Gameweek 6 looks set to be a big week for Wildcard usage in Fantasy Premier League (FPL).
While it’s still early days in our on-site poll, around a third of responders are activating the chip this week.
So, our weekly Wildcard piece will be more pertinent than ever.
In this article, we will assess the pros and cons of a Gameweek 4 Wildcard and then provide a few draft ideas.
Don’t forget that you can get your Wildcard team rated via our Rate My Team tool or the Plan FPL planner!
GAMEWEEK 6 WILDCARD: THE PROS
Refresh those benches
In terms of budget defenders to park on your bench, Valentin Barco (£4.0m) is gone. Ben Johnson (£4.0m) is not starting for Ipswich Town. Taylor Harwood-Bellis (£4.0m) lost his place in Gameweek 4 and may not have regained it had Jack Stephens (£4.0m) not been suspended. Yerson Mosquera (£4.0m) looks like he’s out long term.
Further forward, Ibrahim Sangare (£4.5m) is on the medium-term injury list. Tim Iroegbunam (£4.5m) lost his ever-present starter status in Gameweek 5.
You may also have the likes of early-season flops Jarell Quansah (£4.1m) and Christopher Nkunku (£6.2m) stinking up your bench.
Having 14 playing outfielders may not be vital at this stage of the season but the Wildcard will have to last managers anywhere between three to eight months, with another overhaul not permitted until Gameweek 20 onwards.
Squad rotation will become more commonplace now that midweek European matches are here. That will only intensify as we approach December, when there are seven Gameweeks in the space of a month.
Having two, maybe even three, playing substitutes may become all the more important, then.
Increase team value
Ideally, of course, the Wildcard would have been activated on Saturday to take advantage of those early price rises. But there is still another five nights’ worth of changes to come before the deadline, so plenty of time to boost the all-important team value.
It’s not just increasing team value for team value’s sake, however. It’s also about getting players you want for the longer term who you soon may not be able to afford. The likes of Gabriel Magalhaes (£6.1m) Luis Diaz (£7.9m) and Bryan Mbeumo (£7.2m) have already risen once since Saturday and will likely rise again before the Gameweek 6 deadline.
Arsenal + Brentford’s fixture swings
Speaking of Gabriel and Mbeumo, their teams’ fixture swings are a big reason why Wildcards are being widely deployed:
For the Gunners, it’s a shorter-term burst of favourable games – although Sunday showed that Gabriel et al can return against anyone.
As for Brentford, they’ve got a more sustained run of excellent fixtures through to Gameweek 13. Six of the eight teams beneath them in the table are to come during that sequence.
Change team structure
You may have been operating with a two-premium set-up up until this point, with Mohamed Salah (£12.8m) and Erling Haaland (£15.3m) eating up much of your budget. A Wildcard allows you to ditch one of those two (we think we know which one…) if desired and spread the funds more evenly across your squad.
Five transfer rule
While some of the cons below question the timing of a Gameweek 6 Wildcard and highlight other windows, the ability to save up to five transfers in FPL is a potential boon for those activating the chip this early in the season.
Set your team up well now for future weeks (there are fewer unknowns than there were ahead of 2024/25, so fewer moves ought to be needed in the next few Gameweeks), and you can stockpile five free transfers ahead of, say, the Gameweek 12 fixture swing.
A well-played Gameweek 6 Wildcard can tackle short-term fires while still negating the advantage that others delaying the chip might have once had.
GAMEWEEK 6 WILDCARD: THE CONS
TRIPLE ARSENAL EASILY ACHIEVED WITHOUT A WILDCARD?
Many managers’ priority this week is getting Arsenal players into their teams.
Most of us will already own at least one Gunner, however. It shouldn’t be a stretch to reach another one or two (if desired) with free transfers and/or a hit.
That may mean another week without Mbeumo but there are still plenty of other good fixtures for Brentford beyond Saturday, so he could be recruited instead in Gameweek 7.
NOT MANY OTHER NOTABLE FIXTURE SWINGS
Other than Brentford and Arsenal, there aren’t too many other attractive teams whose fixtures dramatically improve this week. Looking at the top of the ticker from Gameweek 6 onwards, it’s not too inspiring:
Compare that to, say, Gameweek 7 and 8 when both Manchester sides rise up the ticker. Tottenham Hotspur assets also embark on a decent run from Gameweek 8 onwards. Chelsea, Brighton and Hove Albion and Arsenal begin really good stretches of fixtures from Gameweek 12.
There might seem to be a pressing need to overhaul the squad right now but other windows, at least from a fixture perspective, are as appealing.
MORE TIME NEEDED ASSESSING CITY?
You could very well argue, given Newcastle United’s so-so displays, that Man City’s five-match favourable run begins now.
But who else would you get from City bar Haaland? The severity of Kevin De Bruyne‘s (£9.5m) injury is unknown. Phil Foden (£9.3m) has yet to start a Premier League game this season. Rico Lewis (£4.7m) lost his place in Gameweek 5 but could easily regain it. Josko Gvardiol‘s (£6.0m) attacking instincts had been curbed in the inverted full-back set-up.
Haaland and Manuel Akanji (£5.5m) are the only outfielders to start all five league matches this season, meanwhile.
No one else has really put their hand up yet. That is underlined by Haaland being a whopping 43 FPL points clear of any other City player. Rotation will always be a threat under Pep Guardiola, of course. But give it another few weeks, and there might be a name who presents himself as worthy of that risk.
GAMEWEEK 6 WILDCARD TEAM IDEAS
These drafts have been put together using the author’s generous team value of £101.1m but we’ll highlight cheaper alternatives for those with less money to spend.
DRAFT 1: ATTACKING THE SHORT-TERM FIXTURES
First up, a Gameweek 6 Wildcard that attacks some short-term fixtures.
There aren’t many more short term than those of Antoine Semenyo (£5.6m). His Bournemouth side face Southampton and Leicester City before this nasty little sequence:
Semenyo is FPL’s leading midfielder for shots this season, so there is a high-upside potential with a short-term punt.
There’s a little bit of mileage left in Aston Villa’s good fixtures, while the triple-up on Arsenal is self-explanatory given their upcoming three matches.
Ethan Pinnock (£4.5m) is the chosen Brentford defender for now. We could ideally have done with another week or two to assess Sepp van den Berg‘s (£4.0m) security of starts so we’ve opted for the more nailed Jamaica international.
Anyone not keen on the Brentford defensive double-up has Nikola Milenkovic (£4.5m) as a playable option in many of the above weeks, while even fifth defender Jacob Greaves (£4.0m) has some decent matches ahead. Both stoppers have looked a threat from set plays.
We’re also riding the crest of the Luis Diaz (£7.9m) wave here, with the Colombian in such good form. He could perhaps be exchanged for – *checks notes* – Bruno Fernandes (£8.3m) in Gameweek 8 should the fixtures and/or Arne Slot’s rotation diminish Diaz’s appeal.
William Saliba (£6.0m) and Ollie Watkins (£9.0m) could perhaps become Pedro Porro (£5.6m) and Kai Havertz (£8.1m), for those with less team value.
DRAFT 2: THINKING LONGER TERM
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6 months, 13 days ago
How are you favoring Solanke over Nick Jack? Jackson and Chelsea have looked both stronger and more potent than Spurs.