Guide

  • Chips
  • Bench Boost

When to play the FPL Bench Boost

When will your bench actually score? Four timing options, what makes a bench worth boosting, and how to avoid spending the chip on four blanks.

Published · Rules checked for 2026/27

Five questions before you Bench Boost

  • Are all four of your bench players likely to start this week?
  • Does your second goalkeeper play for his club?
  • Do your bench players have decent fixtures, or two matches each?
  • Are there any late fitness doubts you'll only hear about after the deadline?
  • Is there a week coming, before the chip expires, when your bench would clearly score more?

If the first three are yes, you have a bench worth boosting. The last two decide whether this is the week, or whether a better one is coming.

What the chip is really worth

The Bench Boost is worth exactly what your four substitutes score. A good bench week might bring 15 to 25 points. A bad one brings a handful, or nothing.

Most of the time, the difference comes down to minutes. A bench player who plays 60 minutes or more usually picks up at least 2 points, with a real chance of a clean sheet, a defensive contribution or a goal. A bench player who doesn't play scores zero. So a Bench Boost is less about fixtures than about four players being on the pitch at all.

That's also why the chip rewards planning more than any other. You can't fix a bench on deadline day without spending transfers. The weeks before matter as much as the week itself.

What makes a bench worth boosting

  • Nailed minutes for all four. Each bench player should be a regular starter for his club, not a squad player or a recent signing still finding his place.
  • Good fixtures for all four. Not just one or two. A clean sheet for a cheap defender is worth 4 points, nearly as much as a goal for a midfielder.
  • A playing second goalkeeper. This is the one most often forgotten. A cheap backup goalkeeper who never plays is fine all season, until the week you boost.
  • Players who rack up defensive contributions. Busy centre-backs who regularly reach 10 clearances, blocks, interceptions and tackles can earn the extra 2 points even when their team concedes. Defensive midfielders who win the ball back a lot can reach 12 the same way. Both make steady bench players.

Four timing options

1. Gameweek 1

Why it works: it's one of the few weeks when you know exactly who's on your bench and why, and most players should be fit after pre-season. If you built 15 players you expect to start, GW1 lets you cash in before injuries, rotation and form start to bite. It pairs naturally with an early Wildcard to fix whatever pre-season got wrong.

When it doesn't: when your bench is full of cheap players you're not sure will start, or new signings whose roles are still unclear. Pre-season guesses can be wrong, and GW1 is when you find out. It also commits you, more or less, to an early Wildcard.

2. Straight after a Wildcard

Why it works: a Wildcard lets you build 15 players who should all start, with good fixtures, then boost the following week. It's the most controlled way to set up a big bench week.

When it doesn't: when the bench you pick for that one week isn't a bench you want afterwards. You'll live with those four players for months, so they need to be worth keeping, not just worth boosting.

3. A double gameweek

Why it works: if your bench players play twice, they have two chances to score. A full bench of players in a double can bring far more than any single-match week. Doubles have long been the traditional home for this chip.

When it doesn't: when rotation means your bench players start one match but not the other. Doubles also tend to come later in the season, so waiting for one in the first half can leave the chip unused at GW19.

4. A strong fixture week for your cheap players

Why it works: sometimes your bench lines up well without any planning: four regular starters, all with good fixtures, in the same week. Especially with defenders who pick up defensive contribution points, that can be a perfectly good Bench Boost without a double or a Wildcard.

When it doesn't: when it's only three good fixtures out of four, or one of the four is a doubt. A Bench Boost on a merely decent bench gives you a merely decent return, and that's a chip you can't use again this half.

The options side by side

TimingCan work whenWatch out for
Gameweek 1You built 15 likely starters and plan an early WildcardCheap bench players whose roles are still unclear
After a WildcardYou can build four bench players worth keeping, not just boostingA bench chosen for one week that you then live with
Double gameweekYour bench players are likely to start both matchesRotation; doubles that come too late for the first chip
Strong fixture weekAll four bench players start and have good fixturesThree good fixtures out of four; a late doubt

Common Bench Boost pitfalls

  • Boosting with a goalkeeper who doesn't play. A non-playing backup goalkeeper means one of your four bench slots is a guaranteed zero before a ball is kicked.
  • Boosting a rotation-risk bench. Players who start most weeks but get rested in busy spells can catch you out, especially around European and cup matches.
  • Building a worse starting 11 to get a better bench. Your starting 11 scores every week; the bench scores once. Moving money from your starters to your bench for one Bench Boost can cost more over the following weeks than the chip earns.
  • Waiting until it expires. The first Bench Boost is lost after GW19. If you're holding out for a double, check that one is scheduled in time.

When it's genuinely close

You've checked the minutes, the fixtures and your second goalkeeper. What's left is two good options: boost this week, or wait for a better one. That's a 50/50, and agonising over it costs more than it gains.

Make the call and enjoy watching the bench for once. If you really can't decide, that's what the coin is for.

Bench Boost or save it? Flip for it Bench Boost or Triple Captain?

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