If you’re in a rush and need some last-minute Fantasy Premier League (FPL) advice, here’s a quick round-up of what you need to know about Blank Gameweek 26.
WHEN’S THE FPL GAMEWEEK 26 DEADLINE?
All transfers and team selections need to be done by 13:30 GMT on Saturday 24 February.
NO LIVERPOOL, CHELSEA, SPURS + LUTON PLAYERS
Straight after Double Gameweek 25 is Blank Gameweek 26, where popular assets from four teams can’t play because their league match would’ve clashed with Sunday’s EFL Cup final.
Highly-owned midfielders Diogo Jota (£8.2m), Cole Palmer (£5.7m) and Richarlison (£7.1m) are absent – Jota also has a bad injury – so we’ve listed their best FPL replacements. As Wolverhampton Wanderers pair Hwang Hee-chan (£5.6m) and Pedro Neto (£5.8m) sit at the top, another article goes deeper by comparing the two.
Furthermore, there will be no Darwin Nunez (£7.6m), Trent Alexander-Arnold (£8.5m), Pedro Porro (£5.7m) or Alfie Doughty (£4.6m).
WILL DE BRUYNE PLAY?
The general struggle for managers to reach 11 men is worsened by concerns over Kevin De Bruyne‘s (£10.8m) status. He’s in over 45% of the top 100k squads but was an unused substitute in Tuesday’s win over Brentford.
“He’s not injured. I don’t know if he’s 100% but I think we took good decisions, didn’t take a risk. I think we took a decision because he didn’t feel comfortable.
“I don’t know [if I will have to protect him again] because we have training at 4pm. The day after the game he didn’t train, yesterday was off and he came and trained for himself. Today we will assess and we will decide but I am pretty sure he will travel.” – Pep Guardiola in Friday’s press conference
That Pep Guardiola quote hardly makes things clearer. Travel to be on the bench, or travel to start? Such uncertainty could direct managers towards four-point hits.
THE FREE HIT CHIP
Alternatively, those with nowhere near 11 players may prefer using the Free Hit chip. This allows a one-week-only squad at no cost. There are pros and cons to Free Hit 26 but perhaps the logic of activating it in a blank Gameweek means it’d be better used in Gameweek 29, where there are currently just three meetings guaranteed to take place.
We’ll know the final match tally after next week’s FA Cup fifth round. FPL managers can then decide if a respectable line-up can be reached using free transfers alone, or whether Free Hit 29 needs to be the answer.
Not that this helps heading into Saturday’s deadline!
BEST FPL GAMEWEEK 26 CAPTAIN
Despite scaring those who trusted him with their Triple Captain chip, Erling Haaland (£14.4m) is the recommended armband recipient of both Captain Sensible and our Rate My Team (RMT) algorithm.
In second place, they back Bukayo Saka (£9.1m) and Hwang Hee-chan respectively.
TEAM REVEALS
- Tom Freeman’s FPL Gameweek 26 team, transfer plans + captain
- FPL General’s Gameweek 26 team, transfer plans + captain
SCOUT PICKS + DIFFERENTIALS
Our weekly selection – which is essentially a Free Hit in all but name – is dominated by the appealing home games of Arsenal, Wolves and Man United.
There’s more love for Gary O’Neil’s side in our trio of differential picks, as Pablo Sarabia (£4.7m) joins Jordan Ayew (£5.4m) and Pau Torres (£4.6m).
PREDICTED LINE-UPS
We’ve predicted the starting XIs of all 16 participating Premier League teams.
Whatever you decide to do, good luck with FPL Gameweek 26!
