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This article provides a preview of what Gameweek 26 has in store for fantasy managers, including top captain selections and strong picks for the weekly FPL Challenge game.
Double Gameweek 25 delivered another scintillating performance as Mohamed Salah bagged a 20-point haul for FPL managers. The deadline for Gameweek 26 is only a few hours away. Ready yourselves! RotoBaller offers you the best tips to help with your fantasy team.
The FPL Challenge: Assistant Manager Series introduces this week's new task, "The Assistant Manager GW 3," where managers can select a real-life Premier League manager for their fantasy teams. As always, we’ll offer weekly breakdowns of the top assets to target and help you maximize your point potential.
The Gameweek 26 deadline for the 2024-25 Fantasy Premier League season is Friday, February 21, at 1:30 p.m. EST, when Brighton welcomes Chelsea. Also, check out the rest of our excellent soccer coverage as the squad gets you all set for every EPL and UCL slate with our EPL DFS lineup picks and betting picks.
Mo Salah joins an exclusive club 🌟 pic.twitter.com/BIX1HIqWUd
— Premier League (@premierleague) February 20, 2025
Gameweek 26 FPL Tips
Target Arsenal and Brighton Assets
Despite the injury crisis to Arsenal's key attackers, Kai Havertz, Bukayo Saka, and Gabriel Jesus, the Gunners have kept the ball rolling as they secured a 2-0 victory over Leicester in Gameweek 25 without a striker.
This week, Arsenal will host its London rivals, West Ham, a team that has been winless in its previous four EPL matches. A win for the Gunners at Emirates Stadium will tighten the eight-point gap left by the league leaders, Liverpool.
Meanwhile, Brighton's 7-0 setback to Nottingham Forest in Gameweek 24 was rectified by its 3-0 triumph over Chelsea last week. Brighton's upcoming matchup against 20th-place Southampton might give the Seagulls a strong boost to maintain their newfound form.
Given this, FPL managers are advised to prioritize selecting assets from Arsenal or Brighton for Gameweek 26.
💹 PL GW26 matchups
First look at this week's PL projections via betting markets:
🔹 projected goals & clean sheet odds
🔹 top rated attacks & defences
🔹 latest #FPL assistant manager projections
🔹 WDL odds pic.twitter.com/vHOLTL5SQo— Rob T (@robtFPL) February 19, 2025
According to goal projections, Arsenal and Brighton are expected to both produce 2.40 xG and 2.10 xG (expected goals) against their respective opponents in Gameweek 26.
This week's recommended targets include any of Arsenal's Leandro Trossard, Ethan Nwaneri, and Gabriel Magalhaes, and Brighton's Kaoru Mitoma, Yankuba Minteh, and Jan Paul van Hecke.
Gameweek 26 Top Captain Picks
The weekend fixtures present a list of fascinating options for your captaincy choice. Players like Cole Palmer against Aston Villa, Justin Kluivert at home against Wolves, and Spurs' Son Heung-min against Ipswich present strong cases. However, my top two picks would be:
Mohamed Salah (£13.7m) - Liverpool
Mohamed Salah, who leads the FPL rankings with 271 points, averaging 10.4 points per match, remains the go-to FPL captain pick. The Egyptian King now has 39 goal contributions for Liverpool in the Premier League and is not slowing down soon.
With a goal record of 12 goals scored in his last 22 outings against Man City, the 32-year-old is set to deliver once more when the Reds clash with the Cityzens at Etihad Stadium. Salah is our RotoBaller captain of the week!
Double-figure hauls in away matches this season 👇👑
11 - Salah
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3 - Palmer, Jackson, Isak, and Gibbs-White#FPL pic.twitter.com/O2S9L2s5kl— Fantasy Premier League (@OfficialFPL) February 19, 2025
Alexander Isak (£9.5m) - Newcastle
Newcastle's star forward, Alexander Isak, who at one point went on an eight-game scoring streak, is now without a goal in his last two matches. This little slump does not entirely rule Isak out of our top captaincy picks but puts him in second place due to a possible home advantage.
According to player goal projections for Gameweek 26, the Swedish international is estimated to produce 0.60 xG (expected goals) against Nottingham. This makes Isak a top candidate for the captain's armband for the weekend.
💹 PL: GW26 player goal projections
Top projected scorers for the upcoming round of PL games and equivalent #FPL goal points, via spread betting markets (all assume a start) pic.twitter.com/2LSHcOiAYW
— Rob T (@robtFPL) February 20, 2025
FPL Challenge: Assistant Manager Series
The FPL Challenge section for the 2024-25 season is back, and RotoBaller remains your go-to source for valuable insights on selecting the right assets for any challenge.
The 24th challenge, "The Assistant Manager - GW 2," focused on selecting a team of 10 players with a Premier League manager where Aston Villa and Liverpool had a double gameweek.
This week's challenge marks a continuation of the new Assistant Manager chip, and our job is to help you maximize points for each task presented.
In case you missed it, here is a recap of the FPL Challenge: Assistant Manager series.
Fantasy Challenge is LIVE for 2024/25 🚨
Build your squad for Gameweek 1 now 👇#FPLChallengeAccepted
— Fantasy Premier League (@OfficialFPL) July 24, 2024
The Assistant Manager Series is a five-gameweek run that experiments with the Assistant Manager chip, as fantasy managers can select any Premier League manager to boost their fantasy team. This series covers five tests focusing on earning points through different players and play styles.
- Gameweek 24 to 26: The Assistant Manager GW 1-3 - You can play an Assistant Manager.
- Gameweek 27: Team Chemistry - Players from the Assistant Manager's Club earn double points.
- Gameweek 28: Double Down - Assistant Managers earn double points.
Assistant Manager FPL Challenge: Gameweek 3 - Players to Target
Week 26 of the FPL Challenge involves selecting a team of 10 players and one Premier League manager with a budget of £100 million.
RotoBaller's top picks for this week's challenge are:
- In goal, David Raya is our top goalkeeper of the week.
- In defense, Djed Spence, Gabriel Magalhaes, and Milos Kerkez. All three defenders are solid defensive assets to bank on for this week's task.
- In midfield, Mohamed Salah, Bryan Mbeumo, Leandro Trossard, and Justin Kluivert are our top midfield options. Salah takes the spotlight as our captain of the week.
- A front-line duo of Alexander Isak and Beto completes the attack, rounding off our lineup in a 3-4-2 formation.
- Mikel Arteta is our top manager for the Gameweek 3 Assistant Manager FPL Challenge.
Remember, you are free to select any other top FPL Challenge alternatives not mentioned above. Best of luck to everyone participating in this week's challenge!
Join the RotoBaller FPL League
Fancy pitting your wits against fellow RotoBallers? Then, join our free league to compete against the team and our dedicated FPL fans. Head to the official FPL site, click the leagues and cups tab, and enter the RotoBaller league code: b278pa.
Go head-to-head against your friends and family in mini-leagues 🏆
Pick your squad and compete for #FPL glory now! ⬇️
— Fantasy Premier League (@OfficialFPL) July 18, 2024
Stick around for more 2024-25 Fantasy Premier League content coming soon. Hit us up on X @RotoBaller. We would love to hear your feedback and ideas!
