To Free Hit or not in gameweek 29? FPL tips & team of week

Should you play your Free Hit chip this week?

The Carabao Cup final means Liverpool, Aston Villa, Newcastle and Crystal Palace are blanking in gameweek 29.

That's a lot of popular Fantasy Premier League assets potentially missing from your team, so everyone has a decision to make.

You usually want to Free Hit in a gameweek where you can pack your side with exciting attacking players with great fixtures, but this week's games aren't super enticing.

And further down the line you might need your Free Hit to navigate a potential double gameweek in 33 and blank gameweek in 34. We don't know what those fixtures will be yet as they depend on FA Cup quarter-final results.

So any decision you make this week involves a bit of guesswork, but here's a guide to help you.

I can get 10 players out with no hits - save your Free Hit.

I can get nine players out with no hits - probably save your Free Hit - it will have more impact later.

I can get eight players out with no hits - are seven of those midfielders or forwards? If so probably worth still saving your Free Hit. If not, then use the Free Hit.

I can get seven or fewer players out with no hits - definitely Free Hit to avoid falling behind.

The team of the week is selected based on current FPL prices to fit within a £100m budget, as if you were playing a Free Hit.

Is it worth a -4 for a defender this week?

No. It is almost never worth a -4 for a defender.

The only way to justify it, in a blank, is picking someone with high upside, such as Manchester City's Josko Gvardiol - who also plays Leicester City at home in gameweek 30.

Is it worth a -4 for a forward player in blank gameweek 29?

Yes. If it is a case of taking a hit to get a full attacking complement out and save your Free Hit then do it - as long as you are bringing in players with high upside and not a £4.5m midfielder! This week's team of the week should give you some ideas.

If you're thinking about going -8, don't do it unless you've already used your Free Hit chip.

How did last week's team do?

The strikeforce of Eddie Nketiah and Beto had a combined expected goals (xG) of 1.34 last week but both ended with two-pointers - so unlucky!

Still, super Marc Cucurella (15 points) and captain Mohamed Salah (30) led the team to a tidy 67 points.

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FPL team of the week for gameweek 29

Keeper and defence

Jordan Pickford, Everton, keeper, £5.1m - West Ham (h)

FPL's second-highest scoring keeper is a safe choice at home to a West Ham side that is not scoring a lot of goals.

In their past seven games the Hammers have an xG of just 6.81 (third lowest in the league) and a league-low 18 shots on target.

Pickford makes plenty of saves, has earned a save point on 13 occasions this season and 10 bonus points - the best among keepers.

Josko Gvardiol, Manchester City, £5.9m - Brighton (h)

No other defender has more goals than Gvardiol's five this season.

City's chances of a clean sheet against Brighton aren't high, the way they are defending at the moment, but the Croatian has attacking upside in a week with few obvious defensive picks.

Diogo Dalot, Manchester United, £5m - Leicester (a)

Leicester haven't scored for five games and their xG in that time is just 1.62. That's awful!

You have to pick a defender against them, even if it is a Manchester United one.

Dalot has the highest xG (2.11) of any defender who is yet to score this season and gets into some very attacking positions.

Ola Aina, Nottingham Forest, £5.3m - Ipswich (a)

With back-to-back clean sheets against Arsenal and Manchester City, this Forest defence now has 12 for the season and must fancy another one against Ipswich.

Aina is just about the best defensive pick, with his eye for a goal.

Midfield

Bruno Fernandes has 29 points in his past three games, and 22 bonus points in total this season

Justin Kluivert, Bournemouth, £6.2m - Brentford (h)

Bournemouth haven't really capitalised on a superb run of recent fixtures but Kluivert has been the most reliable attacking asset in that time.

Brentford at home is a great fixture, he's in form and on penalties. Easy choice.

Bruno Fernandes (captain), Manchester United, £8.4m - Leicester (a)

Fernandes has played Leicester twice this season in all competitions and has four goals and an assist.

He's United's attacking talisman and has a great chance to haul this week.

Bryan Mbeumo, Brentford, £8.1m - Bournemouth (a)

Bournemouth have a very good defensive record at home but, with Salah blanking and Cole Palmer facing Arsenal away, the third top midfielder points-scorer comes in this week. That's three of the four midfielders on penalties.

Morgan Gibbs-White, Nottingham Forest, £6.5m - Ipswich (a)

Callum Hudson-Odoi has grabbed headlines recently, with three goals, but Gibbs-White has far better underlying numbers.

In his past seven games, he has 16 shots and an xG of 1.79. Hudson-Odoi's xG in that time is 0.31!

Forest are flying and you fancy them to score a couple against Ipswich, so Gibbs-White is likely to be involved.

Strikers

Erling Haaland is seven goals away from matching last season's league total of 20

Erling Haaland, Manchester City, £14.7m - Brighton (h)

One goal in his past three isn't amazing but Haaland has hat-trick potential in any game and is hard to ignore in a week with four teams missing.

Looking ahead, can you get him into your team next week? As Leicester at home is a potential points bonanza.

Chris Wood (vice captain), Nottingham Forest, £7.3m - Ipswich (a)

Wood is a potential captain choice this week and the highest-scoring striker is an easy pick.

Evanilson, Bournemouth, £5.6m - Brentford (h)

The Brazilian's return from injury was earlier than expected and he looked sharp at Spurs in gameweek 28, his first league start.

Of all the fixtures, Bournemouth v Brentford is the one that screams goals.

Subs bench

Jose Sa, Wolves, keeper, £4.3m - Southampton (a)

Savinho, Manchester City, midfielder, £6.2m - Brighton (h)

Jurrien Timber, Arsenal, defender, £5.6m - Chelsea (h)

Jarrad Branthwaite, Everton, defender, £4.8m - West Ham (h)

Total team cost: £99m

Player to watch

Bukayo Saka's 11 assists is still the second-most in the Premier League this season despite him missing the past 11 games

Bukayo Saka, Arsenal, midfielder, £10.2m

Saka is back in training and could return after the upcoming international break.

He's one of the best FPL assets in the game and would be available just in time for a great run of fixtures for Arsenal. He could be a good Palmer replacement at a similar price.

Team to target

Bournemouth - Brentford (h), Ipswich (h), West Ham (a)

With doubles and blanks in the upcoming weeks that are yet to be announced, you could start thinking a bit more short term with your transfers.

Bournemouth have several easy-to-get-to assets and that Ipswich fixture next week jumps out at you as one to capitalise on.