Elite FPL manager Dan Bennett has activated his Free Hit chip for Fantasy Premier League Gameweek 3, sticking to the strategy he mapped out before the season began.
Dan is one of only five managers in FPL history to have recorded ten top-10k finishes. Already inside the top 100k this season, he is now targeting an 11th top-10k finish.
His latest Gameweek 3 plans therefore offer a valuable insight into how an experienced manager is approaching one of the season’s standout early fixture swings.
The Free Hit allows Dan to build a one-week squad around Manchester City, Liverpool and several other favourable fixtures.
Dan discussed this exact scenario in his pre-season Gameweek 1 Bench Boost draft.
His opening squad was built without Haaland, allowing him to spread the Manchester City forward’s £15.5m price across a deeper 15-player squad and play his Bench Boost immediately. The obvious danger was City’s Gameweek 3 home meeting with promoted Coventry City.
Dan identified two possible solutions before Gameweek 1:
“When Haaland plays Coventry in GW3, I could either play the Free Hit or the early Wildcard.”
He retained that plan after Gameweek 2:
“The aim is still to Free Hit in GW3 to target Man City and Liverpool players and avoid the Arsenal vs Chelsea game.”
Dan has now followed through. He played his Bench Boost in Gameweek 1, trusted Bruno Fernandes as his premium captain for the opening two rounds and has activated the Free Hit to bring in Haaland for Coventry at home.
Keeping faith with Fernandes paid off handsomely in Gameweek 2, although Dan was left with a sizeable score among his substitutes.
Smash that like button if you captained Bruno Fernandes for a monster 46-point haul! 👊 pic.twitter.com/NTCaRezC2k
— Fantasy Football Fix (@FantasyFootyFix) August 30, 2026
Dan said:
“Another great week with captain Fernandes delivering a huge haul. The decision to go without Haaland has been OK so far even with his brace. But I still want him for Coventry at home this week. And beyond that, Fernandes and Palmer should be good captain options until GW7 where I may wildcard.”
That final point is important.
Dan does not need to permanently dismantle a squad containing Fernandes and Cole Palmer simply to own Haaland for one particularly attractive fixture.
The Free Hit gives him access to the Manchester City forward for Gameweek 3 before automatically restoring his longer-term squad.
The Gameweek 3 fixture list creates an unusually clear split between teams to target and popular assets with more difficult matches.
Manchester City host Coventry, Liverpool visit Ipswich, Brighton face Leeds at home, Aston Villa host Hull and Brentford welcome Sunderland.
At the same time, Arsenal and Chelsea play each other at the Emirates Stadium.
That combination allows Dan to temporarily move away from players involved in the Arsenal versus Chelsea fixture and concentrate his budget on teams with more appealing one-week match-ups.
The main benefits of Dan’s FPL Gameweek 3 Free Hit are:
Manchester City’s home fixture against Coventry is the centrepiece of Dan’s current draft.
City arrive on the back of a 4-1 victory over Crystal Palace, with Haaland scoring twice and Rayan Cherki also delivering another strong FPL return. Coventry, meanwhile, failed to score in either of their opening two matches.
Dan plans to attack the fixture with three forwards:
“Man City looked good against Palace so triple attack with Haaland, Cherki and Foden should hopefully yield plenty of points.”
Haaland supplies the standout captaincy option, while Cherki’s early-season form and Phil Foden’s goal threat give Dan two explosive midfield routes into the same fixture. The Free Hit removes the need to decide which one City attacker to prioritise: he can select all three.
However, despite Dan outlining a triple-attack strategy, his latest draft currently contains a Manchester City defender. That shows how far he is from locking in his final selection, with rotation risk and team news still likely to influence the balance of his City triple-up.
It also highlights the importance of switching on Elite XI team-change notifications. You will receive an alert whenever Dan updates his squad, captain or vice-captain, ensuring you do not miss any late changes before the Gameweek 3 deadline.
Liverpool’s trip to Ipswich is another major attraction. After watching Manchester United score five against the promoted side in Gameweek 2, Dan is considering devoting another three squad places to the fixture.
“Man Utd scored 5 against Ipswich so I may triple up on Liverpool players hoping they can do the same.”
His current shortlist combines the explosive potential of Alexander Isak, the reliability of Dominik Szoboszlai and the clean-sheet and set-piece threat of Virgil van Dijk.
This is exactly the type of short-term combination the Free Hit can accommodate. Dan can target Liverpool heavily for one favourable match without needing all three players to fit his plans over the following five or six Gameweeks.
Arsenal hosting Chelsea makes Gameweek 3 awkward for managers invested heavily in both clubs.
Popular attackers can still return in a difficult fixture, but the match reduces the collective ceiling of their defensive and attacking assets. An Arsenal goal damages the clean-sheet prospects of Chelsea defenders, while a Chelsea goal does the same to Arsenal’s back line.
Dan’s Free Hit allows him to temporarily replace those players with assets whose favourable fixtures align in the same Gameweek. Crucially, his original Arsenal and Chelsea players will return automatically for Gameweek 4, so he does not have to sell good long-term options because of one difficult match.
Dan plans to retain Igor Thiago for Brentford’s home meeting with Sunderland and could add a defender from the same side:
“I’ll keep Thiago and maybe add a Brentford defender against Sunderland.”
Maxim De Cuyper is in contention against Leeds after starting the season in an advanced role for Brighton. Dan narrowly overlooked the Belgian before his 17-point Gameweek 1 return.
“I was close to going with De Cuyper in GW1 but in the end missed out on his 17 points.”
Aston Villa’s home fixture against Hull provides another possible source of differentials:
“Aston Villa looked better against Arsenal so we could target a couple of their players against Hull - surely Hull can’t keep another clean sheet!”
These players give the draft more than one route to a successful score. Dan is not relying solely on Haaland hauling; he is using the chip to attack favourable fixtures across the full starting XI.
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