Do not play this week
Bench Boost in FPL Gameweek 1 (2026/27)
Bench Boost: Do not play this week. Best projected window: GW34 and GW37. Playing it this week is worth +6.5 projected points immediately, against a historical +18.2 in better windows.
Cutoff 14 Aug 2026, 15:30 UTCIllustrative samplesha256:8f4c2e9a…ef01Download snapshotSettledIllustrative sample
- If played this week
- +6.5 xP
- Typical good window
- +18.2 xP
- Cost of playing now
- -11.6 xP
Should I play Bench Boost this week?
Current bench setup (Valdimarsson 0.0 xP, Rogers 4.15 xP on bench, Faes 2.40 xP) provides minimal marginal value. Optimum Bench Boost deployment requires active 15-player DGW alignment.
Playing Bench Boost with a 0-minute backup goalkeeper forfeits 3.5 to 5.0 points of baseline value immediately. Optimal execution pairs with a Wildcard the preceding week.
When to play it
Projected value if Bench Boost is used in each window.
| Gameweek | Context | Double GW | Chip EV | Net | Call |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GW1 · this week | GW1 Initial Bench (Faes, Barco, Valdimarsson) | No | 3.5 | +3.5 | Hold |
| GW2 | GW2 Bench (Faes, Barco, Valdimarsson) | No | 3.1 | +3.1 | Weaker |
| GW3 | GW3 Bench (Rogers, Muñoz, Faes, Valdimarsson) | No | 6.5 | +6.5 | Weaker |
| GW34 | Post-Wildcard Double Gameweek Slate | Yes | 21.4 | +21.4 | Best window |
| GW37 | Late-Season Multi-Team DGW | Yes | 23.8 | +23.8 | Best window |
Players the solver prefers under Bench Boost
| Player | Club | Pos | Fixture | £m | xP |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Valdimarsson | BRE | GKP | SOU (H) | 4.0 | 0.00 |
| Rogers | AVL | MID | LEI (A) | 5.1 | 4.15 |
| Faes | LEI | DEF | AVL (H) | 4.0 | 2.40 |
How to verify
Bench Boost in FPL Gameweek 1 (2026/27) was written to a JSON snapshot at 31 Aug 2026, 08:00 UTC and hashed with SHA-256 (sha256:7c92b7a2d488e3fa0895c32b567b489ef0c239458e0a29367d5668b02ea6f381). Download the snapshot to inspect the frozen inputs. The freeze rule is described in Methods.