FPL Help Guide: What is a Bench Boost?

Over the season, each FPL manager is given a series of chips to use on their squad. So, of these, what is a Bench Boost?

Ahead of the 2015/16 season, Fantasy Premier League (FPL) introduced some chips to make the game more interesting and strategic.

All Out Attack isn’t around anymore but both Bench Boost and Triple Captain remain – alongside a Free Hit and two Wildcards – to play a key role in each manager’s attempt to win mini-leagues and achieve a strong global rank.

WHAT ARE CHIPS?

This toolbox provides FPL managers with a few different ways to approach the game.

Triple Captain – Multiplies the chosen captain’s points by three rather than the usual two.

Free Hit – Using unlimited free transfers to form a squad for one Gameweek only.

Wildcard – Using unlimited free transfers to transform your squad for current and future Gameweeks.

Only one of these can be used per Gameweek, activated before the deadline.

WHAT IS A BENCH BOOST?

Meanwhile, this chip gives managers one opportunity to score points from all 15 players, including the four substitutes.

For example, if your starting XI totals 50 points and the benched four score two, five, six and seven points, a Bench Boost means a Gameweek score of 70.

HOW TO ACTIVATE A BENCH BOOST

Via a computer, just log in to your FPL account and select the ‘Pick Team’ tab. Underneath the starting XI and substitutes bench is a ‘Play’ button that needs clicking and confirming.

Using the official FPL app, this is immediately visible above such team graphics. The light green substitutes area will then turn into a very dark green.

BEST TIMES TO USE A BENCH BOOST

Chips can be used in a variety of situations, that’s the beauty of them. Perhaps it’s to attack a Double Gameweek or survive a Blank Gameweek. Maybe your squad has an injury crisis or you have supreme confidence in one player’s upcoming fixture.

With Bench Boost, many FPL managers usually follow the logic of using the chip during a Double Gameweek, where ideally it’d not just bring in four extra matches but eight.

Unless the FPL landscape is providing some outstanding assets at the very cheapest prices, Bench Boost brings the dilemma of squad depth versus budget.

Having high-quality ‘substitutes’ for the boost is great but it then leaves a lot of money on the sidelines for future weeks, restricting what can be done to your starting XI.

That’s why a lot of managers use it just before or just after resetting their squad with a Wildcard. Using these unlimited free transfers immediately afterwards will eliminate the above problem, whilst using it right before Bench Boost allows well-thought preparation to help navigate the upcoming schedule.

However, although standard advice would be to use Bench Boost during a Double Gameweek, sometimes a manager’s gut feeling wants to put it elsewhere.

With this in mind, Fantasy Football Scout recently looked into when such 2023/24 Blank and Double Gameweeks are expected to take place.