Blank Gameweek 29 is nearly upon us, where Fantasy Premier League managers will have to navigate just four fixtures because of some clubs being involved in the FA Cup quarter-finals this weekend.

This will be a gameweek where a lot of you will be using your Free Hit chip. With so few players in action, it might seem like an underwhelming time to use the Free Hit. However, gains can be made as there are a few explosive assets to opt for and you won’t have to take any hits or bring in players you don’t want to hold long-term if you activate that chip this week.

We will go through what seems the best Free Hit team and also look at some differentials that could set you apart from your rivals.

Who to pick at the back when clean sheets look unlikely

This doesn’t look like a good week at all for clean-sheet prospects.

According to the bookmakers, here are the probabilities for the eight clubs:

GW29 clean sheet % 🥅🧤

BRE: 29%
TOT: 26%
NOT: 26%
LUT: 24%
AVL: 24%
BUR: 22%
WHU: 20%
FUL: 17%

— Abdul Rehman (@FPL_Salah) March 13, 2024

Brentford’s Mark Flekken (£4.5m) looks the best bet as your goalkeeper, followed by Matz Sels (£4.5m) of Nottingham Forest. I wouldn’t go for Guglielmo Vicario (£5.3m) as I think the three permitted Tottenham slots are better used elsewhere.

My back three would be Sergio Reguilon (£4.4m), Pedro Porro (£5.8m) and Alfie Doughty (£4.7m). Reguilon is an injury doubt for Brentford’s trip to Burnley, so keep an eye open for news there. If he is ruled out, his team-mate Mads Roerslev (£4.4m) is the next-best option, with him operating as Brentford’s other right wing-back. Roerslev has one goal and two assists this season.

Brentford’s Roerslev and Reguilon, right, are options this week for a Free Hit defence (Warren Little/Getty Images)

Porro isn’t taking as many set pieces for Spurs since James Maddison (£8.0m) returned from nearly three months out injured in late January but remains a fine option. The Spaniard still gets forward enough to merit inclusion and, with how attacking Spurs are, he always has a chance of scoring points.

With one goal and nine assists for Luton, Doughty offers the most attacking threat of the defenders available to select this week. He has created the second-most chances (57) this season among defenders and his expected assists (xA) figure of 4.58 is also second among defenders.

Due to the low clean-sheet chances in Gameweek 29, I think it’s best just to go for the most attacking defenders available and hope for the best.

Son is the pick of the midfielders

The three midfielders who would be locked in for my Free Hit team are Son Heung-min (£9.9m), Maddison and Jarrod Bowen (£8.0m).

Spurs are the best team playing in this gameweek and have the best assets, too. For me, Son is the best captaincy option and he is also on penalties. To top it all, if Richarlison (£7.0m), who has missed the past two weeks, is still injured, Son will play as the No 9 again.

Maddison has a goal and three assists in six games since returning from injury and is on corners and free kicks. His close-range finish last week against Aston Villa may be a sign of things to come, as Ange Postecoglou said post-match that he wants Maddison to play further forward. “Madders is the one who has to be more advanced,” said the Tottenham head coach. “We know he has the quality to score from anywhere. He attacked that area where we need players to attack.”

Bowen doesn’t have the most promising fixture against fourth-placed Villa, but West Ham are playing at home and have visibly improved in the final third since the late-February return of his fellow midfielder Lucas Paqueta (£6.0m) after the best part of two months out with a calf problem.

The England international has a very impressive 14 goals and three assists in the Premier League this season, with three goals and one assist coming in his last three league matches. West Ham have also scored nine times in their past three league outings.

Maddison, left, could be perfect to select alongside team-mate Son this week (Visionhaus/Getty Images)

The fourth midfield spot in my Free Hit side is up for grabs.

Leon Bailey (£5.7m) of Villa and Forest’s Morgan Gibbs-White (£5.7m) are the two frontrunners, but in a one-week shootout, you can afford to gamble here. Paqueta, his West Ham colleague Mohammed Kudus (£6.8m) and Villa’s Douglas Luiz (£5.7m) are viable options, too.

If you are going for a five-man midfield instead of a third forward, you won’t go far wrong with the above.

Watkins and Toney are must-owns – if fit

Villa’s Ollie Watkins (£9.0m) and Ivan Toney (£8.1m) of Brentford are the best forwards for Gameweek 29 when we look at the fixtures and even the anytime scorer probability has them as the top two. They are nailed-on to start if fit (Watkins went off with a knock to his knee in Villa’s European match on Thursday evening, and may now be a doubt for Sunday’s match) and are the talisman for their respective teams. Both are also in the top three for captaincy options, so I think they pick themselves.

The third forward spot is another position I think you can gamble on. Luton’s Carlton Morris (£5.2m) is the natural pick for their home fixture against Forest, being certain to start unless he is injured and also on penalty duty. However, there are plenty of viable picks you could opt for instead, with the likes of Fulham’s Rodrigo Muniz (£4.5m) and David Datro Fofana (£5.0m) of Burnley great alternatives.

Muniz has five goals and an assist in his last six games; facing Spurs at home tomorrow (Saturday), Fulham won’t be favourites to win the match but could still find the net. Fofana, meanwhile, has scored three times in six matches and has played 90 minutes in the past five. Signed from Chelsea on loan in January, he is clearly a first-team player under Vincent Kompany.

The ideal Free Hit team

Line-up created using Fantasy Football Hub

The best differentials – including a £4.5m striker

If you are looking for some differential picks as you play your Free Hit chip, here are some low-ownership options that might do well.

Fulham players, such as Muniz and midfield duo Alex Iwobi (£5.3m) and Willian (£5.3m), could be good picks. Their game against Tottenham is more likely to be a high-scoring affair rather than a cagey one, so is a decent fixture for the Fulham attack. Muniz was only 3.3 per cent owned at the time of writing, with Iwobi and Willian in even fewer FPL sides.

Nottingham Forest’s Chris Wood (£4.8m) and fellow forward Fofana are both under one per cent owned and could be great differentials. I don’t think picking either one rather than Morris this week constitutes a huge gamble. We have seen Wood score a hat-trick this season, so we know he has a goal or two in him, and Forest won’t get many better fixtures this season than Luton.

Fulham’s Muniz has been in superb form recently (Gareth Copley/Getty Images)

Wood’s team-mate Taiwo Awoniyi (£6.3m) has been out of favour recently, starting on the bench in the past two games, but if we get any early team news that he is starting at Kenilworth Road tomorrow, the Nigerian would be an appealing prospect.

Also, if we get a heads up that former Forest man Brennan Johnson (£5.8m) starts against Fulham, I would be tempted to go for a triple Spurs midfield. As stated above, they are the best team playing in Gameweek 29 and are expected to score the most goals this week. It just makes sense.

Johnson is a great asset when he is on the pitch —he has four goals and seven assists in the league, with an xGI (expected goal involvement) number of 7.1 for his Tottenham debut season so far. Getting him in would mean going without Porro from the XI detailed earlier, but the Wales international has the higher upside of the two if he starts.

Porro could be replaced by a second Brentford defender and you can then switch from Flekken to Thomas Kaminski (£4.5m) of Luton, or play Sels.

(Top photo: Ian Kington/IKImages/AFP via Getty Images)