Gameweek 8 looks set to be a popular time to Wildcard in Fantasy Premier League (FPL).
In fact, over 25% of the participants in our on-site poll say they are playing the chip this week:
In this article, we’ll look at the pros and cons of a Gameweek 8 Wildcard and present a couple of draft ideas.
Remember, you have until the Gameweek 19 deadline to use the first Wildcard.
And don’t forget that you can get your Wildcard team rated via our Rate My Team tool or Plan FPL!
GAMEWEEK 8 WILDCARD: THE ARGUMENTS FOR
Hop on Arsenal and Chelsea?
Arsenal have already had one favourable fixture against West Ham United, but there’s plenty more on the way.
In fact, the Gunners sit top of our Fixture Ticker over the next 10+ Gameweeks:
Chelsea are also about to embark on a fine run of matches (nfo/SUN/tot/WOL/bur), which positions several of their assets, such as Enzo Fernandez (£6.7m), as prime transfer targets.
Gameweek 9 Bench Boost
In Gameweek 9, Leeds United (WHU) and Burnley (wol) both have favourable matchups, so this Wildcard opportunity could be used to set up a Bench Boost.
Bench fodder options such as Martin Dubravka (£4.0m), Joe Rodon (£4.0m) and Anton Stach (£5.0m) could potentially prosper.
If you don’t fancy the promoted teams, alternatives like El Hadji Malick Diouf (£4.4m) and Ladislav Krejci (£4.5m) could be used instead.
Remove those who are injured during the international break
A standard international break is often a chaotic period when it comes to FPL flags.
Although many of these injury ‘doubts’ will likely be fine to play in Gameweek 8, there will surely be some exceptions.
Deploying the Wildcard now let’s FPL managers effortlessly remove those who are injured during the international break.
Additionally, with the two-week gap between domestic fixtures, Wildcarders can not only react to injuries from around the world, but also have longer to tweak and perfect their squad.
Switch to a back four/five
Could this be an opportune time to start playing a back four or even a back five formation?
Notably, six of the top 10 points scorers in FPL so far this season are defenders.
The impact of defensive contributions (DefCons) is clear, so allocating more budget to your backline may be a shrewd decision.
Rejuvenate your squad
If you haven’t got off to a good start, a Gameweek 8 Wildcard can help rejuvenate your squad.
This could be beneficial if you own underperforming players like Florian Wirtz (£8.1m), Ollie Watkins (£8.7m) and Chris Wood (£7.4m), or rotation risks such as Richarlison (£6.8m).
A Wildcard offers a chance to resolve these issues in a free-hit manner.
Increase team value
This international break will likely see quite a few price rises and falls, so team value can be enhanced by ditching the droppers and jumping on bandwagons like Antoine Semenyo (£7.9m) and Nick Woltemade (£7.2m).
You can monitor these changes using Live FPL’s price change predictions tool.
GAMEWEEK 8 WILDCARD: THE ARGUMENTS AGAINST
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