The Not Free Hitting GW18 Thread

[carlitobrigante]

I think us outsiders need a thread!

I'm going into GW18 with 7-9 players, leaving me the chance to either just ride out GW19 with 11 doublers, or to bench boost with possibly around 14, depending on whether I want to take a hit or not.

My future plan then is to WC around GW24/25, to set up for the doubles in GW26 (with bench boost if I keep it), and my FH to negotiate GW29 without having to worry about it with my transfers for weeks beforehand.

TC can be used at another point, as there should be a few small double GW's somewhere down the line. And I'm hoping a better opportunity will come up than what is there in GW19.

Anyone with me?

[SirMattBugsby]

Very likely to not FH. It's not a proper BGW, is it? I see why those who WCed 16 would stick to their strategy, but Man United, Man City and Villa have made it easier to deal with 18.

Not sure about BB/TC 19 and haven't thought about second WC.

[tarkens]

i'm with you, going into GW18 with:

Martinez
Wan-Bissaka Dias Taylor (?)
Son Grealish Rashford KdB Saka
Kane DCL

10-11 players, probably 10.

For GW19 I have:

Martinez Forster
AWB Dias Coufal Justin Taylor
KdB Grealish Rashford Son Saka
Kane Bamford DCL

would like to get rid of DCL but his potential replacements don't excite me... Adams? Antonio? I could take a -4 hit and do DCL and Saka to Ings and Jones, but that still wouldn't be strong enough to BB (unless McCarthy is out for a while and Taylor is fit, if that's the case then I'm definitely using my BB chip). If I don't use BB then I might stick TC on De Bruyne.

[Bernd Leno’s Garage]

I think us outsiders need a thread!

I'm going into GW18 with 7-9 players, leaving me the chance to either just ride out GW19 with 11 doublers, or to bench boost with possibly around 14, depending on whether I want to take a hit or not.

My future plan then is to WC around GW24/25, to set up for the doubles in GW26 (with bench boost if I keep it), and my FH to negotiate GW29 without having to worry about it with my transfers for weeks beforehand.

TC can be used at another point, as there should be a few small double GW's somewhere down the line. And I'm hoping a better opportunity will come up than what is there in GW19.

Anyone with me?

I was all set to use the FH, but with two additional games, the potential gains just don't add up anymore. I went from having 4 players, to 10 (with a couple of transfers without hits).

Sure, it's not perfect, but there will be much bigger opportunities later in the season armed with a FH, WC, and TC (I intend to get rid of the BB, come what may, in GW19).

The only other concern I have is an imminent lockdown throughout England. London cases are now off the scale and continuing to grow rapidly. I am not at all confident in all fixtures being played in 10 days' time.

We've seen covid rip through two Premier League teams. There's every chance this new strain will bring down another club or two in the next two weeks.

[S_sutton87]

I've got 11 I can play and plan to use fh for the dgw

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[carlitobrigante]

i'm with you, going into GW18 with:

Martinez
Wan-Bissaka Dias Taylor (?)
Son Grealish Rashford KdB Saka
Kane DCL

10-11 players, probably 10.

For GW19 I have:

Martinez Forster
AWB Dias Coufal Justin Taylor
KdB Grealish Rashford Son Saka
Kane Bamford DCL

would like to get rid of DCL but his potential replacements don't excite me... Adams? Antonio? I could take a -4 hit and do DCL and Saka to Ings and Jones, but that still wouldn't be strong enough to BB (unless McCarthy is out for a while and Taylor is fit, if that's the case then I'm definitely using my BB chip). If I don't use BB then I might stick TC on De Bruyne.

Easy decision for you with 10 players. Would you go in with 7 or 8?

[tarkens]

it depends on the 7 or 8, for example I wouldn't go into GW18 with Martinez, Targett, Holgate, Grealish, Son, Neto and DCL, but if your GW18 core is Cancelo, Fernandes, De Bruyne, Son and Kane + a couple of Villa players then yeah I would

[carlitobrigante]

Agree with that tbf. My 7 are decent and I have Brewster and Charlie Taylor on top of those, so may get some more points, selection and fitness-depending.

I just think after the doubles in 26, all my transfers will have to be focussed on the blanks in 29. Whereas if I still have my FH in hand then I can just do what's best for my team. I know the same could be said for now, but the way it has worked out isn't too bad for me I would say.

[Oxford NZ]

Playing 8 for free or 9 for a hit
Would have liked Aguero or Sterling as they could pay back the hit.

Bellerin, Dias, Saiss
KDB, Son, Fernandez
Kane, Wood

[cymbalrush84]

I go in with 8, possibly 7 with Charlie Taylor’s injury.

Lowton
Charlie Taylor
Holding

Rashford
Bruno
KDB (c)

DCL
Brewster

McCarthy, Meisler, TAA, Nat Phillips, Soucek, JWP and Vardy not playing.

In two minds on using a FH.

One free transfer, do I go Rashford to Son or see about replacing Phillips? 0.2 itb.

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[Gambit]

I can currently get 11 out with no transfers so no chance of me using the FH.

This what i currently have

Martinez
Stones cancelo holding kilman
Grealish fernandes son
Wilson dcl kane

Im going to use my FT to move salah to kdb/sterling so will then also have a sub in kilman.

It wont beat fully optimised FH teams but unless there are injuries, cancelled games, covid outbreaks etc then i believe it should compete pretty well with the FH teams, looking at all the FH drafts being bandied about and im not missing too many popular picks, rashford, aguero, saka etc are players who could hurt but overall im pretty happy to go with what i have once ive added in the city mid.

[fred1266]

going with 8

Martinez
Dier
KDB Gundogun/El Ghazi Saka Grealish
Kane DCL

[Bixer]

I have a very dubious 8, which could very likely be 6, but I still don't think I'm using the Free Hit.

Holding - Kilman

Fernandes - KdB - Son

Kane - DCL - Brewster

Brewster and Kilman with every possibility of amassing 1 point between them. I do have £0.1m in the bank, so if he looks healthy again I might bring in Lascelles for Kilman.


But I own the 4 big-hitters there, I'm not particularly afraid of anyone else. Rashford maybe? No one will captain him though and he's relatively unlikely to haul. Fortunately the triple City most go for will be made up of 2 defenders too, so that's likely only 12 points I'll be missing at best.



I just think there'll be a better opportunity later in the season that people will wish they saved theirs for.

[Wildcard Wally]

I have a very dubious 8, which could very likely be 6, but I still don't think I'm using the Free Hit.

Holding - Kilman

Fernandes - KdB - Son

Kane - DCL - Brewster

Brewster and Kilman with every possibility of amassing 1 point between them. I do have £0.1m in the bank, so if he looks healthy again I might bring in Lascelles for Kilman.


But I own the 4 big-hitters there, I'm not particularly afraid of anyone else. Rashford maybe? No one will captain him though and he's relatively unlikely to haul. Fortunately the triple City most go for will be made up of 2 defenders too, so that's likely only 12 points I'll be missing at best.



I just think there'll be a better opportunity later in the season that people will wish they saved theirs for.

Agree with your last sentence and it's why I'm highly unlikely to use my FH.

I'll be going in with 7 myself and it's costing me -4 to achieve that!

Already got Pope, Bruno, Son and Kane and thinking of adding KDB, Stones and Wilson (he's a bit of a free hit as he'll be on my bench for DGW anyway. Is there a better option than him for 6.8 or less?).

[Sutter Kane]

I have a very dubious 8, which could very likely be 6, but I still don't think I'm using the Free Hit.

Holding - Kilman

Fernandes - KdB - Son

Kane - DCL - Brewster

Brewster and Kilman with every possibility of amassing 1 point between them. I do have £0.1m in the bank, so if he looks healthy again I might bring in Lascelles for Kilman.

But I own the 4 big-hitters there, I'm not particularly afraid of anyone else. Rashford maybe? No one will captain him though and he's relatively unlikely to haul. Fortunately the triple City most go for will be made up of 2 defenders too, so that's likely only 12 points I'll be missing at best.

I just think there'll be a better opportunity later in the season that people will wish they saved theirs for.

Fair enough. Before deciding to FH myself, I looked at who I'd be missing and what they'd average...imo for you therefore:

Wilson - 5
GK - 4
Man C def*2 - 9
Saka/Rashford - 5

I realise those 5 means I've assumed you have 6 men so there's a point or two there (but FH upgrade Tierney over Holding...). But also covid complications, rests, late injuries to be taken into account - FH have a bench. I also appreciate many of those players will blank but one or two will probably bang. That's 23 points. It depends on what value you place on the FH. Would you take a -23 loss?

Can you get the BB out of the way in GW19? If you can, this makes the rest of the season easier to navigate using the second WC. i.e. I don't feel the GW29 blank will cause an issue. If you're TC in GW19, then I think that maybe you're correct to hold the FH. It's a close one as your players are the premium ones for this week.

[Resonare]

It's very close for me...

Pope Johnstone
Zouma Cancelo Stones Coufal Balbuena
Salah Fernandes Rashford Raphinha Soucek
Kane Bamford Wood

I've got 1 FT and 0.0 itb. I could do Salah KDB and get Salah back next week with Kane + Rashford Salah + Ings (-4), or just do Kane Vardy/Ings if I fancy going without any Liverpool. Either way I'll have to sell Kane and Rashford for a hit to get both Salah and KDB in my team regardless of whether I FH or not, so the decision to keep my FH doesn't affect my DGW19 team at all. Thinking through all the times I've played the FH, my best experience came a couple of seasons ago when I played the chip in a DGW and loaded my team with premiums and the cheapest possible bench. I ended up scoring around 105 which was better than a lot of the best BB/TC scores. I think the flexibility of the FH chip is worth preserving if it costs me only 20 pts or so on average in BGW18 so I'll probably not use it.

[eastcentral1]

It's very close for me...

Pope Johnstone
Zouma Cancelo Stones Coufal Balbuena
Salah Fernandes Rashford Raphinha Soucek
Kane Bamford Wood

I've got 1 FT and 0.0 itb. I could do Salah KDB and get Salah back next week with Kane + Rashford Salah + Ings (-4), or just do Kane Vardy/Ings if I fancy going without any Liverpool. Either way I'll have to sell Kane and Rashford for a hit to get both Salah and KDB in my team regardless of whether I FH or not, so the decision to keep my FH doesn't affect my DGW19 team at all. Thinking through all the times I've played the FH, my best experience came a couple of seasons ago when I played the chip in a DGW and loaded my team with premiums and the cheapest possible bench. I ended up scoring around 105 which was better than a lot of the best BB/TC scores. I think the flexibility of the FH chip is worth preserving if it costs me only 20 pts or so on average in BGW18 so I'll probably not use it.

Salah to KdB
Balbuena to Holding

-4

[reddevil 99]

Is anybody else considering wildcarding this week with a view to BB next week. Kind of covers both game weeks.


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[scorps]

My GW18 team would be Dias, Dier, Stones, Lowton, KDB, Son, Fernandes and Kane. Looking at the Fantasy Football Hub points predictor tool on average I could get an additional 17 points with a free hit team. Seems like it is more sensible to hold on to the chip and play the FH in BGW29 when the top 6 teams are likely(??) to miss this gameweek progressing through to the FA cup QF - guess we will know a bit more info this week with the results of the FA 3rd round. On the flip side none of the fixtures in BGW29 look that appealing apart from FUL V LEE and WBA V EVE.

[Resonare]

Salah to KdB
Balbuena to Holding

-4

Gonna wait for the FA cup line-up before looking to transfer out Balbuena.

[Oxford NZ]

Currently I am feeling brave and saving the FH for later in the season, short term pain / long term gain. I will probably get knocked out of the cup, miss out on a promotion in the divisional championship and drop 500k in OR.
Can
Dias Saiss Bellerin
Son KDB Bruno
Kane Wood
minimise the damage and can they lead a come back in DGW19? Contemplating a -4 now to bring in a DGW player who will strengthen the squad going forward.
The rest of the motely crew are Fabianski McCarthy Zouma Dallas Soucek Romeu and Bamford. The bank has 1.6 to spend, the bench of McCarthy Dallas Romeu and Wood is OK for the DGW but McCarthy and Wood need to be down graded after a potential DGW19 BB so the finger is being pointed at Zouma and or Soucek for an upgrade. I have value in Zouma but Soucek has only been in my squad a short time so i have no attachment.
Zouma to Tierney has merit but it cost me to get out of the arsenal double recently and I still bear the scars, Cancelo was just sold due to covid rumor and .... the rest are too well owned, too expensive, injured or Dier. Ignoring Dier and Wan Bissaka ( due to being too much Man United) it does not look like I have a choice I like so Soucek to Saka for a -4 ?
Apologies for the rambling but comments appreciated. Thanks in advance

[Gunning4Glory]

I had to use my FreeHit earlier in the season (injuries)

At the moment I have 7 players for GW18 but I have 2 FTs

My full side is:

McCarthy, Steele,
Cancelo, Ayling, Walker Peters, Coufal, Reguilon
Zaha, Salah, Grealish, De Bruyne, Jorginho(must go)
Bamford, Kane, Wilson

My initial thoughts were to change:

Salah > Bruno (plays 18 & DGW19)
Zaha > gundogan (plays 18 & DGW19) or Saka
Upgrade Steele > Martinez for -4 (I haven’t taken a single hit this season)

This gives me 10 players for GW18

The following week for GW19 I’ll use my 1 FT to upgrade Jorginho to Soucek, I would then have 13 players who have doubles... I would then use the bench boost

[Sutter Kane]

I had to use my FreeHit earlier in the season (injuries)

My full side is:

McCarthy, Steele,
Cancelo, Ayling, Walker Peters, Coufal, Reguilon
Zaha, Salah, Grealish, De Bruyne, Jorginho(must go)
Bamford, Kane, Wilson

My initial thoughts were to change:

Salah > Bruno (plays 18 & DGW19)
Zaha > gundogan (plays 18 & DGW19) or Saka
Upgrade Steele > Martinez for -4 (I haven’t taken a single hit this season)

The following week for GW19 I’ll use my 1 FT to upgrade Jorginho to Soucek, I would then have 13 players who have doubles... I would then use the bench boost

Yes. Sounds like a good plan - does it need to be Martinez though? I mean he's quite expensive now and there's De Gea or Ederson you could go for, both with great fixtures for a while. (of course you'd have to get Saka if Ederson). That said Martinez has good games after the double.

[Gunning4Glory]

I had to use my FreeHit earlier in the season (injuries)

My full side is:

McCarthy, Steele,
Cancelo, Ayling, Walker Peters, Coufal, Reguilon
Zaha, Salah, Grealish, De Bruyne, Jorginho(must go)
Bamford, Kane, Wilson

My initial thoughts were to change:

Salah > Bruno (plays 18 & DGW19)
Zaha > gundogan (plays 18 & DGW19) or Saka
Upgrade Steele > Martinez for -4 (I haven’t taken a single hit this season)

The following week for GW19 I’ll use my 1 FT to upgrade Jorginho to Soucek, I would then have 13 players who have doubles... I would then use the bench boost

Yes. Sounds like a good plan - does it need to be Martinez though? I mean he's quite expensive now and there's De Gea or Ederson you could go for, both with great fixtures for a while. (of course you'd have to get Saka if Ederson). That said Martinez has good games after the double.

Doesn’t need to be, but looking at villas fixtures after these weeks they look very good, martinez has been on form also.

[Sutter Kane]

Yes he is a very good goal keeper. I'm not keen on this week or their double game week 19 but after that, he looks decent.

[Resonare]

Currently I am feeling brave and saving the FH for later in the season, short term pain / long term gain. I will probably get knocked out of the cup, miss out on a promotion in the divisional championship and drop 500k in OR.
Can
Dias Saiss Bellerin
Son KDB Bruno
Kane Wood
minimise the damage and can they lead a come back in DGW19? Contemplating a -4 now to bring in a DGW player who will strengthen the squad going forward.
The rest of the motely crew are Fabianski McCarthy Zouma Dallas Soucek Romeu and Bamford. The bank has 1.6 to spend, the bench of McCarthy Dallas Romeu and Wood is OK for the DGW but McCarthy and Wood need to be down graded after a potential DGW19 BB so the finger is being pointed at Zouma and or Soucek for an upgrade. I have value in Zouma but Soucek has only been in my squad a short time so i have no attachment.
Zouma to Tierney has merit but it cost me to get out of the arsenal double recently and I still bear the scars, Cancelo was just sold due to covid rumor and .... the rest are too well owned, too expensive, injured or Dier. Ignoring Dier and Wan Bissaka ( due to being too much Man United) it does not look like I have a choice I like so Soucek to Saka for a -4 ?
Apologies for the rambling but comments appreciated. Thanks in advance

Soucek is finally delivering so I'd avoid selling him ahead of his DGW of BUR/WBA. Given Brighton's weakness on set pieces and Chelsea's poor form it might be worth doing Zouma Stones for a -4, but tbh I think your team is fine as is. It's just going to be a week where us non-FH18 fpl managers will be hoping very few of the differentials owned by FH18 teams deliver.

[Gunning4Glory]

I’m also really considering playing my wildcard, I feel my team in general need surgery (6/7 player I’m not happy with)... I feel I can shape a team set for these 2 GWs and moving forward.

I feel if I risk just playing with 9 players (who some I’m not happy with) leave it 3/4 weeks then I could be miles behind. I played my first wildcard in GW5 so feel I’m in the same sort of position

[DavidLloydIsAHero]

Can get XI so no FH for me. BB19 possible but currently leaning towards no now Balbuena's status is uncertain

Martinez
Dias Stones Dier
Son Bruno KdB Grealish
Kane Brewster Watkins

Button Robbo Soucek Balbuena on the bench

[Tallerico]

Can get to a very iffy 8 only (for a -4) but yet still considering not playing FH.

The -4 is effectively for Martinez to carry into the double for BB with 13 doublers plus Kane and DCL.

Wondering if I'm insane. FH and WC available...

Martinez

Taylor (doubt)
Mitchell (doubt)

KDB
Fernandes
Grealish

Kane
DCL

[RuudTheDudeVanTheMan]

Got 11 and 2 frees so happy enough. Salah KDB/Sterling will be my transfer and roll the other for the double, probably play the triple captain in gw19 as my bench ain't good enough for BB.

Guaita,
Dias, Stones, Targett,
KDB/Sterling, Bruno, Son, Grealish, Burke,
Kane, Bamford

Mitchell