Best FPL DGW26 Free Hit Draft & Players to Target

As FPL DGW26 approaches, chips aplenty are being activated by FPL managers. The triple captain chip is the most popular one due to how enticing Liverpool’s double of Leeds and Norwich is. Mohamed Salah’s effective ownership will be higher than anything we have previously seen.
In spite of this, there has been growing popularity for both the bench boost and free hit. Ahead of GW25, I staked the claim for playing the bench boost. This week, I’ll be making the case for an FPL DGW26 free hit with what I believe to be the optimal draft.

Before going further, Do vote in this week’s FPL GW26 allaboutfpl captaincy poll. The same will be available in the captaincy analysis and metrics blog written by@AK_FPL1. The metrics has a 20/24 record this year. Last week the metric predicted Ronaldo as the best captaincy candidate. Stay tuned for the GW26 Captaincy metric to see who tops it. Link to all our FPL Gameweek 26 Blogs. Our blogs cover a wide range of topics including the best free hit team, FPL chip strategy, players to target, differentials, and more.

[Total_Soft_Poll id=”37″]

The results and the captaincy metric blog will be published soon based on the votes.

If your team has landed for this week with very few players with a double gameweek, now may be the time to play one of the Free Hits, out of necessity more than anything else. With the sheer number of teams with a double in gameweek 26, if you’ve landed on anywhere less than about 5 doublers, a Free Hit may be the only option. You’d be losing out on a Salah triple captaincy but some managers have been moving away from that strategy amid fears of rotation following the amount of football he has played recently.
Given it is undoubtedly a strategy very few will adopt, a free hit may actually be making you immense gains if the right players are selected.

FPL DGW26 Free Hit players to Target

FPL DGW26 Goal keepers

Aaron Ramsdale £5.1M:

Ramsdale is for me by far the best keeper to own this week. Bar Liverpool, Arsenal have the best double and arguably from a defensive point of view they have the best one. Ramsdale’s 11 clean sheets is second only to Ederson this season and he has played three games less than the Brazilian. Furthermore, whenever Arsenal keep a clean sheets, Ramsdale is always in intention for bonus points as he often makes multiple saves. He has come away with double figure hauls on a number of occasions already this season. In Brentford and Wolves, Arsenal are playing two teams who haven’t been firing in front of goal so he could return double figures in either or even both of these games. Therefore, it isn’t beyond the realms of possibility that he could score 15+ points.

Further Read: FPL DGW26 Teams & Players to Target with Fixture Ticker & Planner

Ben Foster £4.1M:

Foster is the perfect second-choice keeper this week. It is extremely unlikely that he’ll be required but if by some disaster he is, a double game week against Villa and Palace isn’t the worst thing to fall back on.

Further Read: FPL DGW26 Teams & Players to Target with Fixture Ticker & Planner

FPL DGW26 Defenders

Trent Alexander Arnold £8.5M:

Besides Salah, Alexander Arnold should be the first name on your free hit. If you’re feeling really brave, he may even be an outside captaincy option this week and is more than capable of getting a big return. Personally, though I’m not sure it’s worth the risk to go against Salah in a week like this one.

Further Read: FPL DGW26 Teams & Players to Target with Fixture Ticker & Planner

Andy Robertson £7.1M:

My selection of Robertson may raise a few eyebrows here. The idea of going for Robertson over Jota was gathering momentum but the latter’s brace in GW24 halted that somewhat. For this week though, I feel as if the midfield options are far better than those in defensive across the rest of the teams so I feel that to optimise the free hit, its worth gambling on Robertson. Jota may also be marginally more prone to getting rotated as Liverpool’s options in attack are quite strong now that Luis Diaz has joined so Jota’s minutes will almost certainly be managed.

Further Read: FPL DGW26 Teams & Players to Target with Fixture Ticker & Planner

Kieran Tierney £5.0M:

Given Arsenal’s double, it seems wise to invest in multiple players, and I feel as if the defensive options are more likely to return well than a midfielder. As touched upon, neither Brentford nor Wolves have been particularly prolific this season and Arsenal’s defensive has been very reliable recently.
Tierney is the best option across the defense due to his attacking potential and its for this reason that I’ve decided to pick him.

Further Read: FPL DGW26 Teams & Players to Target with Fixture Ticker & Planner

Gabriel £5.1M:

Usually, tripling up on any defense isn’t a brilliant tactic due to how precarious it is. That being said, I’m a big believer that you should go all in when you play the free hit and the possibility of two clean sheets is greater here than it would be generally. If and you’re on the triple up, the gains to be made there could be enormous. Even if Arsenal only keep one clean sheet which really should happen, you should be on at least 25 points from the trio which is a more than respectable return from £15.M of your budget.
Gabriel has been one of Arsenal’s best performers this season and should be absolutely nailed. He has also scored three goals this season so there’s the added attacking potential.

Further Read: FPL DGW26 Teams & Players to Target with Fixture Ticker & Planner

Rayan Ait Nouri £4.3M:

Although I’m picking him as the first sub in this team, starting Ait Nouri and going with a back 5 as opposed to one of the midfielders or forwards I’ll coming onto may not be the worst thing. Wolves have been the fourth most solid team this season and AitNouri has been one of their most threatening attacking players from that left wingback position. Although he is a bit of a rotation risk, Marcal played against Arsenal only to be hauled off shortly after the hour mark as he wasn’t having a great game. AitNouri came back in for the Tottenham match and played far better so he should play both games in the double.

ALLABOUTFPL Double Gameweek Giveaway

Predict the base points that Salah will score in DGW26 on the comments of the below post and if you get it right, stand a chance to win a jersey lootbox from Shirtlootbox. Follow the rules to be eligible!

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by AllAboutFPL (@allaboutfpl)

FPL DGW26 Free Hit midfielders to Target

Mohamed Salah £12.8M:

Salah’s inclusion doesn’t need any explanation. He’ll be by far the most captained player in GW26 and going without him would be FPL suicide. Although you’ll be losing out even if you do captain him, selecting him is the only feasible player if you’re hoping for a successful GW.

Heung Min Son £10.7M:

Tottenham’s double isn’t the best on paper given that Man City make up half of it. However, in Tottenham’s 1-0 victory over City on the opening day, it was Son who got the goal. Tottenham’s counter-attacking style suits Son down to a tea and with Burnley to come after City, he could well come out of the GW with a big haul.

Further Read: FPL DGW26 Teams & Players to Target with Fixture Ticker & Planner

Jarrod Bowen £7.1M:

Even though West Ham don’t have a double, Bowen is in such a rich vein of form that going against him is at best very brave and at worst pretty foolish. The fact that he is up against Newcastle who have been one of the worst defenses in the league this season is an added bonus so Bowen could well match any double gameweek midfielder around his price point.

Further Read: FPL DGW26 Teams & Players to Target with Fixture Ticker & Planner

Jacob Ramsey £4.6M:

As is the case with West Ham, Villa don’t have a double gameweek, their fixture against Watford is one of the better ones that are doubling. On the face of it, starting a midfielder at such a cheap price hardly seems a play conducive to returns. With Ramsey however, I feel that the hesitancy on owners’ part to start is purely psychological due to his price. If he was £6.5M, I’m sure managers would be far more inclined to start him given how well he has been returning in recent weeks.

Additionally, in order to afford a team with two premium defenders and three premium attackers, someone at this price is probably necessary unless your team value is ridiculously high.
If your team value is anything resembling respectability though, you should have at least £1M in the bank. I was tempted to include Michael Olise, who has been excellent for Palace of late, in this team ahead of Ramsey, but the fact that he was rested against Brentford on Saturday makes me reluctant to include him here. If you’re feeling brave, you could start him in the hope that he does play both games, with the second one against Norwich has the potential to be very fruitful.

FPL DGW26 Free Hit forwards

Harry Kane £12.2M:

Over a longer stretch, Harry Kane is by absolutely no means justifying his price. However, with a double gameweek of which Burnley is one fixture, I believe he’s worth a punt.
He has looked increasingly like his old self recently, playing especially well against Brighton in the FA Cup and even against Chelsea Prior to that where he had a goal disallowed. Even in Tottenham’s Torrid performance against Wolves, he had 8 shots which was more than anybody in GW25.

Emmanuel Dennis £5.8M

Dennis is probably the most uninspiring pick out of everyone out of all 15 picks in this squad. No return his last 6 appearances leaves a lot to be desired but with a double against Villa and Crystal Palace, neither of whom have been particularly solid at the back, there are fewer forwards with more of a chance at returning than he does. Admittedly, that says far more about the competition than it does about Dennis but this is the situation we find ourselves in.

Also, as touched upon earlier, you may be inclined to start AitNouri over him and go with one upfront.

Joe Gelhardt £4.6M:

Gelhardth is in here very much as your third sub. He probably won’t play a minute, but in all likelihood, you won’t need him anyway so its just a matter of filling a spot with him in there.

It should be said that there are a number of gambles in this team. For example, opting for triple Arsenal defense is as likely to go disastrously as it is to be successful. Robertson over Jota is also very risky given how high the latter’s ownership is. Logically speaking, both of these calls might not be advisable however I often play with a high-risk approach. If you’re free hitting this week and going against the Salah triple captaincy, I’d venture that you’re much the same and ultimately, if you’re not going to take a maverick approach when playing a chip in a double game week, then what’s the fun in playing this game?

Final FPL DGW26 Free Hit Draft

Further Reads from ALLABOUTFPL Ahead of FPL Gameweek 26:

FPL GW25 Sunday Fixture Wise Review Based on Stats and Eye Test
FPL DGW26 Teams & Players to Target with Fixture Ticker & Planner
Best FPL Chip Strategy For The Remainder Of The Season

[kofi]

If you like our content do consider supporting us by contributing to the website. ALLABOUTFPL is run by the community and for the community. All our content is and will always remain free.

Thanks for reading the ‘FPL DGW26 Free hit draft and players to target‘ blog. Keep checking allaboutfpl.com for regular blogs. Also, follow our 50,000+community on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter to stay updated on regular Posts and FPL updates. Link to all our FPL Gameweek 26 Blogs. Our blogs cover a wide range of topics including the best free hit team, FPL chip strategy, players to target, differentials, and more.

What’s next from ALLABOUTFPL ahead of FPL DGW26?

We’ll be covering Player Comparisons, Differential Picks, GW26 Wildcard drafts, captaincy metrics, transfer trend analysis, expected line up, press conference summaries, Buy, hold, sell analysis for FPL GW26 and more. Keep checking allaboutfpl.com for all our blogs and subscribe to our free newsletter through the link below. We’ll also be posting regularly about the same on our social media accounts so follow us on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook keep our notification ON.

Our content is always free and if you like our content do drop a comment, follow, subscribe, and support us. Your love is what keeps us going:)

FPL Gameweek 26 FPL Deadline Countdown

Login and set your team for FPL DGW26 now!