Free Hits in FPL Gameweek 13 or 16?

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In his latest article, Zophar, an eight-time top 10k finisher, considers whether to use his Free Hit Fantasy Premier League (FPL) in Gameweek 13 or 16.

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With Lateriser doing a Q&A this week, I’ll be penning down some thoughts on the upcoming Fantasy Premier League (FPL) weeks, including plans for my own team.

First, a brief explanation of the upcoming schedule. After this international break, we are in a football binge, without a midweek break for a very long time.

The top nine teams will play each midweek from 22 November to 13 December: Matchweeks 12 to 16. Additionally, most Carabao Cup quarter-finals are played straight after, with Arsenal v Crystal Palace taking place before the Boxing Day weekend.

For European teams, I think that period is more difficult to navigate than the Christmas and New Year schedule between Matchweeks 18 and 21. Although Matchweek 21 contains four games in 11 days.

Look at Arsenal’s performance. Derby against Tottenham Hotspur in Gameweek 12 (Sunday), then Bayern Munich (Wednesday), Chelsea (Sunday), Brentford (Wednesday) and Aston Villa in early Saturday morning kick-off. Can someone like Jurrien Wood (£6.1m) rotate at home to Brentford? Possible.

Likewise, it is likely that Chelsea will rotate at Leeds United in Gameweek 14, having just faced Barcelona and Arsenal. These are the factors we need to keep in mind.

I mention this because, for me, this would be a time where teams who don’t play in European competitions – Bournemouth, Brighton and Hove Albion, Manchester United etc – could make a huge profit. Especially compared to Crystal Palace’s brutal run, where there wasn’t a single free moment in midweek until January 7.

A game within a game?

The Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) top-up in Gameweek 16 to five free transfers is arguably the worst change made to the 2025/26 regulations, but it is an opportunity to view this coming period as a ‘game within a game’.

For example, I have entered Gameweek 12 with three free transfers. That means I’ll have 11 of them available to use before Gameweek 17 – a ridiculous number. This reduces the importance of making transfers, and we can approach the coming weeks more aggressively.

Yes, there is an argument that AFCON transfers should ideally continue as long as possible. But I think it’s a good idea to use two or three to prepare for the long run, then go back to collecting them.

Free Hit Window

Now Arsenal and Palace’s schedules have been confirmed, managers like me have important decisions to make about when to use the Free Hit chip. This has the potential to be a poisoned chalice of the season, where a really good player could easily outperform your Gameweek lot.

For most of us, the Gameweek 12 squad also looked good in Gameweek 14, thus ruling them out for Free Hit activation. What’s more, Gameweek 15 is when we want to use up the remaining transfers before topping up, so that would make less sense.

Therefore, the two opportunities I like at the moment are Gameweek 13 and Gameweek 16.

My current setup

This is my ‘bus team’ for Gameweek 12, where I have three free transfers but no money in the bank. Enzo Fernandez (£6.7m) had a good game, but I expect Burnley’s reduction in minutes will keep Barcelona and Arsenal top of mind.

For the same reason, I’m also okay with losing Timber for the short term, perhaps getting him back in Gameweek 16.

Lane 1: Mbeumo in, Free Hit Gameweek 13

I will make three transfers: Enzo, Timber and Robert Sanchez (£4.8m) out, as Bryan Mbeumo (£8.5 million), Chris Richards (£4.5 million) and Bart Verbruggen (£4.4 million) in.

Mbeumo could be one of FPL’s highest-scoring midfielders over the next five Matchweeks, as his only tough game is away to Palace. Just as long as the previous half dozen laps Mohamed Salah (£14.2m) has amassed more big chances than Mbeumo (six) among midfielders.

If you remove Gameweek 13’s Free Hits from the short-term Ticker Fixture, United are in top spot.

Meanwhile, Richards is good at defensive contribution points (DefCon) and was able to keep clean sheets against Wolverhampton Wanderers, Burnley and Fulham.

With Gameweek 13 removed, Brighton and Hove Albion had a very good run, with only two of their next nine games marked as difficult. Martin Dubravka (£4.0m) covers Verbruggen’s matches with Fulham and Everton at home.

Losing Sanchez could immediately backfire against Burnley, but I think this rotation can match the Spaniard before upgrading Verbruggen later.

The team above of course suggests Free Hit Gameweek 13, in my opinion. I doubt Palace will keep a clean sheet against United, but, at the same time, I don’t expect a result from Mbeumo or Bruno Fernandes (£8.9 million).

Arsenal travel to Chelsea, while the Bournemouth duo travel to Sunderland, which is tougher than we expected.

Game Week 13 Free Hits

So can the team outperform Free Hit XI? Below are the 25 highest scoring projections for Gameweek 13, which I have highlighted in green. Ismail Sarr (£6.7 million) will be explained in the next section!

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