A significant number of Euro 2024 Fantasy managers still have their Wildcard left.
At this early stage of our on-site poll, almost 70% of responders said they had the chip intact:
In this article, we look at the windows left to use it and what a Matchday 5/quarter-finals Wildcard squad could look like.
WILDCARD: QUARTER-FINALS V SEMI-FINALS
KEEPING IT FOR THE SEMI-FINALS
For some managers, keeping the Wildcard back for the semi-finals may now be the best bet.
The five clear favourites in the round-of-16 matches all won their respective ties (just!). So, if you packed your squad full of England, Netherlands, Germany, Spain and Portugal players, all of them – apart from those injured or suspended – will still be active in the quarter-finals.
Even France made it through their trickier-on-paper test against Belgium, so Kylian Mbappe (€11.0m) et al are still alive and kicking.
If you avoided backing too many beaten horses in two of the closer races, Italy v Switzerland and Austria v Turkey, the chances are that you’ll already have at least an active starting XI for Matchday 5.
We even have three free transfers to sort out any dead wood. Consequently, a lot of us will be able to get close to 15 players without a chip.
But come the semis, Spain or Germany will be out. As will one of Portugal and France. Based on what we’ve seen so far, you would not be shocked to see Switzerland edge past England.
Suddenly, cobbling together a strong XI, never mind a squad of 15, may be a tall order in Matchday 6.
There are also possible suspensions to factor in. The likes of Mbappe, Jude Bellingham (€9.5m), Antonio Rudiger (€5.5m), Joao Cancelo (€6.0m) and Cristiano Ronaldo (€10.0m) are among the most popular picks sitting one on booking. Another caution and they’ll miss the semis.
PLAYING IT NOW
If you did go big on the likes of Italy, Austria and Belgium, then the need to overhaul will be greater.
Marc Guehi‘s (€4.6m) suspension will deprive about one in seven managers of a defender. There are also owners of Maximilian Mittelstadt (€4.1m) among us, the former budget gem who lost his place in Matchday 4.
Some of your existing picks may not be ‘optimal’ ones, either. Pedri (€7.0m) and Alvaro Morata (€8.5m) are ongoing minutes risks. Florian Wirtz (€7.5m) was only a substitute against Denmark.
You may also not own too many Netherlands assets. The bookies suggest they have the ‘easiest’ quarter-final tie in the shape of Turkey, so if you want to aggressively attack Matchday 5 then the Oranje are the way to go.
WHY YOU PROBABLY DON’T WANT TO WAIT UNTIL THE FINAL
While saving a Wildcard for the final is an option, it may offer less of an edge.
For starters, there is no third/fourth-place playoff. So, because there is only the final in Matchday 7, manual substitutions won’t be a thing.
That means that we only need a starting XI, not a squad of 15.
And, non-chip-playing managers get five free transfers to assist them. Many of us will be able to achieve that, if we’ve gone into the semis with a fairly balanced squad.
It also means there will be far fewer ways of differentiating yourself from the crowd, with all the key picks from the two finalists set to be even more widely owned.
LIMITLESS AND WILDCARD LEFT?
If you’ve got both chips remaining and want to activate one in the quarter-finals, there’s good reason for using the Limitless first.
The Limitless, like the Free Hit in FPL, is only a temporary selection. It’ll then return your original squad once that Matchday is over.
For instance, say you use the Limitless for the quarter-finals. Once Matchday 5 is over, you’ll then get your XV back that played in the round of 16. That may leave you with a shortage of active players for the semis, hence why a remaining Wildcard will be handy to remedy that issue.
BEST WILDCARD SQUADS: MATCHDAY 5/QUARTER-FINALS
Here, we’ve put together two squads for Matchday 5 Wildcarders. Both are on the assumption that the Limitless is no longer available.
DRAFT 1: HEDGING YOUR BETS
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