Why FPL Gameweek 17 could be a ‘blank’ for four clubs

Crystal Palace’s progress to the EFL Cup quarter-finals creates a scheduling headache in mid-December.

The last eight of that competition is due to be contested in the week beginning December 15. Palace have been drawn to play Arsenal in the quarter-finals.

LACK OF FREE MIDWEEKS

But Palace’s schedule is already pretty packed, thanks to their UEFA Conference League involvement (below image from BBC Sport):

*fixtures from Dec 27 onwards have yet to be finalised

The problem is the lack of other free midweeks between now and January.

There is only one for Palace – and that’s on December 23/24.

It’s possible, of course, that the schedulers could try and cram in a fixture then, but it’d mean:

• If it’s December 23, that would give Palace barely 48 hours between games
• If it’s December 24, Palace fans would have to travel on Christmas Eve

Putting the EFL Cup quarter-final back to mid-January is another possibility, but the semi-finals of that competition are due to be contested in the week beginning January 12!

COULD TWO GAMEWEEK 17 MATCHES BE POSTPONED?

There’s a chance, then, that Leeds v Crystal Palace and Arsenal v Everton in Gameweek 17 are instead postponed. That would help accommodate the EFL Cup quarter-final between Arsenal and Palace on Sunday 21 December.

If that happens, Leeds v Palace would have to be housed early next year. Arsenal v Everton could, feasibly, slot into Gameweek 16, making a double for both clubs, but the Premier League may also decide to put that fixture back to 2026.

ONLY SPECULATION AT THIS STAGE

Lots of ‘ifs’ at this early stage, then (Blank Gameweek 17 is not a certainty, as some have suggested), but something just to be aware of regarding future FPL planning and (especially) chip usage. If you’ve got a Free Hit intact, for instance, this might come in useful if we do get a ‘blank’.

We’ll hopefully not have to speculate much longer and get a definitive answer from the Premier League and the Football League soon.

There’s always the chance they surprise us with something more madcap, like Liverpool had to navigate in the Covid-affected season of 2019/20 (see below, from Transfermarkt) – an EFL Cup quarter-final tie and a FIFA Club World Cup match within the space of 24 hours! Needless to say, Jurgen Klopp sent the kids out in the former…