When is the best time to play your chips in Fantasy Premier League (FPL)? Our FPL Chip Strategy Guide for the 2024/25 season has the answers.

The Assistant Manager was added to the list of chips this season, which also includes the Wildcard, Free Hit, Bench Boost and Triple Captain.

Regardless of which ones you have left, this guide will help you map out a strategy.

See our Blank and Double Gameweek Guide for detailed information about the upcoming fixture schedule.

Download fixture expert Ben Crellin’s FPL transfer planning sheet and check out our flagship My Team tool for more guidance in this crucial part of the season, including AI-recommended transfer tips tailored to your team.

Last updated: 03/03/25

Join the Hub: Latest offers

FPL chip strategy: When is the best time to play my chips?

The main issue with deciding an FPL chip strategy at present is that we don’t have the full fixture schedule for the rest of the season.

We’ll know a bit more by Gameweek 28 but we’ll be waiting until after the Gameweek 30 deadline for confirmation of who will play in the later blank and double gameweeks.

There’s always countless chip strategies available – but three or four solutions tend to emerge as the most popular each season.

These often focus heavily on the blanks and doubles but with changes to the FA Cup schedule expected to lead to smaller doubles this season, chips like the Bench Boost and Triple Captain could be an option in normal gameweeks too.

For the purpose of this guide, we will focus on building your FPL chip strategy around the following blank and double gameweeks. See our Blank and Double Gameweek Guide for full details:

Double Gameweek 24: Liverpool and Everton (ongoing)
Double Gameweek 25: Liverpool and Aston Villa
Blank Gameweek 29: Liverpool, Aston Villa, Crystal Palace and Newcastle
Double Gameweek 32: Newcastle and Crystal Palace
Double Gameweek 33: TBC
Blank Gameweek 34: TBC
Double Gameweek 36: TBC

We will update this guide regularly as new information emerges.

FPL chip strategy

FPL chip strategy in depth

Here, we take a more in-depth look at our recommended options to play the FPL Triple Captain, Bench Boost, Free Hit, Assistant Manager and Wildcard.

Best time to play the FPL Assistant Manager chip

The Assistant Manager chip could be the most powerful of all.

Just one win for your chosen manager’s team is worth up to 16 points, not including goals and clean sheet extras. That’s the equivalent of Haaland’s hat-trick haul in Gameweek 2.

Playing this chip in a three-week window which includes a double gameweek therefore looks appealing.

Some remaining options include:

Gameweek 30-32: Eddie Howe or Oliver Glasner (Gameweek 32)
Gameweek 31-33: Eddie Howe or Oliver Glasner (Gameweek 32)
Gameweek 36-38: TBC

Gameweek 31-33 offers the chance of using the Assistant Manager over two double gameweeks, following news of Double Gameweek 32 for Newcastle and Crystal Palace.

Doing so could make using the other chips tricky though. For example, you could not Wildcard or Bench Boost in this period.

The table bonus side of the chip sees managers awarded 10 extra points for a victory if the winning team is five places or more below their opponents in the league table.

Choosing the manager of a team fighting for points when their opponents have nothing to play for could prove powerful.

If you’re not keen on using the chip in Double Gameweek 34, Double Gameweek 36 onwards could be a way to target table bonus gains.

There is however a chance that Double Gameweek 36 might not happen, if postponed fixtures all move into Double Gameweek 33.

Please note that like the other chips, you cannot combine the Assistant Manager with other chips.

Top tips for Assistant Manager chip success and predicted points

Assistant Manager chip prices

Best time to play the FPL Triple Captain chip

Nearly 500,000 FPL managers used their Triple Captain on Erling Haaland in Gameweek 2, when he earned 17 points against Ipswich.

And another 1.13m activated it in Double Gameweek 24, mostly on Mohamed Salah.

But millions still have the chip in hand and Double Gameweek 25 is the next opportunity to use it. Salah is again the leading candidate, with Wolves (H) and Aston Villa (A) arguably a stronger pairing than Double Gameweek 24’s fixtures.

One of the later double gameweeks – 32, 33 or 36 – could be a good alternative for those not currently locked into the Assistant Manager. There is a chance Double Gameweek 36 does not go ahead though.

Alexander Isak has Manchester United (H) and Crystal Palace (H) in Double Gameweek 32 – he was expected to double in Gameweek 33 until an announcement saw Newcastle v Palace moved to this gameweek.

Alternatively, you could settle for a good single gameweek fixture instead, such as Cole Palmer against Leicester (Gameweek 28) or Ipswich (Gameweek 32).

Alexander Isak

Best time to use the FPL Free Hit chip

The best time to play your Free Hit may depend on how your squad shapes up for Blank Gameweek 29.

This blank clashes with the Carabao Cup final and there are plenty of highly owned players among the teams set to have their league game postponed.

Newcastle, Crystal Palace, Aston Villa and Liverpool are confirmed blankers.

Now the fixtures are set, you will some time to transfer out players who blank – but you may not wish to lose all of them. For example, selling Salah may not be ideal.

This is even more the case when considering the Reds have strong home fixtures either side of the blank.

Using the Free Hit would solve this problem.

Confirmed Gameweek 29 fixtures

But there is another blank in Gameweek 34 – created as a result of the FA Cup semi-finals – which must also be taken into account.

It’s too early to know which fixtures will be affected but similar problems could arise, so either way careful transfer planning will be needed.

While using the Free Hit in one of the blanks this year could prove helpful, FPL managers have had great success using it in double gameweeks too.

Activating it in Double Gameweek 32, 33 or 36 – the latter subject to it going ahead – would allow full focus on doubling teams.

Gameweek 34 last year was a prime example of the potential of playing the Free Hit in a double, with some huge scores.

In contrast, those using it in Blank Gameweek 29 were massively disappointed, with a record low FPL average of just 12 points.

Changes to cup scheduling will make the doubles smaller this year however, so the swings should be less severe. Some of the doubles pencilled in for these weeks have also been provisionally moved to Double Gameweek 25.

FPL Free Hit

Best time to use the second FPL Wildcard

The second Wildcard is a useful tool to help you navigate through the blanks and doubles.

Gameweek 30/31, 34 and 35 are potential times to use it.

Gameweek 30 or 31 offers another way of tackling Blank Gameweek 29. This could be a strong strategy for those without a Free Hit or with a squad with very few blanking players.

It allows managers to ‘dead-end’ their team into the blank – planning transfers for the sole purpose of setting up their teams for that week – before wildcarding blanking players back in for the next fixtures.

Those with their Free Hit still intact could then use it in Blank Gameweek 34.

The FPL Wildcard

The downside of using the Wildcard in Gameweek 30 though is it leaves little time to plan.

The FA Cup quarter-finals, which will decide the Gameweek 34 blanks, take place on the weekend of March 29. The Gameweek 30 deadline follows on the Tuesday (April 1). Teams blanking in Gameweek 29 also have good fixtures in Gameweek 30.

A Gameweek 34 Wildcard could help those who use the Free Hit in 29 get through the blank but it could be hard to cover the gameweeks afterwards, depending on the teams who play this week.

The likes of Liverpool and Chelsea already have a confirmed fixture in Gameweek 34 however, offering a solid starting point for wildcarders.

Gameweek 35 follows Blank Gameweek 34 and comes just before the potential Double Gameweek 36.

Using the Wildcard and Bench Boost close together allows squads to be easily set up for the latter chip, so this strategy could appeal if you have both in hand.

Alternatively, it could set a team up for a late Assistant Manager run.

Best time to use the FPL Bench Boost chip

Gameweek 32, 33 and 36 are our recommendations for the Bench Boost as things stand.

Each of these are double gameweeks but with the doubles expected to be smaller this year, don’t rule out playing it in a single gameweek later in the season if your bench looks very strong.

FPL Bench Boost

The opportunities for this will vary significantly from team to team, so we recommend checking out our customisable fixture ticker and predicted points tool for guidance on your bench strength week to week.

If benched players have home games against weaker teams, have good expected minutes and you’re struggling to choose who to start, these are all good signs that the Bench Boost could be used.

But if you’re making your decision before the full fixture schedule is known, bear in mind your bench in a future double gameweek could end up looking stronger.

New Hub feature: Fixture projections included in our tools

Ben’s fixture projections are now built into all our tools, helping FPL managers plan their way through the blanks and doubles.

Our fixture ticker includes potential doubles and blanks, with information provided about the likelihood of them going ahead.

As seen below, Liverpool and Everton’s Double Gameweek 24 was included in the projections before it was announced.

This will impact predicted points and our AI-recommended transfers.

Please note, you can turn off the predicted fixtures mode using the toggle at the top of the page.

Predicted fixtures change the ticker

Follow the Hub

Twitter | Facebook | YouTube | Instagram | Tiktok

And view all our latest fantasy football tips on our Homepage

FPL Chip Strategy Guide 2024/25: Best time to play Triple Captain, Free Hit and more

Save your FPL Season

Community & tools