Gameweek 19 represents the last chance for Fantasy Premier League (FPL) managers to use their chips – or at least, the first set of chips.

Managers get two of every chip in 2025/26, with the second batch becoming available after the Gameweek 19 deadline.

Any unused chips from the first half of the season are unavilable at that point. If you don’t use them, you lose them!

GAMEWEEK 19 CHIP POLL

Here’s how our Gameweek 19 chip poll is looking as of 11.30pm GMT on Monday.

A third of responders are playing the Free Hit, with the Bench Boost and Wildcard also into double digits:

FREE HIT 

A Gameweek 19 could help deal with some likely rotation, as this is the first of two midweek rounds of games in quick succession. Now that we’ve seen the Gameweek 18 minutes, and looked at the turnaround times, we might be able to second-guess where the starts/rests are coming from.

As for one-week punts, there are plenty of fixtures that leap off the page.

Reigning champions Liverpool are at home to Leeds United. The Whites are in form, so Free Hitters may want to swerve the Liverpool defence, but Daniel Farke’s still haven’t kept a clean sheet since Gameweek 3.

Matheus Cunha (£8.1m) and ‘out of postion’/cheap defenders from Manchester United get to face 20th-place Wolverhampton Wanderers, meanwhile.

Nottingham Forest will host an Everton side devoid of several key attackers and without a goal in three games.

Newcastle United travel to Burnley, too. The away form isn’t exactly stellar, with just one win on the road all season, but there’ll be hope for a clean sheet at the very least.

With Arsenal facing a tough test against an in-form Aston Villa side that just beat them, Free Hitters could also temporarily reduce their representation from the Gunners.

Here is our Scout Picks team (complete with cheap bench, as we’re on a £100m budget) as a rough guide to the players you may consider – but we’ll have a standalone article on the Free Hit to come over the next 18 hours or so.

BENCH BOOST

It’s not a great week to boost cheap defenders from Sunderland and Leeds United, as they face Manchester City and Liverpool respectively. We can always hope for defensive contribution (DefCon) points, of course.

There’s more optimism about returns from Martin Dubravka (£4.0m). Burnley have conceded only 10 goals in nine home fixtures, while Newcastle have scored just seven in nine away.

As for the clubs with better matches, a quick look at the Fixture Ticker:

The dirt-cheap Ayden Heaven (£3.8m) and the ‘out of position’ Patrick Dorgu (£4.1m) are nicely priced for managers able to transfer players in before boosting.

In the £4.5m-and-under bracket, Jan Paul van Hecke (£4.5m) and Jorge Cuenca (£4.3m) look assured of starts and have decent Gameweek 19 fixtures. Crystal Palace away is usually a tricky test but the Eagles are wilting badly amid the fixture congestion and injury crisis, losing three league games on the spin.

Further forward, a spanner in the works is the injury to Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall (£5.0m), and Joshua King (£4.5m) dropping down to substitute duty recently. These are two of the most-owned cheap midfielders, who some managers would have ideally ‘boosted’.

With many of us still sitting on a handful of free transfers after the Gameweek 16 top-up, a sideways-and-slightly-up move to Elliot Anderson (£5.4m) may be possible. He is the leading midfielder for DefCon returns and assists from set plays. A reminder that he is one booking away from a ban.

Tijjani Reijnders (£5.2m), who has scored in each of the last two Gameweeks, is another possibility. So too is Lewis Miley (£4.5m), who looks assured of a start at right-back, is on a share of set plays, is decent in the air (note his recent header in the EFL Cup) and can deliver DefCon points, a la Gameweek 17.

TRIPLE CAPTAIN

Is it ‘Operation: Target Wolves’ for Triple Captainers in Gameweek 19?

Rob Edwards has done little to arrest the inevitable descent into the Championship, with the underlying numbers (see the rolling six-match xG graph below) not improving since he took charge.

Matheus Cunha (£8.1m) faces his old club in Gameweek 19, with Rate My Team (RMT) currently ranking him as the top projected points scorer of the round. The Brazilian has had 25 shots in the last four Gameweeks, doubling his tally for the season!

Elsewhere, the in-form Hugo Ekitike (£9.1m), without any competition from Alexander Isak (£10.3m), gets to face a Leeds team who, while in good attacking nick, have conceded in each of their last 15 league matches.

There’s always good old Erling Haaland (£15.1m), of course, but the best window for him – West Ham United at home in Gameweek 17 – has perhaps come and gone. The Sunderland defence are a darned sight better than that of the Hammers, although the side is weakened by AFCON exits.

WILDCARD

The Wildcard is less about Gameweek 19 picks in isolation and more about setting yourself up for the long term.

Our ‘Jump On, Jump Off Fixture Ticker’ is a good place to start. It’s the start of strong runs for Newcastle United and Tottenham Hotspur, not that either side is particularly trustworthy.

There’s the chance to go early on Chelsea, meanwhile. While Gameweek 21 is marked as the start of their favourable swing, this midweek they get to face a Bournemouth side that has conceded more away goals than any other side.

Speaking of the Cherries, they have some unpleasant fixtures ahead, are leaking goals, struggling for wins and about to sell their best player. Time to hop off, and if you’re risk-averse, offload Antoine Semenyo (£7.7m)?

Swapping injury doubt Jurrien Timber (£6.5m) for the fit-again Gabriel Magalhaes (£6.2m) is another possible use of the chip this week.

Here’s an example draft we’ve put together:

Pedro Neto (£7.3m) and Declan Rice (£7.2m) could become Bukayo Saka (£10.3m) and Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall (£5.0m), with the latter parked on the bench until he’s fit. Everton have some good medium-term fixtures beyond his comeback.