Time is ticking away on the first batch of Fantasy Premier League (FPL) chips, so make sure you use them all by Gameweek 19, or they’ll be lost.
If you’re yet to use a Free Hit and the squad is plagued by injuries, suspensions or players suffering a drop in form, this could be just the week for it.
In this article, we present four Gameweek 15 Free Hit drafts for consideration, from template to differential.
GAMEWEEK 15 FREE HIT DRAFT #1: DOUBLES AND TRIPLES
Newcastle boast the best fixture of the Gameweek on paper, welcoming to St James’ Park a Burnley side that has conceded more goals on the road (21) than any other Premier League club this season. The Clarets have scored 10 goals away from home, which isn’t nearly as bad, but half of those did come against West Ham and Wolves.
Now, the Magpies haven’t exactly been the most trustworthy side themselves recently, leaking goals, letting leads slip and rotating their attacking troops. Still, they’ll expect to beat Scott Parker’s men, and therefore each of these drafts has a Newcastle triple-up of some kind.
First of all, Bruno Guimaraes (£6.7m) stands out as a strong option this weekend, with seven attacking returns in his last eight appearances. So too do Dan Burn (£5.1m) and Malick Thiaw (£5.0m), who have found FPL points through defensive contributions (DefCon) and attacking returns of their own during the recent clean sheet-less run.
Manchester City have been leaking goals recently, but they do actually boast the best clean sheet odds of Gameweek 15. A factor in that is no doubt the fact that Sunderland, for all their successes so far this season, have scored just four goals away from home – the second-fewest of all teams, with only Wolves (one) worse – and rank similarly low for shots and shots in the box on the road.
He doesn’t have the attacking upside of some of his colleagues, but Gianluigi Donnarumma (£5.7m) gets the nod for security of starts as well as his ability to pull off the odd world-class stop.
Completing the back three, meanwhile, is Daniel Munoz (£6.0m). The Colombian wing-back was one of two Crystal Palace defenders to bag 14 FPL points during the week, but it’s only he amongst the Eagles’ defensive troops that boasts three goals this season, including two in successive away matches. Up next is Fulham, who just allowed City to score five at Craven Cottage.
In the middle of the park, we’ve gone for a Manchester United double-up of FPL all-rounder Bruno Fernandes (£9.0m) and leading goal threat (plus scorer) Bryan Mbeumo (£8.6m). The Red Devils expect to make light work of winless Wolves, so Matthijs de Ligt (£5.0m) – who carries potential for points at both ends of the pitch – gets a spot on this draft’s bench.
Yankuba Minteh (£6.3m) also gets the nod, given his general importance to a Brighton team that will be keen to bounce back from their first home loss of the campaign when West Ham come to visit the Amex.
Up front, Erling Haaland (£14.9m) is a shoo-in. He’s joined in this draft by 11-goal Brentford striker Igor Thiago (£6.7m), who was given a midweek breather against Arsenal and now takes on a Tottenham side – coached by former Bees boss Thomas Frank, of course – with the second-worst home record in the division, as well as Palace frontman Jean-Philippe Mateta (£8.1m).
He spurned yet another Opta-defined ‘big chance’ – created by Munoz – during the week, but was at least given the chance to rest his legs for the final half hour in preparation to face Fulham.
Cheap but cheerful Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall (£4.9m) joins DefCon-gobbling Toffees teammate James Tarkowski (£5.4m) in completing the squad, as Everton prepare to host Nottingham Forest.
GAMEWEEK 15 FREE HIT DRAFT #2: BACK THE MANCUNIANS
The rest of this article below is completely free to read but requires a Fantasy Football Scout user account for access – you can get yours at no cost here
