In Fantasy Premier League (FPL), sometimes a team ends up playing two matches in the same week instead of one. This special event is called a Double Gameweek (DGW).
Double Gameweeks usually happen when earlier matches get postponed, often because of cup competitions like the FA Cup or Carabao Cup. Since these tournaments can overlap with league games, the Premier League fixtures have to be rescheduled, leading to some teams having two matches in one gameweek later on.
For FPL players, this is a big deal because when players have two matches in one week, there’s a chance to earn double the points. During that time many managers use special in-game tools called ‘chips,’ like Triple Captain or Bench Boost to maximise their scores.
What Happened Last Season
In the 2024/25 season, Liverpool had a double gameweek, playing both Bournemouth and Everton. Over a million fantasy managers made Mohamed Salah their ‘Triple Captain’ that week and were rewarded with 87 points from him alone.
25/26 DGWs
Following the Eagles’ victory over Liverpool, which marks their third victory over the Reds this season across three different competitions, it is likely that their Quarter-Final tie against Arsenal will be postponed due to a midweek clash with Palace’s UEFA Conference League tie with Finnish side Kuopion Palloseura on MD6.
Since the South London side knocked Liverpool out of the Carabao Cup, a double gameweek for Palace is confirmed as their cup quarter-final would need to be played at around the same time as the other three Quarter-Final ties. The most likely outcome is that the aforementioned cup tie will be held on the weekend of 20/21 December i.e GW17, resulting in a blank gameweek, i.e where some teams have no fixtures at all for that particular gameweek, which will affect other teams in the Premier League like Leeds United, Arsenal and Everton.
| Team | Premier League (GW17) | UECL (MD6) | Carabao Cup (QF) |
| Crystal Palace | Leeds United (A) | KuPS (H) | Arsenal (A) |
The current date of the DGW for Palace, Leeds, Arsenal, and Everton is undecided, for now. It’s possible for the fixtures to be postponed to 23-24 December, due to the lack of European football that midweek but for now it seems more than likely that this DGW will be held in the second half of the season as the current scheduling of matches in the month of December allows little to no changes.
| Gameweek | Status | Reason |
| GW17 | Blank Gameweek | Crystal Palace’s Carabao Cup Quarter- Final |
| TBD | Double Gameweek | Crystal Palace’s Carabao Cup Quarter- Final |
| GW31 | Blank Gameweek | Carabao Cup Final |
| GW33 | Double Gameweek | Carabao Cup Final |
| GW34 | Blank Gameweek | FA Cup Semi-Final |
| GW36 | Double Gameweek | FA Cup Semi-Final |
Other Double and Blank Gameweeks are Gameweek 31, with the Carabao Cup Final at Wembley taking place on a Sunday, resulting in a DGW during Gameweek 33. Similarly, Gameweek 34 will see up to 4 potential Premier League teams competing in the FA Cup Semi-Finals at Wembley, resulting in a blank. This will potentially lead to a DGW during Gameweek 36.
There used to be plenty of blanks and doubles later in the season as cup competitions began to clash with league fixtures, but a change to the FA Cup schedule last season led to fewer opportunities for FPL managers. This was because the cup Quarter-Finals were given their own space on the calendar, meaning this stage of the competition didn’t cause any disruption to the league.
Once again, this will be the case in 2025/26, but much like last season, it only takes a postponement or two for bad weather or another unforeseen incident to create more blanks and doubles.
