Chip Strategy

Why the Free Hit chip has differential power in FPL BGW29

Deploying a Free Hit could be a differential move for Fantasy Premier League managers in Blank Gameweek 29.

In our recent poll asking site users which chip they planned to use this weekend, just 20% of voters said they would be playing the one-week Wildcard.

And, interestingly, a total of 76.5% said they would be giving the Free Hit a miss in Blank Gameweek 29.

That is something of a new dynamic in Gameweeks such as this.

Every season sees the FA Cup quarter-finals create a very small round of Premier League fixtures and it is usually at this stage we see the most extensive usage of a Free Hit.

However, as you can see from the results above, 63.1% of voters are left without it for Blank Gameweek 29 having previously used it earlier this season.

Blank Gameweek 18 is the most likely round to have created this problem for managers when four matches were postponed and 62.9% of the top 10k at the time played their Free Hit.

Can Jesse Lingard follow up on his West Ham debut FPL haul 9

Meanwhile, 13.4% of our voters are looking ahead to later Gameweeks to use the chip this season.

The EFL Cup final and FA Cup semi-finals are the next rounds to interfere with the Premier League schedule, which could provide Free Hitters for a wider pool of players to make the most of.

Still, suggestions that Fantasy teams will all look the same in Blank Gameweek 29 or that this might soften the impact of a Free Hit are somewhat dispelled by the early results of this poll.

The fact that just 20% of voters are planning on using the chip this week means there are definitely opportunities for those will in possession of a Free Hit to make gains this week.

We have also consulted Fantasy Football Scout readers on how many players they can field for Blank Gameweek 29.

The results here perhaps indicate why there is a portion of managers opting to hold the Free Hit chip.

82.5% of the voters have indicated that they can field at least seven players this weekend, while 68.3% can get to eight active options with their transfers.

Eight is the most common number, with 22.0% of voters able to achieve this squad size for Blank Gameweek 29.

But 16.9% can get to 10 and 19.8% can get to nine.

Particularly interesting is the fact that 9.7% can reach 11 active players for Blank Gameweek 29 at the time of writing.

PlayerPriceTeams selected by
Son Heung-min£9.653.6%
Patrick Bamford£6.749.3%
Harry Kane£11.441.5%
Emiliano Martínez£5.441.1%
Aaron Cresswell£5.927.5%
Ollie Watkins£6.627.2%
Stuart Dallas£5.123.4%
Jack Grealish£7.518.0%
Matt Targett£5.015.0%
Tomas Soucek£5.313.9%
Michail Antonio£6.613.5%
Raphinha£5.613.0%
Gareth Bale£9.610.8%
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang£11.49.9%
Jesse Lingard£6.19.8%
Bukayo Saka£5.39.5%
Tyrone Mings£5.48.9%
Keinan Davis£4.38.0%
Lewis Dunk£5.07.5%
Ezri Konsa£4.67.1%
Bernd Leno£5.06.7%
Hugo Lloris£5.66.5%
Illan Meslier£4.66.4%
Callum Wilson£6.55.6%
Pascal Struijk£4.05.5%
Vladimir Coufal£4.65.5%
Alphonse Areola£4.55.2%
Kieran Tierney£5.25.2%

Those wondering how best to cover themselves for this round, either with their Free Hit or free transfers, should keep an eye on the current ownership figures.

That way, we can work out which players are likely to be most popular on Free Hits, or which players managers without it are likely to be carrying into Blank Gameweek 29.

Of particular note is the fact that the two players on top of this list, Son Heung-min (£9.6m) and Patrick Bamford (£6.7m), both have yellow flags to their names.

Gameweek 28 Scout Picks built on Spurs, Everton and Villa assets

Harry Kane (£11.4m) and Ollie Watkins (£6.6m) are commonly-owned forwards while Emiliano Martínez (£5.4m) has something of a monopoly on Fantasy goalkeeper jerseys.

Jack Grealish (£7.5m) could also have a significant impact on Blank Gameweek 29 if he gets fit in time considering he still sits in 18.0% of Fantasy squads.

Meanwhile, this week’s currently most-bought players Gareth Bale (£9.6m) and Jesse Lingard (£6.1m) are both in about 10% of teams.

362 Comments Post a Comment
  1. Rains of Castamere
    • 9 Years
    3 years, 12 days ago

    7 players in GW29 and FH in 33 for me... I own 6 players blanking that week. But I'd want them all the following GW (Spurs vs SHU, Man City vs Palace) and I could bring in Trent, Jota, Salah for Newcastle (H) and not have to carry them for United away in 34. Would also not have to worry about carrying Villa players around that time as the fixtures are not good.

    FH33 something like

    Martinez
    Castagne Trent Targett
    Bruno Rashford Salah Jota Neto
    Vardy Watkins

    Villa vs WBA
    Leicester vs Palace
    Liverpool vs Newcastle
    Leeds vs Man Utd
    Wolves vs Burnley

    1. Pompel
      • 10 Years
      3 years, 12 days ago

      Great minds think alike 😉 !
      Would go Barnes or Trossard over Neto

      1. Rains of Castamere
        • 9 Years
        3 years, 12 days ago

        Yep will be a toss-up for my 10th/11th player nearer the time but I feel most are locked in. A Brighton player is also an option away to Sheff Utd yep. I can just envisage most FPL managers hitting City/Spurs players out for 33 and then hitting them back in for 34. That's potentially 8-12pts up already on lots of managers - plus the added benefit of a cherry-picked team in 33.

        1. Pompel
          • 10 Years
          3 years, 12 days ago

          Yes, that's the beauty of FH33, no worries about beching big hitters, or playing hokey cokey to get likes of Salah/Mane/Vardy in and out of team. This GW, Kane and possibly Son, are the only relevant big hitters, and most have one or both already

    2. sunzip14
      • 7 Years
      3 years, 12 days ago

      Do you have WC? If yes, have you thought about how it could impact FH33? Many are WC'ing in 31, could they not have most of the desirable players in 33 and still manage to bench some Spurs and City assets?

      1. Rains of Castamere
        • 9 Years
        3 years, 12 days ago

        Lots of my rivals have used their second WC. And I'll be making transfers to get Liverpool/Leicester/Chelsea players in from GW30 anyway... I've seen plenty of WC drafts and my team won't be far off them at all in just a few moves.

      2. Pep bites Kun
        • 7 Years
        3 years, 12 days ago

        It's navigable even without WC

    3. Magic Zico
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 5 Years
      3 years, 12 days ago

      Same here, my GW33 draft:

      Martinez
      Shaw TAA Dunk
      Salah Neto Bruno Jota
      Vardy Nacho Watkins

      Sanchez Coady Konsa McNeill

      Not far away from yours!

  2. Rupert The Horse
    • Fantasy Football Scout Member
    • 11 Years
    3 years, 12 days ago

    What an anus splitting innings so far from Buttler.

    1. Steve The Spud
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 4 Years
      3 years, 12 days ago

      His power is insane, never seen a player hit it as hard as he does with no effort!

  3. wulfrunian
    • 7 Years
    3 years, 12 days ago

    Mike Dean on Villa-Tottenham...

    1. Bobby Digital
      • 6 Years
      3 years, 12 days ago

      Kane o/

  4. artvandelay316
    • 3 Years
    3 years, 12 days ago

    I have no options for this week other than to do a couple of transfers to being in more playing options (currently on 4 with Bamford a doubt), or just save the transfer up for next week and then make 3 of these moves:
    A)Stones/Cancelo > Cresswell/Maguire
    B) Holding > Targett,
    C) Salah > KDB / Mahrez,
    D) Bamford > Antonio / Watkins.

    Alternatively could already be doing B, then next week two others?

    These players aren't set in stone if anyone has any suggestions!

  5. WVA
    • 7 Years
    3 years, 12 days ago

    Current team with 2FT but 0 ITB, do these look like the best moves or should I take a hit for Son out? Will WC in 31 probably.

    Salah > Auba
    Gundogan > Lingard

    Martinez
    Dallas Dunk Coufal
    Son* Auba Raphina Lingard
    Kane Bamford* Watkins
    Pope Bruno Cancelo Stones

    1. WVA
      • 7 Years
      3 years, 12 days ago

      Thanks

  6. Bennyboy1907
    • 3 Years
    3 years, 12 days ago

    1 FT 3.2 ITB GW29 team:

    Martinez
    Veltman Dallas
    Son Raphina Lingard
    Bamford Kane

    Johnstone AWB Stones Cancelo Salah Gundogan DCL

    WC 31

    A) Salah >>> Bale
    B) Cancelo/Stones >>> Cresswell
    C) Gundogan >>> Brighton mid
    D) Gundogan >>> Lookman
    E) Salah >>> Aubameyang
    F) Gundogan >>> Bale
    G) Any other suggestions

    Don’t mind taking a -4

  7. Selling Salah: Recent vs Historical form
    fusen
    • 12 Years
    3 years, 12 days ago

    I wonder if this season will be one when lots of FPL managers look back and just wonder at why they kept Salah for so long.

    I've owned him for 28 gameweeks, why oh why I've listened to nostalgia for the last 15 when he has scored in 3 of those games I don't know.

    If we try and "learn from history" then realistically, he is very unlikely to start scoring a hattrick every game so there will almost certainly be a large number of players in the remaining 10 gameweeks who outscore him and give you multiple millions to spare.

    I'm banking on Jota being the obvious Salah replacement in my GW31 wildcard.

    1. fusen
      • 12 Years
      3 years, 12 days ago

      The whole way of succeeding at FPL is to bring in players when they are scoring points and then get rid of them when they don't. Salah by name alone seems to have had some sort of safety shield around him where he gets excluded from this basic principle.

      1. Geoff
        • Fantasy Football Scout Member
        • Has Moderation Rights
        • 11 Years
        3 years, 12 days ago

        Yeah I totally agree. After playing Allsvenskan and Eliteserien, where form is absolutely key to playing, I'll try to focus on that a bit more going forward I think.

        In those games the streaks of form people go on are more pronounced, as well as my lack of general knowledge and lack of data means I go on returns more than in FPL.

        I sold Salah for Auba last week (got Dallas off the bench, so it worked out). I'll only go back to Salah if he starts to get returns.

    2. WHUFCSmith23
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 3 Years
      3 years, 12 days ago

      I agree, this is my first season playing fpl properly and am doing my own version of blackbox with my own season. Holding premium assets when their team is out of form is certainly a lesson learned this season. I won't fall into that trap next season.

      1. Az
        • Fantasy Football Scout Member
        • Has Moderation Rights
        • 14 Years
        3 years, 12 days ago

        hey thats trademarked

        1. The Mighty Hippo
          • 7 Years
          3 years, 12 days ago

          Yeah, but the twist is that he's actually paying attention to his own advice 🙂

          1. Geoff
            • Fantasy Football Scout Member
            • Has Moderation Rights
            • 11 Years
            3 years, 12 days ago

            😀

    3. Biggsy
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 9 Years
      3 years, 12 days ago

      For me, I kept him for two reasons

      1. FOMO - he has had some fixtures which would have been plum for the armband 6-12 months ago. WHU showed he could haul at a moments notice and it was enough to make you think "maybe he'll come good and I don't want to miss it".

      2. Nothing else to spend the money on. I've kept Salah without worrying about budget elsewhere in the team as there is a lack of premium options and whilst I am sure I should have dropped him for a budget option, I didn't feel the pressure to do so until now.

    4. Steve The Spud
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 4 Years
      3 years, 12 days ago

      I think there is an element, on here especially, of people holding him just to say ‘I told you so’ and hoping he comes good

    5. Gross Blank Point
      • 3 Years
      3 years, 12 days ago

      GW18 was when i got shot of him, after having him in my team for near enough 3 1/2 years
      Wasn't that difficult as he just didn't look worth the money.
      It's easier to make these kind of decisions if you don't read too many forums. Still struggling to understand how his ownership was so high even a few weeks ago
      Thing is I might bring him back for the run in lol

    6. Tcheco
      • 6 Years
      3 years, 12 days ago

      I'm looking back and wondering how I never owned him when he was scoring. Having a horrid season :/

    7. zes
      • 8 Years
      3 years, 12 days ago

      I think a lack of big hitter alternatives comes into play. Everyone has Kane and Bruno, but who else is there? If any two of Aub, Son, KDB, Aguero, Werner, any Chelsea mid, Rashford, Vardy, Mane etc start exploding then I would've looked at switching out Salah, but that hasn't really happend at all this season

    8. 3 A
      • 8 Years
      3 years, 12 days ago

      How about Trent?

  8. The Mighty Hippo
    • 7 Years
    3 years, 12 days ago

    GW29 FH (assuming Son is out)

    Sanchez
    Cresswell | Dunk | Dallas
    Auba | Bale | Lingard | Trossard | Raphinha
    Kane | Bamford

    Martinez | Antonio | Reguilon | Tierney

    Do you reckon this is the correct structure? Some of the bench nominees could easily be starters.

    1. sunzip14
      • 7 Years
      3 years, 12 days ago

      Would start Reguilon ahead of Cresswell.

    2. Pompel
      • 10 Years
      3 years, 12 days ago

      Think I would have Antonio over Bamford, otherwise looking great

  9. SHOWSTOPPERRR
    • 6 Years
    3 years, 12 days ago

    No replies.sorry.

    Guys got 2ft
    Martinez *
    Dallas* digne cancelo Dias lowton
    Raph* salah bruno gundo ling*
    Kane * bam* dcl

    A) salah lowton to auba/bale and dunk for free which will give me 8 if bam is fit
    B) salah Lawton dcl to auba/bale dunk Watkins for -4 which will give me 9 if bam is fit..

    Suggestions needed guys. TIA.

    1. Pompel
      • 10 Years
      3 years, 12 days ago

      A
      Keep DCL good fixture in GW30

  10. J to the T
    • 7 Years
    3 years, 12 days ago

    Stones and Salah to Dallas and Lookman for free

    Is that madness?!

    Then next week Lookman to KdB.

    Though process is two extra players for the blank plus allows me to pivot from double city defence (Cancelo and Stones) to double city attack (Gundo and KdB)

  11. DonBenzema
    • 3 Years
    3 years, 12 days ago

    What do you guys think of these moves?

    Son and Gundo -> Bale and Lingard

    1. Biggsy
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 9 Years
      3 years, 12 days ago

      If free and gives you 11 players, probably.

      Would be gutting to lose Son and him play when you have other players blanking though

    2. Pompel
      • 10 Years
      3 years, 12 days ago

      Wait and see on Son's fitness, but Gundo to Lingard is good

      1. Magic Zico
        • Fantasy Football Scout Member
        • 5 Years
        3 years, 12 days ago

        For this week only I presume? If WC soon then it's fine, you may want Gundo back ...

  12. Pompel
    • 10 Years
    3 years, 12 days ago

    One important decision to be made when getting extra GW29 defender (Cresswell/Dunk/Veltman) - who goes out of :

    A) Stones - value and goal threat, but playing only every second match or so
    B) Dias - most nailed, but could wish for better attacking returns for the price

    1. Pep bites Kun
      • 7 Years
      3 years, 12 days ago

      None for me until 33. FH this week

      Stones plays min 2 out of 3 for the best def in the league. Dias is a season keeper

      1. Pompel
        • 10 Years
        3 years, 12 days ago

        He has played every second gamecfor the latest few gw"s though

        1. Pep bites Kun
          • 7 Years
          3 years, 12 days ago

          And scored 2 goals. I take your point on the last 4, but you could also say he played 7 out of the last 10 games. With a good backup on bench, at this price, he's good value.

    2. adam wigan
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 5 Years
      3 years, 12 days ago

      I’d ditch Dias as long as you have the bench to cope with rotation of stones. Could later bring in Rudiger / another Chelsea defender for cheaper than Dias and get the same defensive potential as City but for a cheaper price

      1. Pompel
        • 10 Years
        3 years, 12 days ago

        Sounds sensible , will try to get Chelses defender for the run-in for sure

    3. Magic Zico
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 5 Years
      3 years, 12 days ago

      Out of the two Stones, I am keeping him but releasing Cancelo purely due to the value ... Dias will jump in for Stones at some point

      1. Pompel
        • 10 Years
        3 years, 12 days ago

        Between those two I'd also ditch Cancelo

  13. Magic Zico
    • Fantasy Football Scout Member
    • 5 Years
    3 years, 12 days ago

    Who are your MCI assets moving forwards till end of the season? Dias and Gundo enough?

    1. Steve The Spud
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 4 Years
      3 years, 12 days ago

      Cancelo, gundo and sterling for now but my move this week is more than likely sterling > bale

      I still think cancelo is a good asset and happy to hold even though seems like a lot of people on here at shipping

      1. Magic Zico
        • Fantasy Football Scout Member
        • 5 Years
        3 years, 12 days ago

        Ok I've got Stones & Cancelo and I feel that's too much with uncertainty of starting ... Cancelo to go for now

    2. adam wigan
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 5 Years
      3 years, 12 days ago

      For a while I’ve had stones, cancelo, and gundo. Got rid of stones and cancelo this week to bring in GW29 players, with the plan of getting a Chelsea option and then maybe bring a city defender back after GW33. If they are all going to be rotated I might as well have an attacking option with a higher ceiling so maybe KDB and Mahrez

      1. Magic Zico
        • Fantasy Football Scout Member
        • 5 Years
        3 years, 12 days ago

        I am eyeing Mahrez as well, keeping Stones for now as I can have good bench cover

        1. adam wigan
          • Fantasy Football Scout Member
          • 5 Years
          3 years, 12 days ago

          Sounds a good plan. Stones is the one I’m likely to get back in alongside Cresswell, Shaw, and Azpi / Rudiger

    3. Pep bites Kun
      • 7 Years
      3 years, 12 days ago

      They're the mainstay. Salah to KDB or back to dbl City def post-33 I'm keeping as an option. Depends on theirs and other's performance. Good thing is, it's easily navigable

      1. Magic Zico
        • Fantasy Football Scout Member
        • 5 Years
        3 years, 12 days ago

        Sure, sounds good 😉

    4. Easy Cheesy
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 4 Years
      3 years, 12 days ago

      Ederson, cancelo and gundo. Hasn’t worked too well since my gw26 wildcard. Selling cancelo this week

      1. Magic Zico
        • Fantasy Football Scout Member
        • 5 Years
        3 years, 12 days ago

        Cool, same here re selling Cancelo

        1. DangerFC
          • 5 Years
          3 years, 12 days ago

          Stones and kdb

    5. DonBenzema
      • 3 Years
      3 years, 12 days ago

      Own Gundo, KDB and Dias but looking at leaving Gundo out sooner rather than later

  14. sirmorbach
    • 7 Years
    3 years, 12 days ago

    A little help here, friends?

    Martínez / Forster
    Dias / Stones / Cresswell / Digne /  Dallas
    Salah / Bruno / Gündogan / Raphinha / Soucek
    Kane / DCL / Watkins

    WC available

    A. Stones/Digne to Dunk, DCL to Antonio
    B. Stones/Digne to Dunk, Salah to Bale
    C. Stones to Dunk, Digne to Tierney
    D. Stones to Dunk, Digne to Tierney, DCL to Antonio (- 4)

  15. DangerFC
    • 5 Years
    3 years, 12 days ago

    If I FH now will I get my two free transfers back?

    1. Magic Zico
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 5 Years
      3 years, 12 days ago

      No, unused transfer will be gone

      1. DangerFC
        • 5 Years
        3 years, 12 days ago

        Cheers. I'm going to gamble not using my fh so as I have 9 playing.

  16. gonzalocampos
    • 8 Years
    3 years, 12 days ago

    Would you:
    1) Play BB on 30 to WC on 31 w weak bench?
    Mendy - Coufal - Veltman - Antonio
    2) Save BB for later and build a strong bench on WC 31?

    1. DangerFC
      • 5 Years
      3 years, 12 days ago

      Seems a waste to use your BB with a weak bench...

    2. Pep bites Kun
      • 7 Years
      3 years, 12 days ago

      1. would be the preferable strategy as you can ditch some expensive bench players on WC and invest the cash in your first 11. BUT it very much depends on which is the option that has the greatest chance of more points?

      If you post your option 1 & 2 players v opposition, it would give you a better chance of a valuable response. Do some of the work in other words; have a strategy on when you would BB after WC and with which players 🙂

  17. DangerFC
    • 5 Years
    3 years, 12 days ago

    Sanchez
    Targett, white, dallas
    Bale, lingard, raphinha
    Watkins, kane

    Are these 9 enough to get me through without taking a hit?

  18. Traction Engine Foot
    • 6 Years
    3 years, 12 days ago

    Who would you sell for Cresswell out of Digne and Dias? I have Ederson too if that makes a difference.

    1. Chip fat
      • 5 Years
      3 years, 11 days ago

      Digne looks like a decent punt 30 - 31 above dias. Love the Partridge reference