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In our poll asking site users how they are handling transfers in Gameweek 25, 14.54% of voters said they would be deploying the Free Hit chip.
With that in mind, five-time top 1k finisher Tom Freeman weighs up the pros and cons of a Gameweek 25 Free Hit in his latest article.
GAMEWEEK 25
FIXTURES SORTED BY DIFFICULTY (‘EASIEST’ FIRST)
GAMEWEEK 25 FREE HIT: THE PROS
- As ever, whether Gameweek 25 is the ‘right’ moment to Free Hit will depend much on the make-up of your squad. I’m not planning to play it myself, but for those managers struggling to put out anything close to 11 players – and there will be a few given the ownership levels detailed below – there’s an obvious appeal to using it. So, a Free Hit could be a good option if, for example, you already own three Man Utd players, a couple from Newcastle, plus the likes of Kaoru Mitoma (£5.4m) and Ivan Toney (£7.7m).
TOP 100K OWNERSHIP
| Player | Ownership (%) |
| Marcus Rashford | 99.52 |
| Kieran Trippier | 97.68 |
| Luke Shaw | 84.83 |
| Kaoru Mitoma | 29.92 |
| Bruno Fernandes | 28.55 |
| Miguel Almiron | 26.25 |
| Ivan Toney | 22.71 |
| Nick Pope | 19.67 |
| Ben Mee | 15.35 |
| Sven Botman | 14.18 |
- Even more so if you have weak bench players like Hugo Bueno (£3.9m) and Nathan Patterson (£3.9m). That’s because there are no guarantees that either player will get two starts in Gameweek 25, with the latter perhaps struggling to get any minutes at all. Add in Aleksandar Mitrovic’s (£6.9m) nagging hamstring injury, and the problems will be mounting up for some. So, using the chip now will allow you to field a full complement of players with up to 22 fixtures, without needing to take a hit.
READ MORE: Gameweek 25 game-time of Patterson and Bueno uncertain
- By activating the chip now, you can ensure you have the right ‘doublers’ in place without needing to take hits. What I mean by this is that the success of a Gameweek 25 Free Hit will likely rest on Liverpool. If less-owned players like Mohamed Salah (£12.6m), Trent Alexander-Arnold (£7.3m) and Darwin Nunez (£8.7m) – fitness permitting – get multiple returns, you could see a big rank rise (see ownership levels below). Managers who invested in the Man City triple-up of Erling Haaland (£12.2m), Kevin De Bruyne (£12.4m) and Riyad Mahrez (£7.8m) in Double Gameweek 23 will know what I mean, as the trio combined for 39 points. These fixtures for Liverpool are really good, too:
CRYSTAL PALACE
| Minutes per expected goal (xG) | Minutes per expected goal conceded (xGC) | |
| 2022/23 | 99.5 (19th) | 65.4 (13th) |
| Gameweek 17-24 | 109.8 (20th) | 58 (16th) |
WOLVES
| Minutes per expected goal (xG) | Minutes per expected goal conceded (xGC) | |
| 2022/23 | 93.6 (17th) | 66.7 (11th) |
| Gameweek 17-24 | 92.6 (17th) | 56.6 (17th) |
TOP 100K OWNERSHIP (VIA LIVEFPL): LIVERPOOL PLAYERS
- While Liverpool players look great for Gameweek 25, some managers might not want them beyond that. An Anfield clash with in-form Man Utd follows and there is a potential blank in Gameweek 28, too. So, if that’s you, using the Free Hit this week could work. By doing so, you can also hold players like Marcus Rashford (£7.3m), Luke Shaw (£5.4m), Bruno Fernandes (£9.8m) and Kieran Trippier (£6.1m), who have been great assets to own since the restart. Brighton and Brentford also blank in Gameweek 25 but have decent fixtures to follow, including a Double Gameweek 27. If you already own Mitoma, Pervis Estupinan (£4.7m) and Toney, the case for the Free Hit is potentially building.
- A Gameweek 25 Free Hit allows you to react to Liverpool and Man City’s midweek UEFA Champions League line-ups, which could potentially provide clues as to the best players to own for this upcoming round. This enables you to target the assets you think will start, which could be very useful in Man City’s case.
- This one could, of course, backfire, but it means you can jump on players you wouldn’t ordinarily consider. For example, Lukasz Fabianski (£5.0m) meets a Nottingham Forest side who have scored just three away goals all season but is only owned by 1.2% of FPL managers.
GAMEWEEK 25 FREE HIT: THE CONS
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