Its our pleasure to welcome @fplholly as this weeks guest contributor, answering the question that seems to be on everyone's lips just now - is it too early to play my wildcard?
To WildCard or Not to Wildcard - That is the Question?
There's a lot of talk on twitter at the moment about playing your wildcard this week ahead of GW3. I'm an advocate of wildcarding early, having used it successfully over the first International Break the past 3 seasons. However, I personally think it's too early right now for the following reasons:1. Form
It's far too soon to spot the form players. Some players have had decent scores already but may have been lucky. Other, like Harry Kane, have good underlying statistics and have been unlucky to not get returns up to now. For the premium attacking players, I'd need to see 3 blanks in a row and poor stats before I consider ditching them.2. Fixtures
Some strong attacking assets are cropping up such as Alonso, Mahrez, Jesé, Chicarito, Rooney and Okazaki. One of the reasons I'm not bringing in these players just yet is due to their fixtures. If you wait a couple of weeks you can bring them in so that their good fixtures coincide with your wildcard.3. Transfer Window
It's crazy to use a wildcard before the window shuts. A key player could come into the game who is a must own or one of your team could move away from the premier league. Also, a nailed-on member of your squad could have their place threatened by a new signing.4. Injuries
Hazard and Sanchez have been amongst the highest scoring players over the past few seasons. They haven't started yet, but when they are fit and firing you'll want them in your team. Their price tags will make it difficult to bring them in without a wildcard. There are also a high number of injuries during the international break...5. International Break
We are less than a year away from the World Cup and international sides will be fielding full strength squads with two qualifying matches apiece during the break. The following popular picks have a game late on Tuesday 5th in South America and then FPL fixtures on Saturday 9th: Aguero, Otamendi, Firmino, Willian, Luiz, Jesus, Valencia. There may also be players returning late from international duty in Africa and Asia: Hegazi, Salah, Bailly, Mahrez, Mane, Yoshida, Okazaki. Expect lots of rotation in GW4.6. Europe
Group stages of the Champions League and Europa league start between gameweek 4 and 5. It looks like Arsenal, Chelsea, Everton, Liverpool, United, City and Spurs will all be involved. It will be interesting to see how managers rotate their squads during this busy fixture period. The standard looks particularly high this year, look out for which teams have a tough group when the draw takes place on Friday. Using a wildcard could possibly be justified if your team falls into at least one of these categories:- Scored under 100 points across the first two gameweeks
- 5 or more players need transferring out
- multiple red flags and rotation risks
