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Here our main focus is on Fantasy Premier League!

We start today with an exclusive piece from highly rated expert Tom Freeman. He reveals the best Free Hit team for Gameweek 29 and some rationale behind his player picks

BRENTFORD DEFENSIVE DOUBLE-UP?

The loss of Christian Norgaard (£5.3m) to injury is a major blow for Brentford on Saturday. According to Opta, he’s won more tackles (73) than any team-mate and made the third-highest number of interceptions (46) in the Premier League this season.

In the two matches he’s missed in 2023/24, The Bees have lost on both occasions, conceding four times to Nottingham Forest and Brighton and Hove Albion.

Thomas Frank often refers to Norgaard as a player who can “sniff the danger”, so his absence means I am a bit sceptical about a Brentford defensive double-up. If I do opt to go down that route, I want assets who can at least atone for any clean sheet loss with goals and assists.

I can see Brentford finding joy in wide areas at Turf Moor, so Sergio Reguilon (£4.4m), who ranks ninth in his position for minutes per chance created (68, minimum 900 mins), feels like a decent pick.

There might even be a case to punt on Nathan Collins (£4.5m) as an alternative. That’s because Burnley have shipped 14 goals from set plays (excluding penalties) so far this season, the second worst record of any top-flight side – three behind Nottingham Forest.

Brentford’s potency from dead-ball situations has been an important weapon since their promotion from the Championship. After Everton, they are the next most effective team in the Premier League from set-pieces, according to their expected goals (xG) of 12.08. Therefore, I prefer Reguilon and Collins to Mark Flekken (£4.5m), another popular Free Hit pick.

Elsewhere, that aforementioned set-piece weakness for Nottingham Forest is a key reason behind Alfie Doughty‘s (£4.7m) selection, with Pedro Porro (£5.8m) favoured for the final defensive spot.

CONSIDER FOREST

Son Heung-min (£9.9m), James Maddison (£8.0m) and Jarrod Bowen (£8.0m) will all be widely owned this week, and will likely form the cornerstone upon which most Free Hit sides are built.

I see little reason to look elsewhere, with Son and Bowen the chief goal threats at Tottenham Hotspur and West Ham United respectively. As for Maddison, it’s his creativity that makes him such an appealing asset, with his position as Spurs’ primary set-piece taker another key route to points.

A Nottingham Forest attacker is tempting me for the fourth/fifth midfield spot. Nuno Espirito Santo’s side have failed to score in each of their last three matches in all competitions, but an away fixture at Luton brings their forward players onto my radar.

In the aftermath of Wednesday’s 4-3 loss at Bournemouth, Rob Edwards suggested he’d prioritise defensive solidity moving forward (see below), I’m just not sure the Hatters have the personnel to do that right now, given their mounting injury list.

So, punting on Anthony Elanga (£5.1m), Morgan Gibbs-White (£5.7m) and/or Callum Hudson-Odoi (£4.7m) carries appeal, as I’m sure they possess the quality to unpick such a porous defence. The widemen are particularly appealing, given how high Luton position their wing-backs.

WATKINS’ INJURY

Ollie Watkins (£9.0m) opened the scoring for Aston Villa against Ajax on Thursday, but later limped down the tunnel with a bad cut on his knee.

Unai Emery hasn’t ruled him out of Sunday’s clash at West Ham yet and I suspect he probably makes it, but if he is absent, Jhon Duran (£5.0m) is a viable option to start up front.

He’s sometimes erratic with his decision-making but has talent and could be a nice punt, especially if Aston Villa line-up in the same 4-3-3 shape they used in the second-half v Ajax, with Leon Bailey (£5.7m) and Moussa Diaby (£6.3m) on the flanks.

As for Bailey, there is lots of upside and given his early-ish withdrawal on Thursday (74 minutes), I’d happily punt on him against an ageing Aaron Cresswell (£4.2m). I’d also take him over Douglas Luiz (£5.7m), given the uncertainty around who partners him in midfield.

GAMEWEEK 29 FREE HIT TEAM

We take a look to see how many players is enough, how many hits we should take and if we need to use the Free Hit this week.

Below we picked out all of the best options in each position for the round ahead.

We looked at some of the best candidates for captaincy and concluded the standout option for Gameweek 29.

We take a look at the top 10 predicted player points for Gameweek 29 here!