Spurs face Burnley at home and then travel to Fulham, while Chelsea have the toughest fixtures of anyone
(Image credit: PA)
Astute Fantasy Premier League managers will have noticed that gameweek 26 is a double, with many teams playing twice. FourFourTwo's FPL tips focus on Tottenham's tantalising schedule in particular, with easy points up for grabs.
The Fixture Difficulty Ranking (FDR) is a useful tool for planning a transfer strategy, but there’s a more precise rating system buried in the code on the FPL website. The ‘strength’ metric rates the difficulty of each fixture from a high of 1,350 (Liverpool and Manchester City away) to a low of 1,000 (Fulham at home).
We’ve compared the average strength rating of each team’s opponents in the upcoming gameweek to see which players you should back to double your fun.
Tempting Tottenham
Tottenham have the most appealing fixtures according to the data (John Walton/PA)
Tottenham Hotspur have the most appealing fixtures according to the data, facing Fulham away and Burnley at home for an average difficulty rating of 1035.
Spurs might not be in the greatest run of form themselves, but the recent performances of their opponents is also dubious – Burnley have won just one in five, while they have scored only 18 goals in 25 league games this season. Meanwhile, Fulham are 18th in the division, with just four wins to their name in the 2020/21 campaign.
Managers might then decide to put their faith in Harry Kane, who has gone off the boil a bit with just one goal in his last four outings – could these fixtures reinvigorate the £11.1m man?
Elsewhere, the excellent Son Heung-min may appeal, while Dele Alli found form in the Europa League – but if it’s a differential you’re after, how about Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg?
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The midfielder costs just £4.9m and is owned by 0.9 per cent of managers. He is Spurs’ most in-form man according to the FPL Form metric.
Dom at the double
Dominic Calvert-Lewin has had a fine season for Everton (Michael Regan/PA)
Everton also have a favourable GW26 coming up (on paper at least), with games against West Brom and Southampton to navigate.
Like Tottenham, the Toffees been on a mixed run of form, but coming off the back of a 2-0 win against Liverpool might just be the catalyst they needed.
Dominic Calvert-Lewin‘s return to the side will only strengthen Carlo Ancelotti’s hand. The England forward played just 28 minutes against the Reds, but managed to contribute an assist – at £7.7m he could prove value for money this week.
James Rodriguez, meanwhile, is back in the stats too, with two goals and an assist in his last six games – could his early-season form return just in time for a DGW?
And finally, Richarlison has scored two in two in DCL’s absence, although does cost £0.2m more than his colleague.
Tough times for Tuchel
Chelsea boss Thomas Tuchel has a testing fixture list coming up (Lee Smith/PA)
While some teams will be licking their lips at the sight of their double gameweek, others will simply be hoping to safely negotiate the chaos.
Chelsea may well be one of those. The Blues are in fine fettle under Thomas Tuchel, but face Manchester United and Liverpool in GW26.
No Blue has emerged as an FPL must-have by this stage of the season – their most selected player currently being Ben Chilwell at 13.8 per cent – now would be a risky time to start backing one.
Timo Werner, for example, broke his 16-gameweek-long goal drought with his effort against Newcastle in GW24, but those predicting a new dawn may be better served waiting.
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