the season defenders

Each teams top PPM player – Arsenal and Aston Villa

Each Teams top PPM player – Bournemouth and Brighton

Each teams top PPM player – Burnley and Chelsea

Each teams top PPM player – Palace and Everton

Each teams top PPM player – Leicester and Liverpool

Each teams top PPM player – Man Utd and Man City

Each teams top PPM player – Norwich and Newcastle

Each teams top PPM player – Southampton and Sheffield

Each teams top PPM player – Watford and Spurs

Latest news on the premier league restart

Disappointments – Part 10

Disappointments – part 9

Disappointments – part 8

Disappointments – part 7

Disappointments – part 6

Disappointments  – part 5

Disappointments – part 4

Disappointments – part 3

Disappointments – part 2

Disappointments – part 1

A deep dive on the 10 top FPL managers stats

Andrew Whitfield gradual wildcard

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