If you still have your Wildcard to play, congratulations on staying patient. With every passing Gameweek, Fantasy Premier League (FPL) managers have a greater sample size upon which to base their decisions.
Many of those playing their Wildcard in Gameweek 10 will have already made their mind up to do so – but if you’re still contemplating on using it ahead of a later-than-usual FPL deadline of 13:30 GMT, or are after some draft ideas, this article is for you!
Don’t forget that you can weigh up the effectiveness of your Wildcard team via our Rate My Team tool or Plan FPL.
GAMEWEEK 10 WILDCARD: THE ARGUMENTS FOR
Stock up on Newcastle and Crystal Palace
Taking a glance at our colour-coded Fixture Ticker from now until Gameweek 19 (when the next Wildcard becomes available), these are the top 10 teams for fixture difficulty (in ascending order):
Now, many of you who already own Newcastle United assets like Nick Woltemade (£7.5m), Nick Pope (£5.2m), or Dan Burn (£5.1m) will be happy to see the Magpies sitting atop the Ticker.
Crystal Palace may also be reasonably well-represented in your squad at present. Daniel Munoz (£5.7m) is a de facto winger who has just started delivering on his underlying numbers, as central defensive trio Marc Guehi (£4.9m), Maxence Lacroix (£5.0m) and Chris Richards (£4.5m) all offer varying levels of attacking threat and defensive contribution (DefCon) capabilities.
Ismaila Sarr (£6.6m) is among the most clinical midfielders at his price point, and Jean-Philippe Mateta (£7.7m) certainly rewarded any early doors backers with a terrific Gameweek 8 outing against Bournemouth.
Now that their fixtures have turned for the better, a Gameweek 10 Wildcard presents a chance to load up early.
Offload Tottenham, Sunderland and Leeds
On the other hand, upcoming fixtures turn against a few teams who enjoyed a favourable start.
This group includes a Tottenham Hotspur side who – in a bout of deja vu – have been dropping like flies on to the physio table. After picking up four victories from five matches, they’ve only won three of their past nine in all competitions.
Micky van de Ven (£4.7m) rewarded managers last weekend with a 23-point haul but, with Spurs ranking low in the Ticker until New Year, it may be time to consider showing the Dutchman, Mohammed Kudus (£6.8m) and Pedro Porro (£5.5m) the door.
The same goes for Sunderland and Leeds United, who boast several budget-friendly assets who have not only helped flesh out our squads but sometimes delivered points en masse.
Although there is nothing wrong with keeping Nordi Mukiele (£4.1m), Omar Alderete (£4.1m), Joe Rodon (£4.1m), or the set-piece taking Sean Longstaff (£4.9m) or Granit Xhaka (£5.1m), around as bench options, to be called upon when needed.
But if your team includes more than two of the above, Wildcarding now could be a good time to reassess their selection.
Re-shuffling Gunners
Another reason is that a Wildcard allows you to reassess exactly which Arsenal players you want.
Gabriel Magalhaes (£6.5m) is FPL’s best defender, but became a recent injury doubt. Riccardo Calafiori (£5.8m) has also been managed carefully in the cups, with Myles Lewis-Skelly (£5.2m) pushing for inclusion. Meanwhile, William Saliba (£6.0m) came off injured halfway through Gameweek 9, threatening minutes for Cristhian Mosquera (£5.4m) and Piero Hincapie (£5.4m).
David Raya (£5.8m) may be a nailed-on starter, but he isn’t racking up the save points because he is so well-protected. Is it worth using up a precious Arsenal slot on someone with such a low ceiling for points? Their defenders are averaging six to seven points a start.
Further up front, it’s a choice between Bukayo Saka (£10.0m), Eberechi Eze (£7.6m), Declan Rice (£6.6m) and Viktor Gyökeres (£9.0m). The latter is playing well for the team but hasn’t scored since Gameweek 4.
Plus, Saka’s fantastic form isn’t returning the same end product as Eze and Rice. Over the last five Gameweeks, the only midfielders to have more points than this duo are Antoine Semenyo (£8.1m) and Bryan Mbeumo (£8.2m).
The only danger with drafting in Eze is that he may lose his place once Martin Ødegaard (£7.9m) returns from injury.
GAMEWEEK 10 WILDCARD: THE ARGUMENTS AGAINST
Wait for the next international break?
If your team isn’t full of injuries and out-of-form players, it may be worth waiting until the next international break, which falls between Gameweeks 11 and 12.
There will be plenty of friendlies and crucial World Cup qualifiers during that two-week hiatus, which could bring fitness issues and late returns.
For those reasons, and the ability to react to a fortnight’s worth of price changes, Wildcarding during an international break always feels like a safe bet.
Better fixtures swings to come?
There’s also the fact that there may be some more attractive fixture swings and entry points on the horizon.
For example, Gameweek 12/13 onwards looks fantastic for Liverpool, Bournemouth, Manchester City and even Manchester United.
Any last words, Tottenham or Everton?
Spurs’ fixtures are so tough that it probably doesn’t make much sense to hold onto their assets, despite van de Ven’s recent heroics. But Everton players like Jack Grealish (£6.9m), Iliman Ndiaye (£6.5m) and James Tarkowski (£5.5m) could still find time to thrive against Sunderland and Fulham.
GAMEWEEK 10 WILDCARD TEAM DRAFTS
DRAFT 1: Two Arsenal defenders, plus Saka
A double Arsenal defence, plus Saka, offers a solid promise of points. Though the winger hasn’t yet delivered much end product, his underlying numbers suggest returns are coming. In this draft, managers can alternate between a 4-4-2 and a 4-3-3, where Xhaka, Woltemade, Mateta and Moises Caicedo (£5.9m) rotate.
DRAFT 2: With Raya and Gabriel
Raya is this draft’s set-and-forget goalkeeper. Eze and Gakpo can deliver on their serious attacking threat, while the Crystal Palace triple up focuses on their improving schedule. The formation varies between 3-4-3, 4-4-2 and 4-3-3, depending on fixtures.
DRAFT 3: Both Saka and Gyokeres
This draft pairs Saka with Gyokeres, in the hope that the Swede can deliver on his flat-track bully reputation. A Newcastle trio has Pope and Burn keeping the goals out, and Woltemade knocking them in. The strong attack means three up front.
DRAFT 4: Salah included!
Finally, this one brings Salah back from the cold, a move facilitated by having Eli Junior Kroupi (£4.6m) as the bench-warmer. Money is also saved in midfield by playing Rice, with 4-4-2 and 3-5-2 attractive, alongside an occasional 3-4-3.
