Bruno Fernandes top scored in FPL Blank Gameweek 29 as many managers activated their Free Hit &#8211; here, we discuss the key talking points of the weekend&#8217;s football from a fantasy perspective.
Four teams were without a fixture in Gameweek 29 as a result of the Carabao Cup final, in which Newcastle beat Liverpool 2-1.
There is now a break from FPL action as a result of the international break and FA Cup matches, with the next league game not until Tuesday, April 1.
If you want details of every goalscorer and assister, plus bonus points and more, see our <a href="https://www.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/fpl-match-centre">Match Centre</a>, which updates live during matches. Below is some key takeaways from the fixtures so far.

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<h2>Free Hits deployed in first major blank gameweek of season</h2>
The absence of key players including Mohamed Salah and Alexander Isak led to around a fifth of the top 250,000 managers using their Free Hit in Blank Gameweek 29.
A third of the top 250,000 have now activated the chip, the third most used after the Assistant Manager and Triple Captain.
It was a higher-scoring week than last season&#8217;s disastrous Blank Gameweek 29 &#8211; when the average score was just 12 points.
But with numerous 50/50 transfer decisions ahead of deadline, there was plenty of opportunity for major points swings &#8211; and so it proved in some cases.
An game-wide average of 40 points however did indicate most had a better blank than last season&#8217;s horror show.
<div id="attachment_71572" style="width: 660px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-71572" class="wp-image-71572 size-full" src="https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/Chip-usage-top-250k.jpg" alt="Overall chip usage among the top 250,000 managers" width="650" height="742" srcset="https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/Chip-usage-top-250k.jpg 650w, https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/Chip-usage-top-250k-263x300.jpg 263w, https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/Chip-usage-top-250k-610x696.jpg 610w" sizes="(max-width: 650px) 100vw, 650px" />Overall chip usage among the top 250,000 managers</div>
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<h3>Saturday&#8217;s clean sheet wipeout spoils some defensive returns</h3>
There were no defensive returns from a clean sheet perspective on Saturday, with every team getting on the scoresheet.
Josko Gvardiol buyers faced early disappointment when Pervis Estupinan scored a free-kick against Manchester City in the 21st minute.
But the wipeouts came later for Wolves, West Ham and Nottingham Forest, conceding in the 75th, 91st and 82nd minutes respectively.
Forest centre-back Nikola Milenkovic made up for it by scoring and assisting in the 2-4 win over Ipswich but those who saved money by opting for Neco Williams were left with just one point.
<div id="attachment_71575" style="width: 808px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-71575" class="size-full wp-image-71575" src="https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/Milenkovic-stats.jpg" alt="Nikola Milenkovic's stats" width="798" height="650" srcset="https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/Milenkovic-stats.jpg 798w, https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/Milenkovic-stats-300x244.jpg 300w, https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/Milenkovic-stats-768x626.jpg 768w, https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/Milenkovic-stats-610x497.jpg 610w" sizes="(max-width: 798px) 100vw, 798px" />Nikola Milenkovic&#8217;s <a href="https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/opta/" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c="1" title="FPL Stats by OPTA - Player and Team Stats">stats</a></div>
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Paul Onuachu&#8217;s goal meant Wolves&#8217; Rayan Ait-Nouri managed just a two-pointer &#8211; and he was subbed off five minutes later with cramp.
Bournemouth&#8217;s Milos Kerkez didn&#8217;t manage a clean sheet against Brentford but was credited with an assist after his cross was turned in by Vitaly Janelt.
It was a different story on Sunday, with shutouts in all three fixtures.
Diogo Dalot provided an assist as Manchester United beat Leicester 0-3, matching Milenkovic&#8217;s 11 points.
Arsenal limited Chelsea to the lowest expected goals (xG) total of the week &#8211; 0.35 &#8211; leading to bonus points for Jurrien Timber and William Saliba.
And Fulham kept out Spurs to win 2-0, with goalkeeper Bernd Leno assisting and Ryan Sessegnon on target.
<div id="attachment_71574" style="width: 459px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-71574" class="size-full wp-image-71574" src="https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/GW29-results.jpg" alt="Gameweek 29 results" width="449" height="611" srcset="https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/GW29-results.jpg 449w, https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/GW29-results-220x300.jpg 220w" sizes="(max-width: 449px) 100vw, 449px" />Gameweek 29 results</div>
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<h3>Salah absence splits captaincy</h3>
With no Salah to rely on, FPL managers were split on captaincy.
The most popular among the top 250,000 was Chris Wood &#8211; but he was not involved in any of Forest&#8217;s four goals.
Instead it was Anthony Elanga who top scored, finding the net twice for a 16 point haul.
Elanga was pretty much the most advanced &#8211; and central &#8211; Forest player from an average position perspective.
<div id="attachment_71577" style="width: 808px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-71577" class="size-full wp-image-71577" src="https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/Ipswich-v-Forest-heatmaps.jpg" alt="Anthony Elanga was the most advanced Nottingham Forest player" width="798" height="650" srcset="https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/Ipswich-v-Forest-heatmaps.jpg 798w, https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/Ipswich-v-Forest-heatmaps-300x244.jpg 300w, https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/Ipswich-v-Forest-heatmaps-768x626.jpg 768w, https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/Ipswich-v-Forest-heatmaps-610x497.jpg 610w" sizes="(max-width: 798px) 100vw, 798px" />Anthony Elanga was the most advanced Nottingham Forest player</div>
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Erling Haaland scored an 11th minute penalty against Brighton to get 31% of the top 250,000 off to a perfect start &#8211; but it was instead the cheaper Omar Marmoush, who won the penalty, who shone. Marmoush scored City&#8217;s second goal and racked up 12 points.
The 15% who backed Fernandes were the real winners, as the Portuguese midfielder continued his fine form with a goal and two assists.
There were doubts over whether his second assist would stand but there was no sign of a correction from Opta or FPL, leading to Fernandes top scoring among all players on 17 points.
<div id="attachment_71573" style="width: 810px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-71573" class="size-full wp-image-71573" src="https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/Captaincy-picks-top-250k-gw29.jpg" alt="Captaincy split among the top 250,000 managers" width="800" height="650" srcset="https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/Captaincy-picks-top-250k-gw29.jpg 800w, https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/Captaincy-picks-top-250k-gw29-300x244.jpg 300w, https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/Captaincy-picks-top-250k-gw29-768x624.jpg 768w, https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/Captaincy-picks-top-250k-gw29-610x496.jpg 610w" sizes="(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px" />Captaincy split among the top 250,000 managers</div>
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<h3>Team of the week for Blank Gameweek 29</h3>
Fernandes was the most transferred-in player ahead of the deadline, with more than 900,000 managers bringing him in.
There was a reasonable number of moves for Milenkovic (16th) and Marmoush (13th) but most of the other players in the team of the week were not on many radars.
Elanga is in 6.4% of teams but his ownership was insignificant when compared to Wood&#8217;s 48.7%.
<div id="attachment_71571" style="width: 848px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-71571" class="size-full wp-image-71571" src="https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/Team-of-the-week-GW29.jpg" alt="Team of the week for Blank Gameweek 29" width="838" height="751" srcset="https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/Team-of-the-week-GW29.jpg 838w, https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/Team-of-the-week-GW29-300x269.jpg 300w, https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/Team-of-the-week-GW29-768x688.jpg 768w, https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/Team-of-the-week-GW29-610x547.jpg 610w" sizes="(max-width: 838px) 100vw, 838px" />Team of the week for Blank Gameweek 29</div>
<h2>Palmer injury latest</h2>
Cole Palmer was the third most sold player ahead of Blank Gameweek 29, with his poor form contributing to him making way for the likes of Haaland.
But Palmer was not expected to miss out altogether and he was a surprise absentee from Chelsea&#8217;s squad on Sunday.
The England international is set to miss his country&#8217;s games in the break, according to manager Enzo Maresca, who added:
<blockquote>&#8220;His injury is from yesterday&#8217;s session. It&#8217;s a muscular problem, the scan is planned for Monday morning.&#8221;</blockquote>
Palmer had played in Gameweek 28 despite illness.
FPL managers who kept hold of him will be hoping he is back fit for Gameweek 30, when Chelsea face Spurs at Stamford Bridge.
<div id="attachment_71576" style="width: 808px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-71576" class="size-full wp-image-71576" src="https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/Palmer-7.jpg" alt="Cole Palmer" width="798" height="650" srcset="https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/Palmer-7.jpg 798w, https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/Palmer-7-300x244.jpg 300w, https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/Palmer-7-768x626.jpg 768w, https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/Palmer-7-610x497.jpg 610w" sizes="(max-width: 798px) 100vw, 798px" />Cole Palmer</div>
<h2>Opta stats leaders for FPL Gameweek 29: Players</h2>
Here are the gameweek&#8217;s <a href="https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/opta/" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c="1" title="FPL Stats by OPTA - Player and Team Stats">stats</a> leaders in full:
<ul>
<li>Shots &#8211; Evanilson, Jarrod Bowen, Bruno Fernandes, Antoine Semenyo and Dominic Solanke &#8211; 4</li>
<li>Shots on target &#8211; Alejandro Garnacho &#8211; 3</li>
<li>Shots in the box &#8211; Evanilson and Dominic Solanke &#8211; 4</li>
<li>Big chances &#8211; Jamie Vardy, Savinho and Dominic Solanke &#8211; 2</li>
<li>Goals &#8211; Anthony Elanga and Jorgen Strand Larsen &#8211; 2</li>
<li>xG &#8211; Erling Haaland &#8211; 0.99</li>
<li>Non-penalty xG (NpxG) &#8211; Paul Onuachu &#8211; 0.67</li>
<li>Key passes &#8211; Bruno Fernandes &#8211; 6</li>
<li>Big chances created &#8211; Jack Hinshelwood and Omar Marmoush &#8211; 2</li>
<li>Assists &#8211; Bruno Fernandes and Jean-Ricner Bellegarde &#8211; 2</li>
<li>Expected assists (xA) &#8211; Idrissa Gueye &#8211; 0.61</li>
<li>FPL points &#8211; Bruno Fernandes &#8211; 17</li>
<li>Expected points (xPts) &#8211; Erling Haaland &#8211; 7.13</li>
</ul>
<h3 class="mceTemp">Opta stats leaders for FPL Gameweek 29: Teams</h3>
<ul>
<li>Most shots &#8211; Manchester United (v Leicester) &#8211; 18</li>
<li>Highest xG &#8211; Brighton (v Manchester City) &#8211; 2.1</li>
<li>Lowest xG &#8211; Chelsea (v Arsenal) &#8211; 0.35</li>
</ul>
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FPL Blank Gameweek 29 notes: Fernandes and Elanga haul, Palmer injury latest

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