The Scout selects a Wildcard squad for the managers in Fantasy Premier League who have already activated the chip and those who are considering doing so ahead of the Gameweek 22 deadline at 11:00 GMT on Saturday 17 January.
Just remember that there might be a better time to use the chip later in the season due to Blank and Double Gameweeks.
Time for Palmer
Four home matches over the next six Gameweeks can help revive Cole Palmer’s (£10.4m) potential in Fantasy under Chelsea’s new head coach Liam Rosenior.
Palmer missed Wednesday night's 3-2 defeat to Arsenal in the first leg of the EFL Cup semi-final with a minor thigh strain, but Liam Rosenior hopes the midfielder will be available to face Brentford on Saturday.
After producing 22 goals, 13 assists and 244 points in his breakout 2023/24 campaign under Mauricio Pochettino, Palmer failed to replicate that output for the Argentinian’s predecessor Enzo Maresca.
Three goals and an assist across nine starts in an injury-hit campaign means the England star can be found in only 12 per cent of squads.
A run of home matches against Brentford, West Ham United, Leeds United and Burnley over Gameweeks 22-27, however, give Palmer the chance to establish himself as a key figure in managers’ squads for the second half of 2025/26 Fantasy.
Why a 3-5-2 formation makes sense
It’s fair to say that midfielders have outperformed forwards over the first 21 Gameweeks this season.
Whereas seven midfielders have produced 100+ points, only two forwards have achieved this feat.
Arsenal's Declan Rice (£7.3m), Newcastle United’s Bruno Guimaraes (£7.2m) and Aston Villa’s Morgan Rogers (£7.7m) have each hit triple-figures.
All cost under £8.0m, a clear sign of the far superior value offered by midfielders, with Rice and Guimaraes among the most consistent players this season thanks to their potential for both attacking returns and defensive contribution points.
Manchester City’s Rayan Cherki (£6.8m), meanwhile, has averaged 6.3 points per start (pps), second only to the 6.4pps of Rice among midfielders this season.
One of the most appealing reasons for a 3-5-2 is the recent emergence of Wolverhampton Wanderers’ forward Mateus Mane (£4.5m).
The 18-year-old has started each of the last four Gameweeks, scoring twice and supplying an assist in his last two outings alone.
Mane can be a great option as the first player on your bench to replace any of your regular starters, should they fail to make an appearance.
Gabriel a must-have at the back
Gabriel’s (£6.7m) immediate impact at both ends of the pitch since returning from injury shows why is quite simply a must-have for your defence.
The Brazilian is by far the most attacking option in the Gunners’ defence and, as evidenced by his recent goals against Aston Villa and AFC Bournemouth, is a fixture-proof pick for your starting line-up.
Everton’s James Tarkowski (£5.7m) is selected here after his fellow centre-back Michael Keane (£4.8m) was sent off against Wolves in Gameweek 21, which means he will be suspended for the next two Gameweeks.
Tarkowski has helped the Toffees to keep eight clean sheets, while also earning 30 defensive contribution points, the second-best total in the league.
Crucially, Everton also have a great mid-term run of opponents. According to the Fixture Difficulty Ratings (FDR), where the difficulty of each match is ranked from one to five - with one being the easiest possible match and five the hardest - just one of their next eight matches score more than three.
While Palmer’s team-mate Trevoh Chalobah (£5.5m) comes in for their great schedule, managers should also be monitoring the fitness of Crystal Palace’s similarly-priced Daniel Munoz (£5.8m), who is expected back from injury later this month.
Munoz has averaged 6.4 points per match (ppm), second only to Gabriel’s 7.5ppm among defenders.
Leeds and Brighton have fixtures to offer great value
At a cost of only £6.0m, Leeds' Dominic Calvert-Lewin has proven an outstanding source of value for a number of matches and merits his place alongside Haaland.
The forward has scored eight of his nine goals, and supplied one of his two assists, over the last nine Gameweeks.
Leeds play at Elland Road in three of the next four Gameweeks, and two of those contests – against Fulham and Nottingham Forest – score just two in the FDR.
Brighton & Hove Albion also have three home matches across the next four Gameweeks, against Bournemouth, Everton and Crystal Palace.
The Seagulls' goalkeeper Bart Verbruggen (£4.5m) can be a standout in the budget bracket, having amassed 18 points over his last two matches at Amex Stadium.