When are the Best Gameweeks to Bench Boost in FPL?

Not knowing when to use your chips can be a real struggle! This is something that has puzzled the community for a long time. Don’t panic though, we help you out with one of them today. So, when are the best Gameweeks to bench boost in FPL? Let’s find out.

Before we dive in, we looked at the Best Value Assets in FPL History. You can check it out here.

Only 2.2 million of total Fantasy Premier League (FPL) managers – 19.47 per cent – have used their Bench Boost.

For the uninitiated, the Bench Boost is a chip that allows all 15 squad players to contribute points for one week only.

As many use this long break to investigate potential chip strategies, it’s worth assessing when the best times to activate this one could be.

We’ve written this before the FA Cup quarter-final action but more will be known by the next deadline. We’ll update this piece as and when we get more information.

Gameweek 32

The logic is usually to Bench Boost during a Double Gameweek because it maximises the number of fixtures that can be benefitted from. A regular Gameweek line-up has 11 outings whereas this could have up to 30.

A popular time to Wildcard will be Gameweek 31 because we should know the complete picture by then – more on that shortly. So Bench Boosting immediately after allows more accurate guesses for picking 15 players that are fit and in favour. A shorter gap for things to go wrong.

Gameweek 32 is a definite double for both Newcastle United and Crystal Palace assets, nobody else.

The crucial part of Bench Boosts is picking a bunch of budget-friendly players whose price doesn’t dilute the usual XI’s quality but also has favourable fixture(s) for that one time.

In this case, our Season Ticker helps to identify a few names. Newcastle pair Jacob Murphy (£5.0m) and Dan Burn (£4.4m) feature twice, as does Palace’s Ismaila Sarr (£5.6m) – though the Eagles’ tough opponents make a cheap defender less appealing. Daniel Munoz (£5.1m) is worth keeping, mind.

Perhaps Aston Villa facing last-placed Southampton is just as attractive as playing twice. That should boost the prospects of Morgan Rogers (£5.5m) and Axel Disasi (£4.2m) but it comes between the two-legged Champions League quarter-final.

Also facing sides in the bottom three are Chelsea and Brighton and Hove Albion. Cheap goalkeepers Robert Sanchez (£4.5m) and Bart Verbruggen (£4.5m) appeal, like defenders Levi Colwill (£4.4m) and, if fit, Lewis Dunk (£4.2m.) Further up, they offer attackers such as Joao Pedro (£5.6m), Georginio Rutter (£5.1m), Yankuba Minteh (£5.0m) and Enzo Fernandez (£4.7m).

Gameweek 33

Meanwhile, it’s currently more hypothetical for Double Gameweek 33. We’ll know all about Blank Gameweek 34 by the next deadline and possibly the exact rearrangements.

But we know that eight sides will definitely feature in the blank and play just once in the big double. This includes Liverpool, Chelsea and Newcastle – meaning that going all-in on the Magpies for Gameweek 32 is followed by an unattractive single fixture at Aston Villa.

Below, we’ve used the ticker to rank the other 12 teams’ potential double, though no more than eight will get one.

Arsenal would be on top but they lack the cheap enablers that help trigger a Bench Boost decision. At least West Ham United can offer goalkeeper Alphonse Areola (£4.2m).

Continue reading here.