FPL Gameweek 26 Preview – Navigating the Blank

Well, that wasn’t very exciting, was it? 

If you had Luis Diaz or Cody Gakpo, you’re buzzing. If you had basically any of the other big names, you’re wondering what all that double gameweek fuss was about. 

To recap the heaviest of hitters:

• Haaland – one goal, from two full games
• Toney – one goal, from two full games
• Salah – one goal, one assist, played 46mins total
• Jota – one assist, played 43mins total
• Darwin – one goal, played 45mins total
• De Bryune – zero returns, missed second game
• Foden – zero returns, from two full games
• Alvarez – one assist, from two games

Every year, we go crazy for these double gameweeks. No-life FPL obsessive losers like myself plan for them weeks in advance. 

I’d love to sit down one day and do a full study of how often they actually pan out. Because anecdotally, it feels like they’re rarely worth the trouble. 

With that bit of moaning out of the way, let’s get on with our regular programming! Here’s your full FPL Gameweek 26 preview. 

Blank Gameweek Alert

Unless you’ve been living under an FPL rock, you’ll know that we’ve got some blanks in Gameweek 26. Here are the teams missing in action:

• Liverpool
• Luton
• Spurs
• Chelsea

I’d emphasise even more than with double gameweeks not overreacting here! 

Sure, it feels bad not to put a full team out. But don’t take hits just for the sake of having 11 starters. As always, if you are taking a -4, you should be extremely confident that doing so will actually net you positive points. 

In general, your focus right now should probably be getting Salah back in (more on his injury below). He’s still only 21% owned, at the time of writing, and this will obviously shoot back up soon enough. If that means banking a transfer this week, so that you can get him in next week after this blank, that’s probably the smart play. 

If you really want to hit someone in, make sure they’ve got a good matchup or generally high upside. Some top candidates include:

• Hwang / Neto vs Sheffield United
• Garnacho vs Fulham (Hojlund is out injured)
• Foden / Alvarez vs Bournemouth
• Odegaard / Martinelli / Trossard vs Newcastle (with Sheff Utd in GW 27)

I’d be fine with getting any of those just for the week, and figuring out Salah later. They’ve all got a good chance of paying off a hit too. With anyone else (especially including defenders reliant on clean sheets!), I wouldn’t bother. 

Heavy Hitters Hurting

If – like James and I – you were foolish enough to spend a lot of time planning out these few gameweeks, you’re definitely wishing you hadn’t bothered. 

In the last week or so we’ve now seen injuries to Trent, Porro, and Jota. Porro and Jota are out for ages and should be binned ASAP. Trent is out until at least the start of March, and is so expensive that he should also be binned. 

Question marks are also swirling around two little-known midfielders called De Bruyne and Salah. Both are returning from injury. Both seem to have suffered minor setbacks, and both were rested for the second game of their double gameweeks. 

With De Bruyne it seems more precautionary. I’d put him back in the usual Pep Roulette Zone for GW26 – he might start, he might not, we haven’t a clue. You have to hold and start him in FPL anyway, in a tasty matchup against Bournemouth. 

With Salah we can afford to wait and see what happens in the League Cup final. I certainly wouldn’t bring him in right now. If he either plays in that game and looks fine, or is allowed to rest fully with a view to coming back in GW 27, that’s fine. If it sounds like he’s going to miss more time, we can readjust our plans next week. 

Looking Ahead – Best Upcoming FPL Fixtures

The doubles and blanks have obviously dominated the fixture ticker for a few weeks now. Between the blanks this week, and the (very dull) double in GW 28, they’re still having an impact. 

Regardless, here are the best upcoming FPL fixtures across the next five gameweeks. As always, home games are in all-caps.

• Palace and Burnley have nobody I’m remotely interested in
• It’s a shame Bournemouth don’t have more interesting FPL options! If you kept the faith in Solanke, you’ve already been rewarded. If not, you’ll want him in from GW 27 onwards
• Villa also have surprisingly few appealing FPL options. Watkins remains must-own, as he has been for ages. Aside from that, I wouldn’t go after any of them, since I don’t really like gambling on cleans. If you do want to, Pau Torres is the best value at 4.6
• I like Arsenal’s matchup with Newcastle at home a lot this week – Newcastle’s defence is poor, Arsenal have been banging them in in the league, and will be hurting after the Porto defeat. Having Sheffield United then Brentford at home afterwards is just lovely. I’d be happy bringing in the likes of Odegaard, Martinelli, even Trossard now, and holding them until GW 29

Should I Buy?

Let’s have a quick whip through some of the most-bought players in FPL ahead of Gameweek 26. Are they theoretically worth a purchase? Let’s find out!

• Hojlund – No. The most-bought player in FPL this week… and it just got announced he’s out injured. Wait on transfers!
• Saka – Obviously yes, if you don’t have him already
• Salah – No. Wait until we know more about his injury, after the League Cup final
• Hwang – Yes. Loved him before the Asian Cup, and has the perfect fixture home to Sheff Utd this week, then solid fixtures after
• Gabriel – Maybe. I don’t particularly want him for the Newcastle game, but if you need a starter for blank GW 26, I’m fine getting him a week early before the easy defensive fixtures
• Watkins – Yes, 100%
• Gross – Yes. We should all probably take him more seriously. His underlying numbers are excellent, he’s in form, his price is fair, and he’s got a nice run of fixtures
• Neto – Yes. Neck-and-neck with Hwang. Probably slightly more reliable, but with lower upside, since he’s more reliant on assists than goals
• Solanke – No if you’ve already got enough starting players – I’d prefer to get him after the City game. Yes if you need a starter, since you’ll want him for the nice fixtures afterwards anyway
• Saliba – No. Get Gabriel instead for less money
• Garnacho – Yes. Cheap, in solid form, and has a nice fixture
• Odegaard – Yes (see previous section)
• Dunk – No. He’s not going to keep getting attacking returns every week
• Dalot – No. Not cheap, and underlying attacking stats are poor
• Foden – Yes. Nailed, nice matchup, and not worried after a couple of blanks
• Moreno – No. Underlying attacking numbers are terrible, and Digne is lingering. If you want Villa’s clean sheet potential, get Pau instead
• Trippier – No, not before Arsenal away

Should I Sell?

It’s arguably trickier deciding who to bin this week than who to get, since quite a few big names are either blanking or injury question-marks. Here’s a look at some of the most-binned players among the FPL public right now:

• Jota, Porro, Trent, Cunha, Udogie, Joao Pedro – Yes. They’re all injured, and should all be sold
• Darwin – Yes. I’m fine with selling him, even if he’s been in solid form. We don’t know about his injury right now, he’s got Man City in GW 28 anyway, and there are nice forward options in the shape of Solanke, Watkins, Toney, etc., all of whom play this week
• Richarlison – I’m holding. He was very unlucky not to return in his two blanks, he plays for one of the best teams in the league (with Son and Maddison both back now), and has Palace in GW 27
• Palmer – I had to sell him to make room for other midfielders. I’d hold if you can, since he is so consistent and his fixtures are fine. But if you’ve got too many blankers, he’s an obvious candidate to move (especially since he’ll be so easy to buy back again in the future)
• Alvarez – No, definitely not before Bournemouth
• De Bruyne – I’d hold him for Bournemouth, with a view to moving him to Salah the week after
• Van Dijk – Yes. Expensive, blanks, Liverpool have stopped keeping cleans again anyway, and has City in GW 28
• Diaz – Maybe. Ideally you’ll hold him for Forest if you can, but – similarly to Palmer – I’m fine moving him for one of the many good midfield options this week (like Odegaard)
• Bowen – Yes. Obviously a blank gameweek isn’t the ideal time to sell him. But in general I’m fine getting rid – he’s being put in a very tough spot in this West Ham side right now
• Foden – No, you have to hold for Bournemouth
• Trippier – Yes. Super expensive, Newcastle don’t keep cleans, Arsenal is a tough matchup, and I’d rather spend the funds on a more attacking option soon like Salah or Son

Final Thoughts

Well, that’ll just about do it for this week. To reiterate, I’d advise not overreacting to the blank gameweek if you can, and only taking hits if there’s a very good chance they’ll actually pay off. 

As ever, best of luck out there in Gameweek 27, everybody, and thanks for reading!