In this article…
Tight time limits. Under 48 hours separate GW25 & GW26 so no time to lose, let’s get discussing another unpredictable FPL week and look ahead in time for Friday’s 18:30 deadline. The reason you come here is to be informed – and inform I will! This is the best place to find all the essential information you need to know, to continue your march towards top spot in that work league!
You can also follow our Fantasy Premier League Football Tips throughout the season for gameweekly insights and opinions.
The 24/25 season is well underway, and our experts are continuing to roll out their Premier League Predictions, so now is the perfect time to get involved. We will remain across all the action on the continent, the EFL, and in Scotland in our various Football Betting Tips & Predictions, with fresh tips available here on Andy’s Bet Club everyday.
⚔️ Gameweek 25 Review – 100 Points (74 Average)
100 Club again! Defence has improved yet again and though I should have taken a risk by playing Veltman (6pts), the 1 and 2 scores have largely disappeared. Annoyingly, Huijsen (2pts) conceded to a poor Southampton side, but Raya (7pts) and Collins (8pts) made up for it with clean sheets and a further combined 3 bonus points.
The midfield was solid with Luis Diaz (13pts) finally rewarding my patience, my new 3.5% owned arrival Dango (7pts) scoring and Salah (40pts) doing Salah things. I had optimism for Isak (2pts) despite a tough game v Man City, but the biggest disappointment was Brentford pair Wissa (2pts) and Mbeumo (3pts) blanking though all the signs looked like a haul. Slot didn’t live up to my expectations but with another double GW it was still a fair return. Overall another great scoring week moving up over 300,000 places… Onwards and upwards!
📋 Gameweek 25 Transfers Recap
Each week so you know @FplVeteran is doing the demanding work for you, we revisit key decisions from last week’s review. This GW we revisit my Transfers’ In. Smaller than our huge recent scores but still returning… Business as usual!
| Captain | Points |
| Justin Kluivert | 5 |
| Bryan Mbeumo | 3 |
| Gabriel Magalhaes | 6 |
| Total | 14 |
✅ The Best 5 Transfers IN for Gameweek 26
🇯🇵 Kaoru Mitoma – Brighton (£6.3m, 6.4%)
Value-for-money midfielders are the play this season, and here is another one. Currently the 3rd most transferred-in player this GW with just over 165,000 managers making the move. We have mentioned Mitoma this season but not half as much as I expected to but it’s not all down to his performances. Brighton, after a great start to the season, have been inconsistent as their new, young, enterprising manager learns the inner workings of the best league in the world. Finally, he seems to have found his way as Brighton dismantled Chelsea in a 3-0 win and it could have been more.
It’s a great time to play Southampton (A), especially with Mitoma registering 3 double-digit hauls in his last 5 matches while noticeably being more potent and clinical in away fixtures. Though Brighton don’t always win games, they certainly score in the vast majority and when you own an attacker that’s all you are concerned about. It could seem to many managers at first glance a knee-jerk reaction, but he is in the best form of his season, and I only see more points arriving!
🇧🇷 Matheus Cunha – Wolves (£6.8m, 8.3%)
If Cunha doesn’t score, Wolves don’t score. The striker has been responsible for 66.6% of their goals in the last 3 fixtures, even scoring against league leaders Liverpool and Champions League hopefuls Aston Villa. 12 goals, 4 assists, 5.5 points per match, 30 total bonus points and currently the 4th highest-scoring forward in the game all make for good reading, so it’s no wonder managers are filling their teams with him. Form and fixtures are king in FPL and boy does he have both. Everton, Southampton, West Ham, Ipswich, Fulham, Leicester; literally you can rest easy with him in your team for the next 10 fixtures.
With many tight turnarounds, blank/double game weeks and early deadlines, you need to prepare your team for the next glut of games upon us. I was especially surprised he did not move to a bigger club in the January transfer window, but possibly his form over this period can prove to the ‘big 6’ that he is ready to make that step up. I’ve owned him for some time now and he is one of the first names in my squad selection each GW.
🔴 Bournemouth Trio (£5.1-£6m, 3.4%-26.4%)
- 🇳🇱 Justin Kluivert (£6m, 26.4%)
- 🇬🇭 Antoine Semenyo (£5.7m, 8.6%)
- 🇧🇫 Dango Outarra (£5.1m, 3.4%
All three are great picks, it’s a difficult choice. I could wax lyrical about how one is much better than the other but to be honest, it really is team dependant. All three are extremely attacking, often interchange, and are scoring highly; the biggest difference is ownership. The safe pick is Kluivert, the main penalty taker, secure for 90+ minutes and by far the most owned. Semenyo and Ouattara are a coin flip, it’s a selection that comes down to pure budgetary reasons and for me, I brought in Ouattara, which paid off.
Instead of the stress of deliberating my advice is to make the selection based on this key factor, what your current rank is. If you perceive your rank to be not where you want to be then go for the lower-owned players for higher upside, if you currently have a solid rank, choose the penalty taker. Remember one thing before making your selection though, the enjoyment and validation of a lower-owned player hauling always hits differently and those are the FPL memories you remember.
❌ The Best 3 Transfers OUT for Gameweek 26
🇳🇿 Chris Wood – Nottingham Forest (£7.1m, 44%)
4 goals in his last 2 games… FPL Veteran are you sure you want to take him out? Unfortunately, yes. Now listen, I think Chris Woods’ origin story this season has been a tribute to the strikers of the past and there is nothing I love seeing more than an old-school number 9 beating the Norwegian robot for FPL points but just look at the next three fixtures. Newcastle, Arsenal, and Man City; even the thought of such a run makes you wince and sigh heavily due to the fact that you know for now, the wild ride is over.
Sure, he could still score over that period, but we have to listen to our heads instead of our hearts this time and recognise, that most other viable assets have a much higher degree of scoring well, way above the veteran Kiwi’s predicted points. He is not finished for the season by any means, and I have no doubt he will add to his 18-goal tally especially over the optimal run of games in the future (GW29-37). Cue the theatrical music as we say, Chris Wood, thank you for everything, we will meet again but for right now… It’s goodbye.
🇪🇸 Robert Sanchez (£4.6m, 8.8%)
I have been saying it for GW upon GW and it finally happened. After many poor performances including more than a few high-profile goalkeeping clangers, Sanchez has finally been dropped to the bench. Maresca had given him enough chances (too many in my opinion) and now he has indeed confirmed the switch has been made with Sanchez playing in the European competition while Jorgensen plays in the league. The fact Maresca paid £25 million, £2 million more than Sanchez for a younger goalkeeper with far more potential always spelt the end for Sanchez, his performances just sped up the inevitable.
But what does this mean for FPL? It’s simple really, drop Sanchez to the bench or swap for a playing goalkeeper, even if you need to take a hit. You know I love seeing opportunity from an unfortunate position and though this is the Transfer out section, there is a simple solution… Jorgensen. Cheap enough to bench and only play when required, he is the rising phoenix from your situational ashes if you own Sanchez.
🇨🇮 Amad Diallo – Man United (£5.5m, 15.4%)
Another season-ending injury! Man United’s injury woes continue to grow as what seemed like the only shining light at Old Trafford will now burn no longer, for this season at least. Diallo severely damaged his ankle ligaments in training in an unfortunate incident with no one around him and the resulting scans proved his breakout season is now over. It’s as simple as that really, remove ASAP.
Top Tip – Assistant Manager chip advice. Now the dust has settled on the first usage, we know the optimal play. With most managers trying to navigate their way through with the most chips remaining, keep the AM chip for the tail end of the season when a lot of mid-way teams have nothing to play for and are ‘on the beach.’ The power of winning the bonus by beating a team 5 places above you in the league is so powerful and most importantly, fun. At the end of the season, it adds an extra factor of excitement where potentially you could quite easily half your overall rank.
🦸 Gameweek 26 Captaincy Selections
🇪🇬 Mohamed Salah – Liverpool (£13.7m, 71.8%)
Not many words or explanations are required for this selection. Notching another 2 goals and 1 assist totalling 20 points in a season where he only requires 7.4 points in his last 12 matches to beat his best-ever FPL season is pure FPL royalty. He is currently on 10.4 points per match! We thought captaincy would be dominated by two players this season, but so far it’s only been one and I can’t see that changing with Liverpool’s push to the title. Man City is a hard fixture, but the best players perform in the hardest games.
Alternative Captain Options
There is a small window of opportunity for a differential captain, but that player must score highly. I like Mbeumo (v Leicester), Kluivert (v Southampton), and Gabriel (v West Ham) for both the attacking and clean-sheet chances. Never discount Palmer but Chelsea are a slight mess currently so beware.
Top three for me this GW: Salah, Mbeumo, Kluivert.
👁️ FPL Veteran’s Vision and Verdict
In the third and final week of my AM chip, my move is to roll. I will balance the good up-and-coming fixtures in preparing for blank GW29. With only 4 teams blanking, it’s not worth using the Free Hit chip and can be navigated fairly easily, after all you have a bench for a reason. Though boring I have set my team up well for the next 2-3 GW’s and I will only make a transfer if absolutely necessary.
Transfers will be worth their weight in gold from here in out so think carefully and establish, will that move enhance or aid my team? As ever in FPL things change almost hourly so never say never but I will post my final team one hour pre-deadline over on X to keep you all updated.
Conclusion
For my captaincy call, final GW26 team, and football insights/analysis throughout the 2024-2025 season. Look out for my special articles and follow me on X @FplVeteran_ for daily fantasy football content.
Written by an Andy verified content writer
18+ please gamble responsibly.
