Here’s the first of a couple of contributor articles where FFGeek contributors show us their current fantasy premier league free hit team. Firstly there’s Jordan Sadler who currently has an overall rank of 4k
fantasy premier league free hit – Jordan Sadler shows his blank GW31 free hit team.
Background
As per the FPL rules, the free hit chip means you can make unlimited free transfers for a single Gameweek. At the next deadline your squad is returned to how it was at the start of the Gameweek. You will lose any transfers made prior to activating the free hit chip and if you carried over 2 free you will lose the ability to make the 2nd free transfer going into the following gameweek.
GW31, due to it’s clash with the FA Cup quarter finals, has suffered 5 postponed games which means that there are only 5 fixtures within it:
I used my 2nd wildcard in GW22. I have been setting my team up with a balance between the upcoming double gameweek 32 and another blank week 33 which clashes with the FA Cup semi final. Free hitting allows me to focus on those gameweeks without the distraction of this big blank week.
I’ve activated my free hit. As I said above, I do not have a wildcard left and my current plan is to triple captain in GW32 and bench boost in GW35.
The Free Hit Team
Here’s the team as it stands:
My overall rank currently is 4.7k and this team value is £103.7m (though my pre Free Hit value was £105.5m).
The Players
Fabianski (£4.8m)
West Ham definitely have the easiest fixture of the week against Huddersfield at home. Their clean sheet odds are 17/20 and so with Fabianski being one of the best value goalkeepers in the game he was a very obvious choice.
Speroni (£3.9m)
I’ve picked Speroni simply because he’s £3.9m and I can’t imagine Fabianski not playing.
Robertson (£6.9m)
Liverpool have probably the second best fixture of the gameweek against Fulham away with clean sheet odds of 10/11. Robertson is the highest scoring defender in the game with 169 points consisting of 17 clean sheets, 9 assists and 24 bonus points so he was an obvious pick for a Liverpool side with 4 clean sheets in their last 5.
Luiz (£5.9m)
Chelsea have been incredibly inconsistent lately so this is a pick purely based off clean sheet odds. They do have a tough fixture with them playing Everton away but they do have the third best clean sheet odds of the week with 6/4. With Luiz being the cheapest Chelsea defender and with him possessing some attacking quality as well I feel he is probably the best pick.
Rice (£4.6m)
As previously stated, West Ham have the easiest fixture this week and the best clean sheet odds so I thought I’d double up on their defence. I went with Rice because he plays as a defensive midfielder and is very much nailed in the starting line up.
Daniels (£4.1m)
With Daniels being only £4.1m and starting the last two gameweeks I felt he was the ideal 1st choice bench player incase any of my starting XI don’t play. He also has a pretty good fixture at home versus Newcastle so a clean sheet is definitely a real possibility.
Stankovic (£3.9m)
Stankovic has been playing a DM for Huddersfield lately and so I thought at £3.9m he was the ideal bench player so I could maximise my funds for my starting XI.
Salah (£13.4m)
Probably the biggest factor in my 5 red arrows in a row but he’s just too good to drop as when the penny drops he’s absolutely devastating. As previously mentioned, Liverpool have a great fixture away against Fulham. Fulham have conceded the most goals in the league by a considerable amount so I would definitely expect a comfortable Liverpool victory. Salah has been unlucky lately though, he easily could have had 2 goals and 2 assists last game so hopefully things will even out this week for him (and me).
Hazard (£10.8m)
With Chelsea having a leaky Everton side to play and with their being limited premium players available this week I think Hazard is a must in any free hit side this week. On his day he’s probably the best player in the league and he has good underlying stats which he consistently overachieves on.
Mane (£9.9m) (C)
8 goals in his last 8 for Sadio Mane, now the joint top non penalty goalscorer in the league. The guy has been excellent lately and he has been playing in a very advanced position compared to earlier in the season which I think is really helping with his goal tally. As with Salah, he has an excellent opponent this week which you’d expect him to return well against and as with Hazard I really think he should be in any free hit team while he’s in the form he is.
Fraser (£6.2m)
He has a good fixture at home against Newcastle and after 8 blanks in a row Fraser finally returned with a goal and an assist last week. His stats with Wilson playing are 6 goals and 10 assists in 22 games, without Wilson they’re 0 goals 0 assists in 8 games. So I definitely think now Wilson is back he’s well worth the investment at his price.
Schneiderlin (£4.2m)
Schneiderlin performed pretty well for Everton against Liverpool and Cardiff so I think he may be reinstated against Chelsea over Gomes after a poor 3-2 loss to Newcastle last week. With him being £4.2m he’s the ideal 3rd choice bench option as like with Stankovic he allows me to maximise my starting XI.
Higuain (£9.6m)
Personally, I’m not a huge fan of Higuain but with there being limited premium players this week I felt he was probably worth a punt. His underlying stats aren’t bad and he is scoring a goal every other game at the moment so I think he’s worth a shot against a defensively suspect Everton side.
Vardy (£9.0m)
Excellent underlying stats, 4 goals and 1 assist in his last 3 under Rodgers and is playing against an out of form Burnley side, what more could you want?
Wilson (£6.4m)
Out for 6 games and comes back with a goal and assist. His underlying stats are excellent and he’s without a doubt one of the best value strikers in the game. 11 goals and 9 assists in 1816 minutes is an unbelievable return for any player, never mind one who’s only £6.4m. I think outside of Man City’s main front 3, he has the best mins per G/A in the entire league which is just incredibly (though correct me if I’m wrong).
Other players to consider
Alexander Arnold (£5.5m)
A great cheap alternative to Robertson if you can’t afford him.
Pereira (£5.4m)
Has attacking quality and a decent enough fixture so could be a good pick.
Diop (£4.4m)
Slightly cheaper alternative to Rice if you need that extra £0.2m. You could even risk Ogbonna (£4.2m) if you wanted, though his place may be under threat by Balbuena, it’s hard to know.
Anderson (£7.4m)
Out of form with only 1 assist in his last 11 but does have a poor Huddersfield side.
Brooks (£5.1m)
A good cheap alternative to Fraser if you’re struggling for funds.
Tielemans (£6.0m)
Good underlying stats and 1 goal and 2 assists in his last 3.
Richarlison (£6.5m)
Tough fixture but scored last game and looked very bright against Liverpool when coming on in the second half.
Almiron (£6.0m)
Got his first return last week and has looked bright in pretty much every game I’ve seen of him. Decent underlying stats as well.
Firmino (£9.2m)
2 goals last game (though were on a plate for him), could be a good differential over Salah if you want to spread funds elsewhere.
Rondon (£5.9m)
Cheap and has 2 goals 2 assists in his last 4 so could be worth a shot if you want a nice differential.
Some honourable mentions: Alisson, Matip, McNeil, Sigurdsson, Maddison, Perez, Barnes and Chicharito.
There’s also out FPL form article and our best underlying stats from GW30 only
See also our 10 top FPL managers article and the early FFGeek team articles and last season’s 715 OR finisher Andrew Ferguson’s team
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