Cianan’s Column: GW25/26: FPL bedlam

It’s chaos in the FPL world, as managers brace for GW25 and the subsequent double GW26, wherein Arsenal and Wolves play twice. We’ll discuss it all in this article and try to add some order to the frantic disarray.

It is essential that you own three Arsenal players for GW26, and you may as well purchase them this week if you have the transfers, as the Gunners’ fixture against Sunderland (H) is playable. Gabriel is a must-own, and Timber, Rice, and Raya are also stellar. I’d buy them in that order, and it’s also worth considering whether to deploy your triple-captain chip on one of them in GW26. Brentford (A) and Wolves (A) are a stellar combination, and while another double gameweek may occur later in the season, you usually want to delay your wildcard so you can have the optional team just beforehand. Then, you can bench-boost. You can always play the chip later during a single gameweek, probably on a more traditional asset like Haaland or Fernandes, but it’s food for thought all the same. All managers need to have a grasp of when they’re going to be using these chips, or the opportune moment may well pass them by.

Chelsea’s fixture run over the next three matches remains fruitful on paper. Thus, Chalobah, Enzo, and Pedro (if he isn’t benched consistently) remain strong assets in the short-term. However, the fixture run turns in GW28, whereafter they have to contend with Arsenal (A), Villa (A), and Newcastle (H). Thus, if you don’t own these assets already, you can consider letting the ship sail into the horizon and hoping for the best, but given they have Wolves (A) in GW25, bringing them in remains viable for the moment.

Fernandes is a must-own at this point. He continues to excel and is now operating as a far more aggressive attacking asset. If you own Saka, who appears to have picked up an injury, he’s the easiest replacement option, especially if you can swap another slot in your team to fill the missing Arsenal slot. For GW25, Fernandes needs to be the priority; you can bring in an Arsenal player afterwards if you need to accumulate the facilitating free transfer (Rice if it’s a midfielder, Gabriel followed by Timber if it’s a defender).

It wasn’t that long ago when everyone was getting as far away as they could from Liverpool players. Yet, at the time of writing, Ekitiké and Wirtz are the 4th and 5th most transferred-in players for GW25. Their match against Newcastle yielded the pair an impressive 25 points combined, but the sudden need to bring them in is little more than a knee-jerk reaction, given they face Man City (H) next. If you want them as part of your outfit, you may as well wait until GW26, though both remain expensive.

At the opposite end of the price spectrum, we need to give some respect to Forest’s Anderson. Two seven-pointers and two five-pointers in his last four is astonishing for a midfielder as cheap as £5.3m, who grabbed only one assist during those matches. He faces Leeds (A) and Forest (H) in the next two gameweeks, so now is as good a time as any to bring him in. There’s been a lot of value in cheap midfielders this year, from Dewsbury-Hall to Wilson and Enzo, who have ranked as some of the highest point scorers despite their low expense. 25/26 has truly shattered the price equals points orthodoxy.

Rapid Recommendations

● Unless you’ve got abundant transfers, there aren’t any standout Wolves options to bring in for their double. If you own them and can try and capitalise on the likes of Mané and Sá, great, but if not, I wouldn’t waste transfers if you don’t have them to spare.
● I said it last week, but Sarr (£6.3m) is the differential to have. Seven points last week, a remarkable upcoming set of fixtures, owned by only 2.2% of managers.
● Captaincy for GW25 has to be Fernandes v Spurs (H), although Bowen v Burnley (A) provides a differential route for any keen risk-takers (though only 9.2% own him in the first place). In GW26, it probably has to be Gabriel.
● Watkins’ injury shouldn’t be long-term. Emery’s pre-GW25 press conference should provide more information, but if you can afford to hold him, I would.
● It’s worth keeping in mind that Arsenal and Wolves will blank in GW31, and that Man City and Crystal Palace are also likely to do so, yet this is not confirmed.

The Boar Standings

1st: Dwight Club (1394) – managed by Cianan Sheekey
2nd: parths11 (1376) – managed by Parth Malik
3rd: Meganerd FC (1362) – managed by Megan Green