If you’re in a rush and need some last-minute Fantasy Premier League (FPL) advice, here’s a quick round-up of what you need to know about Gameweek 16.
WHEN’S THE FPL GAMEWEEK 16 DEADLINE?
All transfers and team selections need to be done by 13:30 GMT on Saturday 14 December.
MYSTERY CHIP IS REVEALED
Teased since pre-season, Wednesday saw FPL authorities finally announce what the Mystery Chip will be.
Assistant Manager can be activated from Gameweek 24 onwards, requiring £0.5m to £1.5m of your transfer budget to own a real-life manager for three consecutive Gameweeks.
In that time, you’ll be given points for their team’s wins, draws, goals and clean sheets. Even more if the league table considers them as an underdog.
However, no other chips can be used in that three-Gameweek spell and the manager counts towards your ‘three per club’ maximum. A list of all points and provisos is provided, as we also looked into the best times to play it for each club.
DOUBLE GAMEWEEK 24?
This came days after the other big development, where Storm Darragh caused Everton v Liverpool to be 2024/25’s first postponement.
It led to many autosubs and the stepping up of vice captains, while lots of teams failed to reach 11 players throughout the weekend.
There are suggestions that it’ll be rearranged for Tuesday 11 February, which would create Double Gameweek 24 for FPL managers.
If so, expect a dilemma in the community about which chip would be best – Triple Captain or Assistant Manager.
WHAT TO DO WITH GABRIEL?
A muscle injury picked up by Gabriel Magalhaes (£6.2m) has recently disappointed over 2.6 million owners.
He’s missed the last two league matches, plus Wednesday’s Champions League win, with uncertainty lingering over his status for Saturday’s home clash with Everton.
Soon after journalist Sami Mokbel claimed the defender will be fine, Mikel Arteta sounded fairly positive during Friday’s press conference.
“There is a possibility for one of them to be available. He trained today. We will see tomorrow.
“Yes, [it’s Gabriel].” – Mikel Arteta on Gabriel Magalhaes and Riccardo Calafiori
Of course, Arteta is known for purposely misleading the public. We saw this in Gameweek 8 when his out-of-character “yeah, we are hopeful” comment about Bukayo Saka (£10.6m) preceded the attacker not making their squad.
Look out for potential pre-deadline team news, before Arsenal feature in one of the first matches.
BEST FPL GAMEWEEK 16 CAPTAIN
Last week’s top scorer was Cole Palmer (£11.1m), delivering 18 points that became 36 with the armband. At home to leaky Brentford, he’s the recommended captain for both Captain Sensible and our Rate My Team (RMT) algorithm.
In second place, they go with Mohamed Salah (£13.3m) but choose different routes for third. One likes Saka and the other says Alexander Isak (£8.6m).
TEAM REVEALS
SCOUT PICKS + DIFFERENTIALS
Our weekly selection – which is essentially a Free Hit in all but name – chooses the strong form of low-priced Enzo Fernandez (£5.0m) to balance out the heavyweight midfield trio.
Dean Huijsen (£4.3m), Matty Cash (£4.4m) and Alisson (£5.4m) are the trio of differential picks.
PREDICTED LINE-UPS
We’ve predicted the starting XIs of all 20 Premier League teams.
Whatever you decide to do, good luck with FPL Gameweek 16!
