FPL top 10k: How many managers used the Free Hit in Gameweek 37?

For the final time this season, we look at the squad make-ups and chip usage of the world’s leading Fantasy Premier League (FPL) managers.

We’re again turning to the brilliant LiveFPL for this feature, a site that contains heaps of useful information beyond overall and top 10,000 figures.

The top 10k in the current overall rankings are the primary focus of this piece, although the 1,000 names in LiveFPL’s ‘Legendary Managers’ list – the historic cream of the crop, much like our own Hall of Fame – are also examined.

Between the two groups, these are the managers who can offer us a better gauge of FPL ownership and chip strategy, as opposed to the overall figures that are skewed by the vast numbers of untouched ‘ghost teams’.

TOP 10K AND ‘ELITE’ MANAGERS: GAMEWEEK 37 CAPTAINCY

Above: Gameweek 37 captaincy stats for the all-time greats (right) and the top 10k (left)

There were the usual contrasting fortunes for the main captaincy candidates at the weekend, with over 40% of the top 10k enjoying a double digit-haul and just north of 50% seeing their nominated skipper blank.

More matches await for most of the leading contenders on Thursday, of course, but the 20% who backed Son Heung-min (£11.1m) will have to make do with a rare three points from the South Korean.

Richarlison (£7.6m) was the only player who had an effective ownership (EO) in excess of 100% in both the top 10k and the elite list above, although Son’s EO also entered triple figures in the former.

READ MORE: What is ‘effective ownership’ (EO) and why is it so widely talked about in FPL?

TOP 10K: CHIP USAGE

There were a smattering of Wildcards, Triple Captains and Bench Boosts activated but Gameweek 37 chip activity mostly centred around the Free Hit.

Not far off 40% of the leading Fantasy bosses activated this chip ahead of Sunday’s deadline.

Free Hitters are already well up on the competition, having scored an average of 25 more points than non-chip users in Gameweek 37 so far.

However, those managers who didn’t activate a chip are more likely to own assets from Liverpool, Arsenal and Chelsea, who we have yet to see in action.

The vast majority of managers have now maxed out their chip allowance but 5.5% have one left to play on the final day, around 60% of whom have a Free Hit still to burn.

TOP 10K AND ‘ELITE’ MANAGERS: TEMPLATE SQUAD FOR GAMEWEEK 37

There was a huge swing in the template squad from Gameweek 36 but ownership figures would have been greatly affected by the volume of Free Hits, more of which below.

Only six players – Kasper Schmeichel (£5.0m), Joao Cancelo (£7.2m), Trent Alexander-Arnold (£8.4m), Son, Bukayo Saka (£6.7m) and Richarlison – kept their places as managers went all in on ‘doublers’, Harry Kane (£12.4m) and Kevin De Bruyne (£12.0m).

OWNERSHIP STATS FOR THE 1,000 ‘LEGENDARY MANAGERS’ IN GAMEWEEK 36

TOP 10K: TEMPLATE ‘FREE HIT’ SQUAD FOR GAMEWEEK 37

Free Hitters generally favoured a 3-4-3 in Gameweek 37, with this being one of the few match rounds where fielding three forwards actually looked appealing.

There were triple-ups on Villa and Everton, with Son, Kane and De Bruyne the only ‘single Gameweekers’ to feature outside of bench fodder.

Relative differentials Jamie Vardy (£10.3m) and Ollie Watkins (£7.5m), who were in fewer than 20% of the top 10k squads, were the main success stories outside of this template on Sunday.

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