More than 1.1million Fantasy Premier League managers have used their Free Hit chip in Blank Gameweek 29 (BGW29), a season-high total and the third-highest on record.
Four teams are without a fixture due to the EFL Cup final between Liverpool and Newcastle United, meaning popular players such as Mohamed Salah (£13.7m) and Alexander Isak (£9.3m) don't play. Their scheduled Premier League opponents, Aston Villa and Crystal Palace, are the other two teams who blank.
As a result, many Fantasy managers will have found themselves struggling to field 11 players for BGW29. Using the Free Hit chip has allowed them to select a squad suited to the reduced round of matches.
GW29 chips played
| Chip | Used by |
|---|---|
| Free Hit | 1,189,224 |
| Wildcard | 221,540 |
| Assistant Manager | 105,465 |
| Triple Captain | 14,819 |
| Bench Boost | 14,258 |
The large number of Free Hit chips played takes the total number of active chips over 2.1m for just the sixth time in Fantasy.
In addition to those Free-Hitting, more than 221,000 have used their Wildcard and nearly 750,000 people have their Assistant Manager chip in play.
A total of 105,000+ managers have activated the Assistant Manager chip in BGW29, adding to the 645,000 who were already using it.
Who are the most-bought players?
Deploying the Free Hit chip or Wildcard aren't the only ways to navigate BGW29, and many managers have simply used their transfers to improve their starting XIs.
A whopping 20m transfers have been made, the 10th-highest total on record.
Bruno Fernandes (£8.5m) has been the No 1 transfer target for BGW29, snapped up by more than 1.8m managers, an all-time high for the Portuguese.
GW29 most-bought players
| Player | Bought by | Pts* |
|---|---|---|
| Fernandes | 1,892,467 | - |
| Haaland | 1,380,766 | 6 |
| Gvardiol | 902,874 | 1 |
| Wood | 850,308 | 2 |
| Kluivert | 814,657 | - |
*before any bonus points added
Fernandes has been in excellent form of late, netting 29 points across his last three matches in Fantasy and scoring a hat-trick in Manchester United's 4-1 win over Real Sociedad in the UEFA Europa League on Thursday.
To add further to his appeal, he registered his best score of the season when facing his BGW29 opponents Leicester City earlier in the campaign, collecting 17 points thanks a goal, two assists and three bonus.
More than 625,000 have made the direct swap from Salah to Fernandes, with another 300,000+ ditching the out-of-form Cole Palmer (£10.9m) for the Manchester United captain.
But Isak to Erling Haaland (£14.7m) has proved the most-popular single trade ahead of BGW29, with close to 650,000 upgrading the Swede to the Norwegian.
Haaland, also the most-captained active player, rewarded his new owners with a goal in Manchester City's 2-2 draw with Brighton & Hove Albion and is set to claim a share of the bonus points.
Manchester City's talisman had three shots in the box taking his tally to 27 over his last 10 appearances, encouraging numbers before an enticing encounter with Leicester City in Gameweek 30.
GW29 most-captained active players
| Player | Bought by | Pts* |
|---|---|---|
| Haaland | 2,712,570 | 6 |
| Wood | 1,597,259 | 2 |
| Fernandes | 873,574 | - |
| Palmer | 558,538 | - |
| Kluivert | 253,289 | - |
*before any bonus points added
Second in the captaincy stakes for BGW29, Chris Wood (£7.3m) has also been in demand, with more than 850,000 adding the New Zealand international to their squads.
Disappointingly for his backers, despite Nottingham Forest beating Ipswich Town 4-2, Wood wasn't involved in any of the goals. It was his third blank in as many matches, with his last goal coming back in Gameweek 25 away to Fulham.
Justin Kluivert (£6.2m) has delivered three double-digit hauls in his last seven matches, leading to more than 814,000+ transfers in and his second-biggest backing with the captain's armband.
Over those seven games, Kluivert has been involved in a team-leading 69 per cent of AFC Bournemouth's goals, scoring five and assisting four.
The Cherries host Brentford in the final match on Saturday.
Who are the most-sold players?
Trent Alexander-Arnold (£7.4m) to Josko Gvardiol (£5.9m) has been the most-popular defensive transfer for BGW29, with 250,000+ making the direct switch.
GW29 most-sold players
| Player | Sold by | Pts |
|---|---|---|
| Salah | 1,638,721 | 0 |
| Isak | 1,627,244 | 0 |
| Alexander-Arnold | 1,234,858 | 0 |
| Palmer | 1,058,621 | - |
| Rogers | 861,782 | 0 |
Not only is Alexander-Arnold without a fixture in BGW29 but his participation in Gameweek 30 is in doubt following a midweek injury in the UEFA Champions League. Liverpool head coach Arne Slot said that he expects him back before the end of the season but wasn't able to give an exact timeframe for his recovery.
Recruited by more than 900,000 in total, Gvardiol came away with just a single point from Manchester City's draw at Etihad Stadium, and failed to register any touches in the Brighton box.
