Welcome back for another article.
Who are the best players to buy for Gameweek 26? It's the first double gameweek of the season, and we'll talk about the best Arsenal players, whether any Wolves assets are worth buying but that aside the majority of you are probably on triple Arsenal so we'll discuss in depth all the other players to buy too.
🧤 Goalkeepers
Goalkeepers first, Arsenal play Brentford away, then Wigan in the FA Cup, then Wolves away in the second half of their DGW. Wolves play Forest away, then Grimsby Town away in the FA Cup then Arsenal home.
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Raya and Jose Sa are the top 2 keepers for GW26 projections.
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Is Jose Sa worth a transfer if your Arsenal triple up doesn't involve Raya?
He's not considerably ahead of other keepers and there is likely to be other gameweeks coming up that you stand to gain more from than a move like Dubravka to Jose Sa, so I wouldn't bother. Wolves have about a 35.4% chance of keeping at least one clean sheet, which places them just behind Palace, Man City and Forest. Just ahead of Liverpool, Chelsea, Bournemouth.
Arsenal have a 71.9% chance of keeping at least one. Another thing that is absolutely not worth it is spending two transfers to swap Raya to Timber, even two transfers to change Raya to Gabriel I'd be reluctant to do as long as you've got Rice or Timber so you have a good captain. Raya's ceiling is generally 6 points although he did actually get a rare bonus point last match for a 7 pointer; you want to captain a high upside pick which keepers are not, so don't captain Raya.
Liverpool are hitting a great patch of fixtures, and after Raya, Alisson is top of all keepers for the next 5 gameweek projections. Liverpool are second only to Arsenal for projected clean sheets over the next 5 as well, or joint second with Man City, but Donnarumma doesn't make sense to buy when they blank in GW31. Palace have a couple of ridiculous fixtures but Henderson's in the same boat, he blanks in GW31—potentially not an issue if your backup GK plays in GW31, however if you're going to buy a Palace asset there's some very good outfield picks for the next couple gameweeks.
🛡️ Defenders
Let's move on to defenders and you probably know the name I'm thinking of, Munoz.
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Fixtures: Three home games to Burnley, Wolves and Leeds in his next 5.
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Strategy: Count up how many players you've got from Arsenal, Wolves, Man City and Palace then work backwards if you can afford to add one more.
Palace are a bit of a question mark, given Guehi's departure, Glasner set to leave in a few months, it's more of a gamble than it was earlier in the season, but Munoz was unbelievable up until his injury, top scoring defender in the game at one point.
In Arsenal's case it's essential to be tripled up this week, whether that's triple defence or double defence and a midfielder.
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Gabriel is on 9.9 projected points this week.
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Timber 9.6.
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Saliba 8.8.
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Calafiori 7.7 (I would avoid Calafiori just in case Hincapie gets a game in LB).
Another team with a good run is Bournemouth, Senesi is projected 20.2 points for his next 5 which is actually about level with Munoz. Everton and West Ham away, then Sunderland and Brentford home, then Burnley away. He remains a league leader for defcons this season, 297 in total. 12.62 per 90 is top of all defenders, as is his 79% success rate. Great value for 4.8m.
Hill has also emerged as an option for 3.9m; he's started 7 in a row now, an assist plus defcon last match. That's 7, 7, and 6 points in his last 3 games. Looks an incredible enabler. He's on 17.4 points for the next 4 so about 3 behind Senesi, mainly because of slightly reduced predicted minutes and Senesi is better for defcons.
Krejci is on 5.6 points, 2 goals 1 assist this season and his stats are absolutely crazy over his career, 25 goals 10 assists in CB, in 124 games. However, going back to the same point with Sa, it's just not worth a transfer when other defenders are better for the next 5 gameweeks like Munoz and Lacroix.
Liverpool's defensive data has been fantastic recently, 4.41 xGC over the last 6 is second best in the league. If you've sitting on a wad of cash from selling Saka then he's worth considering; after the Arsenal defenders, he's top for projected points in the next 5.
⚽ Midfielders
Midfielders next, very late defcon for Rice last match to clinch a 5 pointer, third top scoring midfielder overall with 134 points. He's on 9.4 points so just .5 behind Gabriel and he's absolutely a viable captain this week. The top two are Gabriel and Rice so you're best placed backing one of those two.
Zubimendi actually has goals in two consecutive games and is only 5.2m; if you can't get to Rice without a hit then Zubimendi isn't the worst pick. Madueke is an avoid, he came off at 59 minutes last match; this is the issue with Saka's injury, he's the only natural right winger and needs to be managed.
Let's talk about Palmer then. A hat trick against Wolves, 2 of them were penalties but they all count. A 20 pointer and he's the first player in PL history to have 3 first half hat tricks. Is he worth buying?
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Fixtures: Leeds home and Burnley home, then Arsenal.
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Fitness: He's clearly still carrying an injury, but as long as he's able to start it might not matter.
Sarr is on 6.3 points this week, it's a similar situation to Palmer, the next two fixtures could be genuine opportunities to attack. Sarr is an easier hold given how cheap he is plus easier fixtures over the next 5.
Wirtz is on 4.5 points, he's someone I'm looking at, unfortunately can't get to him this week without a hit so it's looking like GW28 when they have West Ham home onwards. Mbeumo was seen leaving Old Trafford after the Spurs game limping. Aside from the obvious Rice and Bruno, if he's out then my favourite replacements are Wirtz and Rogers.
A goal from Rogers and 11 defcons last game, 1 short of that +2 bonus but still a 10 pointer for him. Villa's next are amazing: Brighton home, Leeds home, Wolves away. Looking at next 5 gameweeks specifically, Wirtz is ahead of Rogers. The other name ahead of Rogers who is on a few people's radar now is Dango.
Now, obviously you don't buy this week before Arsenal, but have you seen Brentford's fixtures from GW27? Brighton, Burnley, Bournemouth, Wolves, Leeds, Everton, Fulham.
Schade is the other one who returns from suspension after Arsenal. Honorable mention to 4.9m Dewsbury-Hall who got a goal, assist and 3 bonus for a 13 pointer. It's Chelsea home in BGW31 though which isn't ideal.
🎯 Forwards
Ok let's finish up with the forwards.
Havertz makes the table for the first time in a very very long time and comes in top in fact. However, he's behind Rice, behind the defenders, behind Raya so avoid buying. It's too risky when his minutes are being heavily managed, 60 and 66 minutes the last two plus Gyokeres scored a brace off the bench. The Arsenal forwards just don't make any sense for me; one of them could smash it but Raya, defenders and Rice are more logical.
It might be the first gameweek in a long long time that Haaland is under 100% effective ownership too, meaning that you actually gain rank from any points he scores you if he's not your captain.
If you're on a free hit then Tolu or Mane could be a fun punt, I wouldn't consider either otherwise unless it's to downgrade a forward to then upgrade a midfielder. Like let's say you're selling Bowen to Mane to afford Tavernier to Bruno then obviously that's worth it.
Watkins was back in the Villa 11 last match as they went on to draw vs Bournemouth, scored as well but was offside. He's a bit on the expensive side and I'd rather Ekitike for about the same price for the next 5 gameweeks.
Thanks for reading, good luck in the double!