Our team of Hall of Famers and guest writers are writing about all things Fantasy Premier League (FPL) in 2023/24. Following on from Zophar’s initial chip thoughts, The Wire co-host Pras delves deeper and picks out the best teams to target depending on your approach.
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We finally have the Double (and Blank) Gameweek 34 announcement and, with that, the rest of this season suddenly becomes quite clear.
On the table below, pretty much everything on the right side should go into Double Gameweek 37 – except for Chelsea v Spurs, which will take place in one of the previous two.
As a follow-up to my last chip strategy piece, where I discussed Wildcarding in Gameweeks 28, 31 and 35, I will give my final thoughts on the various paths FPL managers can take, alongside the teams to target for each one.
WILDCARD IN GAMEWEEK 30 OR 31
A few teams have naturally gravitated towards this option as they have dead-ended into the Blank Gameweek 29. There are a few common themes in all the drafts I’ve seen.
They go all-in on Liverpool assets, knowing that non-Wildcard teams aren’t as easily able to get Mohamed Salah (£13.1m), Darwin Nunez (£7.5m) and a defender. The Egyptian is joined by fellow premiums Erling Haaland (£14.3m), Son Heung-min (£10.1m) and Bukayo Saka (£9.1m).
Furthermore, they tend to lack Ollie Watkins (£9.0m) but cover Chelsea’s middle double with a couple of players.
I think each of these makes sense, except maybe the risk of ditching Watkins. Then again, it could be one worth taking, knowing he has no doubles on the horizon and soon faces Manchester City and Arsenal. After this, the teams to target deviate depending on your Free Hit situation.
FREE HIT IN GAMEWEEK 34
Given that Spurs will be absent, this window works well for current Wildcard users as it allows a firm focus on Double Gameweek 37 whilst not worrying about some of these ‘smaller team’ doubles for Wolverhampton Wanderers, Bournemouth and Crystal Palace. In these circumstances, managers on a Wildcard in Gameweek 30 or 31 should target:
- Multiple Spurs, in time for the two late doubles. Simply Free Hit them out in Gameweek 34. But is Richarlison (£6.9m) going to play up front? Is Pedro Porro (£5.8m) worth the extra money over Destiny Udogie (£5.0m)?
- Multiple Chelsea for the same reason. However, will Malo Gusto (£4.2m) keep his place until the end? And can we rely on Nicolas Jackson (£6.8m), knowing he’s on nine yellow cards?
- Some Newcastle United, as they have good fixtures all the way, including Double Gameweek 37. Alexander Isak (£7.5m) staying fit would bring potential, Anthony Gordon (£6.0m) takes up a precious midfield spot and can we rely on their defence? Either Kieran Trippier (£6.7m) or the cheaper Jamaal Lascelles (£3.9m), knowing that Sven Botman (£4.5m) is injured.
- Very few Arsenal and Aston Villa players. There’s a temptation to go without any of them but I would still advise covering Saka and their defence, given they host Luton Town in Gameweek 31.
FREE HIT IN GAMEWEEK 37
I don’t particularly love this strategy but I can see its merits if you want to be different. Here, there’d need to be a belief that the Chelsea v Spurs double isn’t worth loading up on, whilst teams like Liverpool and Arsenal are worth investing in until the season’s end. Actually, it feels quite reasonable when said like that!
Go big on the latter two, plus Man City and Newcastle. Then, use your initial transfers on buying some Wolves, Bournemouth and Crystal Palace, before turning them into Chelsea and Spurs names after Gameweek 34.
Yet if a manager intends to Bench Boost in Gameweek 34, this is even harder to execute because they’d not be able to ‘hide’ Chelsea and Spurs assets on the sidelines.
NO FREE HIT
It feels like this season’s Free Hit is a luxury – just ask those who played it in Blank Gameweek 29!
Managers without one can fairly easily navigate the upcoming fixtures if they plan well. Ideally, the core of this Wildcard team would include:
- Big hitters Haaland, Salah and Saka, moving one of the latter two towards Son after Gameweek 35.
- Spurs and Chelsea players that can be benched in Gameweek 34.
- Cheaper players from Newcastle and Manchester United, especially in time for Gameweek 35 and a possible Bench Boost 37.
WILDCARD IN GAMEWEEK 35
Meanwhile, this is a popular window for Free Hit Gameweek 29 managers, plus those who didn’t overcommit last time. Such squads already tick most boxes when it comes to big hitters, perhaps excluding Salah. He can instead be bought in Gameweek 30 or 31.
I think the strategy works regardless of whether you have a Bench Boost remaining.
Pre-Wildcard, it means you get to keep or move up to three Arsenal stars, reach triple Liverpool as soon as possible (sacrificing Watkins, Son or even Phil Foden (£8.1m)), hold the Bournemouth players still remaining from Double Gameweek 29 and dead-end into Gameweek 34 by adding the likes of Eberechi Eze (£6.0m), Pablo Sarabia (£4.7m) or Rayan Ait-Nouri (£4.5m).
This should give a solid core of nine to 10 doublers, allowing a decent Double Gameweek 34 upside. Then, post-Wildcard, the core of the team will focus on:
- Triple Chelsea and Spurs to maximise their six fixtures of the final four Gameweeks. Will some of the earlier questions be answered by then?
- Numerous Man City names, as they have good fixtures around the double. From there, it’s about finding possible rotation-proof picks, of which there aren’t many.
- Supplementing the team with picks from Man United and Newcastle, knowing they’re at home to Burnley and Sheffield United in Gameweek 35, before a Double Gameweek 37.
But the main risk with this Wildcard strategy is going without any Liverpool or Arsenal players. On the final day, they’re at home to Wolves and Everton respectively.
NO WILDCARD TO USE
I think people without a Wildcard should be able to note the key takeaways from above and try to calibrate their teams with the picks from the Gameweek 31 Wildcard and then those on the Gameweek 35 Wildcard. Having a Free Hit left will help further focus on that week’s key players, so again the advice is to align towards that particular strategy above.
PRAS’S CHIP + TRANSFER PLANS
Zophar and I discussed this – and a lot more – on The FPL Wire’s latest podcast (below). If you like listening to chip strategy chats, I’d encourage you to check it out.
Good luck!
