FPL DGW36: Man City + Crystal Palace Double Gameweek Strategy

GW36 is a Double Gameweek for Manchester City and Crystal Palace. No other clubs play twice. Their FA Cup semifinal forced a Premier League fixture out of GW33 and rescheduled into GW36, so City and Palace get the late-season DGW everyone else missed.

With only 2 doubling clubs, every chip and captain decision for GW36 hinges on these specific players. Here is the data on who to back, which chips to play, and how to build for it.

Which Teams Double in GW36?

Two clubs only:

• Manchester City — premium attackers (Haaland, Foden, De Bruyne, Doku) and defensive options (Gvardiol, Dias, Akanji, Ake, Ederson).
• Crystal Palace — Eze, Mateta, Sarr, Olise (if returning), plus the Palace defence (Guehi, Mitchell, Munoz, Henderson).

FPL's 3-per-club limit means your absolute maximum is 6 doublers in your 15: 3 City + 3 Palace. Most managers will land on 4-5 doublers depending on existing squad composition.

Best Captain for GW36

Captain choices for GW36 narrow to the City and Palace premiums:

• Haaland (Man City) — two fixtures, set-piece duties, home matchup typical. Highest ceiling captain pick of the run-in. The default TC36 candidate.
• De Bruyne (Man City) — assist machine in DGWs. Pep rotation risk is the only concern.
• Foden (Man City) — high xPts when starting both. Same Pep rotation risk.
• Eze (Crystal Palace) — best non-City captain option. Set-piece taker, home + away DGW.
• Mateta (Crystal Palace) — main striker, two fixtures, rising form differential.

Sort the FPL Copilot xPts table by the GW36 column. The top 3 will almost always be Haaland + Eze + one of De Bruyne/Foden. Captain the top one. Vice-captain the second.

Triple Captain in GW36 (TC36)

52.6% of 7,124 optimised squads have GW36 as their optimal Triple Captain. Why? Because Haaland in a DGW with home fixtures is one of the highest-ceiling chip plays available in the entire 2025/26 run-in.

TC36 on Haaland math:

• Average Haaland DGW return: 14-22 points (across two fixtures)
• Triple Captain multiplier: tripled instead of doubled
• Marginal value over standard captain double: +14 to +22 points
• Compare to TC33 on a single-fixture week: +6 to +10 points

TC36 on Haaland is the highest-EV TC play of the season for managers who still have the chip available. The only catch: TC and BB cannot stack in the same gameweek (one chip per GW rule). If GW36 is your TC, your BB goes to GW33 or GW35.

Bench Boost in GW36 (BB36)

14.4% of 7,124 squads have GW36 as their optimal Bench Boost gameweek. BB36 is the third-best Bench Boost window after BB33 (52%) and BB35 (28.2%). The ceiling is lower because only 2 clubs double, but for squads that built around the City + Palace stack, BB36 still earns its keep.

BB36 wins when:

• You can field 5+ doubling players across your 15 (3 City + 2-3 Palace)
• Your bench is filled with nailed City or Palace defenders, not 4.0m fodder
• You are not Triple Captaining in GW36 (cannot stack)
• Your earlier BB windows (BB33, BB35) were closed off by other chip plays

Without 5+ doublers in your 15, BB36 underperforms — you wind up Bench Boosting 9 single-fixture players, which earns no more than a normal week.

Free Hit in GW36?

Free Hit on a DGW is almost always wrong, even a small DGW like GW36. Of 7,124 squads, only 0.8% had FH36 as their optimal Free Hit. The chip is designed for blank gameweeks (GW34 was 68.8% optimal for FH).

The only case where FH36 even gets considered is if you have zero City + Palace players, you cannot transfer in 5+ doublers without 3+ hits, AND you still have your Free Hit available. Even then, BB36 with a transfer or two is usually better.

Wildcard in GW36?

Only 3.1% of squads have GW36 as their optimal Wildcard. The WC35 window is 2-3x more common (7.2% optimal) because Wildcarding in GW35 gives you a full week to load up on City + Palace before BB36 or TC36.

WC36 only makes sense if:

• You missed WC35 and still have the chip
• You need budget to upgrade INTO Haaland for TC36
• Your squad is structurally broken (5+ injuries / fixture mismatches)

Otherwise, WC35 is the better window even if your GW35 plan includes targeting GW36 fixtures.

Best GW36 Team: How to Build the DGW Squad

With only 2 doubling clubs, the squad construction is forced:

• 3 Man City players (max). Ideal: Haaland + 2 of (De Bruyne/Foden/Doku/Gvardiol).
• 3 Crystal Palace players (max). Ideal: Eze + Mateta + 1 of (Sarr/Guehi/Mitchell).
• 5 Premier League players from non-doubling clubs with the easiest single GW36 fixtures.
• 4 bench fillers — at least 2 should also be City or Palace if BB36 is the plan, else 4.0-4.5m fodder.
• Captain: Haaland (or top xPts City/Palace player). Triple Captain him if the chip is available.

Should You Chase GW36?

Copilot verdictDEPENDS

“GW36 is the final DGW of the season and a chip-defining moment for managers with TC available. Triple Captain Haaland is the highest-EV play. Bench Boost only if your squad genuinely doubles 5+ times. Free Hit and Wildcard rarely fit GW36 unless you missed earlier windows.”

Chase GW36 hard if:

• You still have Triple Captain available — TC Haaland is the play
• You can stack 5-6 City + Palace players for BB36
• You have transfers/Wildcard left to bring in Haaland and Eze if you do not own them

Skip the chip stack if:

• Your remaining chips are spent (just play normally and own the doublers via transfers)
• You captained Haaland in GW32-33 already (he is a template; consider differential captain)
• Your squad is built for the run-in fixtures of non-doubling clubs (Liverpool, Arsenal, etc. all have favourable single GW36 matchups)

Common GW36 DGW Mistakes

• Bench Boosting without 5+ doublers. BB36 with only 2-3 City + Palace players in your 15 wastes the chip. Either build for it or skip.
• Triple Captaining a Palace player over Haaland. Mateta or Eze can score big, but Haaland is the higher EV by 4-8 points. Differential TC is for chasers in mini-leagues, not for rank pushes.
• Free Hit on the DGW. 0.8% of squads. Almost always wrong.
• Ignoring GW36 single-fixture clubs. Salah at Liverpool home vs a soft opponent in a single GW36 still beats some DGW36 picks. Do not auto-pick by DGW status.
• Pep roulette ignored. De Bruyne and Foden have rotation risk. Haaland is nailed for both fixtures barring rest. Adjust captain choice accordingly.

GW36 is the DGW everyone forgot was coming. With City + Palace only, the squad construction is forced but the chip ROI is clear: TC Haaland if you have it, BB if you can stack 5+ doublers, otherwise just own the City premiums and let them score. Free Hit and Wildcard rarely fit.