After the defensive contribution points bombshell comes another big Fantasy Premier League (FPL) announcement: we’re getting two of every chip in 2025/26!
That does not include the Assistant Manager, however: that’s been given the boot after just one (half of a) season.
There are no new chips, either, just the old favourites of the last 10 years: Wildcard, Free Hit, Bench Boost and Triple Captain.
WHEN CAN THE CHIPS BE USED?
Similar to the use of the first Wildcard in recent seasons, we must play this first set of chips before the Gameweek 19 deadline passes.
We cannot carry them over into the second half of 2025/26.
The second set of chips then becomes available after the Gameweek 19 deadline has passed.
INITIAL REACTION
While we’re all used to playing a Wildcard before Christmas, a number of us will never have activated any other chip before the midway point of a season.
Typically, they’re saved for later in the campaign when we get to Double Gameweek season.
But now, our hands are forced. It’s use it or lose it when it comes to the first batch of chips.
And, barring a weather-related postponement or unexpected event (eg another pandemic), we’re not expecting any Blank/Double Gameweeks before Gameweek 20.
So, it’s over to the Season Ticker to see if we can spot any stand-out, one-week fixture opportunities.
We’ll have more in-depth articles to come on each chip, so this is very much just a kneejerk first glance.
Regarding the Triple Captain, Erling Haaland and Manchester City face all three newly promoted clubs at home between Gameweeks 6-15. Mohamed Salah has back-to-back meetings with Sunderland and Leeds United shortly before he departs for the African Cup of Nations.
Free Hit-wise, a popular strategy will be using it when two (or more) of the big guns face each other. We might not want to sell their players for the long term but for that one week, a temporary evacuation may not be the worst idea. Gameweek 3, for instance, sees Liverpool host Arsenal. The following week, the champions face Burnley. So, offloading Salah and co, and bringing in Newcastle United, Manchester United and Brentford players, is one potential play.
As for the Bench Boost, we’re already seeing heightened talk of a Gameweek 1 deployment in the comments section. Not only does it get this chip out of the way (it can be a headache to plan for mid-season), we should also have a decent idea of who is going to start based on the final pre-season friendlies.
Let us know your thoughts below.
COMING SOON…
It’s been a busy week on the site with the redesign, subsequent tweaks and introduction of new features.
And get ready for another tool coming very soon…
