Philman, one of Fantasy Premier League’s most consistent managers with nine top 10k finishes, has decided it’s time to hit the Wildcard button ahead of Gameweek 4.
In this interview, he explains why now is the right moment, who makes his best Wildcard team, and how he’s planning his chip strategy for the weeks ahead.
Philman admits he’s “not normally a fan of playing the Wildcard during an international break.”
“Some do it to catch price changes, thinking there’ll be more in the two-week break. But activity soon slows down, and Wildcard transfers don’t count towards the net transfers that trigger price changes. Additionally, you often get strange results immediately after the break, and sometimes a Wildcard the following week can be more powerful.”
Philman is right. The Transfer Analytics tool shows the usual post-Gameweek rush of moves, as managers reacted with kneejerk transfers or tried to catch early price changes — projections you can track with the Price Change Predictor tool. Since then, transfer activity has slowed and will likely remain low until next Friday.
So why Wildcard now?
“On this occasion, I did it as I felt many changes would benefit my team at this stage of the season. Quite a few players simply aren’t performing, despite reasonable fixtures. Additionally, I can see quite a few who are performing, who represent good value and have good fixtures too.”
The trigger point was the return of Marc Guiu at Chelsea, which complicated his forward plans.
“I was looking at moving Watkins to Joao Pedro. However, with owning Sanchez and Cucurella, and then Guiu from Chelsea, this would take two transfers. I’d still have issues with the likes of Dorgu, Wirtz, Rogers… and despite recent moves to bring them in, I’d gone off Kudus and Reijnders. Overall, it just seemed too difficult to navigate a path, which is exactly the circumstances designed for Wildcard activation.”
Normally Philman would hold the chip longer, but this season’s format has changed his approach:
“I normally like to save my Wildcard for a bit later in the season, but the extra chips this year, and the ‘top up to 5’ come Gameweek 16 for AFCON, makes it easier to go early.”
“I intend to stick with my keeper combo of Sanchez and Dubravka.”
The Opta Stats Sandbox backs up Philman’s decision to stick with Sanchez in goal.
He’s joint-top for clean sheets (2) and has conceded the fewest goals (1, joint). Alongside him, Dubravka at £4.0m is a starting goalkeeper — making the pairing hard to argue against.
Porro remains.
Dorgu → Munoz: “Palace have been solid in defence, have good fixtures and Munoz has continued his form from last season. He’s a no brainer for me.”
🏟️ Games: 3
— Fantasy Football Fix (@FantasyFootyFix) August 31, 2025
🤝 Assists: 1
🛡️ DEFCON: 43
⭐ Bonus Points: 4
🟰 FPL Points: 25
Is Senesi the best £4.5m defender in Fantasy Premier League right now? 👀 pic.twitter.com/88Fipme5vB
Diouf → Senesi: “Bournemouth have shown good defensive play since Gameweek 1 and Senesi has picked up DefCon points in all 3 games so far.”
Esteve → Gudmundsson: “The pick of the £4m defenders with Leeds’ good home form. A defence I am happy with.”
Sarr: “He’s been excellent, so would have stayed but for injury. He was such a good differential, I was surprised he wasn’t more highly owned. I may bring in Rice to cover his position, then bring Sarr back when fit.”
Fernandes: “An excellent FPL asset in a poor team, the talisman with free kicks, corners, pens and lots of creativity and DefCon. The issue is fixtures, and whether anyone finishes his chances.”
Grealish: “...ticks all the boxes of form, fixtures, nailed and great value.”
Dewsbury-Hall: “At £5m, he represents excellent value and a reliable bench option.”
If you’re considering Grealish or Dewsbury-Hall, check out our recent Who to Target article, where we compared the two earlier this week.
Haaland: “Locked in. Despite City’s poor form, his numbers are so good and he’s an excellent captain choice each week.”
“He's looking more essential each week. He looks nailed and in form. His BPS numbers are always high too, so when he gets a goal contribution, bonus points normally follow.”
Gyökeres (with Isak a contender): “At the moment I have chosen Gyökeres, but this could be swapped to Isak, then downgrade Bruno to maybe Eze or gamble on Xavi from Spurs. I feel there’s more value in expensive forwards and mid-priced mids than vice versa. Isak would then be a strong captain choice for Gameweek 5.”
Bench Boost
“As there will be no double Gameweeks up until the end of Gameweek 19, this chip won’t harvest huge points. My Wildcard doesn’t focus on it much, except for having 15 regular starters. My most common bench will be Dubravka, Dewsbury-Hall, Senesi and Gudmundsson. There are a few weeks before Gameweek 15 where they combine for a decent set of fixtures.”
Free Hit / Triple Captain:
“I only have two players from Arsenal, Liverpool and City in my Wildcard team. So the Free Hit could prove useful around Gameweeks 13–15, when Liverpool and City have strong fixtures. The same applies to the Triple Captain chip — maybe Haaland in Gameweek 6 at home to Burnley, when less people own him, will be a great shout.”
“The idea of a Wildcard is to avoid short term transfer plans. Liverpool are a team to watch. Luckily they have relatively poor fixtures, but I need to be in position to act on any form they show. Isak seems to be the one in particular. My gut tells me he comes in straight away, as it won’t be long before he starts banging them in. One to watch over the next week or so.”
Philman’s Fantasy Premier League Wildcard team for Gameweek 4 blends fixture security with in-form players, while leaving space for flexibility.
But this draft is far from locked in. To see every update and get alerts the moment Philman confirms his final team, readers can sign up for notifications on the Elite XI: Team Reveal tool.
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