FPL 2026/27 Wildcard Chip Guide - When To Use Triple Captains And Free Hits This Season

When Should You Use Your FPL Wildcards This Season?

The new 26/27 Premier League season is beginning to heat up, and with that so is the new season of Fantasy Premier League.

But as players of the game will know all too well, there is more to it then simply picking a team and hoping they perform throughout the season, as the game provides each player with multiple wildcard chip options which can be played at any point during the campagin.

What Are The Wildcard Chips And How Do They Work?

At the beginning of each season, every FPL player will be given a total of eight wildcard chips, these are:

• 2x Wildcards
• 2x Free Hts
• 2x Triple Captain
• 2x Bench Boosts

One of each is available to the player during the first half of the Premier League season, up to Gameweek 19, with the second set becomes avaiblae from Gameweek 20 onwards.

Crucially, unused chips during the first half of the season are not carried over, with only one of each avaible to be used in each half of the season, and only one can be active in any Gameweek.

The Wildcard

The Wildcard, when activated, gives the player the option to make unlimited permanent transfers for whatever Gameweek chosen to activate it.

The wildcard could be considered for Gameweek 4, especially if you are willing to go on the more ealy and agressive side to play the chip, due to clubs such as Liverpool and Chelsea having attractive home fixtures.

The Reds face Fulham at Anfield whilst Xabi Alonso's Blues take on Hull City at Stamford Bridge, meaning bringing in players from each of those teams could be a smart move to gain points.

Gameweek 6 could also present a strong Wildcard opportunity, this is because the Gameweek is the first that follows the first international break of the campagin, meaning you'll be able to gain a strong idea of what players may be injured throughout the break.

Triple Captain

Perhaps the most crucial of all the chips, the Triple Captain has the opportunity to gain you the most points in an individual Gameweek, but as a result it requrres the most thought into who to use it on and when exactly to use it throughout the season.

When activated, the triple captain takes the amount of points awarded to the player you have elected as captain in your team, and triples their points tally for that gameweek, making it extremely effective when played right.

Who And When Should You Play the Triple Captain?

Due to the potierntial payoff of the Triple Captain chip, you need to think carefully of who to play the chip on, and what Gameweek to play it at. Given the effect the Triple Captain can have, picking a forward who is likely to gain points from goals and/or assists is key.

Erling Haaland is an obvious choice. The Manchester City striker is undoubtly the best marksman in the division, and has started the new campagin on form with three goals in three matches.

Haaland is set to face off against newly promoted Ipswich Town in Gameweek 7 which could present a good opportunity to play the Triple Captain tool, given the likliness of the Norweigan finding the net at least once.

Simiarly, Gameweek 16 sees Haaland and City host Hull City, in a match that could be worth playing the card on the striker despite Hull's strong start to the new campagin.

However, Haaland is not the only potiental player option for the Triple Captain chip, Manchester United's captain Bruno Fernandes is another strong choice to choose to triple captain, given the Portugese attacking midfielder's high output for both goals and assists.

United play struggling, newly promoted Coventry City at Old Trafford on Gameweek 14, and with Fernandes at the heart of Michael Carrick's side the 31 year-old is likely to achieve a strong points tally on that particular gameweek.

However, what about Double Gameweeks?

Double Gameweeks occur when team's play two matches, one at a weekend and one midweek, which combine into one Premier League Gameweek, which give players in Fantasy Premier League two combined chances to gain points in the game.

These naturally are strong, popular chances to play the Triple Captain, however, the level of opponents could be stronger than a particular single gameweek. So while it seems a strong choice on paper, a Double Gameweek does not always necessarily mean a better Triple Captain.

Free Hits

The Free Hit is similar to the Wildcard, given when activated. it grants the player unlimted transfers. However, unlike the Wildcard transfers made using the Free Hit only last for one Gameweek, with your team resetting to it's previous state following the conclusion of the Gameweek in which the Free Hit was played.

As a result, the Free Hit is often a better tool to use than the Wildcard, elimintating the risk of upsetting the structure of your orginal squad, which will return to normal following that individual Gameweek.

Due to the nature of the Free Hit chip, particlar care and attention must be paid into the specific transfers and the Gameweek chosen to activate the option.

Gameweek 12 could present a decent opportunity, with Arsenal facing Manchester City in a huge clash, creating a situation where many points can be won by players on multiple teams, with other fixtures such as Aston Villa vs Ipswich and Leeds vs Coventry also present an opportuntiy to pick players from the respective home sides.

Bench Boosts

The final Wildcard chip option avalaivle to you is the Bench Boost, which for one Gameweek, gives the option for the points scored by your four substitue options to be added to your total points total for that set of fixtures.

That means that picking players to add to your squad as subsitutues should be chosen with their fixtures in mind just like players in the regular starting XI. As a result, the Bench Boost could be combined with the Wildcard chip in back-to-back Gameweeks.

For example, as previously suggested, the WIldcard could be activated on Gameweek 6, but with the future play of activating the Bench Boost in Gameweek 7 in mind, used to pick strong players for the bench as well as the starting team.

Then, in Gameweek 7, which includes fixtures usch as Manchester City vs Ipswich, Tottenham Hotspur vs Coventry City, and Newcastle vs Aston Villa, all making good fixtures for a potinetial Bench Boost play.

When activating the Bench Boost, just like when picking your orginal squad look our for players who are likely to start, have favourable fixtures, and are likely to score, assist or keep in clean sheet in defence.