Christmas looks like a particularly crucial time of the year for FPL managers due to a rule change you might have missed.
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In previous years, FPL fans have been able to use three special chips to enhance their scores: triple captain, bench boost and free hit.
However, in 2025/26, you can activate each chip twice in a season – once in the first half of the campaign, once in the second half.
This brings the rules in line with existing wildcard restrictions. FPL managers are able to use a wildcard before and a wildcard after the mid-point of the campaign.
News to you? Well, at the time of writing, you have four more gameweeks left to use your chips – or you'll lose them.
RadioTimes.com brings you our latest FPL tips on how to navigate the end of 2025.
When must I use triple captain, bench boost and free hit chips?
You have until the GW19 deadline of 6pm on Tuesday 30th December 2025 to use your chips in the first half of the season.
That means you should be thinking about Erling Haaland's run of fixtures for a triple captain shot, you should make transfers geared around strengthening your bench for bench boost (as well as festive rotation) and take a look at any particularly juicy weeks to deploy your free hit.
The only other restriction surrounds the free hit chip. You cannot use free hit chips in consecutive gameweeks. Be warned: if you free hit in GW19, you will not be able to free hit in GW20 with your fresh set of chips. That leads us nicely into the next point.
When do FPL chips replenish?
Immediately after the GW19 deadline passes at 6pm on Tuesday 30th December, your stack of chips will be replenished up to a maximum of one each.
If you failed to use any of the chips in the first half of the season, you will not receive a second. Use them now, or lose them shortly.
When can I use the second wildcard in FPL?
The rules for the wildcard now fall in line with the rest of the chips. If you have already used your first wildcard, a second will be added to your account once the GW19 deadline passes.
If you don't use your wildcard before the GW19, you'll only be left with one for the second half of the season.
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Michael Potts is the Sport Editor for Radio Times, covering all of the biggest sporting events across the globe with previews, features, interviews and more. He has worked for Radio Times since 2019 and previously worked on the sport desk at Express.co.uk after starting his career writing features for What Culture. He achieved a first-class degree in Sports Journalism in 2014.
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