Should you use the Free Hit chip in Blank Gameweek 31 of Fantasy?

The Scout explains why the Free Hit chip can help managers to navigate the troublesome Blank Gameweek 31 in Fantasy Premier League, but why it could be even more useful later in the season.

Many Fantasy managers are considering using their Free Hit chip this week, in Blank Gameweek 31 (BGW31), due to the absence of Arsenal and Manchester City’s highly owned players.

As a reminder, a "Blank Gameweek" contains fewer than the normal 10 matches, with at least two clubs having no Premier League fixture, and players from such a club having no chance of scoring Fantasy points.

Arsenal and Man City are competing in the EFL Cup final on Sunday, which means that both clubs are without a league fixture this weekend, as well as their scheduled opponents Wolverhampton Wanderers and Crystal Palace.

This will affect FPL managers across all areas of the pitch: Arsenal’s David Raya (£6.0m) and Gabriel (£7.2m) are the most-owned goalkeeper and defender in Fantasy, while Man City pair Antoine Semenyo (£8.3m) and Erling Haaland (£14.5m) are the most-selected midfielder and forward. 

Most-selected BGW31 players

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Using your Free Hit chip in BGW31 would be an easy solution, allowing you to pick a whole new team just for this one troublesome Gameweek - without any players from Arsenal, Man City, Wolves or Palace - before your "normal" squad is returned to you for Gameweek 32.

However, it's not quite that simple.

Why Gameweek 34 could be a more problematic Blank Gameweek

Before you finalise any plans, you need to be aware that Gameweek 34 - which takes place on the same weekend as the FA Cup semi-finals - could be the biggest and most problematic Blank Gameweek of 2025/26 Fantasy.

There could be MORE clubs who don't have a Premier League fixture, making it more awkward to navigate, so the Free Hit chip would be more useful in Blank Gameweek 34 (BGW34) than it would be in BGW31.

Why is this?

Well, six Premier League clubs have reached the FA Cup quarter-finals – Arsenal, Chelsea, Leeds United, Liverpool, Man City and West Ham United – and those ties will be played on the weekend of 4 April.

Any Premier League club who WIN their quarter-final will be unable to play their scheduled Premier League fixture in BGW34, because they will be playing in the FA Cup semi-finals instead - and their Gameweek 34 opponents will also be left without a match to play.

With Man City hosting Liverpool in the FA Cup quarter-finals, and West Ham facing Leeds, it is guaranteed that a MINIMUM of two Premier League clubs will reach the semi-finals and that two league fixtures in BGW34 will have to be postponed.

Then if Arsenal and Chelsea also win against their lower-league opponents Southampton and Port Vale respectively - which seems likely - there would be two more matches and therefore four more clubs removed from Gameweek 34.

In other words, up to EIGHT clubs could have a BGW34, twice the number of clubs who are without a match in BGW31.

FA Cup quarter-final ties (QFs)

Southampton v Arsenal
Chelsea v Port Vale
Man City v Liverpool
West Ham v Leeds

GW34 fixtures that could be postponed

*Teams still in FA Cup are in bold

Wait until Gameweek 32 before deciding your plans

With so much uncertainty still surrounding the Blank and Double Gameweeks, you can understand why so many managers are waiting until Gameweek 32 before finalising their chip strategies.

There are two reasons for this: we will know which Premier League clubs have progressed to the quarter-finals in European competitions AND those Premier League clubs who have advanced to the FA Cup semi-finals.

Both of these factors can have a big say in when any outstanding matches can be rescheduled, and there is optimism that we will have a far clearer picture of the Blank and Double Gameweeks before the Gameweek 32 deadline.

Handily for Fantasy managers, the picture has already become a little clearer - on Tuesday evening, Arsenal progressed to the UEFA Champions League quarter-finals, while both Chelsea and Man City were eliminated.

Bench your Arsenal and Man City players in BGW31

Given that there is currently a greater degree of risk around the number of clubs who could have a BGW34, it makes sense to AVOID playing the Free Hit chip in BGW31 until we know more.

For now, it seems a safer strategy to simply bench three Arsenal and Man City outfield players, plus Raya or Gianluigi Donnarumma (£5.6m) if you have either of them as a goalkeeper.

Arsenal's run of four home matches over the final seven Gameweeks suggests owners of Gabriel and Jurrien Timber (£6.3m) should be holding firm, while Semenyo's role up front for Man City, added to his classification as a midfielder in Fantasy, gives him the edge over Haaland for now. Timber suffered an injury in Gameweek 30 so FPL managers should keep an eye out for updates throughout the week.

What you also have to remember here is that the popularity of Arsenal and Man City players means that most other managers will be in a similar position in BGW31. 

There's no real problem if you can only field 10 players in BGW31 and would prefer to hold on to Haaland, for example, because there is a chance Man City could get TWO Double Gameweeks as they still have a match against Crystal Palace to be rescheduled. This depends on Man City's progress in the FA Cup and the progress of Palace in Europe. 

A "Double Gameweek" contains more than the normal 10 fixtures, with at least two clubs playing two Premier League fixtures in one Gameweek, and players from those clubs getting two chances to score Fantasy points.