A public service announcement to the Fantasy Premier League managers out there: whatever you do, don’t buy Mo Salah this week.
Salah did what Salah does on Saturday, scoring a goal, providing an assist and earning 11 FPL points on his return to action as an injury-hit Liverpool swatted Brentford aside.
The Egyptian’s exploits have led to almost 150,000 FPL managers buying him for Gameweek 26 which would ordinarily be fine, except there is one slight issue: he doesn’t have a league fixture as Liverpool play Chelsea in the Carabao Cup final. That’s a lot of money to have tied up on your bench.
Before booking their places at Wembley, Liverpool and Chelsea had been due to face Luton and Spurs respectively, meaning those two clubs have a rare weekend off. As a result, the FPL pool is shallower than usual with only 16 clubs to pick from. Managers will therefore have some tinkering to do given some of the most popular assets in the game will be missing in action.
If your squad is severely depleted it could be worthwhile activating the Free Hit chip which enables you to make unlimited transfers to your squad without incurring any points hits for one gameweek only. Alternatively, you could opt to take one or two points hits to try and get a full team out and save the Free Hit for later on in the campaign.
The Gameweek 26 deadline is at 11am on Saturday 24 February.
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Gameweek 26 fixtures
The following clubs do not have a Premier League fixture this weekend: Chelsea, Liverpool, Luton and Spurs.
Saturday 24 February
*3pm kick-off unless otherwise stated
- Aston Villa vs Nott’m Forest
- Brighton vs Everton
- Crystal Palace vs Burnley
- Man Utd vs Fulham
- Bournemouth vs Man City (5.30pm)
- Arsenal vs Newcastle (8pm)
Sunday 25 February
- Wolves vs Sheff Utd (1.30pm)
Monday 26 February
- West Ham vs Brentford (8pm)
Bukayo Saka (Arsenal)
The extremely highly-owned Bukayo Saka has tested the patience of FPL managers at points this season but has repaid their faith by the bucketload in recent weeks.
Saka has accumulated 49 points over the past four gameweeks, which is nine more than Ollie Watkins, the second-most productive player in that period, and 18 more than Pascal Gross, the next highest-scoring midfielder.
The England winger’s upturn in goalscoring form is reflective of Arsenal’s collective improvement. The Gunners have scored over a third of their league goals (36.2 per cent) for the season in their previous five games, a run that includes a 6-0 win and two 5-0 victories.
Saka is already the second most popular player in FPL, behind Erling Haaland, but anyone without him should make buying him a priority ahead of Saturday’s deadline.
Price: £9m Points: 156 Gameweek 26 fixture: Newcastle (h)
Rasmus Hojlund (Man Utd)
Here’s a statistic that underlines Rasmus Hojlund’s marked improvement in front of goal. The £72m summer signing from Atalanta failed to score in any of his first 14 Premier League games for United, but has since managed seven in his last six.
After the trickiest of tricky starts in English football, Hojlund has finally found his feet. Not only has the 21-year-old managed to score more goals than he has played matches since Gameweek 19, but he has also found the net in six consecutive games, making him the youngest player to achieve that feat in the competition’s history.
When you add his two assists in that timeframe into the mix too, Hojlund has amassed 55 points over the past six FPL gameweeks, a tally that only the aforementioned Saka can better (with 61). Next up for United’s great Dane is a match-up with Fulham, a side with the fourth-worst defensive record away from home in the division.
Price: £7.2m Points: 78 Gameweek 26 fixture: Fulham (h)
Pedro Neto (Wolves)
Few players in the Premier League are as exciting to watch as Pedro Neto, especially when Wolves’ Portuguese flier has acres of green grass to gallop into.
Neto tore Tottenham to shreds on the counter last Saturday, setting up Joao Gomes’ match-winner with a lung-busting run that took him from the edge of Wolves’ box to the heart of their opponents’ penalty area. And he almost registered a second assist in almost identical fashion for Jean-Ricner Bellegarde less than 15 minutes later.
The 23-year-old is unlikely to have as much freedom against Sheffield United but has far more to his game than quick feet. Despite being limited to 16 appearances due to injury, Neto has provided 11 assists, a total that only Ollie Watkins (with 14) can better in FPL.
Considering Wolves’ next opponents Sheffield United have conceded a record 65 goals after 25 Premier League games, Neto is a fantastic differential option to consider.
Price: £5.7m Points: 80 Gameweek 26 fixture: Sheffield Utd (h)
Alex Moreno (Aston Villa)
The goalscoring gods have not been kind to Alex Moreno lately. Aston Villa’s left-back scored in a 5-0 win against Sheffield United in Gameweek 23, but has also been denied by VARs in matches against Everton and Fulham for marginal offside calls.
The Spanish left-back has also been a key source of creativity for Unai Emery’s side, creating eight chances in his last six appearances without getting any assists. Moreno has earned a respectable 23 points in that time, but has been unfortunate to not record more.
Although he faces competition from the fit again Lucas Digne, Moreno has played well enough to keep his starting place. The Villans will be looking to get back to winning ways at Villa Park after back-to-back losses when they host Nottingham Forest.
Price: £5.1m Points: 37 Gameweek 26 fixture: Nottingham Forest (h)
Pascal Gross (Brighton)
Brighton top the FPL’s fixture difficulty tracker over the next three gameweeks with a home game against Everton followed by matches with Fulham at Craven Cottage and Nottingham Forest back at the Amex.
Since Roberto De Zerbi took charge of the Seagulls it has been tricky to predict Brighton’s starters with a couple of exceptions: Lewis Dunk and Pascal Gross tend to start and finish every game.
To emphasise that point, Gross has made more league starts (22) and played more minutes (2,003) than any other player in De Zerbi’s squad, last failing to play the full 90 minutes against Chelsea back in Gameweek 14.
The 32-year-old’s consistent game time is a major plus, but he has also stepped up his end product recently too with four goal contributions (three assists, one goal) in his last three outings. With Joao Pedro currently injured, Gross is temporarily top of Brighton’s penalty-taking pecking order, as evidenced against Spurs in Gameweek 24.
Price: £6.4m Points: 116 Gameweek 26 fixture: Everton (h)
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