Using LiveFPL’s vast array of tools, we look at the squad make-ups and chip usage of the world’s leading Fantasy Premier League (FPL) managers in Gameweek 33.
We will examine the 1,000 names in LiveFPL’s ‘Legendary Managers’ list – the historic cream of the crop, much like our own Hall of Fame – but chiefly those in the top 10k in the current overall rankings.
Between the two groups, these are the managers who can offer us a better gauge of FPL ownership and chip strategy, as opposed to the overall figures that are skewed by the vast numbers of untouched ‘ghost teams’.
There is heaps of useful information beyond overall and top 10k figures on the LiveFPL site, of course, such as ownership stats for different rank tiers.
TOP 10K AND ‘ELITE’ MANAGERS: GAMEWEEK 33 CAPTAINCY
Above: Gameweek 33 captaincy stats for the all-time greats (right) and the top 10k (left)
Saturday was a mostly miserable day on the captaincy front, with the exception of those who backed Cristiano Ronaldo (£12.2m) with the armband.
Ronaldo’s ‘effective ownership’ within the top 10k was only 23.75%, so even those who owned the veteran striker and didn’t captain him would have had a tidy climb up the rankings.
The other seven leading captaincy contenders with a fixture on Saturday all blanked, two of whom – Harry Kane (£12.6m) and Son Heung-min (£11.1m) – won’t have a chance to boost their returns in midweek.
TOP 10K: CHIP USAGE
The previous week saw very minimal chip activity but we got back into the swing of things in Gameweek 33.
Over 8% of the top 10k deployed their Bench Boost, while almost 15% used their Free Hit.
Over half of these leading bosses have at least one Free Hit chip still to use.
Over one in five top 10k managers have maxed out their allocation, while just under 50% have only chip remaining.
A mere 5% have three chips still to use.
TOP 10K AND ‘ELITE’ MANAGERS: TEMPLATE SQUAD FOR GAMEWEEK 33
There were only two changes to the ‘template’ top 10k squad from Gameweek 32, with the duo dropping out not in action this week.
Raphinha (£6.4m) and the injured Matt Doherty (£4.8m) were the men to make way, with ‘doublers’ James Maddison (£7.0m) and Fabian Schar (£4.4m) taking their places after
experiencing a surge in popularity.
Mohamed Salah‘s (£13.2m) top 10k ownership dipped from over 90% in Gameweek 32 to a still-high 79.9% here, with Bukayo Saka (£6.8m) taking the honour of ‘most-owned’ within this group of FPL bosses. He was the only asset with an effective ownership in excess of 100% this week.
OWNERSHIP STATS FOR THE 1,000 ‘LEGENDARY MANAGERS’ IN GAMEWEEK 33
TOP 10K: TEMPLATE FREE HIT SQUAD
Free Hitters couldn’t quite relinquish their grip on Spurs assets completely, although now will be wishing they’d gone without representation from the Lilywhites after Brighton’s success in north London.
Manchester United’s premium pair were well backed, while there was a lot of support for Newcastle assets too: three Magpies feature in the above template, with plenty going for the double-up on Eddie Howe’s defence.
AVERAGE NUMBER OF PLAYERS OWNED FOR GAMEWEEK 34
We’ll know by Sunday evening whether Gameweek 34 will be a regulation ‘single’ Gameweek or a small double involving Chelsea and Manchester United.
The Blues and United are still underrepresented in the top 10k, with the average squad within this ranking tier owning just under 1.5 players from these two clubs combined.
There are some strong differential candidates within the Chelsea squad in the top 10k, especially outside of their defence.
Kai Havertz (£7.9m) and Mason Mount (£7.6m) leap out from the above list, each owned by fewer than 7% of the leading FPL bosses.
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