Mark Mansfield’s FPL Free Hit Draft for Blank Gameweek 29

Blank Gameweeks are among the toughest to navigate, and this one is no exception. With Aston Villa, Crystal Palace, Liverpool, and Newcastle all without a fixture, many Fantasy Premier League (FPL) managers see it as the perfect time to activate their Free Hit chip.

One of Fantasy Football Fix’s Elite XI: Team Reveal managers, Mark Mansfield—who has seven top 10k finishes and a personal best of 227th—shares his Free Hit draft and insights on making the most of the chip.

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A Strategy-First Approach

While many managers will be activating the Free Hit chip this week, Mark won’t be among them. Instead, he sees greater value in saving it for a later gameweek.

“I won’t be playing the Free Hit chip as I can get to a reasonably good team with two free transfers, and I’ll consider a -4 hit as well. For me, I’m going to use the Free Hit chip as a tool to skip a tricky week when I’m on Wildcard. It seems it will be very difficult to play through weeks 33 and 34 and have a good team in both.”

However, for those who are playing it this week, Mark has put together a draft that maximises potential returns while taking advantage of some under-the-radar picks.

Mark Mansfield’s Free Hit Team for Blank Gameweek 29

Goalkeeper

• Matz Sels (Nottingham Forest, £5.1m)
  “There are slim pickings in defence this week. Sels and Forest have been doing the business defensively all season, and Nuno even said after the Man City game that clean sheets are the priority.”

Nottingham Forest have proven themselves as clean sheet specialists this season. According to the Opta Stats Sandbox tool, they have kept 12 clean sheets—joint-most alongside Liverpool.

Defenders

• Diogo Dalot (Manchester United, £5.0m)
  “He’s not great at football, but worth a punt on Free Hit in the hope that Man United can keep a clean sheet, and he gets an attacking return. Leicester haven’t scored at home in some crazy number of games.”
• Joško Gvardiol (Manchester City, £5.9m)
  “There isn’t much hope for a Man City clean sheet, but Gvardiol is a better attacker than full-back, so I’d be inclined to give him a go.”
• Rayan Aït-Nouri (Wolves, £4.8m)
  “It’s Southampton, and he can be very dangerous on the underlap. He’s the cheap Free Hit full-back that’s guaranteed to bang! This year’s Matt Lowton.”

Comparing the three defenders using the Comparison Matrix tool highlights the attacking potential of Gvardiol and Aït-Nouri.

No defender has scored more goals than Man City’s Gvardiol (5), while only Robinson (10), Hall (7), and Alexander-Arnold (6) have provided more assists than Wolves’ Aït-Nouri (5). However, two of them don’t have a fixture this Gameweek.

Midfielders

• Morgan Gibbs-White (Nottingham Forest, £6.5m)
  “Having had him on Free Hit in Gameweek 29 last season, it’s traditional. Eze appeared to have a field day against Ipswich, and Gibbs-White can do the same.”
• Bruno Fernandes (Manchester United, £8.4m)
  “It’s Leicester, and it’s Bruno, so no explanations required here. 100% Free Hit nailed.”
• Justin Kluivert (Bournemouth, £6.2m)
  “Looked very dangerous at the weekend and is on penalties. He’s an outside captaincy shout for those who cannot get to Haaland, and nothing would be sadder on Free Hit than to ignore a highly-owned great pick like this. 100% Free Hit nailed.”
• Gabriel Martinelli (Arsenal, £6.5m)
  “It’s Free Hit, and this is why we are here. If he’s fit enough, then Arteta has to play him somehow since Arsenal need some attacking options other than horse-shoeing it around for 90 minutes. Martinelli can stretch the opposition in a way no other fit options can.”

Mark highlights the risk of ignoring highly owned players when using the Free Hit chip. The Insight Live feature (image below) shows the top 10 owned players among the top 1 million managers who have fixtures in Blank Gameweek 29.

As Mark mentioned, Kluivert is the fourth most-owned player, with 59.9% of the top 1 million managers selecting the Bournemouth midfielder and 56.5% ownership across FPL.

Interestingly, Chris Wood ranks second at 72.4%, and our Captain Reveal tool—set to update live data later in the week—projects him to exceed 125% effective ownership among the top 1 million managers.

If you don’t own him, he could be a major rank threat, as Mark warns below.

Forwards

• Erling Haaland (Manchester City, £14.2m) – (Captain)
  “Selected and captained. 100% Free Hit nailed.”
• Chris Wood (Nottingham Forest, £4.8m)
  “Rationale is similar to Kluivert. Don’t shoot yourself in the foot by ignoring a highly-owned great pick.”
• Evanilson (Porto, £5.5m)
  “In a game where there could be goals, he is a good complement to Kluivert. There should be no doubts about his starting place, and he is budget-friendly.”

The front three of Haaland, Wood, and Evanilson looks set to become the template forward line for Free Hit managers. As shown in the image below, Paul Marshman—another Elite XI: Team Reveal manager—has also opted for this trio.

Paul, who holds the record for the most top 1k finishes (six), has activated his Free Hit chip. You can view his full team and receive notifications for any updates via the Elite XI: Team Reveal tool.

BGW29 Free Hit Team Reveal

Above is Mark's Free Hit team reveal for Blank Gameweek 29 in the Future Planner tool.

His squad is projected to score a solid—but not season-defining—59 points, which may explain why he has chosen not to activate the Free Hit chip this week.

Could Non-Free Hitters Come Out on Top?

While Mark acknowledges the upside of the Free Hit chip this week, he sees potential pitfalls for those relying on it.

“I suspect there could be people who don’t Free Hit who do better than some who will this week. Palmer, Gabriel, and Mbeumo could put Free Hit managers to the sword.”

With Blank Gameweek 29 set to be one of the most challenging of the season, Mark’s insights provide valuable food for thought. Whether you choose to play your Free Hit chip or navigate the gameweek with transfers alone, having a clear strategy will be key to making gains in the rankings.

You can follow Mark’s team and get weekly insights into his strategies throughout the season with the Elite XI: Team Reveal tool.

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