In his latest article, two-time Indian Fantasy Premier League (FPL) champion Lateriser looks at whether it’s best to Free Hit in Blank Gameweek 29 or simply buy players beforehand. He also reveals ideas for the Assistant Manager and Triple Captain chip usage.

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Double Gameweek season is upon us, meaning we’re entering that phase of the season where every move will inadvertently dictate a part of your chip strategy. You are no longer just thinking about good players from good teams with good fixtures. It’s also the extra games, Free Hits, doubles and more.

Let us talk about the current ecosystem.

Now, Liverpool and Everton obviously top the Season Ticker because of Double Gameweek 24.

The other popular teams amongst FPL managers are Bournemouth and Brentford. Both are in good form, with the Bees’ good run starting now and the Cherries’ beginning next week. Furthermore, these two teams are confirmed to be taking part in Blank Gameweek 29, against each other.

Unless Arsenal overturn a two-goal deficit in their EFL Cup semi-final second leg, Newcastle United v Crystal Palace will become a blank. This will either be joined by Aston Villa v Liverpool or Fulham v Tottenham Hotspur.

All of this will influence whether or not you choose to Free Hit that week. Another thing to note is that we know Everton will feature, hosting West Ham United in a pretty decent fixture.

As for me, I’m in the lucky position of only owning three players between Newcastle and Crystal Palace. Alongside them is Amad Diallo (£5.6m) versus Leicester City. So FPL managers who are targeting Bournemouth and Brentford assets are therefore loading up on nailed-on Gameweek 29 players.

I don’t particularly like Everton’s immediate fixtures after the double but, if you can sometimes hide the likes of Vitalii Mykolenko (£4.4m) and Iliman Ndiaye (£5.5m), you’ll possess players with two additional games between now and Gameweek 29. It’s a good reason not to Free Hit at that point.

MY GAMEWEEK 24 TEAM

Keeping this in mind, I’ve already used my two free transfers to move Ismaila Sarr (£5.7m) and Joao Pedro (£5.5m) to Justin Kluivert (£5.7m) and Yoane Wissa (£6.3m) before their price changes.

What’s fairly clear is that I don’t currently intend to Free Hit in Blank Gameweek 29. I have Kluivert, Amad, Wissa, Bryan Mbeumo (£7.8m) and Dara O’Shea (£4.0m) as confirmed fixtures, with the potential for Cole Palmer (£11.3m) and double Arsenal defence should the Gunners not overcome Newcastle. In fact, Chelsea have good fixtures before and after the blank.

While scanning through that mid-March weekend, the most attractive confirmed fixtures are Manchester City at home to Brighton and Hove Albion, plus Manchester United’s trip to Leicester. Beyond that, Wolverhampton Wanderers host Southampton. This is likely what Free Hit users will focus on.

Interestingly, the champions follow it with another clash at the Etihad Stadium, this time against Leicester, while Wolves’ surrounding encounters have appeal.

Leading into the blank, Man United face Tottenham Hotspur, Everton, Ipswich Town and Arsenal but their Jekyll and (mostly) Hyde nature is off-putting for investment.

Hopefully, this information can help you make decisions on a chip strategy. Because by not using a Free Hit in Gameweek 29, it’ll likely go on Blank Gameweek 34 instead. Or perhaps the two future doubles once we receive more information on them.

CHIP PLANS

As things stand, I’m looking to use the Triple Captain chip on Mohamed Salah (£13.7m) in Double Gameweek 24. This subject was covered in an excellent article by Tom.

There are murmurs that Fulham v Tottenham could form a Double Gameweek 25, should the latter reach the EFL Cup final and finish inside the Europa League’s top eight. Depending on who you choose to believe, the likelihood of this is between 0 to 30%.

If that ends up happening, the prospect of using Assistant Manager – the most potent chip, in my opinion – on David Moyes in Double Gameweek 24 before transferring to Marco Silva in Double Gameweek 25 is pretty enticing. Fulham could gain additional points at home to a Nottingham Forest side that ranks over five places higher.

Of course, there could be good Assistant Manager opportunities around Gameweek 36 but if you’re relying on someone with bonus potential, Silva’s Fulham is a good route to take.

So if a provisional announcement is made before Saturday’s deadline, I might downgrade David Raya (£5.5m) or Antonee Robinson (£5.1m) to an Everton player, using the money to take the Moyes and Silva route.

This’s all for now but I intend to delve deep into chip strategy with my future articles. Likewise, I did a succinct 22-minute video on it, which you can view below.