Having resisted the urge to Wildcard over the opening seven Gameweeks, Sam from FPL Family looks at three times where she might activate the powerful Fantasy Premier League (FPL) chip.
The decision of when to play the Wildcard is one that I’ve toyed with on multiple occasions in these early weeks. Before the season started, Gameweek 12 was my original thought.
I’m generally a manager who likes to hold the chip for as long as possible. It means I’m less likely to need the second Wildcard early, too, and can save it for Blank/Double Gameweek season.
However, I’ve been more flexible with my approach in the current campaign, having been unsure about how the new rolling of up to five transfers rule would impact decision-making. Ahead of Gameweek 6, I thought very seriously about playing the chip when 663,489 others used it.
I kept looking at my squad and thinking it didn’t really need an overhaul. But not being able to afford the players I wanted later on was a real concern.
As Gameweek 7 took place, three different strategies were at play in my head. Each of them has merits.
Gameweek 8
We’re currently on an international break, a traditionally popular time for a Wildcard.
Having seven Gameweeks of data and knowledge is a decent enough sample size to work out which players are in sustainable form and worthy of FPL inclusion.
Managers also have a fortnight to collect price rises and falls, which can be really helpful for team value. It also means two weeks of thinking time and not rushing such all-important decisions.
Additionally, should there be key international injuries like we saw with Martin Odegaard (£8.2m) last time, you can react without needing a four-point hit. Bukayo Saka (£10.1m) is an early doubt after limping out of England’s defeat to Greece.
But above all else, this break has a really great set of fixture swings. Teams like Manchester City, Tottenham Hotspur, Brentford and Everton are about to embark on, or are continuing, a great run of them. Wildcarding now lets managers benefit from attacking these fixtures.
Gameweek 12
Sticking with two-week pauses, November brings another set of internationals. Coming a third of the way into this season, managers would have an even fuller understanding of form teams and players.
There’s another set of fixture swings too.
Not only that, Man City’s fixtures begin to toughen. They must face Spurs, Liverpool, Manchester United and Aston Villa over six matches.
It’d therefore give managers the (difficult!) choice of moving away from Erling Haaland (£15.3m) and putting their money towards the Saka and Cole Palmer (£10.8m) combination.
Gameweek 16
Option three is not during a Premier League break. But it comes two weeks before the Boxing Day fixtures, soon after the midweek Gameweek 14 round.
It means you can ‘dead-end’ a team based on the early December fixtures, before preparing, as much as possible, for further festive rotation.
Getting a well-stocked bench will be advisable going into the Christmas period, a time of the season when teamsheets are at their most unpredictable.
The five rounds from Gameweek 16 see numerous teams receive attractive fixtures from an FPL perspective.
How I make my Wildcard decision
There are a few questions I ask myself when considering the chip:
- Are there five or more players I want to get rid of?
- Do my current individuals have appealing fixtures and the potential for good FPL returns?
- Will waiting longer mean I can’t afford certain players?
- Would using it later enable me to make better decisions?
With my current lot, Dean Henderson (£4.5m), Valentin Barco (£4.0m) and Harry Winks (£4.5m) are easy sells. But they’re not important enough to play such a valuable chip. For example, Barco has been sitting in my third bench slot all season and hasn’t been needed. His sale can wait slightly longer.
I think that, for me, a Gameweek 12 Wildcard feels right. It brings an opportunity to remove the peripheral players and target differentials with good fixtures. Premium investment can be tweaked, allowing me to own Palmer for the first time this season.
My Gameweek 8 plans
Henderson was a poor Gameweek 1 decision for me. I had David Raya (£5.6m) throughout pre-season and then made a late call to save a million, in order to afford Dominic Solanke (£7.5m).
Crystal Palace have been all at sea defensively, only managing to keep one clean sheet. I actually could sell the goalkeeper this week. Normally I avoid changes in this position but, as I don’t feel the need to make a change elsewhere, it’s a move to consider. I would then have £4.7m to spend.
According to the Season Ticker, targeting Everton’s Jordan Pickford (£4.8m) would be wise but I’m marginally short of affording that.
Nottingham Forest rank third on it and have a strong defence, offering clean sheet potential every week until Wildcard. However, the international withdrawal of Matz Sels (£4.5m) could turn into a problem.
Then again, Palace’s short-term fixtures are also decent, with Gameweek 9’s Spurs meeting able to provide save points. So I need to consider whether the potential points upside is worth more than rolling the transfer.
It’s not like clean sheets are ten a penny elsewhere anyway: the possibly injured Sels is the only £4.5m-and-under ‘keeper who has recorded more than one of them!
If I decide not to use this week’s transfer, I’d then have two free ones for Gameweek 9. That might be a better landing point, especially on a Champions League week.
