Fantasy Premier League: Are you playing your wildcard this week? Here’s what to consider

Gameweek 6 is proving a popular time for wildcards, with positive developments for Arsenal, Manchester City and Brentford while matches become less favorable for Newcastle United, Liverpool and Brighton & Hove Albion.

I’m one of many FPL managers playing my wildcard this week as I don’t have any Arsenal or Brentford players and I only have Erling Haaland (£15.3m) of Manchester City. If you’re in the same boat, you might want to do the same.

Here’s my wildcard draft, which looks at which players are nailed on my team and why, and which positions are up for grabs. I hope this helps you with your choices if you also use a wild card.

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Generic draft strategies

This is my current wildcard draft team as things stand (with £0.5m in the bank). A few picks are set, but the team is subject to change based on press conference updates and/or injuries.

Players who are definitely part of my team (barring injuries)

Gabriel — The first player on my wildcard team. Arsenal’s defense is the best in the league and the Brazilian has an immense goal threat from set pieces. Long-term hold.

Bukayo Saka — Arsenal’s best striker and their next three matches are excellent from an attacking point of view: Leicester City (H), Southampton (H) and Bournemouth (A). A contender for the captaincy during Gameweeks 6 and 7.

Bryan Mbeumo — Fantastic value for money and Brentford’s mid-term fixtures are excellent so I plan to keep him for as long as possible. Nailed from the start, he will play 90 minutes most weeks and he is also on penalties.

Erling Haaland — No explanation needed!

Likely Guys

Trent Alexander-Arnold — The only reason he’s not a sure thing is my team’s low value. I might end up demoting him to teammate Andy Robertson (£6m) Or Josko Gvardiol (£6m) so I can upgrade elsewhere.

Rico Lewis — It is extremely likely that I will make my wildcard team. He’s brilliantly valued at £4.7m and he should get more minutes after Rodri (£6.4m) suffered an injury. Considering its price, it’s worth the risk.

Antoine Sémenyo — Good value for money. His underlying numbers are excellent — the fourth most shots in the box (14) with a total expected goals (xG) of 1.7 and expected assists (xA) of 1.3. His next two matches are Southampton (H) and Leicester (A), but next he has Arsenal (H), Aston Villa (A) and Manchester City (H). I have Villa’s Morgan Rogers to cover for him in these tough games, as his team faces Fulham (A), Bournemouth (H) and Spurs (A).

Morgane Rogers — I got it for £5 million and it represents excellent value for money. He plays 90 minutes each week and will adapt well to offensive returns.

Jacob Greves — Ipswich Town are having some good games and they are running well with Vitalii Mykolenko. He will be my fifth defender and I don’t intend to play him if I can help it.

In reality, I don’t see any of the players above leaving my draft.

Positions to win

David Raya — That’s because I could choose another Arsenal defender instead. He was seen limping in the tunnel at the end of the Manchester City game and also didn’t play against Bolton Wanderers on Wednesday in the Carabao Cup, so I’ll be keeping an eye on him. If he has any doubt, I’ll probably demote him to Mark Flekken (£4.5m) and get William Saliba (£6m).

Ebéréchi Eze — If I leave with Son Heung-min (£10m), Bruno Fernandes (£8.3m) Or Cole Palmer (£10.6m) then Eze would give way. I would have to downgrade Alexander-Arnold, so I’ll probably stick with Eze.

Chris Wood — I can go with Dominic Calvert-Lewin (£6m) — I am torn between them. Both are about the same price, on penalties and are the main attackers for their respective teams. I suspect this will play out until the end.

Dominique Solanke — I can go with two cheap strikers in Calvert-Lewin and Wood and use the money to improve Greaves in Pedro Porro (£5.6m). This gives me a deeper team overall and Porro is a great option.

Vitaly Mykolenko – Everton are having good games and he is a good replacement, especially since Lewis won’t start every game for City. However, the Everton left-back is only just returning from injury, so I’ll be keeping an eye on this week’s press conferences. If he is in good shape, he will stay. It could become Nathan Collins (£4.5m) from Brentford or Ola Aina (£4.5m) from Nottingham Forest, who also have good matches.

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The upward strategy

When playing a joker, it is generally best to choose as many experienced players as possible. This would still be the case if you make a wild card with a single free transfer.

However, having more free transfers means you can afford to take more risks with your choices. With the new FPL rules this season, you don’t lose your bank transfers when you wildcard.

I have two free transfers, so if I don’t make any transfers by Gameweek 8, I will have three free transfers. It’s doable since I’m a wildcard and I’m going to choose a new team.

To give you an example, I was considering possibly going with Nicolas Jackson (£7.7m) as a second striker for Chelsea’s two home games against Brighton and Nottingham Forest, then moving him to Solanke in Gameweek 8 when Spurs’ game improved.

You could also opt for Luis Díaz (£7.9m) for two match weeks. He was rested for the midweek Carabao Cup match with West Ham, so he should be ready to start the match against Wolves (A). Liverpool have Crystal Palace (A) in Gameweek 7, then Chelsea (H) and Arsenal (A) in Gameweek 8 and Gameweek 9. Therefore, you may consider moving him before Chelsea’s match against Fernandes (£8.3 million), who is having a good run with Brentford (H), West Ham (A), Chelsea (H), Leicester (H) and Ipswich (A). Or Crystal Palace’s Eze, who is having a decent series against Nottingham Forest (A), Spurs (H), Wolves (A) and Fulham (H).

If you somehow have three, four or five free transfers and wild cards, you might consider doing this with two or three players. Play the short-term matches, then move on to a long-term option.

You don’t have to commit to your moves and can change direction or even decide to keep the player you originally got – but take a look at permutations if you have transfers saved up.

This remains a risk as you can injure other players on your team and the FPL landscape can change quickly. As always, it depends on your risk appetite.

(Top photos: Getty Images)