FPL Fixture Difficulty: What You Need to Know for 23/24
Choosing your strategy is one of the hardest parts of being an FPL manager. There are a lot of moving parts to consider–it makes you wonder how stressed the real managers get!
Be honest: Is there a more satisfying feeling than topping your FPL mini league with an incredible points haul that sees you cruise past your mates to the top of the table? It's the best. During the 2015/16 season, Fantasy Premier League added chips to the game, giving us an even greater chance to rake in the points. FPL bench boost is one of these chips, and it can help you win your league if you use it right.
Here's everything you need to know about bench boost in FPL.
There are four chips in FPL: Triple Captain, Free Hit, Wildcard, and Bench Boost.
Bench boost works by letting you earn points from the players on the bench. It's so frustrating seeing players on your bench earn more points than those you put in your starting XI, knowing that you'll never see those points in your bank. Bench boost gets around this by adding all of the points scored to your haul.
You get one bench boost chip each season, so you need to use it wisely. The best FPL managers will play their chip wisely to get a better points haul in one gameweek. Note, however, that you can only use one chip per gameweek. So, you can't get unlimited free transfers from the wildcard and then use your bench boost in the same gameweek.
Really, there's no 'best' time to play any of your chips. Football is an unpredictable game, and the best time to use the bench boost varies from season to season.
However, there are some more common strategies you can deploy to take advantage of your benched player score. Most FPL managers use their bench boost during a double gameweek, taking advantage of the extra points from double the number of matches. However, it depends who your benched players are and what the rest of your strategy is.
The FPL community tends to use its chips at the same time. In gameweek 29 of the 22/23 season, just shy of 1.1 million players all used their bench boost. This was a double gameweek, by the way, which explains the willingness to play the chip.
If you want to really take advantage of the bench boost, you can combine the wildcard chip with the bench boost chip. The strategy here is simple: transfer in the dream team for a bench boost, including the best bench players who are likely to score, assist, or keep clean sheets in their upcoming fixtures.
With bench boost, it doesn't matter who you put in your first team–you'll get all the points anyway.
So, the week before a double gameweek, play your wildcard and transfer out all of the deadweight. Remember that you can only play one chip in a single gameweek, and that you only get one wildcard per half of the season. Bring in four benched players who are likely to get a decent points haul in the following fixture.
Then, the following week, play the FPL bench boost and score points.
Depending on your team and strategy, you can get a great haul from the bench boost. If you play it in a double gameweek, you can expect around 16 points from the players on your bench. This is assuming that each player earns 2 points per match.
Certain teams will earn a lot more, but it depends on how strong your team is, what their fixtures are, and how things play out on the pitch. You could wind up with no points taken from a bench boost if your substitute players don’t perform.
Ideally, you want the total points from your bench to be low during other gameweeks, but high on a week when you play your bench boost. When you play this chip, it's best to transfer in strong players who can benefit your team, rather than keeping injured or suspended players on the bench who yield 0 points. That's why so many managers play their wildcard the week before.
Have you ever wished you could see how many points people in your mini leagues have missed out on? Well, fortunately, you can. Better FPL's Chrome extension comes with tons of genuinely helpful features for planning your Fantasy Premier League strategy, but it also has fun perks like seeing Total Points Benched for other managers in your league.
The bench boost in FPL is a powerful chip, if you use it correctly. It's easy to waste it by playing it at the wrong time; remember, you only have one shot!
If you're a Fantasy Premier League aficionado like me, then you'll want to know the best times to play all your chips, from Triple Captain to Free Hit. Better FPL can help you strategies to play your bench boost and other chips at the perfect time, ensuring you dominate your mini league.
Sound good? Download it here!