In his latest article, eight-time top 10k finisher Zophar considers whether to use his Fantasy Premier League (FPL) Free Hit in either Gameweek 13 or 16.
With Lateriser doing this week’s Q&A, I’ll write down some thoughts about the upcoming Fantasy Premier League (FPL) weeks, including plans for my own team.
Firstly, a quick word about the upcoming schedule. After this international break, we’re in for a feast of football, with no free midweeks for a long, long time.
Nine top-flight teams will play in every midweek from 22 November until 13 December: Gameweeks 12 to 16. Additionally, most Carabao Cup quarter-finals are being played straight after, with Arsenal v Crystal Palace taking place before Boxing Day weekend.
For the European teams, I actually think that period is trickier to navigate than the Christmas and New Year schedule between Gameweeks 18 and 21. That’s despite the latter containing four matches in 11 days.
Check out Arsenal’s run. The derby against Tottenham Hotspur in Gameweek 12 (Sunday), then Bayern Munich (Wednesday), Chelsea (Sunday), Brentford (Wednesday) and Aston Villa in the early Saturday kick-off. Could someone like Jurrien Timber (£6.1m) experience rotation at home to Brentford? Possibly.
Similarly, it’s feasible that Chelsea will rotate at Leeds United in Gameweek 14, having just faced Barcelona and Arsenal. These are factors we need to keep in mind.
I mention this because, to me, this will be the time when teams not playing in European competitions – Bournemouth, Brighton and Hove Albion, Manchester United etc – could benefit massively. Especially compared to Crystal Palace’s brutal run, where there’s not a single free midweek until 7 January.
A game within a game?
Gameweek 16’s African Cup of Nations (AFCON) top-up to five free transfers is arguably the worst change made to the 2025/26 rules, but it’s an opportunity to see this upcoming period as a ‘game within a game’.
For example, I’m already entering Gameweek 12 with three free transfers. That means I’ll have 11 of them available to use before Gameweek 17 – a ridiculous amount. It diminishes the value of rolling a transfer, and we can approach the coming weeks much more aggressively.
Yes, there’s an argument that the AFCON transfers should ideally be carried forward as long as possible. But I think there is a case for initially using two or three to set up for the long term, then return to collecting them.
Free Hit windows
Now that Arsenal and Palace’s schedules are confirmed, managers like me have a key decision to make about when to use the Free Hit chip. It’s potentially a poisoned chalice this season, where perfectly good players could easily outscore your single Gameweek lot.
For most of us, the Gameweek 12 squad also looks good in Gameweek 14, ruling them out for Free Hit activation. Furthermore, Gameweek 15 is when we want to use up our remaining transfers before the top-up, so that’d make even less sense.
Therefore, the two opportunities I’m liking at the moment are Gameweek 13 and Gameweek 16.
My current setup
This is my ‘bus team’ for Gameweek 12, where I have three free transfers but no money in the bank. Enzo Fernandez (£6.7m) has a good-looking fixture, but I’m expecting reduced minutes at Burnley that keep Barcelona and Arsenal in mind.
For the same reason, I am also okay with losing Timber for the short term, perhaps getting him back around Gameweek 16.
Path 1: Mbeumo in, Free Hit Gameweek 13
I’d be making three transfers: Enzo, Timber and Robert Sanchez (£4.8m) out, as Bryan Mbeumo (£8.5m), Chris Richards (£4.5m) and Bart Verbruggen (£4.4m) come in.
Mbeumo could be amongst the top-scoring FPL midfielders over the next five Gameweeks, as his only tricky matchup is away at Palace. Throughout the previous half-dozen rounds, only Mohamed Salah (£14.2m) has accumulated more big chances than Mbeumo (six) amongst midfielders.
If you delete a Gameweek 13 Free Hit from the short-term Fixture Ticker, United sit top.
Meanwhile, Richards is good for defensive contribution (DefCon) points and could clean sheet versus Wolverhampton Wanderers, Burnley and Fulham.
By deleting Gameweek 13, Brighton and Hove Albion have a really nice run, where only two of the next nine are marked as difficult. Martin Dubravka (£4.0m) covers those Verbruggen occasions by facing Fulham and Everton at home.
Losing Sanchez could immediately backfire against Burnley, but I think this rotation can match the Spaniard before upgrading Verbruggen later.
The team above naturally suggests a Gameweek 13 Free Hit, in my opinion. I doubt Palace will clean sheet against United, but, at the same time, I don’t expect hauls from Mbeumo or Bruno Fernandes (£8.9m).
Arsenal visit Chelsea, while the Bournemouth duo are away to Sunderland, which is trickier than we first expected.
Gameweek 13 Free Hit
So could that team outscore a Free Hit XI? Below are the 25 highest score projections for Gameweek 13, with the ones I own highlighted in green. Ismaila Sarr (£6.7m) will be explained in the next section!
