Should I Wildcard in the International break?

The time of the year that managers dread is here. The break in Premier League is upon us. During this period many mangers within the FPL community will be asking themselves one big question, should I Wildcard in the international break?

The Wildcard allows you to make as many changes as you want to your FPL teams. For those that want to Wildcard during the break it means plenty of time to build the perfect squad. In this article we answer one question, should I Wildcard in the international break? Lets take a look.

Fixtures

As we can see below, the Fantasy Football Fixture Ticker displays the fixtures in difficulty order from Gameweek 8 to Gameweek 13 (a six-match period). The teams with the easiest fixtures sit at the top and the teams with the toughest fixtures sit towards the bottom.

We can see that plenty of teams have fixture swings which is one of the main factors supporting the use of a Wildcard. Teams including Tottenham, Aston Villa, Crystal Palace, Wolves, Manchester United and West Ham come into a fantastic run of fixtures.

Alternatively, teams like Chelsea, Manchester City, Brentford, Arsenal and Brighton all have a tough period of fixtures ahead so coming away from their assets may be beneficial.

The fixture swings alone could be a huge implication that Wildcarding during the international break is a great idea.

Flagged players

At the of writing there are many heavily owned assets with flags or injuries, they include:

Bukayo Saka (£8.6m)
Pervis Estupinan (£5.2m)
Sven Botman (£4.7m)
Moussa Diaby (£6.7m)
Ben Chilwell (£5.5m)
Malo Gusto (£4.2m)
George Baldock (£3.9m)
Eberechi Eze (£6.2m)
Anthony Gordon (£5.6m)
Callum Wilson (£7.8m)

As well as some others, the above players could well be an issue moving forward, some may even have their flags cleared during the international break. However, either way, using the Wildcard could help change some of these players in your squad.

Mohamed Salah

Salah will become a major issue for those that are not using, have not used or do not plan to use the Wildcard ahead. After the Egyptian faces Brighton this week he then comes up against the likes of Everton, Nottingham Forest and Luton.

Trying to fit Salah into your squad will take major team surgery due to his £12.6m price-tag and because of that it could be much easier to activate the Wildcard to fit him in.

The International break

The international break itself could also become a real test for those that are not activating their Wildcard. Injuries can occur for assets playing for their national side and that may be very tough to navigate for those without a Wildcard.

Should I Wildcard during the international break?

For those that have not activated their Wildcard already then doing it now could be the best time to use it. From fixture swings to price rises, and international break to injuries all signs point towards using the Wildcard.