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Heading into this midweek round of fixtures, I’m not ashamed to admit there was a huge fear of missing out. Everyone else seemed to be activating their Wildcards. I kept hearing about Lee’s at home, Az’s on the Q&A and Julien’s on the Official FPL Pod.

When so many brilliant managers are using the same strategy, it makes you strongly assess yours. Am I being stubborn? Should I just play the chip? Is waiting for more information really worth it? Is my team good enough to play straight through?

Different ways to play

With all this Wildcard noise, I reminded myself that others are on different paths for different reasons. Both Lee and Juls still have their Assistant Manager chip to play, therefore playing the Wildcard in Gameweek 30 made sense.

It frees Gameweeks 31 to 33 for the former ‘Mystery Chip’ and doesn’t impact a Gameweek 34 Free Hit. I already played mine between Gameweeks 24 and 26, so needing a three-week clear block wasn’t an issue.

For other managers, difficult fixtures and multiple flags made Gameweek 30 look very challenging. Some players had only been recruited to help with Blank Gameweek 29.

This wasn’t the case with my team. The only flags were on Chris Wood (£7.2m) and Cole Palmer (£10.7m). I could either hit the Wildcard button or spend four points to play through and wait for important information. I picked the latter.

Now, many of you may think that’s mad because the hit only has one chance to pay itself off. And I fully agree! Despite this, Omar Marmoush (£7.5m) against Leicester City and Jean-Philippe Mateta (£7.6m) against Southampton both felt irresistible. Sure, I could have just bought one of them, but I wanted both.

Deciding on the Bench Boost

For those wondering how different a Gameweek 31 Wildcard looks to a Gameweek 30 one, I’m asking myself this a lot. In the drafts I drew up before Wednesday, two players were different. They either had or lost the Bournemouth guys. Yet things varied a bit more when considering the Bench Boost chip.

Finally, we know the Double Gameweek 33/Blank Gameweek 34 picture.

So, the choices for the Bench Boost are Gameweek 32, 33 or 36.

Ideally, it’ll be as close to the Wildcard as possible, making the earlier two preferable. We know for certain that Newcastle United and Crystal Palace both play twice in Gameweek 32, so six players from those teams would make an attractive boost.

If I choose Gameweek 32 for an active 15-man squad, then my second Wildcard goalkeeper will be Bart Verbruggen (£4.5m), as Brighton and Hove Albion face Leicester.

On the other hand, if I choose Gameweek 33, it’s Alphonse Areola (£4.2m) for West Ham United at home to Southampton. Deciding on this and budget defenders makes the delay worthwhile.

My current draft is based around a Gameweek 33 Bench Boost.

Just to give you a full insight into my chip strategy, I’m then going to Free Hit in Blank Gameweek 34. I wanted to avoid this ideally, but there’ll be three from Palace, three from Arsenal, two Manchester City assets and maybe a Villan or two.

Whilst David Raya (£5.5m) can move to the bench, there’d be seven to nine blanking players and a maximum of three free transfers. So I’d struggle to field an XI without multiple hits. Then again, if 10 can be reached from just a four-point hit, I’ll consider saving the Free Hit for a fun Gameweek 38.

Current Wildcard Draft

First of all, there’s still a lot of potential changes to come. All ears will be on Mikel Arteta for updates on Jurrien Timber (£5.6m) and Gabriel (£6.4m). Both defenders were forced off on Tuesday night.

If the duo is ruled out, I’ll probably proceed with only Raya and replace Timber with perhaps Lucas Digne (£4.5m). While an Arsenal defensive double-up remains attractive, I’m concerned that adding these injuries to Riccardo Calafiori (£5.8m) and Ben White (£6.1m) will negatively impact their security.

Nottingham Forest’s Neco Williams (£4.4m) remains there. I owned him pre-Wildcard but now that the fixture with Brentford stays in Gameweek 34, I will consider ditching him. Especially with team-mate Ola Aina (£5.4m) picking up a calf problem.

There’s enough money for Jacob Murphy (£5.0m) to become Anthony Gordon (£7.4m). I was reluctant to invest in Gordon because he appeared to pick up an injury with England. Yet Eddie Howe’s comments on the midfielder have made me more likely to invest:

Meanwhile, the Ismaila Sarr (£5.7m) v Eberechi Eze (£6.8m) debate rumbles on. I’ve already owned Sarr but he wasn’t in the great form of now. I’m on Eze, in order to catch his price rise – if I need the money later, I can move him to the cheaper Sarr.

As long as Alexander Isak‘s (£9.5m) injury isn’t serious, this front three is locked and won’t be going anywhere.

Waiting game

For me, the rest of the week is about watching the fixtures play out, catching price rises and avoiding falls, allowing me to have as big a budget as possible for this final Wildcard.

I’m also eagerly hoping for a Premier League announcement regarding the rescheduling of those original Gameweek 34 fixtures.

One of our pro pundits said this:

A: Marcus Rashford (£6.6m) looks to be the most upside one right now, with the former Manchester United winger playing up front for Villa against Brighton. However, with the Southampton fixture sandwiched between the two PSG ties, rotation is likely and predicting a starting XI against the Saints is virtually impossible.

Villa have the FA Cup semi-final a few days after their second fixture in Double Gameweek 33 (against Man City), as well, so Emery could opt to rotate there too. It’s all a bit of a minefield. The safest one is probably Morgan Rogers (£5.5m) as Emery seems reluctant to bench him whatever the fixture. Even he could miss out in 32 against Southampton, however, as the PSG ties are over six days rather than eight. 

Not sure what to do with Foden? This is what our expert said:

A: Phil Foden (£9.2m) was an unused substitute against Leicester and my personal opinion is that it was to give him a rest with the Manchester United fixture at the weekend. This could be wishful thinking on my part as a Foden owner!

Jack Grealish (£6.4m) mentioned post-game that he was disappointed to be left out in the FA Cup match against Bournemouth, having started the previous cup fixture, so perhaps this was a way for Pep Guardiola to compensate. Only Pep knows for sure, though.

What we should keep in mind is Man City’s upcoming schedule. If you are uncertain of his starting spot against Man Utd, you could bench him and play somebody like Jacob Murphy (£5.0m). Then in Gameweek 32, Man City have the early kick-off, where you will likely get a leak on Foden starting. Double Gameweek 33 follows, where you would expect Foden to start one game at least. There’s another early kick-off Gameweek 35, while Gameweek 36 is another possible double.

So, to cut to the chase, I wouldn’t be buying Foden on a Gameweek 31 Wildcard right now as the money fixture against Leicester has already passed. However, as an owner, I am willing to hold onto him for the aforementioned reasons and assess closer to Gameweek 33. 

We picked out the best players in each position for the round ahead:

We reveal the top 10 most popular picks heading into the new round:

Not sure which players are going to bring in the big points this week? Check out the top 10 predicted player points:

Be sure to check out all of our latest articles over at Fantasy Football Community.