Free Hit: An FPL (Fantasy Premier League) Podcast · Free Hit: An FPL Podcast

Ep. 29 - Managing the Fixture Pileup & GW14/GW15 Preview

·42 min·2 clips

“I just don’t see a way out for Manchester City right now.”

Chris and Jace open on the first midweek deadline of the season, coming up on Tuesday. They start with the weekend's results and the swing they create for FPL managers. Arsenal's 5-2 win over West Ham gets mentioned early. Man United's 4-0 win over Everton does too. Liverpool's 2-0 win over City becomes the real center of gravity. Jace reads the xG as matching what happened on the pitch. The hosts lean into the idea that Manchester City are stuck in a rut. Salah missing two one-on-ones makes the result feel even harsher. They say the score could easily have been worse. Nottingham Forest come up as the next opponent, but not as a fixture to blindly trust. From there the episode turns into the kind of practical FPL debate the show does best. Bryan Mbeumo is the main hold-versus-sell question. One side argues for keeping him because Brentford change shape in tougher matches. In those games they can sit deeper, use wingbacks, and play two up top. That could leave Mbeumo closer to goal. The counterargument is that a sideways move to someone like Matoma can free money and fit Brighton's better run. Rodgers, Semenyo, and Smith-Rowe come up as other cheaper routes through the same slot. The hosts keep coming back to what they actually saw from Mbeumo. He did not always look like a forward living in the box. They compare that frustration to the late Ivan Toney stretch when the role looked wrong for the points people wanted. The episode closes on captaincy. Saka and Palmer are the main options. Palmer gets the nod because of the Southampton fixture and the stronger Chelsea run ahead. Jackson's fifth yellow card is part of the conversation too, with the usual risk hanging over him. The whole thing lands as a fast, slightly uneasy deadline check rather than a polished verdict.

As heard by us

A brisk deadline debate for managers weighing fixtures, captaincy, and one more hold-vs-sell headache.

Free Hit opens with the first midweek deadline of the season and stays focused on the calls that matter. Chris and Jace move through the weekend results, including Arsenal's 5-2 win over West Ham, Man United's 4-0 win over Everton, and Liverpool's 2-0 win over City, before…

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Why you'd press play

Use this when you want a calm, practical read before Tuesday's deadline.

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