Fantasy Football Tips: FPL Gameweek 7 Guide and Captain Pick

Q: How many chips do FPL managers get?

FPL managers get eight chips across a season, two each of Wildcard, Free Hit, Bench Boost and Triple Captain. The first set must be used before the Gameweek 19 deadline in early January, after which any unused chips from that set expire and a fresh set becomes available for the second half.

Q: When is the Gameweek deadline?

The Gameweek deadline falls 90 minutes before the first match of that gameweek kicks off. Once it passes, your squad locks completely, so any transfers, captaincy changes or chip plays made after that point simply won't count for the gameweek ahead. This is especially important to know when there are Friday night games.

By Mark Fordham

Oct 14th, 2026 10:18 AM EDT

Fact Checked By Oliver Lines

Manchester City's 100% record through six games after a 3-0 win at Liverpool keeps Erling Haaland and company close to undroppable, just as has been the case for most of Haaland's City tenure. Arsenal and Brighton kept the pressure on City with wins, so three sets of players are all well worth considering this week.

Further down, there is form to find outside the usual big names. Brentford and Everton are both unbeaten and level on 10 points with Chelsea, whose 5-1 win over Bournemouth included two goals and an assist from the £4.9m Jordan Henderson. Fulham are bottom without a win and Tottenham have scored only three league goals, so players from both clubs are best left alone for now.

Availability is key in Gameweek 7. Ryan Gravenberch is suspended and Liverpool also have doubts over Dominik Szoboszlai, Alexander Isak and Cody Gakpo. Not to mention with European games returning this midweek, rotation could start coming into the FPL equation.

The FPL deadline is 11am on Saturday 17th October, 90 minutes before Everton host Chelsea. Chelsea, Newcastle and Crystal Palace have each conceded at least 12 league goals, so Everton vs Chelsea, Newcastle vs Aston Villa and Brighton vs Crystal Palace are fixtures to take a close look at. Leeds vs Manchester United is another for different reasons as Michael Carrick's seat gets hotter by the day.

There's plenty else worth planning around across the weekend too, and not just at football betting sites.

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Three Players to Target This Gameweek

Thierno Barry - 5.7m vs Chelsea, 17th October 12:30pm

Thierno Barry started the season in fine style with a goal in Everton’s opening Premier League game and then bagged a hat-trick against Preston in the EFL Cup before a drought saw him fail to score for four games. He’s got right back amongst the goals again, though, scoring in the Toffees’ two most recent games - a 1-0 win over Ipswich and a 2-2 draw at Hull.

Chelsea’s defence is extremely porous, and the 13 goals they’ve shipped is the joint-worst in the Premier League. Everton should be able to take advantage on Saturday, and Barry is likely to be the key to that.

You can back Thierno Barry to score anytime against Chelsea at 9/4 with Sky Bet.

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Nicolas Jackson - £6.6m vs Newcastle, 17th October 5:30pm

At £6.6m, Nicolas Jackson isn’t exactly a bargain buy, but he is in form. Having scored in each of his last two Premier League games, he now gets to face a Newcastle side fresh off shipping four goals to Coventry. No Premier League team has conceded more goals this season than the Magpies, and Villa’s red-hot striker could be primed to heap more misery on them.

You can back Nicolas Jackson to score against Newcastle at 9/5 with PricedUp.

Dominic Calvert-Lewin - £6m vs Manchester United, 18th October 2pm

Manchester United centre-halves were bullied last week by Dominic Solanke, and they are in for more of the same this week from this in-form English striker. Calvert-Lewin has four goals to his name from six appearances in all competitions this season and will no doubt be relishing the opportunity to run a shaky Man United back line ragged this weekend.

The only clean sheet the Red Devils have kept so far this season in all competitions was against Sabah Baku, with it looking very unlikely they will add to that this weekend.

Back Dominic Calvert-Lewin to score or assist against Manchester United at 1/1 with Betway.

Captaincy Pick of the Week

Pascal Groß - £6m vs Crystal Palace, 18th October 2pm

Is there a player in better form in the Premier League than Pascal Groß currently? You’d be hard-pushed to find one with three goals and four assists in his last four games for the Seagulls. Yes, the run must end, but it might not be just yet. The fact the experienced German is on set pieces for the club only helps his value.

They are taking on a Crystal Palace side that ships plenty of chances. Despite the fact they won 3-1 against Nottingham Forest at the weekend, they concedes 20 shots. In fact, no team has allowed more than Palace’s 108 shots and just one team has allowed more than their 34 shots on target in six games.

You can get 6/5 with QuinnBet on Groß to score or assist vs Crystal Palace.

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Chip Strategy Watch

Nobody needs reminding that chips exist in FPL. What actually matters week-to-week is timing, and the pressure isn't really on this early in the season. Your first Wildcard, Free Hit, Bench Boost and Triple Captain all need using before the Gameweek 19 deadline in early January, so there's a good few months of breathing room before that clock starts to matter.

That said, the window for an early Bench Boost has basically shut now. Gameweek 7 is really pushing it if you're still waiting for a freshly assembled squad, since injuries and rotation only creep in the longer a chip like that gets left. There's no point holding it for a full squad once half your bench is carrying a knock.

Triple Captain is the chip in the spotlight this week. More than 100,000 managers have already activated it for Gameweek 7, and Erling Haaland at home to Ipswich is expected to be the popular target. If you still have the chip, decide whether you want to match the crowd or save it for a week when you can differ.

The Wildcard is the other talking point. Liverpool have a suspension and three other key injury worries, so squads with plenty of Reds could be on the lookout for the Wildcard.

Whatever you don't use by that Gameweek 19 deadline vanishes. There's no carrying a Wildcard over into February. Plan around that deadline rather than being surprised by it in December.

New Rules for 2026/27

A few changes have landed for this season, and you’ll want to be in the know about them rather than half-remembering from a headline.

Gameweek lockdown moved later: Scores used to become final an hour after the last match of a gameweek finished. Now that happens at 9am the following morning instead. It sounds like a small tweak but it gives Opta enough time to finalise bonus points and defensive contribution data, so don’t be hitting refresh on your FPL on the same night unless you want to be disappointed.

The Bonus Points System rebalanced: Full-backs and defensively minded attackers should see a bit more love from the algorithm this season. Be aware, though, Defensive Contributions themselves, the CBIT and CBIRT thresholds, haven't changed. That's a separate system and is staying exactly as it was.

A Price Change Predictor now exists officially: FPL will show you how close a player is to a price rise or fall based on transfer activity, rather than leaving you to guess from third-party sites like everyone's had to do for years.

There's a squad building assistant too: Answer a few quick questions about favourite club, how you like to split your budget, attack or defence, and it'll build you a starting squad. This is handy for anyone starting out, but seasoned managers will probably still want full control.

How to Play Fantasy Premier League

Starting from scratch isn't as difficult as it might seem once you know the shape of it. You get £100m to build a 15-player squad, split as two goalkeepers, five defenders, five midfielders and three forwards. The biggest thing to be aware of is that you can't have more than three players from any single club.

Each gameweek you pick a starting XI from that squad of 15, in a valid formation (4-4-2, 3-5-2 or 3-4-3) and name a captain whose points double for the week. Whoever you don't start sits on your bench as backup, only cashed in if you play the Bench Boost chip, or if one of your starters doesn’t play.

You get one free transfer every gameweek, and if you don't use it, it rolls over, up to a maximum of five banked at once. Anything beyond your free allowance costs four points each, so think carefully before making three panic transfers the week after a bad result.

Deadlines matter more than anything else in this game. Your squad locks 90 minutes before the first match of each gameweek kicks off, and once it's locked, that's it, no late changes, no exceptions for a shock injury news alert five minutes after the whistle. Build the habit of checking your team the night before rather than relying on a lunchtime scramble.

FPL Scoring System Explained

Every action on the pitch translates into points, and the value of that action often depends on which position your player plays. For instance, a defender scoring is going to be worth more points than a striker because of how less likely that is to happen. Here's the full breakdown.

Action	Points
Playing up to 60 minutes	1
Playing 60 minutes or more (excluding stoppage time)	2
Goal scored by a goalkeeper	10
Goal scored by a defender	6
Goal scored by a midfielder	5
Goal scored by a forward	4
Goal assist	3
Clean sheet by a goalkeeper or defender	4
Clean sheet by a midfielder	1
Every 3 shot saves by a goalkeeper	1
10 or more CBIT (defenders)	2
12 or more CBIRT (midfielders and forwards)	2
Penalty save	5
Penalty miss	-2
Bonus points for the best players in a match	1 to 3
Every 2 goals conceded by a goalkeeper or defender	-1
Yellow card	-1
Red card	-3
Own goal	-2

A goalkeeper scoring is worth more than any other position precisely because it happens so rarely. It's the game rewarding a real rarity rather than a typo. CBIT stands for clearances, blocked shots, interceptions and tackles. This is the defenders' route to a defensive contribution point. CBIRT adds recoveries into that mix for midfielders and forwards, since defensive work matters less to their usual job. Therefore, the bar sits slightly higher to compensate.

Your captain's points double automatically, and your vice-captain steps in and inherits that double if your actual captain doesn't play at all that gameweek. Bonus points come from an underlying algorithm weighing up everything a player did in a match. It is based on the player(s) who did best in a given game, no matter whether they scored a goal or not.

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Chips Explained

You get four chips, two of each across the season for a total of eight. Each one does something different to the others, so choose wisely when you plan on using them across the season.

Wildcard: Make unlimited transfers for that gameweek at no points cost. This is a full squad rebuild you'll get without burning through your bank of free transfers one at a time.
Free Hit: Also unlimited transfers, but only for a single gameweek. Once that gameweek's done, your squad snaps straight back to whatever it looked like before you played the chip. This is perfect for a blank gameweek where half your usual squad has no fixture at all or if there's a double gameweek you want to take advantage of.
Bench Boost: Every point scored by your bench that gameweek counts toward your total on top of your starting 11. It is only worth playing when your whole 15 has a decent chance of getting minutes and returning points.
Triple Captain: Your captain's points triple instead of double. Save it for your most explosive player in his single best fixture of the season, not just a random Tuesday because it felt like time to use it.

Fantasy Football Tips FAQs

What is Defensive Contribution scoring?

Defensive Contributions award two points when a defender reaches 10 or more combined clearances, blocked shots, interceptions and tackles in a match, known as CBIT. Midfielders and forwards need 12 or more of the same actions plus recoveries, known as CBIRT, since defensive work is less central to their usual role.

How many chips do FPL managers get?

When is the Gameweek deadline?

About the Author

Mark Fordham

More About Mark

Mark spent over a decade as a sports reporter and editor with Goal.com and Bleacher Report. He is now a Content Manager at Bookies.com covering all manner of sports from the Premier League and cricket to the NBA and NFL. Mark also has years of experience working in the online casino industry and knows how to rate a good one over a bad one.