Double and blank gameweeks in FPL: how DGWs and BGWs work

A double gameweek (DGW) is an FPL round in which at least one club plays two Premier League matches, giving its players two chances to score Fantasy points. A blank gameweek (BGW) is the opposite: some clubs have no fixture at all and their players score zero. Both exist because postponed matches get squeezed back into the calendar, and planning around them is where mini-leagues are won and lost.

What is a double gameweek

A double gameweek contains more than the usual 10 fixtures, with at least one club playing two Premier League fixtures in one gameweek and players from that club getting two chances to score Fantasy points. That is the official definition, and it is the whole story: every goal, assist, clean sheet and defensive contribution a player earns across both matches counts toward his gameweek total.

The arithmetic is the point: a player with two fixtures has two chances to deliver, and the captain's double applies across both matches. If a double gameweek player is your captain, every point he earns in either match is doubled. Most managers know this. Far fewer resist the urge to buy double gameweek players at any cost, which is how a two-fixture defender becomes a team-defining mistake when he plays twice and blanks twice, while the single-fixture player you benched hauls.

What is a blank gameweek

A blank gameweek contains fewer than the usual 10 matches, with at least one club having no Premier League fixture at all. Players from those clubs have no chance of scoring Fantasy points in that round: they simply log zero minutes.

That zero-minute log matters more than it sounds. It triggers the automatic substitution rule, so your bench comes into play in a blank gameweek whether you planned it or not. See our guide to FPL autosubs for how that works. It also affects the armband: if your captain's club has no fixture, your captain has not played, and the double passes to your vice-captain automatically, which we cover in the FPL captaincy strategy guide.

How double and blank gameweeks happen

Blank gameweeks are caused by Premier League matches being postponed, and typically the postponements come from fixture clashes with domestic cup competitions. The EFL Cup final weekend and the FA Cup semi-finals are the usual culprits: the clubs involved cannot play their league fixtures that weekend, so those matches are moved elsewhere.

The moved matches are what create the doubles. When an outstanding fixture is handed a new date close to another of the club's matches, that round becomes a double gameweek for both teams. It is a chain: a club's cup run blanks their league opponents too, and the rescheduled match lands in whatever space is left in the calendar, usually a midweek round. The 2026/27 Premier League season has 33 weekend rounds and 5 midweek rounds, which is where the doubles get parked.

Two recent examples show the pattern. In 2025/26, Gameweek 31 fell on the same weekend as the EFL Cup final and four clubs were scheduled to blank. The season before, Gameweek 34 blanked four clubs involved in the FA Cup semi-finals, and the rescheduling of two Gameweek 37 matches threatened to create an extra blank and an extra double on top. The fixture list is where the movement shows up first.

How to plan around them

Three chips matter here: the Free Hit, the Bench Boost and the Triple Captain, and only one chip can be played per gameweek.

For a blank gameweek, the Free Hit is the classic answer. It gives unlimited free transfers for one gameweek, and your squad reverts to normal at the next deadline. You can temporarily remove the players who are blanking, bring in a full 11 who are not, and pay nothing for it. The trap is using it on the first small blank of the season when a bigger one is coming, because the biggest blanks are usually the ones driven by the FA Cup semi-finals.

For a double gameweek, the Bench Boost and the Triple Captain are the weapons. Bench Boost adds your bench players' points to your gameweek total, which is at its most powerful when all 15 players have two fixtures. Triple Captain triples your captain's points instead of doubling them, so a captain with two matches has two chances to make that triple count. The full mechanics of all four chips are in our FPL chips guide.

There is a calendar trap in all of this. The first set of chips must be used before the Gameweek 19 deadline at 13:30 GMT on Saturday 2 January 2027, and unused chips do not carry over. The biggest blanks and doubles usually arrive in the spring, after Gameweek 19, so you may be forced to burn a first-half chip you wanted to save. Plan the first set around the festive period and keep the second set for the cup-driven blanks in April.

Common mistakes

The recurring errors are predictable. Starting players whose clubs are blanking and trusting autosubs to fix it, which hands your formation to the game. Benching a double gameweek player in favour of a single-fixture player, which cancels the advantage you spent transfers building. Forgetting that your bench needs players with actual fixtures in a blank week, not just in a double week. And spending transfers and points hits on double gameweek players weeks before the fixtures are even confirmed, when a postponement can cancel the double overnight. The discipline that separates the top of your mini-league from the middle is simple: treat double and blank gameweeks as a calendar to plan around from Gameweek 1, not a panic to react to in April.

FAQ

What is a double gameweek in FPL? A gameweek in which at least one club plays two Premier League fixtures, so its players have two chances to score Fantasy points.

What happens to my players in a blank gameweek? Players from clubs without a fixture score zero. They log zero minutes, which triggers automatic substitutions from your bench, and if your captain blanks, the vice-captain takes the double.

Which chip should I use for a blank gameweek? The Free Hit, which gives unlimited free transfers for one gameweek before your squad reverts at the next deadline.

Can I play two chips in a double gameweek? No. Only one chip may be played per gameweek.

Key takeaways

• A double gameweek has at least one club playing twice; a blank gameweek has clubs with no fixture at all, and their players score zero.
• Blank gameweeks come from postponements caused by cup clashes, and the rescheduled matches create the doubles, usually in midweek rounds.
• Free Hit for blanks, Bench Boost and Triple Captain for doubles, and only one chip per gameweek.
• The first set of chips expires at the Gameweek 19 deadline, 13:30 GMT on 2 January 2027, before most of the biggest blanks arrive.
• If your captain's club blanks, the vice-captain's points are doubled instead.