22 Apr, 2025

Gameweek 34: Free Hit 34 Team – Who To Consider?

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If you’re like me, you’ve built your team in the last few game weeks where you have no choice but to activate your Free Hit chip in GW34. For a lot of FPL managers, the recent schedule has seen people stack their teams with Crystal Palace, Man City, Arsenal and Villa assets and they all have the week off from Premier League action in GW34, meaning team reconstruction surgery is needed – let’s hope we don’t botch this job.

For anyone looking for some inspiration, here’s my current Free Hit draft for GW34 – I’ve got £103.8m to play with at time of writing and a pocket full of dreams as I chase a sub-10k ranking. My team is currently built to line up in a 3-4-3 formation.

Goalkeeper:

I’ve currently got Chelsea’s Rob Sanchez as my FH GK. Despite being consistently on the verge of a mistake, either through poor distribution or poor shot-stopping, the Spaniard kept a clean sheet in GW30 and GW31 and only conceded 0.25xg in the win against Fulham most recently. Chelsea will be well-positioned for a clean sheet at home to Everton, errors permitting.

For anyone not keen on Sanchez, Sels is on my bench with a home fixture against Brentford. Whilst Forest have been strong defensively this season, the prospect of playing an inform Wissa and Mbeumo does threaten their clean sheet chances. Another option would be Bernd Leno, as Fulham travel to St Mary’s to play relegated Southampton, but with only one clean sheet in 11 for Fulham, I’m not as confident on Leno.

Defenders:

My defence is made up of full backs (and a cheeky cheat code option) who managers will be hoping for attacking returns from. I’ve currently got Marc Cucurella, Trent Alexander-Arnold and Rayan Ait-Nouri, with Tino Livramento and Ryan Sessegnon on the bench.

With Chelsea playing at home to Everton, I’ll be anticipating a lot of possession for Cucurella and his teammates – and Maresca has used his curly-haired Spaniard as a box-crashing option since December, more often than not occupying positions in the box you would expect to see Palmer in. The Spanish left-back has scored four goals in the league, recently scoring in the Conference League quarter finals too, and could be in line for a big haul with a Chelsea clean sheet.

Returning from injury with a goal to win the game and all but seal the title for Liverpool, Alexander-Arnold at home to a despondent Spurs side in GW34 looks like a gamble worth taking. Whilst it looks almost certain that this will be Trent’s last few matches before leaving to Real Madrid in the summer, and there might be more starts for Conor Bradley as the season comes to a close, I can see Slot going as full strength as possible.

Wolves have won 5 league games in a row under Vitor Pereira and will be playing against relegated Leicester at home in GW34. Ait-Nouri as a forward-thinking LWB in Pereira’s 3-4-2-1 has shown his haul potential with a 14-point return in GW32 against Spurs and something similar in GW34 would not go amiss.

Livramento and Sessegnon are also in my squad, but on the bench. Newcastle play Ipswich at home but look to have lost a bit of steam following a thrashing at the hands of Villa. Sessegnon has been playing as a RW for Fulham, with three goals and two assists in the last seven GWs and I’m 50/50 currently about whether I’ll go with him or Ait-Nouri. The fixture against Southampton and his attacking points potential are big factors, but Harry Wilson has just returned from injury so Sessegnon’s minutes look to be at some risk.

Other defensive options to consider are Virgil Van Dijk for security of starts and his threat from corners, and Milos Kerkez, who has a home fixture against Manchester United that could see him get points on both ends of the pitch.

Midfielders:

Salah and Palmer are both in my Free Hit team, with two attractive home fixtures still solidifying their prospect despite some low point scoring in recent weeks, and I’ve got Salah earmarked for captaincy.

They’re currently being joined by Harvey Barnes and Bryan Mbeumo, with Alex Iwobi on the bench. Barnes has had his best run of form in a Newcastle shirt in recent weeks and will be playing in front of the raucous Geordie faithful against all-but-relegated Ipswich Town as Newcastle chase Champions League football for next season. There is a risk that Anthony Gordon will play ahead of him as he’s ramping up to full fitness following an injury lay-off, so that will be something to keep an eye on before confirming my team for the Free Hit.

My final starting midfielder is Brentford’s Bryan Mbeumo. The Cameroonian has had a brilliant season for the Bees, scoring 18 goals this season and has passed the 200-point mark on FPL. His synergy with Wissa, penalty-taking possibilities and high ownership make him a huge risk if he isn’t in your team so this is a pick to consolidate rank more than anything.

Iwobi finishes my midfield as first bench option, another player having a fine season and a constant threat with a plump fixture against Southampton ahead for him.

Bruno Fernandes did cross my mind but Manchester United’s inconsistency, and a looming European semi-final for the Red Devils that has diverted attention, does make him a risk. As did Luis Diaz, who I might select instead of Mbeumo to triple-up on Liverpool assets, but some diversification might be wise with how Liverpool have ended the season.

Forwards:

Up-front for my Free Hit side are Danny Welbeck, Matheus Cunha and Alexander Isak.

Isak’s high ownership and strong fixture make him an easy pick and potential captain – Welbeck has shown good form recently, with two goals in three despite Brighton’s woes and with Joao Pedro sent off, has security of minutes.

Cunha has recently returned from suspension himself, and the Wolves talisman will be keen to show supporters what he can do against relegated Leicester and add to his 14-goals this season. Welbeck and Cunha also have low-ownership so double as differentials, providing huge boosts to rank should they return with points.

I was also considering Evanilson or Wissa, leaning more to Evanilson who I anticipate causing trouble against Manchester United. He generates over 0.5xg per 90, amongst some of the best strikers in the league and United have shown willingness to rotate massively with Athletic Bilbao on the horizon. Will be either him or Welbeck, so this decision will go the wire for me.

Whoever you select, godspeed to us all – getting this Free Hit right will most likely be the difference between winning or losing your mini-leagues. So, no pressure…

Click here for more Game Week 34 Tips.

By: Indrit Berisha

Last Updated: 18/04