Before we bring you our FPL gameweek 26 preview, it should be noted that at the moment of writing one game from double gameweek 25 is still to be played. Tonight, Liverpool host Luton Town at Anfield, but seeing as both teams are blanking in the upcoming gameweek, we figured we could already move on with our gameweek 26 preview. In any case, do keep an eye on that match for the longer term, especially if you’re carrying Liverpool and/or Luton assets right now. The Reds, in particular, have got a fixture run worth considering after the blank.

Anyway, that intro has immediately brought us to the most important part of GW26, which is the fact that it’s a blank gameweek and a serious one at that. Besides previously mentioned Liverpool and Luton Town, Chelsea and Spurs are also without a fixture this weekend. This means that the likes of Mo Salah, Cole Palmer and Richarlison will all be sitting this one out. As a result, don’t be surprised to see more than a few fantasy managers activating chips in the build-up to Saturday’s deadline; the Free Hit and the second Wildcard in particular.

Check out FISO’s FPL Forum for the latest discussion and don’t forget, the deadline for gameweek 26 is set at 13h30 (UK time) on Saturday, February 24^th. If you fancy playing a fantasy premier league game just based on Saturday’s or the Weekend’s fixtures then have a look at FanTeam’s Daily Fantasy Games (18+ only).

Most transferred in/transferred out players (as per February 22^nd, 2024)

Premium pick

With Liverpool and Spurs blanking this weekend, and with £9.0m being the cut-off minimum for a player’s eligibility in our premium fantasy pick category, we don’t have a lot of options for BGW26. Fortunately, in this sense, Manchester City are not blanking, but visiting Bournemouth on Saturday evening, which means that Erling Haaland (£14.4m) is set to play. While his 10-pointer during double gameweek 25 was perhaps considered somewhat underwhelming by some managers (especially those using their Triple Captain chip on him this week), the Norwegian striker did score the only goal of the game against Brentford on Tuesday evening. That makes it 3 goals and 1 assist from four league starts since fully returning from injury in gameweek 23, and 17 goals and 6 assists from 19 league starts in total. We considered including his teammate Kevin de Bruyne here, as the Belgian was rested for the recent Brentford game, but still ended up going with Haaland for City’s visit to the Vitality Stadium this weekend. We don’t think the Cherries will keep him from making it four games with attacking returns in his last five league starts.

Non-premium pick

Despite starting the 2023-24 season with a price tag of £8.0m, Ollie Watkins (£8.7m) is close to being eligible for our premium fantasy pick category 25 gameweeks in. The Aston Villa forward is once again having a great season, having already scored 13 goals and provided 14 assists for a total of 161 FPL points. Everything is pointing at him by far beating his best season so far, which was last season when he managed 15 goals and 8 assists. As far as his current form goes, we can be brief as well: 4 goals and 3 assists in his last four league starts, or in other words, an average of 10 FPL points per game. We dare you to find other starting players with such a points average over that same period in the official fantasy game. On top of that, in this upcoming blank gameweek 26, Watkins has a home game against Nottingham Forest. The Tricky Trees have conceded 24 goals in twelve away games so far this season, while Villa are amongst the best home sides, so in his current form, we even consider Watkins a serious candidate for the armband.

The budget enabler

It’s shame that Matheus Cunha is injured at the moment, because the man in form for Wolves this season would be facing Sheffield United at home this weekend. The Blades look like the most likely relegation candidate at the moment, in big part due to their leaky defence. No team has conceded more than the 65 goals conceded by Sheffield United in 25 league games and the same goes for goals conceded in away games (29). Wolves, on the other hand, are decent and aiming for a mid-table finish this season. This has made their roster a rich source of budget enablers, including Pedro Neto (£5.7m). The Portuguese winger is classified as a midfielder in the official fantasy game and in that capacity, he has already collected 80 FPL points this season, courtesy of 2 goals and 11 assists. Only Ollie Watkins has created more goals for his teammates so far (14), which puts Neto above the likes of Mo Salah, Kieran Trippier and Bukayo Saka. Not bad for £5.7m, especially not considering that he can try and build on those stats against the weakest team in the league on Sunday.

The differential

The Aston Villa spotlights are pointed at Ollie Watkins most of the time, and deservedly so, but the England striker is not the only player with fantasy potential on the Villa roster. Looking at ownership percentages in the squad, a number of players seems to be going under the radar, despite the team’s exceptional season so far. One of those players is Leon Bailey (£5.6m), who also comes in at a more than affordable price. The Jamaica international has managed 7 goals and 7 assists from twelve league starts already this season, which represents fantastic value at his current price. At the same time, manager Unai Emery tends to rotate Bailey from time to time, which has surely dampened his fantasy appeal a bit. Still, an ownership of 3.5% feels too low in our opinion, especially considering the fact that Villa have got Nottingham Forest at home this weekend followed by Luton Town away in gameweek 27. If you’re looking for a differential with a high ceiling for the short to medium term, Bailey should definitely be on your scouting lists.

The (vice-)captaincy

Blank gameweek 26 is offering us eight fixtures instead of the usual ten, but there are still a few very good captaincy options available. We are going with Erling Haaland for the visit to Bournemouth’s Vitality Stadium, though it was a close call between him and Kevin de Bruyne.

Besides the two Man City players, Ollie Watkins at home to Sheffield United stands out, as does the in-form Bukayo Saka at home to a Newcastle side that doesn’t travel very well this season. More differential armband picks include Rasmus “Scored in 6 consecutive games” Hojlund at home to Fulham, Bukayo Saka at home to Newcastle and even Dominic Solanke at home to Manchester City.

Gameweek 25 is the first double gameweek in a while and while it’s not a major one in terms of the number of teams doubling, the doublers do offer great FPL potential.

As you can see, the fixtures of Manchester City and Liverpool jump out. Brentford’s and Luton’s doubles, on the other hand, look like a real challenge, on paper at least. Bear in mind that Liverpool and Luton (plus Chelsea and Spurs) blank in GW26. In any case, the doubles dominate our fantasy picks for gameweek 25.

Before continuing to the actual picks, we also want to briefly highlight some of the single gameweek sides whose fantasy assets could deliver nicely this weekend. On Saturday, for example, Aston Villa visit Turf Moor and Bournemouth travel to Fulham before Spurs host Wolves. On Sunday, Brighton and Manchester United’s away games, against Sheffield United and Luton respectively, look like encounters worth considering as well.

Don’t forget, the deadline for gameweek 25 is set at 11h00 (UK time) on Saturday, February 17^th. If you fancy playing a fantasy premier league game just based on Saturday’s or the Weekend’s fixtures then have a look at FanTeam’s Daily Fantasy Games (18+ only).

Most transferred in/transferred out players (as per February 15^th, 2024)

Premium pick

On his return to full fitness in gameweek 23, after an injury kept him out of action since gameweek 16, Erling Haaland (£14.4m) slightly underwhelmed with “just” an assist and 5 FPL points away at Brentford. Wasn’t he supposed to score at least a brace in every game? We’re joking, of course, but less than a week later, against Everton in GW24, he did exactly that. With an Expected Goal Involvement of 0.79, the Norwegian forward still managed 2 goals for a 13-pointer in the official fantasy game. This suggests that he might just continue where he left off in GW16, when he already had 14 goals and 5 assists to his name from 15 Premier League starts. Up next for Erling and his friends is a double gameweek 25, featuring two home encounters (Chelsea and Brentford), so we really didn’t have a choice in terms of our premium fantasy pick for this round. What’s more, like many fantasy managers, we’re considering the Triple Captain for Haaland.

Non-premium pick

One thing we didn’t mention when talking about Haaland is the considerable risk of rotation that looms over Manchester City this gameweek. As we know, this is always a concern when considering Man City assets, but extra when they are doubling. Haaland is probably rotation-proof at the moment (kind of), but that doesn’t go for a majority of the squad. Still, we have decided to go for Phil Foden (£8.0m) as our non-premium fantasy pick for double gameweek 25. Considering Foden’s recent form, with 4 goals and 4 assists in his last seven Premier League starts, we expect him to accumulate at least 120 minutes of action over the coming double, which is enough for us to include him here. On top of that, the England youngster has been a guaranteed starter for City over the past weeks, playing 90 minutes in each of the club’s last eight league games. With home games against Chelsea and Brentford coming up, we wouldn’t be surprised to see him add a few to his current league goal (8) and assist (7) tallies.

The budget enabler

We recommended Luton striker Elijah Adebayo (£4.9m), whole name Elijah Anuoluwapo Oluwaferanmi Oluwatomi Oluwalana Ayomikulehin Adebayo, as a stand-out budget enabler in the build-up to gameweek 24 for a couple of reasons. First, the Hatters were preparing for a home game against Sheffield United and Adebayo was coming into that game in good form, scoring 4 goals between gameweeks 20 and 23. Second, we figured that bringing him in for gameweek 24 meant thinking ahead to double gameweek 25 already as well, when Luton play at home to Man United before rolling up to Anfield. Keeping that in mind, it only makes sense to repeat Adebayo as our budget fantasy pick as we prepare for the DGW25 deadline, especially after his assist for his side’s only goal (he won the penalty albeit his header accidentally hit a defender’s arm). That made it three consecutive league games with at least one attacking return for the attacker, which makes him our preferred budget-enabling fantasy pick for double gameweek 25. It won’t be easy to get something from it for Luton, but if they do, Adebayo involvement looks inevitable at the moment.

The differential

With Alexander-Arnold ruled out of the Carabao Cup, which takes place on February 25^th, a potentially huge (and very budget-friendly) differential for double gameweek 25 presented himself. Conor Bradley (£4.1m) shone from the moment he had to step in for TAA, providing an assist in the 0-4 victory over Bournemouth in gameweek 21 and then scoring a goal and providing 2 assists in the 4-1 victory over Chelsea. The Northern Ireland international then missed the next two games and is currently flagged in the official game following the passing of his father, but he returned to training earlier this week. Whether it will be him or Joe Gomez who will rack up more minutes over the coming double against Brentford (away) and Luton (home), we’re not sure, but our feeling says that Bradley will be the one. Therefore, if you have the luxury of being able to bring in a double gameweek player who might not get many more minutes on the longer term, meaning that he will likely have to be transferred out again in a few weeks’ time, Bradley could be a very interesting differential fantasy pick.

The (vice-)captaincy

It’s Haaland for the Man City double of home games against Chelsea and Brentford. Perhaps we’re even giving him the Triple Captain.

Plenty of alternatives on offer if you’ve got picking-City-players-in-a-double-gameweek-induced PTSD, though. Those include Darwin Nuñez for Liverpool’s double against Brentford (away) and Luton (home), his teammate Diogo Jota and Tottenham’s Richarlison for his home game versus Wolves. For the real differential captain hunters, Brentford’s Ivan Toney could be golden for the double against Liverpool at home and Man City away, as could Luton Town’s Elijah Adebayo.

Premier League history was made in gameweek 23 and almost eleven million fantasy managers were there for it. Phil Foden’s third goal of the evening on Monday brought the total of goals scored for that gameweek to 45 across ten fixtures, making last matchweek the highest-scoring matchweek in terms of goals in Premier League history. The previous record stood at 44 goals across a single matchweek, a feat that was actually achieved twice: once in gameweek 2 of the 2020/21 season and once last season in gameweek 34. With 730 goals scored over 228 matches so far this campaign, an incredible average of 3.2 goals per game, we are on route to crush the record for most goals scored in a single season, which currently sits at 1,084.

Anyway, on to FPL gameweek 24, which looks like it’s going to give gameweek 23 a run for its money with a few very interesting fixtures. Manchester City (versus Everton), Liverpool (against Burnley) and Spurs (against Brighton) are playing potentially goal-filled fixtures in front of their own fans, as do Aston Villa, though they are hosting Manchester United. Without a real top-six clash on the agenda this weekend, the tightest encounters on paper look to be Arsenal away at West Ham and the relegation cracker between Luton Town and Sheffield United at Kenilworth Road.

Check out FISO’s FPL Forum for the latest discussion and don’t forget, the deadline for gameweek 24 is set at 11h00 (UK time) on Saturday, February 10^th.

Most transferred in/transferred out players (as per February 8^th, 2024)

Premium pick

When the highest-scoring team in the league plays at home to one of the sides in the relegation zone, the former tends to be a popular target for FPL transfers, especially if that former is Manchester City. The reigning champions are facing Everton at home in gameweek 24 and for the occasion, we have reverted to a 2023/24 classic by captaining Erling Haaland (£14.2m). The Norwegian striker has not found the back of the net yet since returning to fitness in gameweek 22, but he did manage as assist for one of Foden’s goals against Brentford earlier this week. Overall though, Haaland has 14 goals and 6 assists to his name from just 16 Premier League starts, and even though Everton is far from an open house (defensively speaking), we believe the upcoming fixture is perfect for the City forward to get back to his scoring ways.

Non-premium pick

Sometimes, football can be so simple. Before gameweek 16 of this current Premier League campaign, it looked like it was going to be yet another anonymous if not disappointing season for Richarlison (£7.2m). He wasn’t really scoring, he wasn’t really assisting and he wasn’t really clicking, and then Spurs manager Ange Postecoglou decided to play him as their number nine in GW16. Promptly, the Brazilian scored a brace against Newcastle in that same gameweek and he hasn’t stopped racking up the attacking returns since then. Including those 2 goals against the Magpies, Richarlison, who is registered as a midfielder in the official fantasy game, now has 9 goals from his last eight Premier League starts. Over that period, he collected no less than 71 FPL points, or just under 8.9 points per game. Spurs have got Brighton at home up next, followed by Wolves at home and then a blank, and then Crystal Palace at home. In other words, despite the blank in GW26, we can absolutely see Richarlison carry on his excellent goal-scoring form for a while to come.

The budget enabler

Listen to this: over the past five gameweeks, only Liverpool have scored more league goals than Luton Town. Now listen to this, as well: over that same period, no player in the entire league has manage to score more goals than Luton’s Elijah Adebayo (£4.9m). His hattrick against Brighton in gameweek 22 and his goal against Newcastle in gameweek 23 raised his fantasy profile considerably, just in time for Luton’s double gameweek 25. Despite the opponents being Man United at home and Liverpool away, fantasy managers seem to be setting their sights on some of Luton’s assets and his current form, that means Adebayo is part of the conversation. The Luton forward comes in at a more than affordable £4.9m and looks to have cemented his spot in the Hatter’s starting eleven. So, if you’re looking for a real budget fantasy pick with a high ceiling and an upcoming double, you can hardly go wrong with Adebayo.

The differential

Earlier, we briefly touched upon Tottenham’s upcoming schedule on the short term, including their blank in gameweek 26. The problem is that around that blank, Spurs have actually got a very promising set of fixtures. This weekend it’s Brighton at home, followed by Wolves at home and the Crystal Palace at home after the blank. It doesn’t end there though, because in the five games after that one, they have got Fulham away, Luton at home and Nottingham Forest at home as well. As a result, we checked out the Spurs roster for some differential gold and while we’re not sure yet it’s gold, we do feel like Timo Werner (£6.5m) is worth considering If you’re out for a serious differential. The German arrived in London during the January transfer window and currently sits in just 1% of all FPL teams. He has played at least 79 minutes in each of his three PL matches up until now and he managed to provide 2 assists in those. In combination with his affordable price tag, Werner could be a valuable differential flying under the radar right now.

The (vice-)captaincy

We are following our premium fantasy pick for gameweek 24 by placing the armband on Erling Haaland this weekend. As we wrote before, a home game against Everton feels like a great opportunity to get back on the scoreboard for the Norwegian goal machine.

Kevin de Bruyne is an excellent alternative to Haaland, as is the in-form Phil Foden. Outside of Man City, there are a few interesting captaincy candidates as well, including Trent Alexander-Arnold at home to Burnley, Richarlison at home to Brighton and Ollie Watkins at home to Manchester United. If you want to spend this one on the edge of your seat, you can also go all-in and slap the band on Elijah Adebayo for Luton Town’s home encounter with Sheffield United.

First off, we want to let you know that this FPL gameweek 23 preview is being written before the end of gameweek 22. Tonight (Thursday), West Ham and Wolves still have to host Bournemouth and Manchester United, respectively. Seeing as the turn-around between the end of GW22 and the start of GW23 is quite short (about 36 hours), we decided to move forward with our player picks for gameweek 23. Do keep that in mind and keep an eye on tonight’s matches, especially in terms of starting elevens, fitness and injuries, and of course, results.

The highlight of the coming weekend will take place on Sunday evening, when Arsenal welcome Liverpool to the Emirates Stadium, but gameweek 23 has a lot more to offer FPL managers. Newcastle’s home game versus a Luton side just coming off a 4-0 victory over Brighton looks juicy, as does in-form Bournemouth’s home game against Nottingham Forest. There will also be above-average interest from an FPL point of view in Aston Villa’s visit to Sheffield United and Manchester City’s visit to Brentford.

Check out FISO’s FPL Forum for the latest discussion and don’t forget, the deadline for gameweek 23 is set at 11h00 (UK time) on Saturday, February 3^rd.

Most transferred in/transferred out players (as per February 1^st, 2024)

Premium pick

We took a bit of a risk by picking Kevin de Bruyne (£10.7m) as our premium fantasy pick for gameweek 22 in our last article, but it paid off handsomely as the Belgian started and got an assist for a total of 7 FPL points. But then again, how truly risky is it to recommend one of the very best attacking midfielders of his generation? The risk factor mainly came from his injury struggles this season, but they seem to be behind them now and he wants the world to know it. His 70-minute display against Burnley on Wednesday was preceded by a GW21 12-pointer, courtesy of a goal and an assist in just 21 minutes of action. In other words, KDB looks to have found a rich vein of form right away and seeing as the Cityzens are facing Brentford at the Community Stadium on Monday, we are repeating last week’s premium fantasy pick and going with the Belgian for GW23.

Non-premium pick

After not finding the net in four consecutive gameweeks, interest in Ollie Watkins (£8.8m) waned a little. The England international did provide 2 assists over that run though, both in gameweek 20 against Burnley, and his overall league stats this season are still among the best. Watkins has 10 goals and 11 assists to his name already, which makes him the highest-scoring Villa asset AND the highest-scoring forward in the official fantasy game. The shock home defeat to Newcastle on Tuesday evening also saw him back on the scoreboard and in gameweek 23, it’s time for a visit to Sheffield United. The Blades are bottom of the table at the moment with 10 points and the worst defensive record in the entire league. No team comes close to conceding the 54 goals conceded by Sheffield United so far and we don’t have much hope for those numbers to improve when Villa roll up to Bramall Lane. We do have hope for Watkins to make it a second match in a row with an attacking return, though, and to improve his prospects even further, Villa also have a friendly set of fixtures after gameweek 23.

The budget enabler

For our differential fantasy pick for gameweek 23, we were doubting between two in-form players who are facing each other this weekend: Matheus Cunha from Wolves and Cole Palmer (£5.8m) from Chelsea. For the sake of variation, we figured Cunha could be interesting for his visit to Stamford Bridge, but Wolves still have a game to play tonight (Thursday), so we’re back at Palmer again. We have already hailed him as a fantastic value buy on several occasions this season and we are doing so again now. At a price of just £5.8m and points total of 104 after 14 starts, his price-to-points ratio is simply among the best in the official game. He did not manage to get anything from the visit to Anfield on Wednesday evening when Liverpool overpowered Chelsea, but he did finish with double digits in the two previous games (10 FPL points against Fulham in GW21 and 18 FPL points versus Luton in GW20). In total, Chelsea’s designated spot kicker has already managed 9 goals and 5 assists in the league so far, and we wouldn’t be surprised to see him add another return or two over the two next gameweeks when the Blues face Wolves at home and Palace away.

The differential

We actually wanted to include Ivan Toney as our differential fantasy pick for gameweek 23, but Brentford have a very difficult run of fixtures coming up. This doesn’t mean that he can’t deliver, because he can, but when taking a slightly longer-term approach to squad management, it’s probably wisest to bring him in around gameweek 29. Instead, we are repeating our differential from last week by highlighting Crystal Palace’s Eberechi Eze (£6.0m). The midfielder has returned to fitness in gameweek Brighton and to the starting XI a week later, and on Tuesday he scored a brace against Sheffield United for a season-high 14 FPL points. Now, the Eagles are not the most goal-crazy team of all, but after beating Sheffield United at home, they are now up against a Brighton side that just went down 4-0 at Kenilworth Road. That’s right, Luton Town’s stadium. And as far as Eze’s current yellow flag in FPL goes, the player himself commented “I’m OK, it was just a precaution, it should be fine” after the encounter with the Blades.

The (vice-)captaincy

The return of Erling Haaland will undoubtedly have more than a few fantasy managers flock to the Norwegian for the armband this weekend. While he is completely capable of a double-digit return against the Bees, we are going slightly “differential captain” with the in-form Kevin de Bruyne.

Besides the two City men, Tottenham’s Richarlison away at Everton looks interesting as a captaincy pick as well, as do Ollie Watkins away at Sheffield United and Dominik Solanke at home to Nottingham Forest. Cole Palmer at home to Wolves should probably also be added to that series of names.

Photo by Mitch Rosen on Unsplash

As the January transfer window nears its end we are now firmly into the second half of the season and the Premier League title race is heating up. Five teams are still feasibly in with a chance of lifting the famous trophy aloft come the end of the season as Manchester City bid to retain their crown for a record fourth consecutive time. The competition is fierce, but just as fierce as the battles on the pitch in the English top flight is the battle with friends and family in fantasy football leagues across the land. As the Premier League draws closer and closer to the finish line with each passing gameweek, so too does the conclusion of fantasy football and the bragging rights are waiting to be dealt out. Ensuring your teams are brimming with the league’s best performers is vital to anyone’s chance of success in the game and so bringing in some great value purchases could make all the difference come the end of the campaign. Here’s a look at some of the players that have produced the most bang for your buck so far this season.

Mohamed Salah – starting price: £12.5m

At first glance this might seem like an odd addition to this list but there’s no denying the form Liverpool’s Egyptian King has been in this season. With 18 goals and nine assists from his 27 appearances he is averaging a goal contribution every game he plays and that is invaluable not only for his club but also for any fantasy football player worth their salt. His impressive performances in the league have resulted in the forward accruing an astonishing 156 points in game at the time of writing with 21 points as a result of bonus. He is a full 20 points ahead of the next best player Son Heung-Min and 35 points ahead of Ollie Watkins in third spot. You’re at a disadvantage if you don’t have Salah in your squad when he returns from the hamstring injury he suffered in the African Nations Cup last month. Signing up to Smarkets allows you to bet on players like this to score anytime.

Son Heung-Min – starting price: £9m

At £9 million Son still registered as a high-end pick at the beginning of the game back in August but much like Salah, his contributions in front of goal for Spurs this season mean that he is an invaluable asset in anyone’s fantasy football squad. Seen as more of a gamble this term due to the departure of his forward partner Harry Kane for Bayern Munich, some players would’ve held out on picking the South Korean international in favour of a better guarantee of goals. But those that stuck with the forward and believed he would pick up where Kane left off have been duly rewarded. His 12 goals and five assists in the Premier League have earned him 136 points and make him the second best player in the game. At £3.5m less than Salah at starting price, he was arguably the better value option and returns from International duty for South Korea in the AFC Asian Cup later this month.

Anthony Gordon – starting price: £5.5m

While Newcastle United fans couldn’t have expected to replicate the same level of success that they achieved in the 2022/23 campaign, few would’ve anticipated their steady decline down the table since the early stages of the season. Granted an injury crisis is tearing through their squad as of this moment, 7th position in the table and a run of four defeats back-to-back is not befitting of the standards they set last term. Regardless, one light still shining bright for the Magpies is midfielder Anthony Gordon. The 22-year-old has been at the heart of everything good the Northern club does this season and his performances up until recently have kept them in the hunt for European places. Seven goals and eight assists from his 32 appearances in all competitions marks a healthy return and has earned him 105 points in game. He is the eight best player in terms of points and with a starting price below £6m, players with him in the squad from the start of the campaign would have reaped the rewards to this stage.

Cole Palmer – starting price: £4.5m

After Chelsea endured a torrid campaign last year, nobody thought Todd Boehly’s team could possibly be as bad this term. Sadly for Blues fans that is the grim reality of their predicament. The club are on course for one of their worst Premier League seasons to date yet again, currently sitting tenth, a full 20 points off of Liverpool in top spot. There has not been much reason for cheer at Stamford Bridge as a result but one thing to be positive about is the contributions of Cole Palmer in midfield. Since earning a regular spot in Mauricio Pochettino’s starting XI, the young Englishman has repaid the manager’s faith in him with nine goals and four assists in the Premier League this season and an overall tally of 13 goals and seven assists from his 28 appearances. Chelsea would be in a significantly worse position if it weren’t for the 21-year-old and the same goes for fantasy football players. With 104 points in the game, the ninth best tally this season, he has been by far the best value purchase to this point.

With gameweek 21 spread out over a period of almost two weeks, gameweek 22 is actually the first regular gameweek since the start of the Christmas period more than a month ago. We did get plenty of domestic cup action in the build-up to GW22 though, and at the moment of writing, there is still some action to come. So, keep an eye on what transpires in the remaining games from the FA Cup 4^th round, check out what your players of interest have done and, if possible, wait with making your FPL transfers for gameweek 22 as long as possible.

Back to the business at hand, because gameweek 22 is offering fantasy managers a few very juicy fixtures, on paper at least. On Tuesday, for example, Arsenal visit Nottingham Forest and Brighton roll up to Luton 15 minutes later, while Aston Villa will be closing the day with a home game against a Newcastle side that has struggled badly on the road. On Wednesday, Man City and Spurs are hosting Burnley and Brentford respectively, and Liverpool and Chelsea play the clash of the week at Anfield. A day later then, West Ham are at home to in-form Bournemouth and Manchester United will be visiting Molineux.

Check out FISO’s FPL Forum for the latest discussion and don’t forget, the deadline for gameweek 22 is set at 18h00 (UK time) on Tuesday, January 30^th.

Most transferred in/transferred out players (as per January 28^th, 2024)

Premium pick

We’re going with Kevin de Bruyne (£10.6m). It feels a bit like chasing the points, we know, but with the likes of Salah and Son away on international duties and with Haaland continuing to be an injury doubt, the official fantasy game isn’t offering that many true premium assets at the moment. On top of that, KDB did manifest one of the best returns-to-action in recent Premier League memory, more than two weeks ago in City’s GW21 fixture away at Newcastle. With about 70 minutes on the clock, the Belgian was brought on after suffering injury for practically the whole season up until now and what followed was nothing short of spectacular. Where the Cityzens were finding it hard to break down Newcastle for much of the game up to that point, the introduction of the KDB turned the entire thing around and ensured the three points. Thanks to a lovely goal and a world-class assist De Bruyne managed to collect 12 FPL points from just 21 minutes of action, and we’re secretly hoping for more where that came from at home against Burnley on Wednesday.

Non-premium pick

Despite not often completing the ninety minutes, Richarlison (£7.0m) has been great value of late for the roughly 12% of fantasy managers who own him at the moment. Since getting back into the Spurs starting eleven in gameweek 16, the Brazilian managed 6 goals in six games for a total of 49 FPL points. At his current price of £7.0m, that’s great value, in part thanks to the fact that he plays as Tottenham’s number nine now, but is registered as a midfielder in the FPL. With Brentford at home up next, followed by Everton away, Brighton at home and Wolves at home, we also see serious potential for Richarlison to continue his run of good (goal-scoring) form on the medium term, which is why we are including him as our non-premium fantasy pick for gameweek 22. The only downside we currently see to bringing in him is Spurs’ blank in gameweek 26, but that should be far enough ahead in the future to plan for, plus the Londoners also have a nice run of fixtures after that blank.

The budget enabler

Brighton are one of the teams with a relatively short turn-around between their FA Cup 4^th round fixture (2-5 victory over Sheffield United on Saturday) and their gameweek 22 visit to Luton Town. With about three full days in between the two fixtures, rotation might be rearing its ugly head for Brighton assets this round, but at the same time, injuries and international duties have reduced manager Roberto de Zerbi’s options a bit for the moment. In any case, Joao Pedro (£5.5m) seems to be part of the starting eleven for the moment, after starting and completing Brighton’s last four league games. He also started versus the Blades on Saturday and promptly got himself a hattrick, including two penalties. So, in other words, it looks like the Brazilian is the starting striker for a good attacking side, coming off a hattrick and now set to face one of the promoted sides at Kenilworh Road, and he’s on penalties as well. If you’re looking for a budget enabler in your offensive line, Pedro should definitely be on your list.

The differential

After scoring 159 FPL points last season, courtesy of a very impressive 10 goals and 5 assists, the current campaign was supposed to be the one in which Eberechi Eze (£6.0m) took his already important role at Crystal Palace to the next level, especially with star man Wilfried Zaha moving to Turkey. It hasn’t been the young midfielders’ season so far yet though, in part due to an injury that kept him out of about half of all league games. He is back to fitness again now though, completing at least 85 minutes in each of his last three league games and scoring his first goal since gameweek 12 in gameweek 20 against Brentford. In GW22, the Eagles are up against Sheffield United at Selhurst Park, a fixture in which they are favourites to win as no side in the league boasts a leakier defence than the Blades do. They have already conceded 51 goals in 21 games, with 25 of those goals coming in 10 away games. As far as differential fantasy picks go, Eze is ticking lots of boxes: starting spot, on set pieces, shaky opposition and priced at £6.0m.

The (vice-)captaincy

Even though he is not one of the picks in this article (De Bruyne took the premium category spot), we are putting the armband on Bukayo Saka for gameweek 22. Arsenal visit Nottingham Forest in the gameweek opener and that makes Saka look like one of the safest bets for the captaincy this round.

There are more than a few very good alternatives, though. We particularly like Richarlison at home to Brentford, as well as Ollie Watkins at home to Newcastle. Slightly more differential armband picks would be Joao Pedro away at Luton Town and Eberechi Eze at home to Sheffield United.