The third international break of the 2025 – 2026 season is now behind us and it was an emotional one. England qualified for the 2026 World Cup with ease, beating Serbia (2-0) and Albania (0-2) to make get the maximum score of 24 points from 8 games in Group K without conceding one goal. Scotland did the same, but in more dramatic fashion, by scoring a bunch of worldies against Denmark (4-2) and finishing first in Group C with 13 points from 6 games. There was drama in Ireland as well as Troy Parrott’s unbelievable five goals in two games (2-0 vs Portugal, he scored both, and 2-3 against Hungary, he scored all three) got Na Buachaillí I Nglas into the 2026 WC playoffs. Wales also booked a spot in those playoffs, courtesy of a 0-1 victory in Liechtenstein followed by a 7-1 thumping of North Macedonia. Finally, Northern Ireland made it into the playoffs despite finishing third in Group A, but making full use of the Nations League safety net.
Overall, good to great performances from the UK teams and Ireland, but in the end, this is not about World Cup football. It’s about the Fantasy Premier League and in terms of the FPL the international break has left some marks this time. Plenty of players have returned to England with injuries (or injury niggles), including a host of popular fantasy picks. Arsenal’s Gabriel, Tottenham’s Mohamed Kudus and Bournemouth’s Antoine Semenyo are just a few examples. Therefore, we strongly recommend going over the current injury news once more and to make sure your squads are ready for the upcoming block of intense Premier League action.
(Ben Dinnery’s “Premier Injuries” is an excellent source for injury-related FPL news, by the way)
Don’t forget, the deadline for Gameweek 12 is set at 11h00 (UK time) on Saturday, November 22nd, 2025. The free to play FPL or pay to play season/weekend/daily games like FanTeam are ideal ways of following the Premier League action.
Most transferred in/transferred out players (as per November 20th, 2025)
| TRANSFERS OUT | TRANSFERS IN | POSSIBLE REASONS | |
| GK | Pope (NEW), Vicario (TOT), Raya (ARS) | Roefs (SUN), Martinez (AST), Raya (ARS) | |
| DEF | Gabriel (ARS), Burn (NEW), Guehi (CRY) | Muñoz (CRY), O’Reilly (MCI), Timber (ARS) | Gabriel + Guehi injury doubts, Burn suspension |
| MID | Kudus (TOT), Semenyo (BOU), Reijnders (MCI) | Mbeumo (MUN), Doku (MCI), Rice (ARS) | Kudus + Semenyo injury doubts |
| FOR | Woltemade (NEW), Gyökeres (ARS), Sesko (MUN) | Thiago (BRE), Mateta (CRY), Pedro (CHE) | Gyökeres + Sesko (injury doubts, all most-transferred-in forwards in good form |
Premium pick
No forward or midfielder as our premium fantasy pick for Gameweek 12, and that has everything to do with the international break injuries we mentioned in our intro. Probably the most impactful injury to come out of the break is that of Gabriel (£6.6m), one of Arsenal’s absolute top performers so far this season. As a matter of fact, the Brazilian currently has more FPL points (81) than any other Gunner and by some difference. Number two is Jurrien Timber with 67 FPL points. Gabriel is now injured for what sounds like about a month, as confirmed by various reputable sources. There are a few good replacements for the Brazilian, think for example Crystal Palace’s Daniel Muñoz or Man United’s Matthijs de Ligt, but we have decided to keep it simple this time. As far as we are concerned, the best direct replacement for Gabriel is found on that same Arsenal roster, in the person of Jurrien Timber (£6.2m). Exactly, the Jurrien Timber we mentioned earlier as the second-highest points scorer for Arsenal after eleven Gameweeks. Like that, you remain invested in the league’s most solid defence, you maintain decent attacking threat from your backline (Timber’s got 2 goals and 2 assists from ten league starts) and you save £0.4m to boot. Whilst Timber also suffered a knee injury scare during the break this was later reported as just a cut.
Non-premium pick
One popular fantasy pick who did come out of the international break unscathed is Bryan Mbeumo (£8.5m). The Cameroon international travelled to the Democratic Republic of Congo for the semi-finals of the African World Cup qualifiers, in which he featured for the full 90 minutes. He and his teammates unfortunately were eliminated by the home side, but the upside for FPL managers is that this allowed him to return to Manchester a couple of days early. Mbeumo is now preparing for the home game against Everton on Monday and he is doing so in great form. With 4 goals in the last six league games, the midfielder/forward has been the most productive midfielder in the whole FPL in terms of goals and FPL points over that period, while his underlying statistics rank among the best in the league as well. To top it off, the Red Devils have also got a nice set of fixtures coming up on the short and medium term. The upcoming home game versus Everton is followed by a visit to Selhurst Park in GW13, a home game against West Ham in GW14, a visit to Wolves in GW15 and a home game against Bournemouth in GW16. In his current form and with Manchester United as a whole seemingly picking up a bit of momentum as well, we feel Mbeumo is one of the stand-out non-premium fantasy picks at the moment.
The budget enabler
Our budget enabler for Gameweek 12 is a bit of a mix of a very affordable price tag and a serious differential, so keep that in mind. Emiliano Buendia (£5.3m) has started just 4 league games for Aston Villa so far this season, but he nevertheless sits on 3 goals and 2 assists at the time of writing. One of those goals came in the Gameweek right before the international break, when he helped Villa to a victory over Bournemouth and himself to a lovely 11 FPL points. That’s not all though, because Emi was also called up for the Argentinian national team over the international break and he featured against Angola for 20 minutes. That might not seem too significant to some people, but it should be noted that this was only Buendia’s second national team appearance ever. What we’re trying to say is that we would not be surprised if the attacking midfielder is currently brimming with confidence. Aston Villa are facing Leeds at Elland Road on Sunday, followed by a home game against Wolves in Gameweek 13 as well. So, if you’ve got some transfers to spare and/or need some budget urgently to reinforce your squad in other positions, Buendia could be a shrewd investment, at least in the short term to provide you with at least one good day from him.
The differential
If you feel Man United are on the up and you are tempted by Mbeumo, but lack the budget to bring him in, the slightly less expensive Matheus Cunha (£7.9m) could be an interesting alternative. Now, just to get this out of the way, you are not bringing in the Brazilian based on his FPL-points-scoring form, as he has amassed just 26 FPL points so far. He has only one goal to his name, against Brighton in Gameweek 9 at Old Trafford, but his underlying stats are good. Only six midfielders have taken more shots than Cunha over the last six Gameweeks and he also ranks second for chance involvement among his teammates over the same period. And we haven’t even mentioned the eye test yet, because watching Cunha play is watching perhaps one of the best footballers in the league play. What we are hoping for is that his undeniable qualities will result in more FPL points over the coming Gameweeks, as United have a favourable run of fixtures coming up (see Mbeumo above), starting with a home game against Everton on Monday.
The (vice-)captaincy
The captaincy debate is expected to be rather wide open this weekend, as Erling Haaland has a difficult away game at Newcastle and Mohamed Salah, while facing Nottingham Forest at home, is not in form at all at the moment. We expect more than a few managers to go with the Egyptian nonetheless, but our armband is going on Bryan Mbeumo in Gameweek 12 for Man United’s home game against Everton.
We already mentioned Haaland and Salah as excellent alternatives for the Cameroon international, and many managers will captain one of the two. Keep that in mind when going with Mbeumo or another option. Those options include Joao Pedro for Chelsea’s visit to Turf Moor on Saturday, Bukayo Saka for the North London Derby against Spurs and Bruno Fernandes for Man United’s home game against Everton.
For further discussions have a look at FISO’s FPL forum where you can also see the FPL mini-leagues and FPL side-games available.