Blank Gameweeks are among the toughest to navigate, and this one is no exception.
With Arsenal, Aston Villa, Crystal Palace and Man City 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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“For my Free Hit I need to consider what my season goals are,” Mark explained. “I probably need to take a few punts in the 15 I mention here and so may dip into the 'honourable mentions' players listed at the end. There are lots of good picks that aren't in the majority of drafts but here is the general shape of what I'm looking at.”
His strategy is a delicate mix of proven performers and high-upside differentials—designed to gain rank, not just tread water.
"I want to cover Newcastle and Wolves defences," Mark explained — and his goalkeeper choice backs that up.
Over the last six Gameweeks, Newcastle have kept three clean sheets, the joint-most in the league according to the Opta Stats Sandbox. Pope has been the top-scoring goalkeeper in that time, racking up 31 FPL points.
Pope – “Pope is very tall and good at getting in the way but most importantly I feel he is the most reliable Newcastle pick and I want to cover the Newcastle defence in this Free Hit.”
Ait-Nouri – “It makes sense for every reason and he will be the first defender in many Free Hit drafts.”
Cucurella – “Cucurella's hair-pull-penalty-assist potential is high. He likes to arrive at the back post so hopefully a cross can arrive to him.”
van Dijk – “I'm struggling with this spot… Spurs can be both vibrant and limp in attack so it's hard to know what to expect.”
No Free Hit is complete without the Egyptian King.
Salah – “Because Mo is the King.”
Luis Díaz – “He is the perfect Free Hit pick on a day when Liverpool will be going 100%.”
A quick look at the Match Centre and Liverpool’s last five games shows exactly why Mark has chosen the Liverpool duo of Salah and Luis Díaz.
Between them, they rank first and second for goals, expected goals, shots on target, FPL assists, and attempted assists. If Liverpool find the net, chances are one — or both — will be involved.
Palmer – “Won't be everybody's cup of tea… but at the end of the day Palmer is very good.”
Mbeumo – “Bryan feels like a sort of default pick… Forest defence is not what it was so maybe Mbeumo can shine during the 98 minutes he will undoubtedly be on the pitch.”
Mark is alluding to Nottingham Forest’s decline in defensive stability when he says their back line “is not what it was.” From Gameweek 1 to 19, Forest defenders were FPL favourites — budget-friendly and boasting the joint-most clean sheets (8) alongside Liverpool, while conceding just one goal per game on average, the third-best in the league.
But since Gameweek 20, the picture has changed. They’ve been conceding 1.43 goals per game — the same as West Ham — and heavy defeats like the four goals shipped to Newcastle and five to Bournemouth highlight their defensive drop-off.
Mbeumo is having an outstanding season, standing out as one of only two players to surpass 200 FPL points — the other being Salah. While Salah is in a league of his own with 320 points, Mbeumo’s performances are still hugely impressive.
According to the Opta Heatmaps tool, Mbeumo averages 5.8 points per game in away matches. That’s strong, but four players with over 900 minutes played away from home have done even better: Salah (11.0), Kluivert (6.47), Alexander-Arnold (5.87), and Cunha (5.80).
Mark’s front three mix fixtures, form, and opportunity.
Isak – “He lit Ipswich up earlier in the season. He will do it again.”
Raúl – “With Southampton as the opposition and on penalties it's a straight-forward good pick.”
Welbeck – “Realistically one of the Wolves Forwards could end up in this spot.”
According to the Transfer Analytics tool, Cunha, Wood, Wissa, and Strand Larsen make up all 10 of the most popular forward transfer combinations — yet none of them feature in Mark's current draft.
Isak, on the other hand, is already owned by 84.9% of the top 1 million managers, making him the third most-owned player in that bracket and explaining the lack of transfer activity around him.
But could Mark suffer a case of FOMO before the deadline and bring one of those popular forwards into his starting XI?
Mark’s bench also shows just how deep he's thinking.
✅ 3 goals and 2 assists in his last 7 games
— Fantasy Football Fix (@FantasyFootyFix) April 24, 2025
✅ 2.3 xG in that run – only Muniz (2.9) has more for Fulham
✅ Faces Southampton: lowest scorers (24) & leakiest defence (78)
❌ No full 90s in his last 7 games
❌ Played less than 60 mins in 5 of them
Thinking of punting on… pic.twitter.com/s3jDvfuzM0
“My main dilemmas overnight will be whether I keep Mbeumo, and whether to put Cunha or Strand Larsen in over one of the forwards,” Mark said.
He’s also keeping an eye on the likes of Sa, Kerkez, Estupiñán, Trippier, Mitoma, Gibbs-White, Barnes, Neto, Bruno, Evanilson, and Wood.
“If you are chasing, these are all good picks.”
Mark’s Free Hit squad is still a work in progress—and his final decisions could come down to the wire.
You can follow every update via the Elite XI: Team Reveal tool, which tracks all team changes, transfers, and captaincy calls in real time. Get push notifications so you don’t miss a move.
With 48.4% of active managers (those who've made a transfer in the last five Gameweeks) yet to play their Free Hit chip, many will be activating it this week.
If you're one of them, here are a few helpful articles we’ve published to guide your decisions:
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