Should you wildcard this week?
- Four or more players you'd sell (injured, dropped, or facing a tough run) is the usual sign. For two or three moves, free transfers do the job, and you can bank up to five.
- A fixture swing. When several teams' fixtures turn at once, a wildcard lets you move your whole squad onto the easy runs.
- The deadline. The first wildcard has to be played by the gameweek 19 deadline; see the chips guide.
- Your own squad first. The chip optimiser values your wildcard week by week, so you can see whether this week beats waiting.
- Verbruggen BHA · £4.6m · 22.5% owned10.3 xPts
- Kinsky TOT · £4.5m · 15.4% owned · bench9.6 xPts
- Gabriel ARS · £7.9m · 21.1% owned14.9 xPts
- Vuskovic BHA · £5.1m · 5.5% owned14.0 xPts
- Tarkowski EVE · £6.2m · 18.4% owned13.8 xPts
- Murillo NFO · £5.5m · 2.0% owned12.2 xPts
- Diop IPS · £3.9m · 11.0% owned · bench9.3 xPts
- Mbeumo MUN · £7.8m · 20.2% owned14.5 xPts
- Rogers CHE · £8.0m · 47.9% owned13.4 xPts
- Iwobi FUL · £5.4m · 1.0% owned12.2 xPts
- Belloumi HUL · £5.2m · 9.1% owned · bench11.2 xPts
- Tonali TOT · £5.3m · 1.8% owned · bench11.2 xPts
- Haaland MCI · £15.7m · 76.8% owned15.7 xPts
- Isak LIV · £9.0m · 12.8% owned13.8 xPts
- Kostoulas BHA · £5.7m · 9.7% owned13.0 xPts
Cost £99.8m of £100m · projected 165 points over GW8–GW10 from the best XI and captain each week. Captain: GW8 Gabriel, GW9 Haaland, GW10 Haaland.
Bench players are for GW8. Projections updated Tue 20 Oct, 03:00 UK; prices and ownership from FPL at Tue 20 Oct, 03:00 UK. Team news after that isn't included.
How it's built
The optimiser chooses 15 players and keeps them for all three gameweeks, with no transfers. Each week it picks the best legal XI and captain from those 15. FPL's rules are hard limits: £100m, two goalkeepers, five defenders, five midfielders, three forwards, and no more than three players from one club. Later weeks count slightly less because they're less certain, and the bench counts a little, as cover for rotation and injuries.
It doesn't know your selling prices, which players you already own, or your actual budget. The squad builder does the same job with your budget, and lets you force players in or leave them out.
How sure are we?
This is one good answer, not the only one. When we tested it on 18 October, leaving out any one of its 11 starters and re-solving changed the projected total by less than 2 points over three weeks (twice it even rose slightly, because the optimiser counts later weeks a little less), so swapping in a similar player you prefer costs very little. Each player's number is an average. Across this season's gameweeks 2–6, 87% of actual scores landed inside our 10–90% range, so expect a few blanks and a few hauls in any five-week run. Injuries and rotation after the last update aren't included; check the injury list and predicted lineups before you confirm. Our sealed weekly record is on the accuracy page.
Make it yours
Start from your own team in My Team: the planner can plan a wildcard week with your real budget and selling prices, then plan your free transfers for the weeks after it.
Free tools from Gaffer Maths. Not affiliated with the Premier League or Fantasy Premier League.