Six clubs play twice in Double Gameweek 33 of Fantasy Premier League (FPL), which will prompt a decent chunk of managers to use their Free Hit chip.
While there’s still plenty of midweek action that could shape a Free Hit side before the next deadline, we thought we’d take an early look at a draft and some possible alternatives.
This also serves as our Scout Picks ‘bus team’ this week, given that it’s essentially the same principle: a cherry-picked XI on a £100.0m budget.
GAMEWEEK 33 FREE HIT DRAFT
This starting XI has at least one representative from each of the half-dozen doublers, except for Burnley. The Clarets’ lack of form heavily reduces the appeal of their players.
Bruno Fernandes (£10.3m), the sole single Gameweek player here, keeps his place due to some recent stellar performances. Three double-digit FPL points hauls in his last four outings (and five in eight) are hard to look past, as are his league-leading assists (17).
The Portuguese is on eight goals too, and he’s well capable of bagging defensive contribution (DefCon) points against a Chelsea side who are desperate to get their top-five push back on track, but remain worryingly leaky at the back.
Defence
Between the sticks is Leeds United’s Karl Darlow (£3.9m), hosting bottom side Wolverhampton Wanderers and visiting a Bournemouth outfit that has recently been struggling to find the back of the net from open play.
Darlow, meanwhile, secured successive shut-outs before the international break and conceded just once against Manchester City in Gameweek 28.
Speaking of which, Nico O’Reilly (£5.0m) is in fine form as he aims to lock down a spot in England’s World Cup starting XI. A brace in the EFL Cup final victory over Arsenal was further evidence of the attacking threat he’s increasingly bringing to the table, even when not starting in midfield. He then registered two assists in the FA Cup quarter-final versus Liverpool and a goal against Chelsea.
Facing a Gunners side out for revenge is far from the most appealing fixture to begin the double, but then comes Burnley. We’ll need to get a clean bill of health from Pep Guardiola on Friday, of course.
Over at Brighton and Hove Albion, Jan Paul van Hecke (£4.5m) has started every match that he’s been available for. The Dutchman probably has the highest ceiling of their defenders, which, as a unit, has conceded zero or one goals in all but one of their last 13 league fixtures.
He also brings a bit of attacking threat and has a good DefCon record. First up in their double is a trip to Tottenham Hotspur, who have the Premier League’s worst home record, before welcoming Chelsea to the south coast. Brighton won the reverse meeting in Gameweek 6.
Speaking of DefCon, Marcos Senesi (£5.1m) will require little introduction to most FPL managers this term. The Bournemouth centre-back boasts a league-high tally of such actions among defenders, and the highest success rate in the metric of all players (74.2%), on top of four assists.
The Cherries have tightened up at the back recently, registering a few clean sheets with hope for more against Newcastle United and low-scoring travellers Leeds. There’s certainly an argument for doubling on the Bournemouth backline, rather than opting for van Hecke.
Attack
Sticking with Andoni Iraola’s group, Marcus Tavernier (£5.4m) leads his teammates in several attacking metrics, and his role in set-pieces is a plus, earning him a nod for this eye-catching double-header.
Joining him and Fernandes in the middle of the park are Cole Palmer (£10.6m) and Antoine Semenyo (£8.2m). The latter has superb underlying stats, while delivering five goals and an assist since joining Man City, lasting 90 minutes in all but two occasions. He grabbed one of each in the cup win over Liverpool.
As for Palmer, Chelsea’s penalty-taking premium midfielder has worked his way back to fitness and, before successive pre-international break blanks, had registered seven attacking returns in as many league starts. If the Blues are to nab a Champions League finish, they’ll need their talisman to turn up.
The same is true of Joao Pedro (£7.8m), of course, whose eight Premier League goals since Liam Rosenior took charge have helped him become the division’s fourth-highest scorer.
Dominic Calvert-Lewin (£5.6m) has just one goal in nine league games. However, he converted a penalty both in regular time and in the shootout when Leeds beat West Ham United in their quarter-final. A notoriously streaky player, he has plenty of motivation to now embark on another prolific run, knowing he can make Thomas Tuchel’s World Cup squad.
Finally, Golden Boot leader Erling Haaland (£14.4m) found himself in a quiet spell before the break as well, but then exploded back into life with an FA Cup quarter-final hat-trick.
Coupled with what has recently appeared to be a return to lone striker duties, the big Norwegian could now be perfectly poised to help Man City push for another league title, should they beat Arsenal at home and batter Burnley. He scored past the Gunners in September, following this with 16 points against the Clarets.
WHO ARE THE ALTERNATIVES?
Aside from any non-Fernandes single Gameweek players you might choose to punt on, a few viable alternatives emerge from Double Gameweek teams.
BRIGHTON AND HOVE ALBION
For instance, Bart Verbruggen (£4.5m) has three clean sheets from six matches and can be picked instead of Darlow if you prefer the Europe-chasing Seagulls. You’d then face the decision of whether to double up on Brighton’s backline alongside van Hecke, while Ferdi Kadioglu (£4.4m) is an alternative. He’s started 28 league matches in a row, now.
If you don’t max out your Brighton allowance in defence, Danny Welbeck (£6.2m) is an alternative to Calvert-Lewin up front. He’s found the net four times in five starts and now faces the two clubs that have the longest clean sheet droughts. Yet there are fears that the 35-year-old striker won’t start both of these.
More nailed-on, perhaps, is Pascal Gross (£5.5m). The creative midfielder has three recent FPL assists, while he’s lasted 90 minutes in 11 of the last 12 Gameweeks. Even in the one exception to this, he logged 87 minutes!
Wide men Kaoru Mitoma (£6.1m) and Yankuba Minteh (£5.5m) have comparatively uncertain game time, but Jack Hinshelwood (£5.1m) offers appeal as a low-owned differential pick for the run-in.
LEEDS UNITED
Anton Stach (£4.8m) and Joe Rodon (£3.9m) would have been worth considering, but Daniel Farke more or less confirmed that they’ll miss Double Gameweek 33 after picking up ankle injuries.
Alternatives to the Welshman include Jaka Bijol (£3.9m) and Pascal Struijk (£4.3m), if you wanted to swap Darlow and van Hecke for Verbruggen and a Leeds defender.
Bijol has a 50% DefCon success rate in matches he has started, although there will always be some lingering uncertainty over whether the Slovenian makes Farke’s XI each week. He was also struggling with a knock before Gameweek 32. One to watch out for on Monday night.
BOURNEMOUTH
Ever since nailing down a spot in the first XI, James Hill (£4.2m) has become a cut-price alternative to Senesi. With a strong DefCon record himself, the Englishman remains a solid option if budget is an issue -or even if you opt for a double-up with the more expensive Cherries centre-half.
Alex Scott (£5.0m), now pretty much nailed in the Bournemouth midfield, is an interesting shout. He’s joint-second among midfielders for defensive contribution points (16, at a success rate of 66.7%) since Gameweek 21, when his series of 90-minute appearances started.
MANCHESTER CITY
Haaland, O’Reilly (it fit) and Semenyo will almost certainly be the most popular Man City triple-up, but the team is full of talent.
Rayan Cherki (£6.3m) is a creative and slightly cheaper alternative to the more direct Semenyo. Usually, he’s less ‘nailed on’ but over the last three matches in all competitions, he’s established himself in Pep Guardiola’s line-up (for now!), producing a second-half masterclass against Chelsea.
Right-back Matheus Nunes’ (£5.3m) tally of eight attacking returns is actually one more than that of O’Reilly. He and Marc Guehi (£5.1m) are viable defensive options should O’Reilly be ruled out.
CHELSEA
Rosenior’s men have struggled to keep a clean sheet since 2026 began, and their two best defenders – Trevoh Chalobah (£5.4m) and Reece James (£5.6m) – are both injured.
Moises Caicedo (£5.7m) is far less attacking than he was earlier on, and Enzo Fernandez (£6.5m) has recently been out of the squad for disciplinary reasons.
It’s therefore probably only worth considering Palmer and Pedro for a Double Gameweek 33 Free Hit.
BURNLEY
Lastly, there’s not much left to say about Burnley, who are destined for the drop with just one win in their last 22 league games.
You’d struggle to make a convincing argument for selecting any of their players over those mentioned elsewhere. Even the budget-friendly Martin Dubravka (£4.0m) is upstaged by Darlow, whose fixtures and form are both superior.
Zian Flemming (£5.3m) is a forward differential if you’re really chasing rank. He’s got three goals in his last five starts, registering 16 shots in that time.
