Fantasy Premier League Assistant Manager chip: What is it and when should you play it?

On Wednesday, the Official Fantasy Premier League finally revealed the Mystery Chip — nobody expected this and there is plenty to talk about.

The Mystery Chip won’t be available until Gameweek 24 (Feb 1, 2025) so we have plenty of time to wrap our heads around it and look at different permutations.

So let’s take a look at the new chip and discuss your potential strategies for using it…

What is the Mystery Chip?

It’s called the Assistant Manager chip. When activating this chip you will be able to select one of the 20 Premier League managers who can earn you points for three gameweeks in a row. This will be in addition to your 15-man squad.

The manager’s prices will range from £0.5million to £1.5m. Once you activate the chip, picking your manager will not cost you a free transfer but if you decide to change your manager during the three-gameweek period it will cost you a transfer in the same way it does for players. Therefore, you can have up to three different managers but it would be optimal to save as many transfers as possible before playing this chip so you can be flexible.

We will not be allocated any extra money and must use our original budget. Your manager will also count towards the three-player-per-team limit. For example, if you already owned three Liverpool players, you would not be able to pick Arne Slot unless you remove one of your Liverpool players.

You won’t be able to use any other chip while the Assistant Manager chip is active for your chosen three gameweeks.

How do Assistant Managers score points?

Your manager of choice will score points based on their club’s performance. You cannot captain them.

• Team wins – 6pts
• Team draws – 3pts
• Each goal scored by team – 1pt
• Clean sheet – 2pts
• In addition to this, if your manager faces a team that is ranked at least five places above them in the league table at the start of the gameweek they get a bonus 10 points for the win (16 in total). If they draw, they get an additional five points (eight in total).

If you pick a manager from the top five teams at the start of the gameweek, you will not get the bonus points. If you pick a manager whose next three opponents are at least five places above them, each win or draw will earn extra points.

You won’t get any minus points if your manager gets a yellow or red card. If your manager gets sacked during the time you pick him then the club’s results will still count towards your score. Basically, no actions can lead to minus points with this chip.

Who are the best scoring managers?

*Fantasy points earned by Leicester and Manchester United’s managers this season, including Steve Cooper and Erik ten Hag. Data from the table was taken from the Official Fantasy Premier league website.

Slot has the most points overall but Andoni Iraola of Bournemouth has the best three-gameweek score. Both of these factors should be considered when the time comes to play the chip. Looking at fixture runs, league positions, form and double gameweeks.

When’s the best time to play the Assistant Manager chip?

Without confirmation of when the Everton vs Liverpool game will be rescheduled, it’s tough to identify the optimal time to play the chip. However, we can work on permutations.

If Liverpool get to the Carabao Cup final on March 16 then Liverpool and Everton are likely to have a mini double gameweek in Gameweek 24 or Gameweek 25 in February. So if you still have your Triple Captain chip, this is the best time to play it and you can use the Assistant Manager chip during one of the other doubles. If you have already used the Triple Captain, you can use the Assistant Manager chip during the Merseyside double.

The usual double gameweeks will be in Gameweek 33 and Gameweek 36 so these are the two windows we should also be looking at. The Assistant Manager chip should be played in a double as it’s a very powerful chip. It could turn out to offer more points than any other chip.

A rough plan could be to wildcard in Gameweek 30 before the doubles and then use the chip in gameweeks 31-33 (Gameweek 33 will be a double).

You also need to decide on whether to go for the real upside of picking a lower-ranked manager to get the extra bonus points or going safe with one of the top teams.

Here are the best three gameweek fixture runs I could find for all 20 teams from Gameweek 24. This is simply to give you a rough idea as the time you use the Assistant Manager chip will vary on league positions and how many chips you have left:

Conclusion

This chip should be used in a double gameweek — it has the potential to net you more than 40 points.

Gameweek 24 is far away. League positions will change and form will fluctuate. A more detailed, strategic-based approach will be examined closer to the double gameweeks.

(Top photo: Arne Slot; Jan Kruger/Getty Images)