Free Hit or no Free Hit in Blank Gameweek 29?

There has been a Double Gameweek frenzy over the last few weeks in Fantasy Premier League (FPL), with plenty of Triple Captain and Assistant Manager chips flying around.

But now a looming Blank Gameweek raises a different question: whether to Free Hit when four teams with popular FPL assets will miss out, or save the chip for later.

In this article, we’ll explore the pros and cons of different strategies for navigating Blank Gameweek 29 with and without a Free Hit.

We will also look at what an ideal Gameweek 29 Free Hit squad might look like, players to target if you’re dead-ending your team to that point, and other possible windows to play the chip.

Free Hit in Gameweek 29

PROS

Blank Gameweeks are commonly seen as the best and likely safest time for FPL managers to use their Free Hit chip. This approach allows you to field 11 players at a time when you (or your rivals) otherwise may be short by a few.

Liverpool, Aston Villa, Newcastle and Crystal Palace are the teams who will miss out in Blank Gameweek 29, due to the Reds and the Magpies reaching the EFL Cup final. 

All four boast multiple popular FPL picks that otherwise would need to be sold, benched or kept for their upcoming blank. That could prove difficult given we’re only five weeks away from the Gameweek 29 deadline as many squads likely feature at least three and in some cases close to 10 total players from those clubs.

If you’re towards the latter end of that scale, chances are you may have decided – or soon will – that Free Hit in Gameweek 29 is the chip strategy for you.

If a Free Hit were to be activated in Blank Gameweek 29, managers could instead go about stocking up on Double Gameweek 25 assets and enjoying some decent fixtures for Liverpool, Villa, Palace and a smattering of other clubs between now and then, while not having to worry about missed hauls or lost value on highly-owned players like Alexander Isak (£9.5m). 

CONS

The main con here is that deploying the Free Hit chip in Gameweek 29 of course means you won’t have it available in Blank Gameweek 34, where there could be twice as many players missing due to the FA Cup semi-finals.

There are 11 Premier League clubs – Aston Villa, Brighton, Bournemouth, Crystal Palace, Fulham, Ipswich, Manchester City, Manchester United, Newcastle, Nottingham Forest and Wolves – still currently in that competition, but of course a maximum of four will progress to the semis.

The FA Cup fifth round sees United face Fulham, Forest host Ipswich, Newcastle take on Brighton and Bournemouth up against Wolves. One of those from each tie will inevitably progress and be one step closer to blanking in Gameweek 34. Elsewhere, it’s Villa v Cardiff City, Palace v Millwall and City v Plymouth Argyle.

In Gameweek 34, meanwhile, those same teams from the all-Prem match-ups are currently involved in Bournemouth v United, Newcastle v Ipswich, Brighton v West Ham, Fulham v Southampton, Forest v Brentford and Wolves v Leicester. City are scheduled to play Villa in Gameweek 34, and Palace have a trip to Arsenal.

Much of this particular picture will become clearer once the fifth round – scheduled for March 1 – is completed. We’ll then have a maximum of seven and a minimum of four Premier League teams left in the quarter-finals. Still, we won’t know anything further than that given the quarter-finals don’t take place until March 29, which is after Gameweek 29.

The potential for a more sizable blank in Gameweek 34, where we could have fewer matches taking place than the eight that are locked in for Blank Gameweek 29, is therefore evident and may persuade some FPL managers to hold onto their Free Hit for now.

No Free Hit in Gameweek 29

PROS

Naturally, the main ‘pro’ when it comes to navigating Blank Gameweek 29 without your Free Hit is that you’ll retain use of the chip for a future Gameweek.

This could be a potentially more impactful blank round in Gameweek 34, another Double Gameweek, or even a random week down the line if managers find injuries, suspensions or other issues have unexpectedly left them with a drastically depleted squad.

Liverpool and Spurs both being eliminated from the FA Cup also means the league leaders will, save for any unforeseen cancellations, have no more Double Gameweeks this season. They’ll definitely face each other in Gameweek 34, as will Chelsea and Everton.

Liverpool’s lack of future doubles might make it easier to ditch secondary assets like Luis Díaz (£7.5m) or even Cody Gakpo (£7.6m) before Gameweek 29, given managers may not be as desperate to shoehorn them back in immediately afterwards. Isak could suffer mass sales and subsequent price drops ahead of a few tricky fixtures, therefore making it easier to reintegrate the high-scoring Swede after his blank if you were to sell now.

There’s a chance any recurring injury issues for Eberechi Eze (£6.7m), who missed out on his side’s FA Cup win over Doncaster on Monday, will impact the productivity of his Palace teammates.

If you have fewer players from the four teams that blank in Gameweek 29, and/or a healthy number of free transfers already saved up to be able to make wholesale changes to your squad, you may be able to put out a full or nearly full XI just by making some conscious moves over the coming weeks.

CONS

Of course, the main argument against a non-Free Hit approach to Gameweek 29 is that choosing not to use the chip then means managers would either have to go into the Gameweek knowing they’ll be down a few players, or spend transfers and possible points hits on re-jigging their squads between now and then.

That may be easier for some to do than others, if that process has already begun, but anticipated problems can always through a spanner in long-term plans.

Plus, as mentioned we know that Liverpool, Spurs, Chelsea and Everton will all feature in Gameweek 34, the other upcoming blank.

Any more FA Cup upsets – or just eliminations in general, given the number of remaining top-flight teams must be whittled down significantly by that point – will therefore only increase the number of popular FPL assets that will be available, possibly making Blank Gameweek 34 easier to navigate than initially expected. 

Blank Gameweek 29 Fixtures

Taking our four blankers out of the equation leaves the following fixture list for Blank Gameweek 29:

Blank Gameweek 29 Free Hit squad

GOALKEEPERS

Jordan Pickford (£5.1m) will already be in many FPL squads thanks to Double Gameweek 24, and those who don’t have him may want to consider the Everton shot-stopper whether or not they are using their Free Hit in Black Gameweek 29. With nine clean sheets and 12 total FPL returns at the time of writing, he is one of the top-performing goalkeepers in the league, playing in a Toffees side that look to be on the up under David Moyes 2.0. In Gameweek 29, he faces a West Ham side that have so far struggled in front of goal this season. Even if the return of Jarrod Bowen (£7.3m) and integration of Evan Ferguson (£5.5m) positively impact the Hammers’ output in the coming weeks prior to this match-up, Pickford still presents one of the best options in his position on a Gameweek 29 Free Hit.

The likes of Kepa Arrizabalaga (£4.5m) and Matz Sels (£5.0m) are others, but both Bournemouth and Forest boast more alternatives across the pitch than Everton do.

DEFENDERS

Milos Kerkez (£5.0m), for example, is an ever-present selection in the Cherries’ backline that also carries his fair share of attacking threat, having registered two goals and three assists so far this season. Centre-back Dean Huijsen (£4.4m) has also netted twice since coming into the starting XI in Gameweek 14, keeping five clean sheets in that time, and costs slightly less.

FPL managers are spoilt for choice when it comes to Forest defenders. Ola Aina (£5.4m) is the most popular selection and for good reason, given he’s currently the highest-scoring defender in the game. That’s thanks to his 15 total bonus points as well as 10 clean sheets, two goals and an assist. Nikola Milenković (£4.8m) matches that attacking output for a slightly more modest outlay, although the Serbian has been much less of a bonus magnet. Murillo (£4.7m) carries less attacking threat but is the closest thing to Aina bonus points-wise, while Neco Williams (£4.4m), the cheapest pick of the bunch, just scored his first goal of the season in Forest’s 7-0 trouncing of Brighton.

Those locked in to a Free Hit in Gameweek 29 have the opportunity to ditch Arsenal defenders for what could be one of the round’s tougher fixtures, and could instead look at someone like Rayan Aït-Nouri (£4.7m) to fill their third defensive slot.

Wolves’ attacking wing-back faces Southampton that week, and would come away with a clean sheet if Vitor Pereira’s men are able to replicate what they did at St Mary’s under Gary O’Neill earlier this season. Aït-Nouri also has eight attacking returns (three goals, five assists) so far in this campaign, and is a constant nuisance down on the left flank. He could well add to that tally against the division’s bottom side.

MIDFIELDERS

Moving into midfield, we shift focus back to Bournemouth to highlight both Justin Kluivert (£5.9m) and Dango Ouattara (£5.1m). Firstly the Dutchman, who has scored 11 league goals this season and assisted another four. He has been impressively efficient and has the added bonus of penalty-taking duties – which helped him score one of his two league hat-tricks. Then there’s Ouattara, who was undeniably one of the big winners from January’s transfer window given Bournemouth’s failure to sign a new striker means he’ll likely be leading the line for the foreseeable future. That experiment has worked well so far for Andoni Iraola, with the out-of-position midfielder recently scoring a hat-trick of his own that took him to double-digit attacking returns (six goals, four assists) from just 12 league starts.

It was difficult to leave out Antoine Semenyo (£5.7m) here, who is perhaps the most assured of lasting 90 minutes from the Cherries’ attackers, has seven goals and four assists, and is among the leading players for total attempts across the league. He’s certainly still a pick worthy of consideration, and things could well change between now and the Blank Gameweek 29 deadline to shift the dial in his favour.

Amad Diallo (£5.6m) faces Leicester in Gameweek 29, a team against whom he began an incredible run of returns earlier this season. The Manchester United youngster’s output has been a little more patchy over the last few Gameweeks, with a goal at Anfield and hat-trick against Southampton sandwiched between his fair share of blanks, but Amad still presents the Red Devils’ most regularly reliable attacking threat. Bruno Fernandes (£8.3m) is his nearest rival in that regard, and also has spot-kick duties in his locker. He bagged a 17-point haul last time against the Foxes courtesy of a goal and two assists, so a case certainly could be made for a double-up if funds aren’t an issue (and United’s form doesn’t dissuade you) given Leicester haven’t exactly improved since then, losing 10 of their 13 league matches and conceding 32 goals.

Otherwise, that leaves one or two other midfield slots open. There’s a chance we may see Bukayo Saka (£10.2m) back in action by then, but we’ll cross that bridge if/when we come to it. Phil Foden (£9.3m) had roared back into form prior to his blank against Arsenal, and faces one of the kinder-looking fixtures in Blank Gameweek 29 – although it is worth noting the Seagulls won the reverse of this tie back in Gameweek 11. Still, Brighton’s performances have since tailed off while City will be fighting to return to the Champions League, knowing they’ll have to keep scoring if they are to make up for their ongoing defensive mistakes.

Another option is Bowen, who scored in his first game under new boss Graham Potter last time out and is certainly one to watch between now and then despite facing one of the division’s better defences in Gameweek 29. Bowen did score twice against the Toffees last season, albeit at home.

There’s Cole Palmer (£11.2m), too, but Arsenal away is a less than ideal fixture – especially so on a Free Hit – and his output has become a little underwhelming recently, while Fulham v Spurs is both tough to call and doesn’t throw forward any stand-out midfield from an FPL standpoint at present.

That leads us to Bryan Mbeumo (£7.9m). Brentford’s penalty-taking ace disappointed backers with a blank against Spurs last Gameweek, but a couple of promising upcoming fixtures mean he could well get back on a scoring streak ahead of his Blank Gameweek 29 trip to the Vitality. Bournemouth are one of the league’s most in-form teams recently, but the Bees did find a way past them in a five-goal thriller in November, with Mbeumo grabbing an assist.

FORWARDS

As for forwards, it’s hard to look past either of Matheus Cunha (£6.8m) or Chris Wood (£7.1m) on a Blank Gameweek 29 Free Hit. The defensive frailties of their respective opponents certainly factor into this reasoning, but so too does both men’s form and importance to their teams’ success. Wood’s Gameweek 24 hat-trick took him to 17 goals for the season, with seven of those – as well as two assists coming in his last six matches. He’s been directly involved in nearly half of Forest’s 40 league goals, while Cunha has played a key role in 15 (11 goals, four assists) of Wolves’ 34 – a ratio which could be even greater, with the creative Brazilian often central to much of his side’s attacks. Cunha also takes corners, and both men are their team’s designated penalty takers.

The latter is of course true of one Erling Haaland (£14.7m), too. City’s no. 9 has been back amongst the goals recently, netting six times in as many matches through Gameweek 24 and adding two more in his side’s last-gasp midweek Champions League loss to Real Madrid. Mohamed Salah’s (£13.7m) absence opens up funds for an alternative big hitter that week, while that return to form – backed up by his underlying numbers – and an enticing home tie against leaky Brighton may mean it’s time to consider bringing the Norwegian goal machine back into our thinking for Free Hit Gameweek 29 squads – especially if searching for a third forward in a week where several of the top-scoring options face blanks or hard-to-call fixtures. 

Alternatively, it’s worth mentioning that Yoane Wissa (£6.3m) – one of just three outfield players to best his Brentford teammate Mbeumo for attempts over the last six matches – was the big winner last time Thomas Frank and co faced Bournemouth, scoring twice.

Non-Free Hit approach to Blank Gameweek 29

Whether or not you choose to Free Hit in Blank Gameweek 29, Bournemouth players should be among the priorities to bring in for most FPL managers. 

The Cherries face Southampton (A) this week followed by Wolves (H), and could feasibly win four straight heading into their Blank Gameweek 29 encounter with Brentford – meaning those non-Free Hit managers without at least one Bournemouth attacker (if not a defender, too) in their squad should look to correct that as soon as possible, whether that’s Kluivert, Ouattara or Semenyo.

There are more names above who could be worth bringing in early, too. 

One is Amad, given United face Everton (A) and Ipswich (H) after Spurs (A) this coming weekend. The Ivory Coast international can be benched or played against Arsenal in Gameweek 28, depending on the rest of your squad. The same goes for his captain, though Bruno is of course a more expensive FPL asset. 

Another is Cunha, who has two avoidable away trips in his next two outings but then plays Fulham – against whom he registered 16 points earlier this season – and Everton in back-to-back home games, before visiting Southampton.

For all the reasons outlined previously, he’s therefore a player worth looking at for any FPL managers in need of an inexpensive striker sooner than (or, for non-Free Hitters, in anticipation of Gameweek 29). One could even make the argument that it’s worth ditching Wood for Cunha in the short term, given the Forest striker failed to score against all four of his next opponents.

In fact, the only one of Forest’s top-scoring players to deliver in the reverse ties against Fulham, Newcastle, Arsenal and City was Anthony Elanga (£5.3m) who registered an assist against Toon in Gameweek 11. He, along with Morgan Gibbs-White (£6.5m), could be strong differential options come Blank Gameweek 29, but – as with Forest defenders – need not necessarily be a top priority before then.

The same goes for Bowen, who has just returned after missing four league matches through injury. If the Englishman performs against Brentford like he did versus Chelsea, Leicester (H) in Gameweek 27 could be a good time to get on board early ahead of Blank Gameweek 29.

Even someone like Beto (£4.9m), who racked up 21 points in Gameweek 24, could become harder to ignore if he keeps that output up. Both Brentford and Wolves are on the horizon ahead of West Ham – who are far from defensively resolute – visiting Goodison Park during the blank.

OTHER WINDOWS TO PLAY FREE HIT

The other major window within which many managers will look to play their Free Hit is, as mentioned, Blank Gameweek 34.

We’re anticipating Double Gameweeks, meanwhile, in Gameweeks 33 and 36. For managers still holding onto one, two or three of their Bench Boost, Triple Captain and Assistant Manager chips, it’s likely that these doubles will be targeted by any of those three chips, with many planning for this eventuality using their second Wildcard sometime after Blank Gameweek 29.

• Read more: Lateriser’s FPL chip strategy tips

Depending on what players, free transfers and chips you have at your disposal, a Free Hit is also viable in those Double Gameweeks.

And, if you’re lucky and/or clever enough to chip-lessly manoeuvre both Blank Gameweeks, and choose to use your other chips to maximise the doubles, there’s always scope to activate a Free Hit in Gameweek – that chaotic time of the year when everything’s happening at once (meaning there’s a higher chance of line-up leaks), and some teams have everything to fight for while others are already on the beach.

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