Scout Notes

Scout Notes – City Attack Delivers

Manchester City begin their five-date Champions 2018 Tour with a gala performance against Swansea City, while Chelsea beat Southampton to book their own big day out, against Manchester United, in the FA Cup final.

Boasting five of the top 11 most bought players for Gameweek 35, City were always likely to decide the fate of many Fantasy Premier League (FPL) managers and, in particular, the success of the Free Hit chip. And so it proved.

Three of that aforementioned quintet were among the goals, with Raheem Sterling the star turn.

Only Gabriel Jesus (375,000+) was bought by more managers than the 327,000 who swooped for Sterling.

Both made telling contributions, with the England international’s goal and assist taking him to a second straight double-digit haul.

Captained by 133,000+ (2.2%), Sterling has now returned in each of his last five Gameweeks (three goals, four assists).

Some 272,000+ (4.6%) opted to hand the armband to Jesus instead, persuaded in part by the season-ending injury to Sergio Aguero that should keep the Brazilian in the starting XI from here on in.

Indeed, of the 154,759 Free Hit chips played in Gameweek 35, a lofty 70.4% – or 109,085 in total – acquired the City striker.

Although he matched Sterling’s goal and assist, the latter contribution came via a missed penalty saved by the overworked Lukasz Fabianski, with Bernardo Silva tucking away the rebound.

Returning seven points by the end of proceedings, the Brazilian now has three goals and a trio of assists in four league starts since returning from injury.

City’s schedule (whu HUD BHA sot) could barley look more conducive to investment, particularly for Double Gameweek 37, and Jesus was a perfect fit for our frontlines, coming in considerably cheaper, at 10.2, than the likes of Harry Kane (12.8) and Romelu Lukaku (11.5).

But Sterling (8.9) – now up to six double-figure home hauls – is arguably a higher priority target, and no-one would be surprised if Guardiola even decided to start him up front at some point during the final four matches.

The best, and the rest, of the rest

Then again, doubts over pitch-time are likely to occur across the entire team now.

Two of the aforementioned top 11 players for transfers in – Nicolas Otamendi (26.9%) and Leroy Sane (12.2%) – along with Kyle Walker (13.3%) played no part at all yesterday.

That was a bitter blow for those holding one of the defensive duo – a deeply unfortunate 136,681 owned both – as City kept their first clean sheet in five matches across all competitions.

Both Otamendi and Walker have started just one league fixture in the last three Gameweeks, which hardly bodes well ahead of their Double Gameweek 37.

And the 84,000+ who had purchased the German winger saw their man rested after six successive starts from which he’d produced two goals and as many assists.

While yesterday’s rest strengthens the chances of all three returning to the teamsheet at West Ham next weekend, it would be no real surprise if no player started all four remaining matches this season.

David Silva marked his seventh straight start with a goal – his first at home since Gameweek 15 – and two bonus points for his third double-digit return of a fantastically productive run.

The 87,000+ who brought him in, and the 735,000 who own him overall, will now be hoping that Guardiola keeps faith in his compatriot as he did at the start of the season when the midfielder started the first 13 Gameweeks.

Kevin De Bruyne has been even busier this campaign, starting all but one match in the league.

Bought by 52,000 and captained by 160,000+ (2.7%) for Gameweek 35, he’s found in 22.3% of squads and rewarded them all with only his second goal in nine starts.

In fact, he’s scored just twice in 16 Gameweek appearances, but has nine assists from that run and a league-leading 17 this campaign.

The Belgian is now just three short of Arsenal legend Thierry Henry’s 20 assists in a season – one of a number of records the City team could break, should they be so inclined.

The rest, however, are all team-based milestones, and Guardiola has many resources at his disposal to secure them without the need to favour a key player or two.

De Bruyne’s last four run-outs have involved one appearance from the bench and three starts when he’s been subbed off before the end.

He lasted 66 minutes yesterday – a possible indication that his coach wishes to preserve him for consistent late-season action.

Or that might just be wishful thinking. We can think on it, but the only one with the definitive answer remains Pep Guardiola.

Throw in a squad full of players heading to the World Cup, and even Yaya Toure might get a league start over the next three weeks.

The Ivorian got 25 minutes off the bench yesterday, time enough to provide an assist, while fellow subs Phil Foden and the fit-again Benjamin Mendy will also be pushing for starts before the campaign comes to a close.

Busy times for the Blues

On the face of it, Chelsea coach Antonio Conte’s comments following his side’s 2-0 FA Cup semi-final win over Southampton should have sparked pleasure in us rotation-phobic Fantasy managers.

“We are not in the position to prioritise, if we want to continue to have hope of getting into the Champions League we have to take three points in these four games. Now we must be focused on the league.”

Those four matches are: Swansea City away; Liverpool and Huddersfield both at home in Double Gameweek 37 and then a final-day trip to Newcastle.

But the Blues remain five points off Spurs in the race for the final Champions League spot and there’s a perfectly reasonable scenario in which Mauricio Pochettino’s men win their next two fixtures (home to Watford, away at West Brom) and Chelsea fail to beat Liverpool, which will consign them to fifth place with two matches still to play.

Factor in the FA Cup final with Man United that comes six days after the end of the league campaign, and rotation would surely result.

That’s all ifs and buts for now, with the current conundrum for Fantasy managers keen to exploit the Blues’ Double Gameweek involving what exactly is Conte’s first-choice team these days.

Marcos Alonso served the second instalment of his three-match ban, but that was the only change forced upon the coach.

The rest, and specifically Olivier Giroud’s start at the expense of Alvaro Morata up front, were entirely of his own making.

The Frenchman (1.6%) did his cause no harm at all by scoring the opening goal yesterday when he managed to weave his way past most of the Southampton defence before poking home.

The strike was set up by the excellent Eden Hazard, who seemed to find playing close to Giroud very much to his taste.

Priced at just 8.2, the Giroud could prove to be a major differential should Conte keep faith in him for the run-in.

But Morata (7.8%) had time for his own take on the matter when he replaced Giroud after 80 minutes and almost immediately scored, nodding home the ever-reliable César Azpilicueta’s cross.

The case for the defence

If Conte’s forward options remain decidedly fluid, the defensive make-up of his team is not exactly settled either.

Andreas Christensen remained on the bench for the second straight match in all competitions – he’s also started just one of the last three Gameweeks – as the coach partnered Azpilicueta with Antonio Rudiger and Gary Cahill at the back.

The German has now played two straight matches, Cahill the last four, although the make-up of Conte’s back three has not stayed the same over the last three Gameweek.

For security of starts, Azpilicueta remains the main man, to be joined by Alonso once he’s available again for Double Gameweek 37.

The only problem is that both are premium-priced players in a defence without a clean sheet in seven Gameweeks. As a result, over 22,000 Alonso owners have already had enough – he’s second only to Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang for sales since the weekend deadline passed.

Conte’s Midfield minefield

Things aren’t much clearer further up the pitch.

Hazard was superb at Wembley, but remains mercurial in the league, where he’s managed just one goal from the last six Gameweeks.

That’s a meagre return for his 10.5 outlay, which is why Willian (7.1) has proved to be far more popular.

He’s currently owned by 14.8% to Hazard’s 6.1%, but the Brazilian blanked yesterday and hinted at issues with his coach when Conte swapped him for Tiemoue Bakayoko after 64 minutes of the semi-final.

The move was tactical, Saints boss Mark Hughes bringing on both Dusan Tadic and Nathan Redmond in a bid to claw back the then one-goal deficit, but Willian walked straight down the tunnel, shaking his head at the coach’s decision.

The midfielder’s form has been on the wane in recent weeks – he had just one assist from the three starts prior to his benching for the second match of Double Gameweek 34 – and his ownership will be hoping the air is cleared between him and Conte ahead of next Saturday’s trip to Swansea City.

Should that not be the case, Pedro could be in line for a second straight league start, after warming the bench in the previous four.

No rest for the Saints

Southampton now have four matches to pull off an unlikely escape from relegation.

They were helped by league results elsewhere over the weekend, and their schedule (BOU eve swa MCI) offers a glimmer of hope.

Double Gameweek 37 just about keeps their assets on the Fantasy radar, although the pickings are slim indeed.

Hughes opted to start Shane Long and Charlie Austin in a 3-5-2 up front against Chelsea, which will cheer the 1.1% of managers with the latter in their sides, but the Saints’ toothless attack – they’ve managed just four goals in the last six league matches – does not scream investment.

And things are equally parlous at the back.

The 0-0 draw secured at Leicester City last time out was their first clean sheet in five fixtures, but it’s fair to say that the Foxes were already mentally packing for the beach and/or the World Cup.

Jan Bednarek (4.1) started his third straight match at centre-half to continue his claims as a budget enabler, but Jack Stephens (4.5) has now served his three-match ban and looks very likely to walk straight back into the team for the run-in.

862 Comments Post a Comment
  1. fkmzcgp
    • 6 Years
    5 years, 11 months ago

    Keep Mahrez or Willian for DGW37? (Don’t want either but one needs to stay)

    1. Toblerone52 - Zlatan Ibra-H…
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 7 Years
      5 years, 11 months ago

      Willian

    2. Gobigorgohome
      • 12 Years
      5 years, 11 months ago

      Mahrez nailed on... while Willian is rotation risk now

    3. WE GO FOR IT
      • 8 Years
      5 years, 11 months ago

      Mahrez

    4. Volley127
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 11 Years
      5 years, 11 months ago

      Mahrez

      1. true_Jerry
        • 7 Years
        5 years, 11 months ago

        do some work

      2. true_Jerry
        • 7 Years
        5 years, 11 months ago

        oh and deffo keep Willian, why u giving bad advice?

  2. JoshHuntCUFC
    • 8 Years
    5 years, 11 months ago

    De Gea
    Robertson Smalling Tarkowski
    Salah Mahrez Silva GroB
    Barnes Lukaku Jesus

    Ryan Gudmundsson Cedric Morgan

    Gudmundsson > Romeu
    To enable
    Lukaku > Kane

    A good shout?

    Leaves me with 10 DGWers + Salah for DGW37... plus a FT next week.
    Using TC that week btw

  3. #FPLBhuna
    • 7 Years
    5 years, 11 months ago

    bottomed

    Team and bench order correct?

    Lloris
    Baines - Klavan - Smalling
    Salah - Sane - Dsilva - Arnautovic - Kenedy
    Kane(c) - Jesus

    Bench: Fabianski - JAyew - Yoshida - Mustafi

    1. Rupert The Horse
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 11 Years
      5 years, 11 months ago

      Selectus correctus.

  4. Ghost of Tomiyasu
    • Fantasy Football Scout Member
    • 10 Years
    5 years, 11 months ago

    I noticed a lot of the people who are top of the Fantasy league make a lot of changes each week
    I have always tended to only stick to one or two changes a week due to the 4 point penalty and player values
    But now im not so sure this has been a worth while tactic looking over the entire season

    Now im thinking i should always pick a team based for that week and forget about values and point penalties
    Not a tactic Ive ever used in the past as it meant my weekly score was gimped by penalties
    But people with 2300+ points seem to be using this tactic successfully

    1. the snazzy viking
      • 7 Years
      5 years, 11 months ago

      mainly because it's hit and miss

      sometimes the hits pay off, sometimes it ends in tears

    2. Limited & Mediocre Mana…
      • 7 Years
      5 years, 11 months ago

      It's easy to look at cases where it works out and think it's a great idea, but conversely a lot take many hits and completely suffer. The point is that there are many different ways to play the game, and it depends on your own team from week to week. And of course, if you're in the right or wrong side of luck.

    3. Gobigorgohome
      • 12 Years
      5 years, 11 months ago

      As my experience.. my hits mostly ends in tears.. 🙁

    4. Toblerone52 - Zlatan Ibra-H…
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 7 Years
      5 years, 11 months ago

      Most people who consistently do well are hit-averse and look to minimise risk tbh, those who take multiple hits (myself included) don't always get the reward.

    5. RESULT
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 13 Years
      5 years, 11 months ago

      I'm playing it like a WC/FH from now. What players would I get in for remaining gws that I think are required.
      You may already have a couple and only need to bring in 2 or 3 then your set.
      3 city
      3 spurs
      1/2 Utd etc
      probably needed, at least 2 of each.

    6. THFC4LIFE
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 7 Years
      5 years, 11 months ago

      I’ve taken lots of hits this year because I had a poor start and I’m chasing. For me the start is what determines my tactics

    7. tisza
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 9 Years
      5 years, 11 months ago

      Hits value is based on how you use them.
      Start using them for a single week it will end in tears. Hits for a player for 3+ weeks improve the odds of it paying off.
      Hits for value rarely make sense. There's nearly always other players you can get in to cover a .1/.2m price swing.
      i've taken 64pts in hits this season and ranked in top 100 (worst one there i know).
      Top 5 k players total transfers made this season range from 3 to 76. Top 10 hit costs range from 16 to 52pts.
      So there is no one size fits all approach.

  5. Lingardium Leviosa.
    • 9 Years
    5 years, 11 months ago

    Jumped an incredible 40k spots thanks to this bgw and FH 😀

    1. Toblerone52 - Zlatan Ibra-H…
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 7 Years
      5 years, 11 months ago

      I've jumped 3k, to 562k feels good lol

    2. Limited & Mediocre Mana…
      • 7 Years
      5 years, 11 months ago

      Nice juan

    3. WE GO FOR IT
      • 8 Years
      5 years, 11 months ago

      160k jump for me (to 340k). Hopefully Pickford makes the jump an even bigger one.

      1. Lingardium Leviosa.
        • 9 Years
        5 years, 11 months ago

        That reminds me I got Baines to go. (Haven't had much to cheer about this season so i'm having this one.

        1. WE GO FOR IT
          • 8 Years
          5 years, 11 months ago

          Same here. Been an awful season. Hopefully, we can end it with a bang.

    4. RESULT
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 13 Years
      5 years, 11 months ago

      FH worked really well for some. Hoping to break into 1k by end of tonight, was 3.7k start of gw35

  6. Toblerone52 - Zlatan Ibra-H…
    • Fantasy Football Scout Member
    • 7 Years
    5 years, 11 months ago

    How's this for a plan?
    Hold this week and then do Dunk, Zaha and Wood to Smalling, Dilva and Jordan Ayew for 37.

    Would give me a team of

    DDG
    Smalling Christensen Morgan
    Salah Sterling Dilva Kenedy
    Kane Jesus (TC) Ayew

    Bench: Pickford, Shaqiri, VVD, Long

    Looks strong to me, is triple city the way to go?

  7. Mikey44
    • 14 Years
    5 years, 11 months ago

    Have a big bench dilemma next week, help would be appreciated.

    Bench 2 out of the following 6 players:

    -Lowton (home to Brighton)
    -Gudmunsson (home to Brighton)
    -Barnes (home to Brighton)
    -Dummett (home to WBA)
    -Willian (away to Swansea)
    -Kompany (away to West Ham)

    Thanks

    1. barracuda
      • 7 Years
      5 years, 11 months ago

      Gud and Vinnie. West Ham will score

    2. WE GO FOR IT
      • 8 Years
      5 years, 11 months ago

      Lowton and Dummett

    3. BIGREDDOG
      • 6 Years
      5 years, 11 months ago

      Definitely Dummet then prob Lowton or Gudmunsson

  8. Garlana
    • 9 Years
    5 years, 11 months ago

    Those without Kane...are you still going to get him in based on recent performances? Currently have kaku up top and I'm struggling for a captain this week as I've no city players. Would need to take a hit this week to get him which I'd prefer not to do.

    1. Gobigorgohome
      • 12 Years
      5 years, 11 months ago

      Me too.
      I may well finally captain Lukaku against a ver weak Arsenal side...

  9. Gameweek 31 v Gameweek 35 Free Hit Chip
    J0E
    • Fantasy Football Scout Member
    • Has Moderation Rights
    • 14 Years
    5 years, 11 months ago

    Gameweek 31 v Gameweek 35 Free Hit Chip

    These Gameweeks have proved popular times to deploy the Free Hit chip due to their limited set of fixtures.

    But which has proved the most successful time to fire up this chip?

    Latest figures just in suggest that Gameweek 31 has proved the more lucrative so far.

    But with Everton defenders in particular popular among many current Free Hit Chippers they could push up the Gameweek 35 Free Hit tally markedly.

    Plus there are other factors to consider, such as Gameweek 35’s Free Hit allowing strong planning around the two double set of fixtures.

    Similarly, Gameweek 31 allowed FPL managers to keep hold of good performing players without a fixture then who also had favourable matches in Gameweeks 32 and 33.

    Here’s the figures for you to digest ahead of tonight’s Goodison Park clash.

    Average GW31 points scored by a Free Hit manager - 95.4

    Average GW31 points scored by active managers (made a transfer in last 2 GWs) who did not Free Hit - 70.1

    Average GW35 points scored by a Free Hit manager - 50.5

    Average GW35 points scored by active managers (made a transfer in last 2 GWs) who did not Free Hit - 32.6

    Be good to mention when you used your Free Hit chip and what score you got from it...or are getting from it if using now.

    1. Gobigorgohome
      • 12 Years
      5 years, 11 months ago

      35 was a success imo.. 31 I even got 10 players started and hit over 100 without FH..

    2. Majestic Chanka
      • 7 Years
      5 years, 11 months ago

      68 pts on free hit for me, I only had 4 GW35 players so the chip has been worth 40-50 pts this week alone.

      On 5 straight green arrows for context on other GWs.

    3. WE GO FOR IT
      • 8 Years
      5 years, 11 months ago

      GW31 : No FH : 106 points (Almost 200k rank jump)
      GW35 : FH : 63 points (+Pickford) (160k rank jump so far)

      Safe to say, I made the right decision.

    4. MTPockets
        5 years, 11 months ago

        Salah cap meant 101 in GW31 without FH.
        But only on 44 now with FH - Ozil/Sane no shows mean I need something special from Pickford, Baines, Tosun, Perez to avoid a fail.

      • Pep says
        • 8 Years
        5 years, 11 months ago

        That's all gravy but for me personally, gw35 FH was the more profitable. Scored 93 in gw31 and currently on 53 with 2 Everton defenders to play.

        Having said this its impossible to know what score I would be if I hadn't planned for FH 35 (ie stocking up on disappointing dgw player for 34 and holding form players like Sterling Mili Van Djik) so it's much more difficult to look at is a one GW vs another GW when the decisions leading up to these gameweeks have had unknown for affects.

        Overall though happy with how I've used FH and BB. BB was my highest bench score all season and FH has worked out

        1. Pep says
          • 8 Years
          5 years, 11 months ago

          *instead of holding

      • J0E
        • Fantasy Football Scout Member
        • Has Moderation Rights
        • 14 Years
        5 years, 11 months ago

        Looks about right for me.

        I was around 15 pts below the top 10K FH chippers average in GWK 31.

        I'm currently 10 pts (plus Baines to go) ahead of the GWK 35 average for my fellow Free Hit managers.

        Pretty happy with that.

        The good thing about these figures is that in the first year of a Free Hit chip we can confidently say that its worth somewhere between 18 to 25 pts. This makes it one of the best chips I think as the TC requires on securing a great score from just one player and Bench Boost should bring in 16 minimum if used during a double.

        1. Krafty Werks
          • 9 Years
          5 years, 11 months ago

          GW 31 - 107pts (-4)
          GW 35 - FH 61pts with Baines, Perez and Dubravka to go.

          41k to 9k last 5 GW's...happy with that!!

        2. tisza
          • Fantasy Football Scout Member
          • 9 Years
          5 years, 11 months ago

          On a 1 GW basis the FH could be worth 18-25pts but surely its value is increased by the pts you achieve around it.
          I would have had 4 players this week with no FH. Can now revert to GW34 side (that got me 107pts) which is good for GW 36, has 12 DGWers and probably 2 FTs for the DGW.
          The caveat for GW 31 scores was also that not many had to FH Salah into their side as he was already hugely owned.

          1. Patch
            • 6 Years
            5 years, 11 months ago

            Hit the nail on the head regarding Salah

        3. daitheboot
          • Fantasy Football Scout Member
          • 12 Years
          5 years, 11 months ago

          Pretty happy with my chips too and when played them. Planning as you say Jonty is the key:

          Triple captain played early and got me 12 extra points
          Gw 31 scored 112 with 8 point hit no chip
          Gw 32 wc
          Gw 34 bench boost 26 points added to 77
          Gw 35 free hit 68 so far with Baines and Dubravka to play so decent

      • Sedemuda
        • Fantasy Football Scout Member
        • 7 Years
        5 years, 11 months ago

        GW 31: No FH 99pts no hits
        GW 35: FH 54pts with Baines, Pickford & Kenendy to go.

      • DAZZ
        • 9 Years
        5 years, 11 months ago

        GW31 i used my free hit, scored 109 points and with careful planning i managed to score 61 all out in 35 from 10 players. Very happy with the strategy i followed.

      • Ohhh Shola Ameobi
        • 7 Years
        5 years, 11 months ago

        FH 35 - 61 with Baines and Dummett left to play.

        31 - 101(-8).

        Doing it this way allowed me much more flexibility with my wildcard, otherwise I would have had to take a ridiculous amount of hits this week to field any sort of side.

      • thisisdiz
        • 9 Years
        5 years, 11 months ago

        GW31 98 -4 points
        FH35 70 + baines

      • @FPL_liverbird (liverpoolfa…
        • Fantasy Football Scout Member
        • 7 Years
        5 years, 11 months ago

        Great stats Jonty!

        I'm up about 30points over those 2GWs and FH'ed in 35.

        GW31: 98 vs 95 (avg for FH'ers)
        GW35: 58+baines vs 32 (avg without FH)

        Only can be described as a success and now got my eyes set on top 10k again moving from the stagnant 38k to 17k.

      • tisza
        • Fantasy Football Scout Member
        • 9 Years
        5 years, 11 months ago

        Difficult to compare directly when the most popular captain in both GWs has a 44pt swing.
        Think it links to long-term planning. Almost certainly from Xmas had targeted 35 so plans from as early as 27/28 had gone into setting up 31 to WC in 32. Only fly in ointment was an all round disappointing 33.

        1. J0E
          • Fantasy Football Scout Member
          • Has Moderation Rights
          • 14 Years
          5 years, 11 months ago

          That's why these figures take that into account.

          The total score is irrelevant - the key is what is the difference is between free hitting and not free hitting in each Gameweek.

          That tells us that GWK 31 they were 25 pts better off and in GWK 35 around 18 pts better off with one game and auto subs to go.

          1. Jeremy Corbyn
            • Fantasy Football Scout Member
            • 7 Years
            5 years, 11 months ago

            Jonty, you want to compare FH 31 and FH 35 average score in total, not just the specific GWs.
            This because both types of players have taken hits in the weeks preceding their non FH GW and bore the consequences in the weeks after their FH.

            It's still too early to compare, but to me it seems FH35 has actually done much better, because of the forthcoming double.

            1. Jeremy Corbyn
              • Fantasy Football Scout Member
              • 7 Years
              5 years, 11 months ago

              If you do not believe me, ask either Ragabolly or Diane Abbott.

      • Still Unsure
          5 years, 11 months ago

          Not really sure in the value of comparing a standard GW (35) vs one where a single player went mad (Salah) and skewed all numbers.

          Of course the week where the games best player scored 29 will score higher. No? What am I missing?

          1. J0E
            • Fantasy Football Scout Member
            • Has Moderation Rights
            • 14 Years
            5 years, 11 months ago

            See my comment above.

            You need to compare difference between FH and non FH...not GWK 31 v GWK 35 total score.

            1. Still Unsure
                5 years, 11 months ago

                In which case.
                Existing 35 team - 25 points + Kenedy
                Current free hit team - 65 + Coleman/Tosun

                More than happy with a 40 point gain.

          2. Still Unsure
              5 years, 11 months ago

              FWIW though.
              31 - 96 pts
              35 - FH: 65 with Coleman and Tosun to go.

              Similar GW rank jumps both weeks, so far.

            • Roosta
              • 6 Years
              5 years, 11 months ago

              7 Point difference with one game to go, as it looks by your numbers. Doesn't look statistically significant.

            • Desperately Seeking Dusan
              • Fantasy Football Scout Member
              • 12 Years
              5 years, 11 months ago

              I don't think I agree Jonty... my experience has been the same as many of the comments on this HT.

              Mo Salah massively reduced the advantage of GW31 free hitters. He was such a large proportion of the average score since everybody who didn't FH captained him. If he had not been playing this week (and if we had known that in advance) GW35 FH users would have absolutely crushed those without given his ownership.

            • DaisyDaisyDaisyDaisy
              • 10 Years
              5 years, 11 months ago

              Played it way back in GW6 and got a week OR of 144k which I guess was pretty healthy.

            • ianlamerton
              • Fantasy Football Scout Member
              • 6 Years
              5 years, 11 months ago

              I think at the end of the day if you planned effectively then it did not matter which option you went for.

              I used FH in 31 and scored 100. As has been pointed out elsewhere in this thread many managers scored 100+ without FH or even without 11 players.

              I took a 4 point hit in 35 to get 11 players. Sitting on 46 (-4) with 1 left to play. This is marginally below the FH average of 50 with the chance to get above it if tonight goes my way. Also had the unfortunate benching of Sane and Auba so effectively only had 9.5 players.

              Win win whichever option managers chose.

            • GreenWindmill
              • Fantasy Football Scout Member
              • 12 Years
              5 years, 11 months ago

              Interesting, although the real measure of whether you played it right is how much better (or worse) off you are as a result.

              If you scored 80 on a free hit this week but your normal team would have scored 85 then it's not a success 🙂

            • thes7s
              • 10 Years
              5 years, 11 months ago

              31 I got 101(-4) with 8 active players, 35 I got 66 so far with Baines still to play. It's all about the rank jump and difference from the top 10k average.

            • The Rumour Mill
              • 7 Years
              5 years, 11 months ago

              I'm happy with how I've deployed the chip this season.

              GW31, no free hit, 94 scored.

              GW35, free hit deployed, 84 all out.

              1. The Rumour Mill
                • 7 Years
                5 years, 11 months ago

                also, my non free hit team would have scored NINE points this week....

            • Santigold
              • Fantasy Football Scout Member
              • 11 Years
              5 years, 11 months ago

              GW31: 81 points, no FH (actually 101-20 points, don't ask)
              GW35: 73 points with Pickford and Jagielka to go.

              Using the FH now also made it easier for me to plan for the doubles. Since my GW32 wildcard, I've gone from OR 181k to 45k. So, for me the WC GW32, BB GW34 and FH GW35 strategy has been a success so far.

            • Darklord_bg
              • 7 Years
              5 years, 11 months ago

              GW31: 90(-4) no FH
              GW35: 57 with Baines + Perez to go

              So, supposing I chose playing it in 31 and got the average in both 31 and 35, I would be 15 points behind.

              So it seems I made the right choice having only the blanks in mind.

              However, there is a downside to playing FH in 35 which is we got our original crappy GW34 team back.
              Seeing how badly the WC 32/33 template failed, it will take us a couple of game weeks (or hits) to catch up to the folks who filled their teams with 35 assets (City in particular).

            • 5os
              • 9 Years
              5 years, 11 months ago

              GW31: No FH: 102 (-4)
              GW35: FH: 58 with Baines left to play.

              Looking at these two weeks alone doesn't tell the whole picture. Once I had settled on this strategy, transfers and WC for the last 7-8 weeks were all done with that strategy in mind. I would only have 2 players this week without the FH but I would have obviously planned things differently if I had played the FH earlier.

              I'm inclined to call the GW35 FH strategy a success though. It could have been better if players like Sane, Zaha, Mane, Milner, Bellerin delivered but I'm still beating the average and getting a green arrow so I can't complain too much.

            • alexmj
              • Fantasy Football Scout Member
              • 9 Years
              5 years, 11 months ago

              Completed skewed by Salah though, so how can you draw any conclusions for next year?

            • diesel001
              • 7 Years
              5 years, 11 months ago

              Sitting in the Top 6k at the moment (with Baines and Dubravka to go).

              Scored 86pts in GW31. 10pts down on an average GW31 Free Hitter and 16pts above a non-Free Hitter.
              Scored 58pts + Baines + Dubravka to go. So will be at least 8pts up on a GW35 Free Hitter and 26pts up on a non-Free Hitter.

              So GW35 Free Hit worked for me. Question for me is GW36 (I have no City players or Salah) and GW37 (who to Triple Captain). I think GW36 and GW37 will make or break my season.

            • Ragabolly
              • 14 Years
              5 years, 11 months ago

              Cheers Jonty. I think I will wait till the end of season to try to gauge which one worked better, because depploying FH in either week determined a lot about what transfers and selections managers have for so many other weeks.

              So I will be patient and at the end, I will draw a (big) random sample of managers who used either strategy and check what points they managed to get through weeks 30-38. That would give a better metric imo.

              1. Ragabolly
                • 14 Years
                5 years, 11 months ago

                But as for my team, I scored well in both weeks and currently have an OR of 2k, so I think my strategy (WC32, BB34, FH35) really suited my team.

                1. diesel001
                  • 7 Years
                  5 years, 11 months ago

                  Ragabolly, I think you are in a similar position to lots of GW32 or GW33 WCers. You have Alonso (banned) and no City or Arsenal players.

                  GW36 is now critical as we are relying on some underperfoming players (Son, Mahrez, Willian, Lingard, Gross, Burnley defence) to save us from getting mauled by those that have City, Liverpool and Arsenal players.

                  1. Ragabolly
                    • 14 Years
                    5 years, 11 months ago

                    That is true, I am fully preparing myself for some red arrows. But yeah it’s still early to judge.

                    1. Baps hunter
                      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
                      • 6 Years
                      5 years, 11 months ago

                      Yes. One main problem is that we should not look at points only when comparing strategies. It is like saying in the autumn that owning Aguero before taxi crash was stupid. Alonso ban can be compared to that. These things are complicated. One way to do it might be comparing different strategies over long period later. But it has some problems also.

                  2. Anathallo
                    • 14 Years
                    5 years, 11 months ago

                    Would love to hear some discussion of this on the scoutcast.

              2. Buzzy
                • 6 Years
                5 years, 11 months ago

                good stuff Ragabolly.
                it's difficult to gauge any conclusion at it stands.
                I'd be interested in how much this fh chip works out to be worth on average.
                ie fh31 what did the top 10k score who used this and what would they have scored without it, same for fh35 teams.
                fwiw I played mine in gw10 for a 17pt gain which I thought was cr@p.....I'm guessing here that the average is 18 to 25 pts across all gameweeks

                • 10 Years
                5 years, 11 months ago

                Spot on Ragabolly. The analysis from Jonty is too crude to conclude anything meaningful. From my own experience (8 point hit in 28 to load up on Liverpool) and a few others like Champ who wildcarded around then to get ahead of the 31 curve I think you could start your analysis as early as 28 when the blanks became known.

                Also I think we need to take into account people's situations at the time. Those with say 8 players ready for blanks in 31 would naturally be more reluctant to Free Hit than those with 3 or 4 players available. So there's a sort of an invisible hand guiding plans.

                  • 10 Years
                  5 years, 11 months ago

                  Further to the "players available" invisible hand there's also the effect of chips already played. A lot of us who TC'd Kane in 22 or used FH/TC/BB elsewhere in the season had fewer chips to use but more freedom in using their remaining ones.

              3. JasonG123
                • 10 Years
                5 years, 11 months ago

                Ragabolly, you cannot possibly take a random sample because there is self-selection bias.

                More experienced managers generally went for the GW35 FH so naturally that would be the better outcome. It was more the casual managers who went for the GW31 FH who will do worse for reasons other than deciding to FH in 31 vs 35.

                A regression analysis won't be able to control for this endogeneity, maybe only by controlling for a player's past ranks as a proxy for how good they are. The only way to truly have measured this is to randomly assign some people to FH in 31 and some people to FH in 35 and then to measure the difference in performance from GW30-38. As we haven't done this, we can't possibly test which strategy is superior.

                In fact, taking a random sample achieves absolutely nothing because we're interested more in causality rather than inference to the population.

            • Toblerone52 - Zlatan Ibra-H…
              • Fantasy Football Scout Member
              • 7 Years
              5 years, 11 months ago

              I think Free hit in 35 seems to have worked better as I'm 17 points behind the average manager's score this week but in 31 everyone had similar scores.

              There were more good players on offer for the free hit this week and I think that's why it will be seen as more successful. Getting the right Liverpool, City and Arsenal players will lead to a successful week.

            • Óró Sé…
              • Fantasy Football Scout Member
              • 9 Years
              5 years, 11 months ago

              137 points GW31, no FH.
              (102 points GW34, no FH)
              58 points GW35, no FH.

              Used my FH in GW22, gained 23 points from it.

              Think the FH has its draw backs in that you’re more inclined to go very different to your normal, probably fairly decent team.

              Think the planning around doubles and blanks when forced to make compromises has served me well anyway - I definetly has some decent luck though.

              1. Buzzy
                • 6 Years
                5 years, 11 months ago

                great scores mate

                1. Óró Sé…
                  • Fantasy Football Scout Member
                  • 9 Years
                  5 years, 11 months ago

                  Cheers Buzzy!

            • reddragons178
              • Fantasy Football Scout Member
              • 7 Years
              5 years, 11 months ago

              Shouldn't it be better measured as the difference as a %age rather than number of points?

              So
              GW 31 - 25.3/95.4 = 26.5% uplift on average,
              GW 35 - 17.9/50.5 = 35.4% uplift on average.

              =GW35 FH more effective in that perspective only.

            • alexmj
              • Fantasy Football Scout Member
              • 9 Years
              5 years, 11 months ago

              It wasn't the free hit weeks that brought the strategies down, it was the poor GW 34 unless you had Smalling/Gudmundson/Gross. Poor captain returns, no big hitters getting more than 10. Hopefully GW 37 lives up to expectations.

              The blank game weeks have brought bigger rises than the doubles.

            • minges
              • 12 Years
              5 years, 11 months ago

              It is hard to quantify exactly if it was a success or not, it really depends on individual circumstances.

              Personally I set up my team to account for 31 blanks, wc32, bb34, FH35 and tc37.
              For 31 I scored 91 thanks to a freak game from Salah. FH35 I'm on 65 with Pickford left and I consider that a success as my bb team would have left me on 15.

              Had I planned the other way around, would I be better off, ignoring 31? Almost impossible to know

            • Make Arrows Green Again
              • 7 Years
              5 years, 11 months ago

              Salah ruined the 31 free hit for those who played it then. Doesn't matter if you only have eight starters - if your captain is going to return 58 points and everyone has him then the rest of the tally becomes somewhat insignificant.

              1. Anathallo
                • 14 Years
                5 years, 11 months ago

                Disagree. A point in 31 is worth the same as a point in 35. Whether it's a high scoring week or not is irrelevant.

                1. Make Arrows Green Again
                  • 7 Years
                  5 years, 11 months ago

                  Good point - I phrased my initial point wrong I think. It didn't matter if you had a free hit because it was quite a low scoring week, punctuated by a good performance from a player most people had already, so the deviation from template was quite low.

                  1. Make Arrows Green Again
                    • 7 Years
                    5 years, 11 months ago

                    I suppose what I'm saying is that if you have a team comprising players like Zanka, Quaner, Wilson, Aké, players who you have in for a punt but you're not expecting much from, and then you (and everyone else) has Firmino, Mané, Salah then the only difference between the free hitters and the rest is those fringe players who might amass 12-15 points between them. For example, I got 96 in 31 with no free hit and returns ONLY from the Liverpool players listed above and Stanislas - so meaningful returns only from four players! I could not have done much better even if I had activated my FH.

                    There was a much higher number of quality players in 35 and the free hit was really needed to plan, and put optimal players in place, rather than a bunch of placeholders. The difference from the placeholder template was much greater.

            • TwiggsJameson
              • Fantasy Football Scout Member
              • 13 Years
              5 years, 11 months ago

              I still have 3 players to play, so I think you are jumping the gun a bit.......

            • Forza
              • Fantasy Football Scout Member
              • 9 Years
              5 years, 11 months ago

              We can't discount the gameweeks that surrounded 31 and 35. My 31 free hit allowed me to avoid fixating on buying mediocre players too early, and I got to pick most of my non-FH blank gameweek team with a wildcard rather than transfers.

              It depends on the opportunity cost of using or not using other chips as well. My 5-point bench boost was a risk and a huge letdown, but it allowed me to triple captain in 37 rather than Lukaku in 34. Each chip shapes your decisions and scores in an immeasurable amount of contexts.

              1. Anathallo
                • 14 Years
                5 years, 11 months ago

                Agree with this.

            • Anathallo
              • 14 Years
              5 years, 11 months ago

              Looks like most people are happy when they played it no matter when. I played mine earlier in the season, and got an 8pt uplift on what my team would have scored that week, and probably a bit more as I would have been removing players I wanted back quickly.

              I got 94 in 31, and effectively 'spent' my gained 8 points to score 62 this week with 1 to come. I also have been able to bring in assets I want for DGW37 which this week's FHers are likely to be missing or needing to hit to get in (more expensively).

              As others have said, planning seems to matter most. As someone who 'wasted' their FH chip I imagine I'll be looking to play it in 31 next year. Planning round gw35 and getting good double gameweek teams hasn't been too hard but I think you can really profit from effectively ignoring the big blank week both before and after, perhaps even allowing for a later wildcard.

              1. Danno - Emre Canada
                • 9 Years
                5 years, 11 months ago

                Haha not me, I played mine back in GW11 for a multitude of different reasons and been regretting it ever since, won't make that mistake again if given the chance, I lost about 20pts on original team haha

            • shirtless
              • Fantasy Football Scout Member
              • 12 Years
              5 years, 11 months ago

              I freehitted in DGW34 as I had 11 starters in GW35. I scored 90 points which was great however my proper team would have scored 87 anyway!

              I've done ok overall as my GW35 planning has yielded 58 so far hit-free too having switched Gross>Silva with my FT. Mariappa on the bench too!

            • JCB80
              • 5 Years
              5 years, 11 months ago

              GW31 - 116 FH
              GW35 - 71 (-8) No FH

              Given the -8 hit I took this week was to get in Kompany, Sterling, Salah, & Jesus for 4 players that weren't even due to play it looks to have been a wise investment.

              The downside to knowing I had no FH for GW35 was my GW34 team had to be planned to account for how well the players would do in 34 & 35 combined, and not just pick all the players who doubled up in 34. As it turned out my bench boost bombed (I only got 6pts from my bench, which wasn't helped by Hennessey scoring 0, although the pay off was he got 10 this week), but I still scored 88 in total.

              How I do in the next gameweeks will determine whether it was the right way to do things or not.

            • Varsenal
              • 8 Years
              5 years, 11 months ago

              GW 31: 77pts (81 -4) No FH
              GW 35: 66pts FH (perez still to play). My team w/o FH would have scored 12pts this week... so that 50+ point differential was well worth saving the FH.

            • the Penman
              • Fantasy Football Scout Member
              • 12 Years
              5 years, 11 months ago

              I dead-ended my team to GW31 in preparation for the blanks and a GW32 wildcard (which actually turned into a GW33 wildcard, but that’s another story...), and free hitted now in GW35.

              GW31: 85 (1 goal, 1 assist, 1 clean sheet...and Captain Salah)
              GW35: 65 with 2 to play (Pérez & Lejeune). So pushing 70, on an average that’s 20 points lower than GW31. So I think I win overall using it now rather than 31.

            • Baps hunter
              • Fantasy Football Scout Member
              • 6 Years
              5 years, 11 months ago

              No fh 31: 106-12=94
              Fh35: 58 + Baines and Coleman to go
              WC 32: 77 but dgw34 only 67 (rmt projected 99.44), bb37 strategy

              These numbers alone give no reliable info. With good planning fh31 would have been useless for me. Dead end 31 strategy worked well. Perhaps bad luck with fh35 because of Barnes goal etc

              1. Baps hunter
                • Fantasy Football Scout Member
                • 6 Years
                5 years, 11 months ago

                FH 35: 72 pts (and 23 on bench 🙁 )

            • HVT
              • 13 Years
              5 years, 11 months ago

              GW 31 - 104 (-4)
              GW 35 - 67 FH

              Both way above average and working out very well for me regardless

            • scubasmithy
              • Fantasy Football Scout Member
              • 8 Years
              5 years, 11 months ago

              Used my free hit this week.... 67 points so far with Baines left to play.... I’m happy it played it when I did as it allowed me to load up for 34 and 37

              1. scubasmithy
                • Fantasy Football Scout Member
                • 8 Years
                5 years, 11 months ago

                Doh - 69 points this week on free hit and got 80 during the previous blank

            • Jairzinho
              • Fantasy Football Scout Member
              • 13 Years
              5 years, 11 months ago

              Free hitting in week 35 was a no brainier.

              I matched the average week 31 free hit score anyway, and only had a couple players playing that week.

              Also beat the average free hit score for week 35. Maybe I’m just an above average manager.

            • Wouldiwas Shookspeared
              • 9 Years
              5 years, 11 months ago

              GW31 score was 92 with a -4 hit to bring in Mounie ( yes really 🙁 )
              FH35 score is 69 with Baines to go.

              Safe to say that i made the right call.

            • RedLightning
              • Fantasy Football Scout Member
              • Has Moderation Rights
              • 13 Years
              5 years, 11 months ago

              The success of the Free Hit should not be judged by merely looking at GW31 and GW34 in isolation, since the Free Hit is part of a strategy that also affects preceding and following game-weeks, and we can't really make a final judgement till the end of the season.
              But it does appear that on the evidence so far the GW35 Free Hitters have been far more successful (as well as more numerous in replying to this hot topic) than the GW31 ones.

              Jay has a mini-league (The home stretch, https://fantasy.premierleague.com/a/leagues/standings/1268274/classic) that started in GW28.
              All but one of the top 49 positions in that mini-league are currently all held by GW35 Free Hitters.
              The exception is A Mannon in 16th position who played his Free Hit in GW34.
              The highest placed GW31 Free Hitter is Liaqat Hayat in 50th place, 50 points behind the leader.
              Shirin Nizar, the leader of my January to May League, was another GW31 Free Hitter and is 51 points behind the leader.

              In my Doubles, Blanks and Chips mini-league, the top 10 positions are also currently held by GW35 Free Hitters.
              Zeroual Aymen is in 11th position despite playing his Free Hit back in GW10!
              The highest-placed GW31 Free Hitter is MOH, ZAID in 21st position, who is 18 points behind the leader.

              1. RedLightning
                • Fantasy Football Scout Member
                • Has Moderation Rights
                • 13 Years
                5 years, 11 months ago

                (Doubles, Blanks and Chips started in GW31, 3 game-weeks after Jay's mini-league).

              2. JasonG123
                • 10 Years
                5 years, 11 months ago

                This is interesting but it is subject to self-selection bias in that more experienced managers generally followed the herd and went for the GW35 FH over the GW31 FH.

                Still, my opinion is that the GW35 FH was much, much better.

                1. RedLightning
                  • Fantasy Football Scout Member
                  • Has Moderation Rights
                  • 13 Years
                  5 years, 11 months ago

                  There is certainly a significant difference between the number of top 10k managers in Ragabolly's survey who played their Free Hits in GW31 or earlier and the number in these parts who preferred to play it in GW35.

                  Some of those in the top 10k who played their Free Hits early may be inexperienced, and there are certainly many in these parts who follow the herd, but more experienced managers should be capable of making their own decisions and leading or varying from the herd rather than following it; most of them probably weighed up the possibilities and decided for themselves that GW35 was the best option.

                  Most experienced managers probably realised quite early on that it would be best to save their Free Hit for a blank game-week, but didn't decide whether GW31 or GW35 was better till much later.

                  A significant minority in both my and Jay's mini-leagues did play their Free Hits in GW31, but it is notable how few of them are in high positions in these mini-leagues, especially in Jay's mini-league which should have been more favourable to them.

                  1. Hotdogs for Tea
                    • 8 Years
                    5 years, 10 months ago

                    Did you keep a note of the names ? It would be interesting to check if they climb the rankings - I see there are quite a few alternative chip strategies above my 31st place - 31st, 30th, 28th, 16th, 12th, 10th, 9th

                2. RedLightning
                  • Fantasy Football Scout Member
                  • Has Moderation Rights
                  • 13 Years
                  5 years, 11 months ago

                  You may be right.

                  There aren't as many GW31 Free Hitters in Doubles, Blanks and Chips as I thought - only 13 out of 177 (7.3%), currently in positions 21st, 45th, 57th, 71st, 91st, 109th, 115th, 130th, 137th (2), 144th, 150th and 156th.

                  There are also quite a few who Free Hitted in GW34 or in earlier game-weeks such as GW10 and GW22.

                  Some of those currently in low positions may be there partly because they didn't play their Bench Boost in GW34, so they may regain some ground if they still have it to play in GW37.

                  So the comparison between GW31 and GW35 for the Free Hit is less conclusive than I thought -
                  perhaps it just shows that most experienced managers decided not to play their Free Hit in GW31.

                  1. JasonG123
                    • 10 Years
                    5 years, 11 months ago

                    Interesting info. It's really hard to be able to discern the actual effect, every method seems biased but they all point to the FH35 being superior.

                  2. Baps hunter
                    • Fantasy Football Scout Member
                    • 6 Years
                    5 years, 11 months ago

                    Are there many like me (52nd) who are without TC (TC Kane22)? Many of us maybe on bb37 strategy. Perhaps you should count us as another sample also.

                    1. Baps hunter
                      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
                      • 6 Years
                      5 years, 11 months ago

                      BB37 vs TC37 remains to be seen also. If Kane is not in form, it may become more exciting.

                    2. RedLightning
                      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
                      • Has Moderation Rights
                      • 13 Years
                      5 years, 11 months ago

                      World number one Bharat Dhody still has his Bench Boost available to play in DGW37, so you're in good company - he also played his Triple Captain in GW22.

                      The only players above you in Doubles, Blanks & Chips who have not yet played their Bench Boost are Phil Dagger, Ian Baldwin, MOH ZAID, Endytio Nugroho and Dylan McCullough.

            • L S P
              • 8 Years
              5 years, 11 months ago

              118 in 31 (FH)

              48 with Baines/Perez to play in GW35 (WC)

              up 10k in rank so far, hoping to move up a few more before the day is out.

            • JasonG123
              • 10 Years
              5 years, 11 months ago

              Lot's of misinformation in this thread.

              Jonty you can't compare the results in GW31 to GW35 because they're skewed by Salah. You've defined active managers as managers that have made a transfer in the last 2 GWs, but many of those active managers would not have owned Salah because they're casuals etc. Looking at the top 10k results is a much better proxy since it excludes non-serious managers (everyone on FFS is a serious manager).

              Comparing the results for top 10k managers:

              Average GW31 points scored by a FH manager (top 10k): 100.6

              Average GW31 points scored by a non-FH manager (top 10k): 82.6

              Difference: 18

              Average GW35 points scored by a FH manager (top 10k): 58.2

              Average GW35 points scored by a non-FH manager (top 10k): 41.2

              Difference: 17

              So only a 1 point difference and still a game and autosubs to come which will help FH managers as well.

              This is still not a perfect measure but it's better than the figures above. I also believe the gains from being able to prepare GW34/37 DGW teams without having to worry about GW35 are far significant to the gains from bringing in blanking players in GW28-30, but that is just my personal opinion.

            • toontastic
              • 13 Years
              5 years, 11 months ago

              Scored 65 with Baines left on FH. However, ML rival scored 70 with no FH.

            • Spokey
              • 8 Years
              5 years, 11 months ago

              FH35 managers got lucky in many ways.
              -They got the maximum blank possible
              -DGW draws were in their favor. (City, Swansea, West Ham having DGW37 and not 34)
              -Information about Lacasette/Aubameyang
              -Had a bench when Sane, Walker and Otamendi didnt play
              -They were unlucky to get leaked Liverpool teamsheet because only Salah got points.

              I did WC28 and FH31 (98p) There wasnt an obvious way to play FH this year I think. It will be hard to analyse what strategy will be the best next year.

            • Hotdogs for Tea
              • 8 Years
              5 years, 11 months ago

              I really don’t think you can compare chips in isolation and the feed back to this Hot Topic comes over a bit like ‘look at me, didn’t I get it so right’ ... quite a lot seem to have this edge to them recently 😉

              Just a reminder, there are a bunch of people still to play their WC in 36 and that strategy was tied to a Free Hit in 31. No doubt ground was lost in 34 & 35 but will be gained in 36 & 37 as everyone scrambles to unravel their 34 team in comparison to the WC 36 free-slate.

              Also the fixture planning was turned on it’s head with Arsenal, Seansea and City doubles going to 37 instead of 35 and no one really expected that. Had that not fortuitously happen the Free Hit in 35 would have been a different ball game with players common to both 34 and 35.

              There is no right or wrong in this, and as always it is about getting lucky with the correct players 🙂

              1. Hotdogs for Tea
                • 8 Years
                5 years, 11 months ago

                34

              2. Jafalad
                • 14 Years
                5 years, 11 months ago

                Exactly. Good points raised.

            • mearley14
              • Fantasy Football Scout Member
              • 10 Years
              5 years, 11 months ago

              Hi Jonty

              I took a different strategy to most on here.

              I FH in GW31 and scored 108
              I had planned my team around DGW 34 & BB scoring 94
              I then Wildcard in BGW35 and have 70 points with Kenedy & Dummett still to play.
              My wildcard has 11 DGW37 players ready for TC

              Since GW30 I have gone from 37,777 up to 7,657 in the overall rankings

            • Cityzen Kane
              • 7 Years
              5 years, 11 months ago

              I had no FH for either 31 or 35
              got lucky ... and learned to hold next year for blank fixtures

              GW31
              FH avg- 95
              No FH avg 70
              MY SCORE 88

              GW35
              FH avg- 50
              No FH avg 33
              MY SCORE 65 so far

            • tricky80
              • 8 Years
              5 years, 11 months ago

              GW31 96
              GW35 FH 59 (Pickford and Baines to come)

            • darrellb
              • Fantasy Football Scout Member
              • 7 Years
              5 years, 11 months ago

              One point I didn't see mentioned here, I think that the dgw fixture announcement went completely in favour of the fh31 lot. Just by stocking up on pool , arsenal and city, they were able to navigate the second blank while not having to worry too much about the dgw 34 because of the poorer options. If the fixtures were announced as initially expected and wc 32/33 squads had city and arsenal assets as well, I think the situation would've been very different. Eventually I think the decision to save fh for 35 was the correct one.

              1. Spokey
                • 8 Years
                5 years, 11 months ago

                I think it the other way around. The FH31 could have had DGW34 (with BB) and games in 35 if the City, Arsenal, Swansea and West Ham games would go as we tought.

            • Qubit
              • 14 Years
              5 years, 11 months ago

              I was more or less forced into playing mine earlier in the season. But if I still had it later i would have played it in wk37 most likely, to maximise the upside, rather than minimise the downside by playing in 35 (or 31)

            • UshFPL
              • 7 Years
              5 years, 11 months ago

              I'm happy with my GW35 FH. Salah(c) in 31 was enough and I still ended up with around 90 points

            • beefo
              • 7 Years
              5 years, 11 months ago

              So much depends on context. My team was relatively well set up for GW 31 with just a little surgery, but not at all for GW 35, so it made sense to hang onto my Free Hit chip.

              GW 31: net 90 points after a -8 (3 transfers)
              GW 35: 77 points

              As others have mentioned, Salah was the key to GW 31 working out well.

              1. Baps hunter
                • Fantasy Football Scout Member
                • 6 Years
                5 years, 11 months ago

                Was it? Had he scored 0 pts, no points difference between fh and non fh teams. Everyone had him anyway.

            • Ginkapo FPL
              • 12 Years
              5 years, 11 months ago

              Personally I would like to see average scores for gw31 to gw37 for FH 31's FH35's and obviously FH34's who all had TC and BB available in this period. I think its the overall score over this period which will tell us the most.

            • Mrcjcullen
              • Fantasy Football Scout Member
              • 8 Years
              5 years, 11 months ago

              freehit 35 - 78 points.

              i'm happy with it 🙂

            • Jafalad
              • 14 Years
              5 years, 11 months ago

              Jonty's post needs to account for the Everton game in 35. Otherwise, comparisons are futile.

              Fwiw, I played my FH in 35, achieved 60 points - 30 more than average - and rose 168k.

          3. Tshelby
            • 9 Years
            5 years, 11 months ago

            Thoughts on this move?

            DDG, Ryan
            Smalling, Alonso, VDH, Lowton, Morgan
            Salah, Albrighton, Gross, Mahrez, Willian
            Lukaku, Kane, Barnes

            A) Alonso, Gross -> Sterling, Dummett (-4)
            B) Mahrez, Gross -> Sterling, Gundogan (-4) or another 5.9 mid

            Going to TC in GW 37

            Cheers

            1. WE GO FOR IT
              • 8 Years
              5 years, 11 months ago

              A

            2. Sedemuda
              • Fantasy Football Scout Member
              • 7 Years
              5 years, 11 months ago

              Very similar side to yours.
              I'm doing Gross & Kaku to Sterling & Jesus

          4. pjomara
            • 13 Years
            5 years, 11 months ago

            What are Christiansen owners doing (besides tearing their hair out)?
            Worth taking a hit for him for the DGW? Might start neither as he seems out of favour.
            Thinking of Mawson, Stones or Monreal.

            1. Weasel Boy
              • Fantasy Football Scout Member
              • 11 Years
              5 years, 11 months ago

              I'm possibly gonna get rid.
              He's absolutely useless.

          5. It’s gonna Ben Mee
            • 10 Years
            5 years, 11 months ago

            Need a Coleman haul to save my GW...

            1. Darklord_bg
              • 7 Years
              5 years, 11 months ago

              You spelled Baines wrong.

          6. the snazzy viking
            • 7 Years
            5 years, 11 months ago

            good plan for rest of the season?

            current team:
            DDG Ryan
            Ota Chilwell Morgan Lowton Mariappa
            Hazard Salah Son Pogba Kenedy
            Lukaku Vardy Barnes

            GW36: Kaku to Kane
            GW37: Salah to Sterling
            GW38: Hazard to Salah

            1. It’s gonna Ben Mee
              • 10 Years
              5 years, 11 months ago

              I’d keep Lukaku tbh

              1. the snazzy viking
                • 7 Years
                5 years, 11 months ago

                interesting... even with Kane and Jesus looking great options for the DGW?

            2. Winter_is_coming
              • Fantasy Football Scout Member
              • 10 Years
              5 years, 11 months ago

              If you don`t need some risk in 37 gameweek sounds very good.
              I will take some hits (-4 or -8) for 37 gameweek (KDB, Silva)

              1. the snazzy viking
                • 7 Years
                5 years, 11 months ago

                yeah could also fit in another City player in the team, but taking a hit for a player that may not start both games is putting me off :/

          7. Winter_is_coming
            • Fantasy Football Scout Member
            • 10 Years
            5 years, 11 months ago

            72 and Baines to go. Jump to 46k first time this season, but main rival still 50 points ahead 🙁
            I have TC (Kane 37), he will BB with not ideal squad. Any hope?

            1. Rupert The Horse
              • Fantasy Football Scout Member
              • 11 Years
              5 years, 11 months ago

              No.

            2. TLF
              • Fantasy Football Scout Member
              • 7 Years
              5 years, 11 months ago

              Depends on how much your teams differ, that's quite a few points but DGW players could save you. I made up 30 on rival using FH chip this week, just 8 behind now with Baines and Dummett left to play.

          8. UnitednationsXI
            • Fantasy Football Scout Member
            • 12 Years
            5 years, 11 months ago

            Possibly the three most important gw’s left of the season…have so many ML that was very tight. Been using a 3-5-2 strategy but confused on what to do over next two gameweeks

            Ddg Ryan
            Alonso Smalling Maguire Cedric Lowton
            Willian Pogba Son Mahrez Gross
            Kane Vardy Barnes

            A: Gross + Mahrez + Vardy >> hojberg + Sterling + Jesus (-4)
            - Will revert to a 4-3-3 for dgw37 as I will have 4 dgw defenders
            - Will Alonso play both games in the dgw?
            - Will give me 2 city and 2 spurs players
            - No arsenal coverage..maybe take another for williian > ramsey as an option

            B: Gross + Mahrez + Alonso + Barnes >> hojberg + Silva + Naughton + Jesus (-8)
            - Will revert to a 3-4-3 and bench one of my dgw defenders (cedric or naughton)..swans have a good fix in gw38 so naughton will be handy
            - Allows me to retain vardy and get rid of Alonso instead (compared to option A where I get rid of vardy and keep Alonso)

          9. Dacra
            • 9 Years
            5 years, 11 months ago

            Is no Salah or Kane for the rest of the season Insane?

            I'm tempted by it..

            1. Zladan
              • 6 Years
              5 years, 11 months ago

              Kane surely. DGW and easy fixtures.

              1. Dacra
                • 9 Years
                5 years, 11 months ago

                But without Kane I can have Jesus, Vardy, Lukaku all with doubles, Kane covered (maybe!) by Son and Alli.

                1. Zladan
                  • 6 Years
                  5 years, 11 months ago

                  You can’t cover a back-to-back Kane hat-trick.

            2. 1569Tippins
              • Fantasy Football Scout Member
              • 12 Years
              5 years, 11 months ago

              Depends on a number of factors but, no I wouldn’t say insane, especially if chasing - but it’s definitely dangerous as you could plummet down the rankings.

              I went without Kane for the last two gameweeks of last season... I was ranked around 150th in the world and ended up 661st primarily due to Kane hauling!

              I am currently without Kane and Salah... and as I’m only just inside the Top 100k, I’m very, very tempted to go without either myself.

          10. Spike ⚽️
            • 12 Years
            5 years, 11 months ago

            WTF has Wild Rover done to his team? Incredible situation

            https://fantasy.premierleague.com/a/team/66/event/35

            1. RESULT
              • Fantasy Football Scout Member
              • 13 Years
              5 years, 11 months ago

              Probably can't be bothered with it anymore. Seasons over for him

            2. MTPockets
                5 years, 11 months ago

                Said he'd had enough with fpl.

                1. Spike ⚽️
                  • 12 Years
                  5 years, 11 months ago

                  Has he left then ?

                  1. Christina.
                    • 14 Years
                    5 years, 11 months ago

                    yes

                    1. Spike ⚽️
                      • 12 Years
                      5 years, 11 months ago

                      What's going on Christina? Another good one bites the dust 🙁

                    1. Spike ⚽️
                      • 12 Years
                      5 years, 11 months ago

                      Thanks for response. Shame !

                      1. MTPockets
                          5 years, 11 months ago

                          Maybe but I can sympathise - after 12 seasons I don't enjoy it so much any more.

                          Probably influenceded by rank, but also find the forum a bit much these days - started playing Norwegian game for something new and more discussion/fewer lols and rmts.

                          1. Still Unsure
                              5 years, 11 months ago

                              The Eliteserien threads are really enjoyable, and actually useful. Far too much cr*p on the main threads unfortunately nowadays.

                              1. MTPockets
                                  5 years, 11 months ago

                                  The game's a breath of fresh air but it's the articles and community that make it a bit special.
                                  Don't remember when I first posted here (sometime pre 2010), but it used to be more like that.

                              2. Weasel Boy
                                • Fantasy Football Scout Member
                                • 11 Years
                                5 years, 11 months ago

                                This.

                                The LOLs etc can really wind you up.

                    2. Weasel Boy
                      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
                      • 11 Years
                      5 years, 11 months ago

                      He's given up this season I guess

                    3. Rupert The Horse
                      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
                      • 11 Years
                      5 years, 11 months ago

                      Whatever floats your boat.

                      1. Spike ⚽️
                        • 12 Years
                        5 years, 11 months ago

                        Maybe but this is ridiculous!

                      2. Yozzer
                        • 6 Years
                        5 years, 11 months ago

                        Each to their own. He's one of the old skool players . Unless you been playing for many years you probably wouldn't understand that all the changes and commercialisation of FPL has taken it backwards in many people's opinions. When you stop enjoying it I guess it's time to call it a day. Doing it by wrecking your team helps as their is no temptation to come back I guess

                        1. Rupert The Horse
                          • Fantasy Football Scout Member
                          • 11 Years
                          5 years, 11 months ago

                          This is my eleventh year, not a fan of the changes but then that my be me getting stuck in the past.

                          1. Yozzer
                            • 6 Years
                            5 years, 11 months ago

                            Yer I'm very old skool too and i don't welcome how commercial it is now or the way they have messed about with the game. It's sad that OPTA stats and the tools are so freely available these days. It almost picks the team for you. Preferred the good old days when you had to watch games more to decide who to put in. Each to their own though we either accept it or move on. Although I've quit this season I'll be back next year as it's still appealing but not as much as it was

                            1. Rupert The Horse
                              • Fantasy Football Scout Member
                              • 11 Years
                              5 years, 11 months ago

                              Quite like using the stats in the members section, the greatest result of that stat digging was bringing in Tadic a few years back and capping him for his 23 points.\What I loathe is the spoon feeding on the FPL site though, I find it lazy and all too familiar with what I dislike with the modern world in general.

                              1. BIGREDDOG
                                • 6 Years
                                5 years, 11 months ago

                                Deep

                    4. Yozzer
                      • 6 Years
                      5 years, 11 months ago

                      Think he's lost the love for FPL Spike which is totally understandable as it hasn't been the same for a few years now. Hopefully he be back after a break but .

                      1. Spike ⚽️
                        • 12 Years
                        5 years, 11 months ago

                        It's a pity. So many good ones gone. 4Vets, Evs, Beric to name a few

                        1. Yozzer
                          • 6 Years
                          5 years, 11 months ago

                          Yer it's always a shame. I remember he was close last season to not playing too so it's been coming

                    5. Arteta
                      • 8 Years
                      5 years, 11 months ago

                      It's called quitting and it's the right thing to do if you've had enough.

                    6. StoichkovFPL
                      • 8 Years
                      5 years, 11 months ago

                      Suicide

                    7. FantaCity
                      • 11 Years
                      5 years, 11 months ago

                      I guess if you're leaving, leave in style

                    8. BIGREDDOG
                      • 6 Years
                      5 years, 11 months ago

                      That my friends is called a Ragequit

                  2. Weasel Boy
                    • Fantasy Football Scout Member
                    • 11 Years
                    5 years, 11 months ago

                    I ditched Kaku for Jesus.
                    Not sure how I feel about it.

                  3. Rupert The Horse
                    • Fantasy Football Scout Member
                    • 11 Years
                    5 years, 11 months ago

                    Morning.
                    Looks like one of those weeks where saving an FT is the most obvious thing to do.

                    1. Lingardium Leviosa.
                      • 9 Years
                      5 years, 11 months ago

                      why?

                      1. Rupert The Horse
                        • Fantasy Football Scout Member
                        • 11 Years
                        5 years, 11 months ago

                        So many great fixtures for highly owned players. Then a dgw in two weeks.

                    2. DAZZ
                      • 9 Years
                      5 years, 11 months ago

                      Disagree, anyone without Kane should get Kane, Watford home is too juicy.

                      1. Rupert The Horse
                        • Fantasy Football Scout Member
                        • 11 Years
                        5 years, 11 months ago

                        Happy with Jesus and Vardy and just see how Kane's doing, because he's been looking poor.

                        1. DAZZ
                          • 9 Years
                          5 years, 11 months ago

                          Could you deal with a Kane hatrick, if so then fair enough. Watford on the beach

                          1. Rupert The Horse
                            • Fantasy Football Scout Member
                            • 11 Years
                            5 years, 11 months ago

                            I suppose I just don't fear him at the moment.

                  4. THFC4LIFE
                    • Fantasy Football Scout Member
                    • 7 Years
                    5 years, 11 months ago

                    Probably gonna go with this team this week

                    Dubravka
                    Lowton VVD Lejeune
                    Salah Sterling Son Zaha
                    Kane(c) Jesus Wood

                    Ryan Kenedy Maguire Francis

                    Look good?

                    1. barton fc
                      • 6 Years
                      5 years, 11 months ago

                      looks good to me

                  5. barton fc
                    • 6 Years
                    5 years, 11 months ago

                    currently ranked 26k, is a top 10k finish possible?

                    1. Rupert The Horse
                      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
                      • 11 Years
                      5 years, 11 months ago

                      How many points away are you?

                      1. barton fc
                        • 6 Years
                        5 years, 11 months ago

                        currently on 2,074, how do i see how far away iam.

                        1. Rupert The Horse
                          • Fantasy Football Scout Member
                          • 11 Years
                          5 years, 11 months ago

                          You're 35 points behind, you can do this.

                    2. Weasel Boy
                      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
                      • 11 Years
                      5 years, 11 months ago

                      Possibly but most in top 10k are still active I think so will be tough enough.

                    3. RESULT
                      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
                      • 13 Years
                      5 years, 11 months ago

                      Depends on your team and chips left. Very possible

                      1. barton fc
                        • 6 Years
                        5 years, 11 months ago

                        only triple captain left

                    4. TLF
                      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
                      • 7 Years
                      5 years, 11 months ago

                      Yes

                    5. Arteta
                      • 8 Years
                      5 years, 11 months ago

                      Yes if you nail the remaining captaincies.

                  6. barton fc
                    • 6 Years
                    5 years, 11 months ago

                    seeing people say keep mahrez should i give him one more week? (i have no city players and was going to sell him for sterling)

                    1. Rupert The Horse
                      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
                      • 11 Years
                      5 years, 11 months ago

                      Sell.

                      1. barton fc
                        • 6 Years
                        5 years, 11 months ago

                        he was doing so well before i got him in scared he will haul if i sell, but probably will coz going without city is a scary thought.

                    2. Arteta
                      • 8 Years
                      5 years, 11 months ago

                      Sold for Sterling and never looked back. I advise you to do the same.

                      1. barton fc
                        • 6 Years
                        5 years, 11 months ago

                        his price will likely rise tomorrow so ill prods do it then

                  7. Srv210
                    • 6 Years
                    5 years, 11 months ago

                    1) Who would you rather have for rest of season..

                    A) smalling (double up with DDG) or Vertonghen
                    B) Pogba or son

                    2) most nailed city mid if you have sterling and can't afford KDB?

                    1. RESULT
                      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
                      • 13 Years
                      5 years, 11 months ago

                      This is my current headache.
                      Can see both Silva being rested or limited minutes with yaya foden and sane getting minutes. Jesus only one I can see playing most gws

                      1. Srv210
                        • 6 Years
                        5 years, 11 months ago

                        What about the first part?

                      2. barton fc
                        • 6 Years
                        5 years, 11 months ago

                        silva, however if sane comes on in the last 20 he can still get you points.

                  8. jay01
                    • 9 Years
                    5 years, 11 months ago

                    What do you think of this wildcard team to set up a BB for gwk37?

                    De Gea, Fabianski
                    Azpilicueta, Cedric, Chilwell, Dummett, Ogbonna
                    Salah, Sterling, Arnautovic, Milivojevic, Kenedy
                    Kane, Jesus, Vardy

                    Planning on doing Salah to KDB for gwk37 then switch back to Salah for gwk38

                  9. ludaslol
                    • 6 Years
                    5 years, 11 months ago

                    Very strange weekend for me.

                    Bad ones: -8 for Otamendi and Zaha. Also had Mustafi (1p) Robbo (0p) in my back line. (NO FH).

                    Good ones: Hennessey & Sterling cap.

                    Not sure I'm happy but is at 48 (-8) with Dummett & Kenedy to go. Guess it's alright since I had no FH. To bad Jesus couldnt convert the penatly for probably 6 more points x2 for Sterling

                    1. Spike ⚽️
                      • 12 Years
                      5 years, 11 months ago

                      That's almost exactly the same as my team. I got 49 with Dummet and Kenedy left. I also too -8. My net gain so 23 pts with Sterling (c)

                  10. George James
                    • 9 Years
                    5 years, 11 months ago

                    Chances of starting this week?

                    A) Willian
                    B) Salah
                    C) Walker

                    1. Srv210
                      • 6 Years
                      5 years, 11 months ago

                      Willian 50%
                      Walker 80%
                      Salah if he doesn't play 90 against Roma then he can start

                  11. jpb333
                    • 9 Years
                    5 years, 11 months ago

                    Advice?

                    a. Kaku to Jesus (free)
                    or
                    b. Gross, Alonso to Sterling, 4.2 (-4)

                    DDG
                    Alonso Mustafi Cedric Lowton Morgan
                    Mahrez Salah Willian Gross Cork
                    Kane Kaku Barnes

                    1. Srv210
                      • 6 Years
                      5 years, 11 months ago

                      A..imo kaku is not that explosive

                  12. SpaceCadet
                    • 10 Years
                    5 years, 11 months ago

                    kdb morgan > eriksen davies -4?

                    ddg
                    Robertson lowton morgan
                    kdb silva salah gudmusson
                    kane jesus barnes

                    ryan mili mustafi kiko

                    1. Srv210
                      • 6 Years
                      5 years, 11 months ago

                      Silva can be a rotation risk

                      1. Srv210
                        • 6 Years
                        5 years, 11 months ago

                        Oh sorry didn't read fully...yes I like Eriksen ,Davies minutes an issue..

                        1. SpaceCadet
                          • 10 Years
                          5 years, 11 months ago

                          So would you dump siilva before kdb?

                          1. Srv210
                            • 6 Years
                            5 years, 11 months ago

                            I don't really know but KDB more nailed...i see only sterling as nailed and explosive city mid

                            1. SpaceCadet
                              • 10 Years
                              5 years, 11 months ago

                              Thanks

                    2. Hibbo
                      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
                      • 11 Years
                      5 years, 11 months ago

                      Why you selling DeBruyne?

                      1. SpaceCadet
                        • 10 Years
                        5 years, 11 months ago

                        Have silva and jesus as well. Need to sell one of silva or kdb to get in eriksen

                  13. The Tinkerman
                    • 8 Years
                    5 years, 11 months ago

                    Not sure what to do with this, want rid of Alonso, but can avoid a hit if I keep him and play Dunk/Tark this GW (not convinced Alonso plays both in the double either, they have cup final) if selling id go for Vertonghen. I will TC in 37.

                    DDG
                    Morgan, Lowton, Dunk
                    Eriksen, Mahrez, Groß, Gudmundsson
                    Kane (C), Lukaku, Vardy

                    Ryan; Dunk, LCook, ALONSO

                    1. JAC THE CAT
                      • 10 Years
                      5 years, 11 months ago

                      Hey tinkerman

                      I also have Alonso, think it might be best to sell him on.

                  14. ludaslol
                    • 6 Years
                    5 years, 11 months ago

                    Is Otamendi dropped or rested? Would you just keep him? I'm thinking BB 37