The postponement of last Saturday’s Merseyside derby ensured that many Fantasy Premier League (FPL) managers ended with fewer than 11 players. To avoid a similar situation – knowing Gabriel Magalhaes (£6.2m) remains a doubt and Rico Lewis (£4.7m) is suspended – you may want to use a Gameweek 16 Free Hit.
If so, we are here to help.
While you can never be sure of FPL’s upcoming chaos, our Premium Members Area can help by via the Rate My Team (RMT) tool.
Here, we use its points projections to build this week’s ideal Free Hit squad. One that should be affordable, with no more than three players per club.
WHAT IS A FREE HIT?
Each FPL team is provided with numerous chips to use throughout the season. The Free Hit can be activated once, at the manager’s choice, allowing them to form a squad for one Gameweek only.
- READ MORE: How do you use the Free Hit chip?
Afterwards, the squad will return to its regular line-up of players for the following Gameweek.
BEST GAMEWEEK 16 FREE HIT
Using RMT’s numbers and the brilliant PlanFPL website, the addition of four very cheap substitutes gives the below squad a value of £100.9m.
The starting line-up has five players in common with our Gameweek 16 Scout Picks bus team.
Furthermore, Cole Palmer (£11.1m) is recommended as this week’s captain, taking the projected Free Hit score to 64.84 points.
GK: Robert Sanchez (£4.8m)
In one of several instances where budget restrictions move us down the list, Sanchez is chosen over David Raya (£5.6m). Should he remain in goal for Chelsea, the hosting of Brentford has potential. The Bees have the league’s best home form but just one away point.
DEF: William Saliba (£6.2m)
Having begun the season as FPL’s most-selected defender, Saliba was soon overshadowed by team-mate Gabriel’s goals. However, in the Brazilian’s absence, he’s recorded his first shots of the season and scored in consecutive matches.
Two clean sheets in four suggests that the Gunners’ defensive solidity is returning and no side has conceded fewer big chances (22). They’re at home to an Everton outfit that couldn’t score in four of their last five games.
DEF: Rayan Ait-Nouri (£4.9m)
Both Jurrien Timber (£5.6m) and Trent Alexander-Arnold (£7.0m) have higher projections but cost more than Wolverhampton Wanderers’ attacking left back. Thanks to Monday’s long-awaited assist, Ait-Nouri is the joint-best defender for attacking returns (six). He’s worth keeping against Ipswich Town and Leicester City, as Gary O’Neil’s side seek their second clean sheet.
DEF: Lewis Hall (£4.4m)
First up for Leicester is a trip to Newcastle United. Not that they’ll be scared of the Magpies’ leaky backline, having themselves scored in every match except one. Hall is still worth a punt though, as he’s had four penalty area shots in his four most recent outings.
MID: Cole Palmer (£11.1m)
Last week’s top scorer has four goals and two assists from his latest three, averaging 13.0 points. He is RMT’s recommended captain, due to the combination of free-scoring Chelsea having the highest number of goals (35) and Brentford conceding the most on target (97).
MID: Mohamed Salah (£13.3m)
Palmer was last season’s only player to finish with 10 double-digit hauls, yet the phenomenal Salah has already achieved that from 14 matches. He’s the league leader for box touches (133) and scored Tuesday’s winning penalty against Girona but faces a solid Fulham defence that’s conceded the third-fewest big chances (28).
MID: Bukayo Saka (£10.5m)
Meanwhile, Saka’s latest half-dozen league matches have alternated between pairs of blanks and a pair of hauls. This pattern suggests his home clash with Everton will be ripe for rewards. The Arsenal attacker is on some of their famous set-pieces and takes penalties, also being far in front as the league leader for big chances created (18).
MID: Antoine Semenyo (£5.7m)
As Son Heung-min (£9.8m), Anthony Gordon (£7.2m) and Martin Odegaard (£8.3m) are too expensive, this midfield quartet is identical to the early Scout Picks.
It’s frustrating to own Semenyo, though. He’s behind only Erling Haaland (£14.9m) for shots (58) and plays for a Bournemouth team that has accumulated the second-most (241) but the blank at Ipswich means he has only one return since Gameweek 6. A home meeting with West Ham United can end the irritation.
FOR: Alexander Isak (£8.6m)
For all of Newcastle’s current problems, Isak isn’t one of them. His five goals and two assists in seven matches highlight exactly why the Swede began 2024/25 as FPL’s most-selected individual. Over 220,000 have bought him in time to face promoted duo Leicester and Ipswich.
FOR: Nicolas Jackson (£8.2m)
Diverting attention to Chelsea again, we know Jackson won’t be suspended for Gameweek 16 and – with Thursday’s Europa Conference League action occupying Christopher Nkunku (£5.8m) – he should start versus Brentford. The Senegalese international ranks joint-fourth for shots on target (19).
FOR: Matheus Cunha (£7.1m)
Finally, if it wasn’t for Wolves’ two enticing fixtures, Cunha might have been a very popular sale after three successive blanks. But the 25-year-old is on seven goals and such earlier form has earned him some goodwill.
He remains high up the list for creating big chances (nine) despite none occurring within the last four occasions.
