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 34.
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 34 CAPTAINCY
Above: Gameweek 34 captaincy stats for the all-time greats (right) and the top 10k (left)
The majority of FPL managers have yet to see their nominated Gameweek 34 captain in action.
Over one in three of both the top 10k and the ‘elite’ managers have captained Kai Havertz (£7.9m), while around 30% of the leading Fantasy bosses handing the armband to Mason Mount (£7.7m).
There is plenty of backing for Mohamed Salah (£13.2m), too, which sends his ‘effective ownership’ figure beyond 100% in both cases.
READ MORE: What is ‘effective ownership’ and why is it so widely talked about in FPL?
TOP 10K: CHIP USAGE
Over 3% of the top 10k deployed a Free Hit in Gameweek 34 but the biggest chip activity centred around the Wildcard: just short of 13% of the leading 10,000 bosses permanently overhauled their squads for this latest round of fixtures.
Over one in four top 10k managers have maxed out their allocation, while around 45% have only chip remaining.
A mere 1% have three chips still to use.
Most of the top 10,000 managers have now used their Wildcard, Triple Captain and first Free Hit but around half still have a second Free Hit in hand, while just short of 40% have the Bench Boost still to play.
TOP 10K AND ‘ELITE’ MANAGERS: TEMPLATE SQUAD FOR GAMEWEEK 34
There are only two changes from the previous ‘template’ squad as Double Gameweek fever strikes again.
Both alterations are in midfield, with Havertz and Mount coming in for Son Heung-min (£11.1m) and James Maddison (£7.0m).
The most-owned forwards stayed as they were but all three players dwindled in popularity, with Harry Kane‘s (£12.5m) dip in ownership levels (down from over 50% to below 40%) reflecting the growing trend towards light investment up top.
OWNERSHIP STATS FOR THE 1,000 ‘LEGENDARY MANAGERS’ IN GAMEWEEK 34
TOP 10K: TEMPLATE FREE HIT SQUAD
Free Hitters unsurprisingly went big on Chelsea assets in Gameweek 34, with five of their players featuring in the graphic above due to split selections across the defence and attack.
These chip deployers probably wished they hadn’t bothered with options from the two Manchester clubs, although Cristiano Ronaldo (£12.2m) did at least find the net at the Emirates and he and his underwhelming teammates still have another match to come on Thursday.
There were a fair few calculated gambles, with Raheem Sterling (£10.5m) and Diogo Jota (£8.3m) – who are typically rotation risks on a medium-term level – included due to their assumed increased likelihood of a start in Gameweek 34.
TOP 10K: TEMPLATE WILDCARD SQUAD
We’re now living in a world where Teemu Pukki (£6.0m) is by some distance the most-owned forward among Wildcarders, which is some indictment on the rest of the striker pool.
The hunt for value up top has seen Wednesday’s two-goal hero Eddie Nketiah (£5.4m) come into the thinking, meanwhile.
Wildcarders haven’t quite gone so big on Chelsea assets, with the longer-term rotation risk around the FA Cup final perhaps at the back of their minds, but Mount and Havertz still feature prominently in the template squad.
The ‘big at the back’ approach is also evidently popular based on the above image.
Bukayo Saka (£6.8m) still features in this most-selected XV but his ownership here is 44.7%, well down on his figure among top 10k managers overall – suggesting quite a lot of Wildcarders jettisoned him ahead of Saturday’s 13-point haul.
AVERAGE NUMBER OF PLAYERS OWNED PER CLUB
If you’re looking for potentially explosive (if rotation-prone) differentials in the run-in, look no further than the league leaders: the average top 10k manager owns just 1.2 Manchester City players.
Not one of City’s midfielders or forwards features in more than 5% of the top 10,000 squads, while only one in five of these managers have the defensive double-up – not that it paid off against Watford on Saturday.
