How the top 10k FPL managers set their teams up for Triple Gameweek 35

The Bench Boost is the most popular chip among the top 10,000 Fantasy Premier League managers for Triple Gameweek 35.

11.2% of those in the upper echelons deployed the chip for the most recent round of matches with Manchester United facing three matches and a further eight sides playing twice.

The glut of matches means the average squad size in the top 10k for Triple Gameweek 35 stands at 25.97 players; if captains are counted twice.

As you can see, 95.9% of managers at this level have used their Bench Boosts this season with 4.2% waiting on the final three rounds before calling on their substitutes.

The Free Hit chip was used by just 4.9% of the top 10k. While that figure may feel somewhat low, 92.6% had already used it prior to Triple Gameweek 35 so the availability was relatively scarce.

2.5% of top-10k Free Hits remain, which we are likely to see deployed in Blank Gameweek 36.

Only 2.0% went for the Wildcard while 2.3% deployed the Triple Captain.

Unsurprisingly, 90.3% of the top 10k have now exhausted their chip supply for 2020/21.

9.0% have one left to play while only 0.6% can call on two chips between now and Gameweek 38.

Bruno Fernandes (£11.5m) ran away with the top-10k captaincy this week, unsurprising given the opportunity to play in three fixtures.

81.4% at this level handed him the armband for Triple Gameweek 35, creating a gap of 72 percentage points him and second-placed Mohamed Salah (£12.7m).

9.4% have captained the Egyptian, who faces Southampton and Manchester United between now and Blank Gameweek 36.

Mason Greenwood (£7.2m), Marcus Rashford (£9.6m) and Kelechi Iheanacho (£6.3m) are the top 10k’s extreme differential captains with the backing of 2.3%, 1.9% and 1.9% respectively.

This week’s captaincy statistics have helped Fernandes become the only player with over 100% effective ownership.

His figure for Triple Gameweek 35 stands at 172.1%, just shy of double that of the second-highest Iheancho (96.9%).

Salah, Harry Kane (£11.9m) and Trent Alexander-Arnold (£7.6m) complete the top five.

An above-normal interest in the Free Hit chip this week makes an examination of such squads in the top 10k worthwhile.

Crystal Palace’s pair of trips to Sheffield United and Southampton have helped Vicente Guaita (£4.8m) and Tyrick Mitchell (£3.8m) establish themselves in the Free Hit template at this level.

Wilfried Zaha (£7.2m) is also a popular figure in these squads, selected by 78.5%.

Harry Maguire (£5.5m), Fernandes and Greenwood are the top-three most popular Manchester United assets, each one sitting in at least 53.6% of top-10k Free-Hit squads.

So far, the Free-Hit forward line has made a mixed start to Triple Gameweek 35, Iheanacho netting and Jamie Vardy (£10.3m) assisting in Leicester’s defeat to Newcastle.

The Free Hit template has not impacted the overall picture of the top 10k too much.

Of the 15 most popular players at this level, 11 have more than one fixture in Triple Gameweek 35.

Kane and Son Heung-min (£9.6m) have clung onto 73.0% and 48.3% respective ownership at this level.

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