When to play FPL's Assistant Manager chip? Seven options

From the next gameweek of the Fantasy Premier League season, managers have the option to play the Assistant Manager chip.

It's new, might be a bit confusing, and you need to plan for it.

Don't panic! We're here to help you and have come up with seven of the best options for activating the chip.

This article was originally published on 23 December and has been updated with fresh information.

When you activate the chip, you bring a Premier League manager into your squad for three weeks and his team's results will earn FPL points for you.

How does the assistant manager score points?

His team wins = 6 points

His team draws = 3 points

His team scores = 1 point per goal

His team keeps a clean sheet = 2 points

Table bonus = 10 extra points for a win, or five extra points for a draw, if the manager faces a club ranked at least five places higher in the table (at the start of the gameweek)

What will the assistant manager cost?

Managers cost between £0.5m and £1.5m and, importantly, that has to come out of your existing budget.

This it the full price list., external

Does the assistant manager count towards my quota of three players from any club?

Yes. Sorry.

There are three key things to consider when planning for the chip, aside from making sure you have some spare cash.

Playing other chips

Firstly, when the chip is active, you can't play any other chips. So think about when you might want to use Triple Captain and make sure you have a rough plan for using your wildcard.

Wildcarding in the weeks before you play the Assistant Manager chip could be a good plan.

Transferring managers

Secondly, playing the chip does not cost a transfer but you can change your assistant manager within the three-week period, which costs a transfer as if you were buying a player.

So that's a chance to get cute, if you like, and chase maximum upside with juicy fixtures.

Top managers have less upside

Because of the table bonus, it doesn't necessarily pay best to pick the manager of a title-chasing side.

Taking data from the first 17 gameweeks, Mikel Arteta, Arne Slot and Enzo Maresca had a best three-week score of 32 points or fewer this season. But Bournemouth's Andoni Iraola led the way with a 47-point total, thanks to wins over Arsenal and Manchester City.

Of course, predicting those wins is the hard thing!

So do you play it safe or go for glory?

Mikel Arteta's Arsenal haven't been at their goalscoring best in recent games but they are still very capable of putting together a run of high-scoring victories.

They, along with Liverpool, are the most reliable for clean sheets too, which earn you two points with this chip.

Could the Gunners realistically win at least 2-0 against each of Fulham, Everton and Brentford? Absolutely - and that would earn you a very decent 30 points.

Look at those first two games for Chelsea. The way Saints and Leicester have been playing this season, there could be a hatful of goals for the Blues.

A 4-0 win, for example, would be worth 12 points.

Arsenal away, on the other hand, is a horrible fixture! No upside and possibly no table bonus on offer.

What I'd look to do is take a one-week punt by transferring a different manager in for gameweek 29.

Ipswich v Nottingham Forest and Leicester v Manchester United would be table bonus options for the home sides.

The Merseyside derby, postponed because of Storm Darragh, was rearranged for gameweek 24, resulting in a double gameweek the first time the Assistant Manager chip is available.

This makes Arne Slot a very strong option.

Liverpool tick every box - likely to win most games, score plenty and keep clean sheets.

And you could flip to a one-week punt if you have a spare transfer rather than face Manchester City away in the last game of this run.

There are a few things to consider though...

Amorim's Manchester United have been completely erratic, losing more than they've won but pulling off results such as a 2-1 win at Manchester City.

They have the potential to improve as the season progresses under the Portuguese head coach, and possess the ability to beat any team on their day.

And, because of their position in the table, Forest, Manchester City and Newcastle all offer table bonus for a positive result.

For example, United's 2-1 win at City earlier in the season would have been worth 18 points.

This is a high-upside pick that could also leave you with just a handful of points if United lose all three games.

Palace are another of those sides with the attacking talent to beat any team on their day and put together a winning streak.

FPL managers will remember their run of six wins in seven games at the end of last season.

Villa have lost more than half their games on the road this season, and that game may present a table bonus opportunity.

Ipswich at home should be a victory and potentially a couple of goals.

And then Newcastle away is a flyer - even if Palace snatch a draw you get eight points, plus extra from any goals they score.

Of course this option could go badly wrong and they may lose each game!

It's a short sample size, but David Moyes has returned and Everton have started scoring goals and winning games.

They are still 16th in the table, so every match between gameweek 32 and 34 presents the opportunity for table bonus, and - remember - even a draw is not bad in that situation, giving you eight points BEFORE goals and clean sheets.

For an example of Everton's potential, Saturday's 1-0 win at Brighton would have been worth 19 points.

Everton held Manchester City and Chelsea to draws earlier in the season - if they pull that off again you'll be laughing.

Are Tottenham as bad as their league position of 15th suggests?

Surely not, and they are in a similar situation to Manchester United - capable of beating any team on their day but with no consistency.

Spurs have scored more goals than any team except Liverpool and Manchester City.

The gameweek 26 to 28 run gives them a match they could win heavily (Ipswich) and two potential table bonus wins.

Another high-upside pick.

Still indecisive? Why not save the chip until the final three gameweeks of the season, when teams are chasing Europe or fighting for safety - and unusual results tend to happen.

It could provide that boost you need to win your mini-league.