It’s a mini-update of The Watchlist ahead of Gameweek 26 as we ready ourselves for some big developments next week.
The results of the FA Cup fifth-round ties next Tuesday and Wednesday will dictate what happens in Blank Gameweek 29 and give us a much better picture of what may occur in Blank/Double Gameweek 34.
Medium-term plans and chip strategies will likely be cemented at that point.
And the Watchlist will, in turn, get a significant revamp.
Until then, we’ve kept the changes to a relative minimum.
MORE ABOUT THE WATCHLIST
In this article series, we take a look at the stand-out players over the medium term.
This is in contrast to theย Scout Picks, which deals only in the upcoming Gameweek.
We rank players according to factors such as club injuries, form (last four Gameweeks),ย underlying numbers, forthcoming fixtures,ย Rate My Teamโs points projectionsย and whether or not the player in question is likely to be a bargain in FPL.
Arrows before the name indicate whether a playerย has increased in appeal or fallen in our reckoningย since the previous Gameweek or if they are a new entry.
The key for the factors youโll see in the below tables is as follows:
THE WATCHLIST: GAMEWEEK 26 RANKINGS
WATCHLIST: GAMEWEEK 26 CHANGES IN BRIEF
With Manchester City’s ‘double’ out of the way, we lose Ederson (ยฃ5.5m) and Kyle Walker (ยฃ5.5m) from our Watchlist.
Arsenal and Liverpool await for City on either side of a very likely blank in Gameweek 29, while Aston Villa are on the horizon in Gameweek 31. All three opponents are averaging over two goals a game this season.
The injured Diogo Jota (ยฃ8.3m) also makes way for obvious reasons, while Darwin Nunez (ยฃ7.6m) falls in the pecking order among forwards. Ivan Toney (ยฃ8.2m) and Ollie Watkins (ยฃ8.7m) can offer us Gameweek 29 fixtures, while Dominic Solanke (ยฃ6.9m) has a ‘double’ in Gameweek 28. They’re all nailed 90-minute men, too, which isn’t something we can say about Darwin.
On the subject of Bournemouth, Murara Neto (ยฃ4.6m) and Marcos Senesi (ยฃ4.5m) rise as the Cherries get set for an excellent run of fixtures from Gameweek 27 onwards. Even if we factor in the likely blank in Gameweek 29 and the trip to Manchester City this weekend, these two Cherries are leading the way in their respective positions for projected points over the next six Gameweeks.
Wolves are scheduled to face Bournemouth in Gameweek 29, with the fixtures for Gary O’Neil’s side mostly favourable on either side of that big blank. The likes of Rayan Ait Nouri (ยฃ4.5m) and Hwang Hee-chan (ยฃ5.6m) are appealing picks for those Fantasy managers using the Free Hit in Gameweek 29 especially.
Pau Torres (ยฃ4.6m) can hopefully stay fit enough to be a nailed starter in the Aston Villa side through to and beyond their Gameweek 29 fixture against West Ham. Despite being one of only six teams to guarantee us a fixture in that Gameweek, the Hammers are in such shambolic form that budget duo Alphonse Areola (ยฃ4.2m) and Nayef Aguerd (ยฃ4.4m) even take a slight drop in our Watchlist standings – but they’re still prominent enough thanks to their blank avoidance.
