It’s Free Hit time for many of us this week, with only six fixtures taking place in Gameweek 18. That could well become five fixtures if Aston Villa vs Tottenham Hotspur gets postponed after the former’s COVID-19 outbreak. At the time of writing, there’s no news on whether it will go ahead on Wednesday as scheduled or not.
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For the purpose of this piece, I’m going to assume it won’t, so I haven’t included the likes of Harry Kane (£11 million), Son Heung-min (£9.8 million) or Jack Grealish (£7.7 million) in the draft below. Hopefully we find out what’s happening before Tuesday’s FPL deadline (4.30pm UK time). If it turns out the game is played on Wednesday, working Kane and Son back in is likely to be my plan given that Villa won’t have trained much together in the run-up to the match.
Remember, if you are playing your Free Hit, you can make unlimited changes to your Free Hit squad before the gameweek deadline.
The starting line-up
I’m going to keep it simple when it comes to making Free Hit picks, tripling up on the good teams that have nice fixtures — Manchester City, Arsenal and Manchester United. That leaves just two spots to be filled in the starting XI from the other fixtures.
Starting with City, Kevin De Bruyne (£11.7 million) is a must-have. Pep Guardiola’s side have clicked in attack in recent matches, with the Belgian playing a big part in that. He’ll get my armband for Gameweek 18 (and probably Gameweek 19, too).
It’s five clean sheets in the last seven league matches for City. They’ve conceded just two goals over that period, which makes going for a defensive double-up very attractive alongside De Bruyne. Ruben Dias (£5.8 million) has started every league game since joining the club in September, which makes him the safest route into their defence. He’s due a goal, too!
Joao Cancelo (£5.8 million) is arguably the best defender in FPL at the moment. He should have more attacking returns than he does. He’s a pretty safe pick, having completed the 90 minutes in 11 of City’s last 12 league matches. You’d have to fancy them to keep another clean sheet at home to Brighton & Hove Albion.
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Arsenal have found some form just at the right time for free-hitters this week. They offer the best differentials, as those who are not using the chip are unlikely to have more than one of their assets for Gameweek 18.
Kieran Tierney (£5.4 million) has been one of the few consistent performers for Arsenal this season and he showed FPL managers what he’s capable of in Gameweek 17, racking up a massive 18-pointer in the 4-0 win over West Bromwich Albion. He completes the back three, alongside the two Manchester City guys mentioned above, in a 3-4-3 formation.
One of the best enablers on Free Hit is the exciting Bukayo Saka (£5.3 million). The Arsenal youngster has produced attacking returns in each of his last three appearances (two goals and two assists). At just £5.3 million, he’s a no-brainer this week for the home match against Crystal Palace.
The final piece of the Arsenal triple-up is Alexandre Lacazette (£8.3 million). Like Saka, the Frenchman has been very productive in the last three matches, scoring four times. That’s four more than Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (£11.3 million), who costs a lot more. It’s hard to justify paying out the big money for Aubameyang when the likes of Saka and Lacazette are in great form.
Manchester United’s Bruno Fernandes (£11.3 million) picks himself. His team-mate Marcus Rashford (£9.6 million) is often a frustrating asset to own but is capable of posting huge scores. Rashford’s two biggest hauls of the season came away from home: a 15-pointer against Newcastle in Gameweek 5 and a 14-pointer at Sheffield United in Gameweek 13. A third mega away score at Burnley tomorrow night would delight free-hitters.
Given that Dias, Cancelo and Tierney have filled the three defensive spots, there’s no space for Harry Maguire (£5.4 million) or Aaron Wan-Bissaka (£5.4 million) so David de Gea (£5.3 million) is the third United player. Burnley have scored just nine league goals in their 15 games this season, one more than bottom club Sheffield United’s league-worst total. So I’ll be disappointed if keeper De Gea doesn’t get six points at Turf Moor.
The last two spots in the starting XI are taken by Everton’s Richarlison (£7.8 million) and Newcastle United’s Callum Wilson (£6.5 million).
Dominic-Calvert-Lewin (£7.8 million) has been goalscorer-in-chief for Everton this season but has not found the net in his last five appearances. When it’s for just one week, I prefer Richarlison at the same price but with much lower ownership — four per cent versus Calvert-Lewin’s 52.8 per cent. The Brazilian could be on penalties duty, too.
Wilson is an easy pick given his price and the favourable fixture against Sheffield United. Chris Wilder’s side are yet to keep a clean sheet and when Newcastle score, Wilson is very often involved. His goal involvement percentage (67 per cent) is bettered only by Kane (72 per cent) this season when it comes to regular starters.
The bench here is pretty weak given the £100 million budget restriction. If you’ve managed your squad efficiently this season, you’ll have a couple of million extra to improve it. At current player prices, this team comes in at £99.9 million (it was drafted on Sunday evening).
The bench
A Newcastle defender is a good pick for first on the bench up against toothless Sheffield United. DeAndre Yedlin (£4.3 million) is very affordable and offers an attacking threat too.
Josh Brownhill (£4.9 million) should play for Burnley and get two points against Manchester United. Ideally though, this would be Ruben Neves (£5.2 million), who is now on penalties for Wolverhampton Wanderers or, better still, team-mate Pedro Neto (£6 million) if budget allows.
Tyrick Mitchell (£3.9 million) is ideal for the third bench spot now he seems to have won back his place in the Crystal Palace team. Hopefully we won’t need our bench players, anyway!
If you’ve got some cash left over, it’s best to go for a playing goalkeeper on the bench rather than someone like Bailey Peacock-Farrell (£4 million). Brighton’s Robert Sanchez (£4.4 million) is the cheapest option.
Good luck to you all in Gameweek 18, especially those of you who are free-hitting!
To listen to Mark’s podcast, The 59th Minute FPL Podcast, which is part of The Athletic’s podcast offering, click here
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(Photo: Chloe Knott – Danehouse/Getty Images)
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