Fantasy Premier League presents a tricky challenge for FPL managers this weekend as four teams blank in GW29.
Aston Villa, Crystal Palace, Liverpool and Newcastle United sit this gameweek out as the latter two battle it out at Wembley for the League Cup on Sunday.
We look at whether or not this is the right time to use the Free Hit chip, transfers and who are the best captains from the eight games on offer.
Fantasy Premier League GW29 deadline: Saturday, 15 March, 13:30 BST
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Fantasy Premier League: Three essential FPL tips ahead of blank GW29
To Free Hit or not to Free Hit
That is the question. And the answer is team dependent. If you have eight more players in action this week, you can probably fill the gaps with free transfers. I think it’s okay to start nine players in a blank gameweek, anything less than that would make me nervous, though.
If you haven’t saved up any free transfers and have a bunch of players missing, then free hitting makes sense. But keep in mind there will be at least one more blank gameweek this season when the FA Cup semi-finals take place during GW34, and it will be a larger one. Saving the Free Hit chip for that would be wise, although it’s also possible to stockpile free transfers and make do.
I will be using up four transfers without a hit this week rather than activate the chip, although I am conscious of the fact that there are some really good fixtures to target in GW30. Ideally I would like to make some moves then, but I’ll just have to settle for one transfer.
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Palmer or Haaland?
There are a hell of a lot of transfers being considered this week, but the layer creating the most conversation this week is Erling Haaland (£14.7m). The Manchester City striker is back in form having registered nne goal involvements in his last eight Premier League appearances.
FPL managers ditched him in their droves when his end product disappeared earlier this season, but almost 250,000 have brought him in ahead of this week’s deadline. For those who haven’t done so yet, finding a way to fit him in is clearly a problem.
The easiest route is selling either Mo Salah (£13.8m) or Cole Palmer (£10.9m), and selling the Liverpool star is a scary prospect even if he’s not playing this week. In contrast, the Chelsea playmaker has massively fallen out of favour lately after failing to score in his last seven outings.
If you’re on a Free Hit, it’s not really a big getting rid of Palmer, especially as he’s up against Arsenal’s superb defence. Having to use up a transfer is another thing, but I’m in favour of it. I’m considering replacing him with one of the Bournemouth midfielders, most like Patrick Kluivert (£6.2m), or Bruno Fernandes (£8.4m) if I can stretch my budget that far. I’ve also got my eye on Brighton attackers Kaoru Mitoma (£6.5m) and Yankuba Minteh (£5m).
Bournemouth are the best long-term bet, although Chelsea do face Spurs in GW30, which is a great fixture from an attacking point of view. Palmer’s underlying numbers have remained strong during this dry spell and he will presumably have recovered from last week’s, erm, illness, so selling him could easily backfire.
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The best captains in GW29
One of the biggest arguments for bringing in Haaland for GW29 s that he’s one of very few players worth captaining. The Norwegian was kept very quiet by Nottingham Forest at the City Ground, but one imagines he’ll find more purchase at home against Brighton. That said, this is a fairly tricky fixture for the Premier League champions against a team on a four-game winning streak.
Despite Manchester United‘s woes, Fernandes is a good shout for the armband. The Portugal international has four returns from his last three matches and you wouldn’t bet against him adding more against a dreadful Leicester City on Sunday.
The player who I think managers will captain more than any other this week is Chris Wood (£7.3m). The Nottingham Forest man has the most points of any forward in FPL this season and he’s up against a weary Ipswich Town defence. The Tractor Boys did a decent job of keeping score lines low in the first half of the season, but they have been extremely leaky since their last league win, against Chelsea in GW19. Only Southampton (29) have conceded more goals than Ipswich (25) between then and now.
Read – Top FPL tips to help you master Fantasy Premier League
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