Metrics

Metrics – The Gameweek 32 Wildcard

This is truly Wildcard season. Managers have put the chip in play and used what has felt like a long international break to rid themselves of Gameweek 31 “mediocrity” and prepare for the Double Gameweeks in 34 and potentially 37.

The players selected in these Wildcards may well vary depending on the strategy for the rest of the season, and might, in particular, depend on whether the Free Hit chip is still intact to handle the missing fixtures in Gameweek 35.

The purpose of this post-deadline article is to shed some light on the selections made by Gameweek 32 Wildcarders and how the Free Hit may have influenced their decision making.

This will help managers who are yet to Wildcard identify the popular player selections, and also give those who have already Wildcarded an idea of what they are up against and how they compare.

Collecting the data for all the top 100k Fantasy Premier League managers, we see that 15.87% of them chose to Wildcard this week to raise the total percentage of top 100k managers who used the chip from 43.36% to 59.22%.

Meanwhile, for the top 10k managers, the percentage of Wildcards is much higher. Wildcards used went from 39.21% to 60.74% with 21.53% activating the chip this week.

The percentages together with their Free Hit availability are shown in the table below.

% of WCs% of Wildcarders with FH remaining% of Wildcarders with no FH remaining
Top 10k21.53%63.82%36.18%
Top 100k15.87%58.28%41.72%


To get an idea about how other chips were played this week and how that raised the use of all chips in the top 10k and 100k managers, we plot the chip use before and after the deadline.

We see that the Wildcard is the only chip that gained a significant boost in use, just as we expected.

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There are still around 40% of top-ranked managers who are yet to use their Wildcard, with maybe a big percentage of them deploying the chip ahead of Gameweek 33.

It will be interesting to see whether the decision to delay will change their choices.

For example, there could be more emphasis on Romelu Lukaku and Ashley Barnes instead of the likes of Johann Gudmundsson and Eric Bailly, who both missed out today.

Now, let’s move to look at the most popular picks for Wildcard managers.

The following two images show the most selected players for Gameweek 32 Wildcarders who still own the Free Hit, alongside the line-up for those without that chip to play.

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We can see the choices are very similar with just Lukaku featuring more in teams without Fee Hit, while Roberto Firmino is in more teams with the Free Hit still to play. That is somewhat surprising since it’s Firmino who has a fixture in Gameweek 35.

However, delving deeper, the Lukaku and Firmino ownership for both groups of managers is very close. I feel that we can put them both on equal footing since they come with 48.5% and 48.1% for teams with no Free Hit remaining, and 47.8% and 47.9% for those squads with the chip still intact.

Therefore, we can say that the picks for both parties are essentially the same.

It seems that regardless of whether Gameweek 32 Wildcard managers still had the Free Hit available or not, they chose to follow the “template” which turns out to be not just popular here on Fantasy Football Scout, but also among the top 100k.

The next most highly owned players in Wildcards that are not shown in the image are: Nick Pope in goal, Shkodran Mustafi and James Tarkowski in defence, Henrikh Mkhitaryan and Kennedy in midfield and Barnes in attack.

Again those players show similar percentages for managers with and without Free Hit.

To look at the bias of Double Gameweek teams, and whether managers without Free Hit will tend to favour teams who have a fixture in Gameweek 35, we have plotted the average number of players from each Premier League team in Wildcard squads.

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Again, we see no significant difference between the two groups of managers.

Leicester is the most popular source of talent for Wildcard managers with more than two players per squad.

Liverpool and Arsenal, who don’t play twice in Gameweek 34, rank in third and fifth places showing that most managers opted to keep the likes of Mohamed Salah, Firmino, Andrew Robertson, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Mustafi rather than just focus purely on Double Gameweek options.

In summary, the template picks are widespread amongst the top managers’ Wildcards, and those who don’t have their Free Hit also chose to follow it.

With the Wildcards and planning ahead, we will now look at the ongoing Gameweek and the exact selection statistics for the top 100k managers.

Given how close the gap is within those teams, they give a better sample of active players than just the top 10k.

The Gameweek 32 Captaincy
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Salah continues to be the top choice this week, providing a consistent return of 7 points for the 75.01% managers that favoured him.

The 11.95% managers who chose the differential Aubameyang will now be waiting anxiously to see if he can match or better the Egyptians output against Stoke City.

Next, we present the players with the biggest Effective Ownership (EO), which is the regular ownership plus captaincy, in each position in the top 100k.


GKEODEFEO
David de Gea47.23%Nicolás Otamendi44.45%
Robert Elliot24.23%Ben Davies33.10%
Nick Pope20.53%Andrew Robertson26.88%
Lukasz Fabianski11.14%Ben Mee22.94%
Mathew Ryan11.03%Marcos Alonso20.00%
Ben Foster10.47%César Azpilicueta17.33%
Adrián7.10%Virgil van Dijk15.97%
Jonas Lössl6.97%Matthew Lowton15.05%


MIDEOFWDEO
Mohamed Salah174.66%Roberto Firmino79.22%
Heung-Min Son36.63%Aubameyang55.65%
Riyad Mahrez34.77%Romelu Lukaku37.81%
Raheem Sterling26.62%Jamie Vardy30.43%
Willian21.20%Callum Wilson18.83%
Pascal Groß21.14%Glenn Murray10.69%
Xherdan Shaqiri18.82%Sergio Agüero10.66%
Henrikh Mkhitaryan18.81%Jordan Ayew9.23%


Finally, I was curious to know which countries were present the most in the top 100k. So I leave you with the top-ranked territories in Fantasy Premier League so far.

After the expected English dominance come the Egyptians (including myself) who are enjoying a great season thanks to probably trusting Salah very early in the campaign.

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1,122 Comments Post a Comment
  1. the snazzy viking
    • 8 Years
    6 years, 7 months ago

    sorry for so many questions but I've been wasting my life on FUT Champions for most of the day so haven't been able to catch up on stuff that really matters 😉

    imagine you are me and you are preparing for GW34. you have two free transfers and this is your team:

    DDG Ryan
    Alonso Lowton Morgan Mariappa Dummett
    Hazard Salah Mahrez Son Kenedy
    Aubameyang Vardy Barnes

    you have 0.5m from the bank, and it will cost you another 0.5m to fund Auba ➡ Lukaku.

    this would be your bench boost at the moment: Dummett, Mariappa, Kenedy and Ryan.

    how would you find the 0.5m to upgrade Aubameyang to Lukaku and would you take a hit to upgrade another player elsewhere from the funds that the player that you downgraded gave you (eg. you downgraded Salah to Knockaert (lol) and you upgrade Dummett to Vertonghen for a -4)

    TL;DR: which player in this team do you downgrade to fund 0.5m and to who?

    (sorry if this post sounds all bollocks)

    1. the snazzy viking
      • 8 Years
      6 years, 7 months ago

      the worst worthy top of the page post ever

    2. TorresMagic™
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • Has Moderation Rights
      • 15 Years
      6 years, 7 months ago

      7 days is a long time.

    3. F4L
      • 9 Years
      6 years, 7 months ago

      How's your WL going? More important than FPL 😉

      1. the snazzy viking
        • 8 Years
        6 years, 7 months ago

        it went alright cheers 😉

        first time I qualified so I went all in for the whole 40 matches already

        I won 12 of the first 18, but then won just 5 of the last 22

        so I managed to rack up 17 wins, though it's slightly frustrating as 18 wins would've got me Gold 3... still I'm content with Silver 1 🙂 , even if I did bottle it at the end

        1. F4L
          • 9 Years
          6 years, 7 months ago

          Not bad at all mate! Playing 40 games by Saturday evening seems like a feat in itself 😆

          I do hate the winning and losing streaks that happen in fut champs , they can be frustrating

          You've already qualified for the next wl again as well, going to do it all over again come next Friday 😛

          1. the snazzy viking
            • 8 Years
            6 years, 7 months ago

            A lot of the games lasted shorter than expected as either me or my opponent always left at a certain point haha

            if I'm 3 or 4 down, I usually give up, though I did come back from 4-1 down on one of the games to make it 5-4, only to draw 6-6 and lose on penalties. Cracking game nonetheless and that was the first match I played!

            the streaks can be very frustrating though as you say, and the servers seemed to lag every now and then.

            bring on next week 😉

    4. bench boost for every gamew…
      • 7 Years
      6 years, 7 months ago

      to afford Lukaku you must sell one of your players that has a double in 34, so i would be tempted to just ride it out. Example; you can take out Son but then who´s going in? de gea to Schmeichel makes it possible i guess but do you want to do that, probably not. If you are utterly determined to make this Lukaku transfer the only thing atm (things can change ofc during the week) which seems not to risky is Son to Willian, as you get a double player for a double player with arguably better fixtures and approximately same kind of nailedness (because both teams play the fa cup semi rotation could be seen). That also saves you maybe enough to do a transfer in defense if you want that too?

      1. the snazzy viking
        • 8 Years
        6 years, 7 months ago

        interesting views, food for thought 🙂

        cheers

      2. the snazzy viking
        • 8 Years
        6 years, 7 months ago

        perhaps Lingard in for Son and go for Kane instead?

        1. bench boost for every gamew…
          • 7 Years
          6 years, 7 months ago

          risky but could be good. sorry for late repost.

    5. Sonny “The Hitman&rdq…
      • 8 Years
      6 years, 7 months ago

      Haz to Willian or Vardy to Murray or Austin or JAjay

      1. the snazzy viking
        • 8 Years
        6 years, 7 months ago

        cheers

  2. HurriKane
    • 12 Years
    6 years, 7 months ago

    Who do you think wins h2h.

    A) Me- Alonso Willian Aubameyang +2.

    B) Rival- Azpi Hazard Mikhitaryan.

    1. TorresMagic™
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • Has Moderation Rights
      • 15 Years
      6 years, 7 months ago

      Hope you do.

      1. HurriKane
        • 12 Years
        6 years, 7 months ago

        cheers mate. assume you have same players on wc.

        btw tough luck with your bench TM. 😉

  3. mchugho
    • 7 Years
    6 years, 7 months ago

    Does Davies/Kane/Eriksen make up a 2 point gap on Ramsey/Alonso/Son in a H2H tomorrow do you think?

    1. bench boost for every gamew…
      • 7 Years
      6 years, 7 months ago

      if Spurs to gap 2 points i would be inclined to say no, but in these matches it´s hard to predict. Kane vs Ramsey impossible to predict as both could feature but they could also not feature (latter being the most likely, perhaps?)

  4. Nightf0x
    • 9 Years
    6 years, 7 months ago

    A) wc gw33, tc gw??(34), fh gw35, bb gw37

    B) fh gw34, wc gw36, bb gw37, tc gw?? (Having 9-10 players in gw35)

    1. Holmes
      • 11 Years
      6 years, 7 months ago

      A looks better

    2. Sonny “The Hitman&rdq…
      • 8 Years
      6 years, 7 months ago

      A

  5. Holmes
    • 11 Years
    6 years, 7 months ago

    36pts and still 13k drop, not sure how thats work... 😮

    1. Holmes
      • 11 Years
      6 years, 7 months ago

      *that works 😳

      1. Whats the Huth
        • 9 Years
        6 years, 7 months ago

        Average in top 10k is 41.
        Depends on your rank

    2. noquarternt
      • 9 Years
      6 years, 7 months ago

      Need to beat 40 to go up

      1. Holmes
        • 11 Years
        6 years, 7 months ago

        Red arrow was expected but a 13k drop when you are just 5pts behind top 10k average is an issue

    3. Hotdogs for Tea
      • 9 Years
      6 years, 7 months ago

      The problem with the WC template this week is that it is aimed at GW34 and not GW32/33 etc, so it was always possible that it could be lower than the top 10k average. Normally a WC team is geared to the next 2 or 3 fixtures and not aimed at two specific fixtures 3 & 6 weeks in the future.

      Many of the Mods & Cons league are in that 30 - 40 range with the template WC team and likewise have red arrows.

      You will make up ground against the pack from 34 onwards
      🙂

  6. ChuckN
    • 14 Years
    6 years, 7 months ago

    Bench:
    Dubravska Dummet Morgan Kenedy

    23 pts yay!

    1. ChuckN
      • 14 Years
      6 years, 7 months ago

      At least I played Arnie. My saving grace.

    2. Holmes
      • 11 Years
      6 years, 7 months ago

      Time to activate BB 😛

      1. ChuckN
        • 14 Years
        6 years, 7 months ago

        Haha was on wildcard.

        On 53 with Mkhi Auba and Monreal to come so hopefully crack 70. Been a lean year.

  7. Jinswick
    • Fantasy Football Scout Member
    • 14 Years
    6 years, 7 months ago

    Got to be this right, i.e. feet up for a week?

    GW33: Save FT
    GW34: Mkhi & Auba -> Lingard & Kane
    GW35: Free hit

    Ryan
    Monreal, Chilwell, Lowton
    Salah, Son, Mahrez, Willian, Mkhi
    Auba, Vardy

    DDG, Barnes, Tarkowski, Smalling
    Bank 0.3m, 1FT

    1. Jigger & Pony
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 11 Years
      6 years, 7 months ago

      Looks good

    2. The Knights Template
      • 10 Years
      6 years, 7 months ago

      yep, feet up

  8. Whats the Huth
    • 9 Years
    6 years, 7 months ago

    Going to watch Arsenal very closely over the next two games.

    Ozil vs mkhitaryan for my GW35 team.

    1. lugs
      • 7 Years
      6 years, 7 months ago

      Mikhi has doubled ozil's points total since he came , and he's a lot cheaper

    2. Holmes
      • 11 Years
      6 years, 7 months ago

      Will probably try both of them along with Auba in GW35, AOA! 😀

    3. Epic Fail
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 14 Years
      6 years, 7 months ago

      Watch the closely then decide.

    4. Speédy
      • 8 Years
      6 years, 7 months ago

      Mkhi wins it in FPL terms - Arsenal fan

      1. Whats the Huth
        • 9 Years
        6 years, 7 months ago

        Cheers

  9. jia you
    • 8 Years
    6 years, 7 months ago

    Should have went with my mad gut feeling and put the armband on Sanchez, but anyway happy with his haul 🙂

  10. Holmes
    • 11 Years
    6 years, 7 months ago

    Ibrahimovic, what a debut! 😀

    1. Epic Fail
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 14 Years
      6 years, 7 months ago

      It was fixed. You can see the string on the ball.

    2. jia you
      • 8 Years
      6 years, 7 months ago

      Brace with injury time winner! The new king of LA 🙂

      1. jia you
        • 8 Years
        6 years, 7 months ago

        ...and did you see who set up the winning goal. bloody Ashley Cole, I thought he was 45 by now 😉

    3. Jigger & Pony
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 11 Years
      6 years, 7 months ago

      Haha yes just read... Legend!

  11. Speédy
    • 8 Years
    6 years, 7 months ago

    Plan to FH in 34. Is this good enough to get through 33?
    Pope
    Mustafi VVD Duffy
    Salah Mkhi Mahrez Stanislas
    Bobby Aubameyang Wilson
    Butland Walcott Naughton Dawson

    1. Holmes
      • 11 Years
      6 years, 7 months ago

      Yep, drop Wilson if possible

    2. Whats the Huth
      • 9 Years
      6 years, 7 months ago

      Stan is a concern.
      Swap him out if he's out.
      If not then use your FT on Wilson and you're g2g

    3. Hotdogs for Tea
      • 9 Years
      6 years, 7 months ago

      Yes but your transfers will be aimed at GW35 players ?

      1. Speédy
        • 8 Years
        6 years, 7 months ago

        8 in place already.
        3 Ars,3 Pool,Walcott and Butland.
        A -4/-8 for 3 City will mean a decent 35 team,almost identical to free hitters

  12. doy
    • 6 Years
    6 years, 7 months ago

    Who else needs a big haul from Auba (c) tonight? Come on Auba, minimum brace please!!

    1. Holmes
      • 11 Years
      6 years, 7 months ago

      \o/

      1. doy
        • 6 Years
        6 years, 7 months ago

        😉

    2. Albrightondknight
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 9 Years
      6 years, 7 months ago

      No C for me but surprised only 12% ownership. Looking at team here it would seem it should be close to 50%
      Best of luck I think he will deliver.

      1. doy
        • 6 Years
        6 years, 7 months ago

        Cheers, I hope Arsenal shred Stoke to pieces and Auba is the main recipient. Throw in a Mustafi cleanie too 😉

    3. lugs
      • 7 Years
      6 years, 7 months ago

      as long as he beats my vc Salah i'll be happy 🙂

      1. doy
        • 6 Years
        6 years, 7 months ago

        hehe nice one, me too.

    4. Whats the Huth
      • 9 Years
      6 years, 7 months ago

      You'd need more than just a goal to beat Salah.
      Could get bonus.
      Good luck. I have a Auba and hoping he delivers

      1. doy
        • 6 Years
        6 years, 7 months ago

        Cheers, I want a brace at the minimum!

    5. Speédy
      • 8 Years
      6 years, 7 months ago

      Absolutely struggling at 20 points with Auba (c) and Mkhi to go. So need a giant haul

      1. doy
        • 6 Years
        6 years, 7 months ago

        Good luck man, I am only on 28 with 5 to go. Slipped 70k places overnight.....c'mon Auba, we trust in you!

    6. 1zverGGadeM
      • 7 Years
      6 years, 7 months ago

      (A)uba, Rambo and Shaqiri hauls needed here o/

  13. Albrightondknight
    • Fantasy Football Scout Member
    • 9 Years
    6 years, 7 months ago

    After bringing in Bailly on a WC what do I do now?
    Just wait it out and hope he plays next week?

    Murray pen miss was a beauty result too.
    Only 29 points but 5 to play and a massive 2 points coming from the bench

    1. Epic Fail
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 14 Years
      6 years, 7 months ago

      Yeah

      1. Albrightondknight
        • Fantasy Football Scout Member
        • 9 Years
        6 years, 7 months ago

        Thanks - not much choice I suppose want to hold 2 FT for 34.

  14. Andy_Social
    • 12 Years
    6 years, 7 months ago

    Thoughts on the WC for GW33 please?

    I've spunked my FH (scored well mind) and will BB in GW34 (TC Kane GW37). Haveonly half of the template sorts.

    GK DDG, Pope

    DEF Vert, Smalling, Mustafi, Lowton, Morgan

    MID Salah, Willian, Albrighton, Kenedy, Cork

    FWD Kane, Aubemayang, Lukaku

    If Kane unready, Vardy will be place-holder for one week. Can only put 7 out in BGW35. Midfield a bit weak due to power front line.

    1. Albrightondknight
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 9 Years
      6 years, 7 months ago

      Hope the power front line works out for you - it could do.
      So what are your planned moves over the next few weeks without FH?

      1. Andy_Social
        • 12 Years
        6 years, 7 months ago

        It's set up to see me through to the end. I'll keep my options open to respond to injuries re. Champs League, later rotators/beach-towellers. My only given is TC Kane last DGW.

        Note the triple Burnley lads are only intended to show up for 2 GWs - the BB GW34 and bail me out in the BGW35, but they're fine back-ups.

        1. Albrightondknight
          • Fantasy Football Scout Member
          • 9 Years
          6 years, 7 months ago

          Nice no plans means it will be easier to react to any injuries etc.

          1. Andy_Social
            • 12 Years
            6 years, 7 months ago

            Yeh, my strategy this season (in contrast to the past) is to have very little strategy. It's got me up into the top 1200, but i'll lose ground this week unless Aubemayang has a blast. Was unsure whether to WC GW33 or 36 but have decided to press the button now.

            1. Albrightondknight
              • Fantasy Football Scout Member
              • 9 Years
              6 years, 7 months ago

              Great rank.
              One City in might be a nice punt in 35 but who would be a certain stater?

              1. Andy_Social
                • 12 Years
                6 years, 7 months ago

                Sterling and Otamendi have served me very well for a long time, but I've dropped both. City will wrap up the title and focus on Champions League. I did consider Delph who might get gametime, but it's a total lottery who'll play and how often, so i'm avoiding.

  15. Lucky Z
    • 7 Years
    6 years, 7 months ago

    Salah or Hazard (x2) on GW34 FH?

    1. Whats the Huth
      • 9 Years
      6 years, 7 months ago

      Both
      That's what I'm doing

    2. The Hindu Monkey
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 10 Years
      6 years, 7 months ago

      Hazard clearly I would think. But I would find room for Salah anyway. He's too dangerous. You won't manage to pick six forward players who will outscore him.

      1. Lucky Z
        • 7 Years
        6 years, 7 months ago

        Hazard Willian Son Mahrez Kane Lukaku Barnes

        ?

        1. The Hindu Monkey
          • Fantasy Football Scout Member
          • 10 Years
          6 years, 7 months ago

          Willian? Guy got no chance of playing both games. Would rather have gross.

  16. The Hindu Monkey
    • Fantasy Football Scout Member
    • 10 Years
    6 years, 7 months ago

    Already considering playing Barnes over Lukakua next week...

    1. Whats the Huth
      • 9 Years
      6 years, 7 months ago

      City will run riot
      But I think united will score

    2. lugs
      • 7 Years
      6 years, 7 months ago

      smart move , as i think either City will either totally demolish Utd or Mou will park 10 double decker buses and a donkey in his own half in a desperate attempt not to lose , in both scenarios Utd won't score imo

  17. Rex Lapis
    • 10 Years
    6 years, 7 months ago

    Sanchez + Murray or Lukaku + Gross?

    1. Epic Fail
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 14 Years
      6 years, 7 months ago

      B

    2. Andy_Social
      • 12 Years
      6 years, 7 months ago

      I don't think Brighton have much left in their tank.

      1. Rex Lapis
        • 10 Years
        6 years, 7 months ago

        only for DGW34. can't find any better alternative for 8th attacker

        1. Andy_Social
          • 12 Years
          6 years, 7 months ago

          That's fir enough. But I assume you'll FH the week after. Problem is when you get your players back the fixtures for Brighton don't look appealing.

      2. The Hindu Monkey
        • Fantasy Football Scout Member
        • 10 Years
        6 years, 7 months ago

        Did you see how many chances Gross created yesterday? Brighton were terrible in front of goal.

  18. Jigger & Pony
    • Fantasy Football Scout Member
    • 11 Years
    6 years, 7 months ago

    How would you improve this potential FHGW34 team?

    DDG
    Alonso Lowton Morgan
    Mahrez Mane Son Lingard
    Kane Lukaku Vardy

    1. Lucky Z
      • 7 Years
      6 years, 7 months ago

      Why Mane?

    2. El-Kloppico
      • 9 Years
      6 years, 7 months ago

      Willian over Mane
      and Spurs def missing!

  19. Gilles
    • Fantasy Football Scout Member
    • 10 Years
    6 years, 7 months ago

    Thanks a lot for this analysis.
    I would find it interesting to see the shape of non wcers teams with all chips intact.
    Do you know which percentage of top 100k are in this case ?
    Many thanks.

  20. Gnu
    • Fantasy Football Scout Member
    • 15 Years
    6 years, 7 months ago

    This.

    1. Epic Fail
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 14 Years
      6 years, 7 months ago

      +1

  21. Farteta
    • 6 Years
    6 years, 7 months ago

    Thoughts on my wildcard team (no FH):

    DDG - Dubravska
    Lowton - Chillwell - Robertson - Ward - Monreal
    Arnie - Milojevic - Son - Salah - GroB
    Barnes - Lukaku - Kane

    0.4 ITB and currently need to catch up 80 points in my mini league!