When is the best time to use the free hit chip in FPL? The Free Hit chip in Fantasy Premier League, if used strategically, can significantly impact a player’s overall ranking. This article aims to provide a comprehensive guide on when to use the Free Hit chip in FPL to maximize its benefits.
This article is a part of our series: What is Free Hit in FPL and how does it work?
When to use the first Free Hit in FPL 2025/26
- You could use your first free hit in a single gameweek when you have a lot of shortly unavailable or injured players, or players that have a lot of tough fixtures. Or when you expect heavy rotation due to Champions League or busy schedule.
- Not good use to deal with players leaving to AFCON – your team reverts back after a free hit, so I do not think you should save it for AFCON gameweeks. Additionally, we all will get extra transfers to deal with players leaving for AFCON so, not a big advantage here in using Free Hit/or Wildcard. Players who will go to AFCON, could miss up to around 6 games if their nation reaches the final.
- GW3 – if you have a lot of Liv and Ars players who play against each other.
- GW14 – to chase the upside of fixtures: Leeds vs. Chelsea, Liverpool vs. Sunderland, Fulham vs. Man. City, Man. United vs. West Ham – unless you plan to use TC in GW14
Avoid wasting your first free hit chip. Make sure you use it when it makes sense for your team.
When to use the second Free Hit in FPL 2025/26
- Blank GW31 – Up to 4 teams could potentially blank.
- Double GW33
- Blank GW34 – Up to 8 teams could potentially blank.
- Double GW36
- Unlikely Blank GW37 – Up to 4 teams could potentially blank.
- Single Gw 38 – If you will prefer to use other chips (wildcard, bench boost, triple captain) during the double gameweek, and only few teams would miss blank gameweek, you could use the free hit in GW38, which is usually a high-scoring one, allowing you to bring in players from fixtures where you will expect a big score.
See the fixtures in a bigger perspective in our FPL calendar.
When to Use the Free Hit Chip in FPL
1. During Blank Gameweek – this applies mainly for the second free hit chip
A blank gameweek is a round where certain teams don’t have a match due to scheduling conflicts, typically caused by domestic cup competitions. This means that players from these teams won’t earn any points for that particular gameweek.
Using the Free Hit chip during a blank gameweek can be a strategic move for several reasons:
- Maximizing Player Participation: The most obvious reason is to ensure that you have a full team of players who are actually playing in that gameweek. If several of your players’ teams aren’t playing, using the Free Hit chip allows you to temporarily replace them with players who are, thus maximizing your potential to score points.
- Avoiding Point Deductions: Normally, you’d have to use transfers to replace players who aren’t playing, and if you don’t have any free transfers left, this would result in a points deduction. The Free Hit chip allows you to avoid this by giving you unlimited free transfers for a single gameweek.
- Preserving Team Structure: If you have a team structure you’re happy with for the long term, using the Free Hit chip in a blank gameweek allows you to navigate the blank gameweek without making permanent changes to your team. Once the gameweek is over, your team reverts back to its original state.
- Capitalizing on Differential Picks: Blank gameweeks can often throw up unexpected heroes, with less popular players from less fancied teams stepping up to the plate. Using the Free Hit chip allows you to bring in these differential picks for one week without affecting your long-term team structure.
- Saving Wildcard: If you still have your Wildcard chip, using the Free Hit in a blank gameweek can help you save the Wildcard for when you want to make more permanent changes to your team.
In 2025/26 season (with the introduction of 2 sets of chips instead of the regular 1 set of chips
), this applies mainly for the second free hit. The first FH you will likely use in a single gameweek during the first half of the season, as it is highly unlikely that we see some blank or double gameweeks in the first half of the season (unless there are some unusual postponements).
2. During Double Gameweek – this also applies mainly for the second free hit chip
A double gameweek is a round where certain teams have more than one match due to rescheduled fixtures. This means that players from these teams have the opportunity to earn points from two matches in a single gameweek.
Double gameweeks and blank gameweeks usually happen in the second half of the season, so this applies for the second free hit chip – available for the second half of the season.
3. When you need to revert big points hit
If you accidentally took something like a -48 points hit, you could revert in by playing your wildcard or free hit chip. It is far from ideal, as this will limit your ability to adapt to the schedule of blanks or double gameweek, but if you accidentally took a big hit these are the only solution to revert it.
4. In a single gameweek with a lot of injuries or tough fixtures – applies mainly for the first free hit
You could use your first free hit in a single gameweek when you have a lot of unavailable or injured players, or players that have a lot of tough fixtures.
Common Mistakes When Using Free Hit
- Misunderstanding the Functionality: Some players misunderstand the functionality of the Free Hit chip, believing it to be a permanent solution like the Wildcard. Remember, the changes made with the Free Hit chip are temporary and only apply to one Gameweek. Read more: Wildcard vs. Free Hit
