After an exciting double gameweek, there is a blank gameweek as Tottenham, Chelsea, Luton and Liverpool do not play in gameweek 26 of Fantasy Premier League.
So, let’s move on to our FPL GW26 Tips, where we discuss best picks, transfer targets, captain, differentials, odds & team selection.
1. Fantasy Premier League Blank Gameweek 26 Tips
- Prioritize quality over quantity. Do not tear your team apart if you have only 8-9 players who plays in blank gameweek. It is all about quality, not quantity in double gameweeks 26. It is better to have for, example only 9 starting players (while owning 5-6 key assets) than to have 11 starters but owning only (2-3 key assets)
- So, it is OK to go to blank gameweek with 9-10 players if you have key players in your squad
- Brentford, Aston Villa, West Ham players are a good investment long term, as they play in both blank gameweeks (GW26, GW29) – Aston Villa have also great fixture run
- Wolves players (Hwang, Neto, Dawson) could be good investment for managers who aim to play their wildcard before GW29 or free hit in GW29. Read more:Our first ideas about chip strategies
- Gameweek 29 has so far only 3 fixtures (but a few fixtures (1-3) will likely be added to that, after FA Cup games between GW26 and GW27
- Keep Doughty, Palmer and bench them
Further reading:
2. FPL Blank Gameweek 26 Transfer Tips and Key Players to pick
Key players to pick
- Haaland
- De Bruyne/Foden
- Dias/Ederson – City’s defensive coverage
- Saka – a key man for Arsenal, good fixture against Bournemouth
- Arsenal defender – Gabriel/Saliba/Raya
- Watkins
Transfer targets
- Hwang, Neto, Dawson – choose your Wolves differential against Sheffield
- Hojlund – excellent punt for next 3 weeks given his scoring strike, second for goalscorer odds in GW26
- Solanke
- Toney – 4G + 1A in just 5 games since he is back
- Aston Villa defender – for the fixture run and blank GW29
- Douglas Luiz
- Kudus/Ward Prowse – part of a plan for blank GW29
3. Fixtures to target in FPL BGW26
In which fixtures we could expect a lot of fantasy points? These are the fixtures to target in Blank Gameweek 26 according to bookies odds.
- Arsenal vs. West Ham: The Gunners 75 % to win, 44 % to score 2.5+ goal
- Southampton vs. Brighton: Brighton 61 % to win, 42 % to score 2.5+ goal
- Bournemouth vs. Wolves: Bournemouth 60 % to win, 34 % to score 2.5+ goal
- Newcastle vs. Nottingham: Newcastle 56 to win, 36 % to score 2.5+ goal
Find 2.5+ goals odds for all teams in our article: Premier League Over 2.5 Goals Odds.
4. Updated watchlists: Best players to pick in Blank Gameweek 26 and beyond
We also looked at players from each position: goalkeepers, defenders, midfielders, and forwards and updated our watchlists.
We examine which players are best picks in each price bracket: budget enablers, midpriced picks, and premium options. Check our watchlists with our ratings and comments here:
- Best FPL goalkeepers to pick in Gameweek 26 (Watchlist)
- Best FPL defenders to pick in Gameweek 26 (Watchlist)
- Best FPL midfielders to pick in Gameweek 26Watchlist)
- Best FPL forwards to pick in Gameweek 26 (Watchlist)
- FPL Differential Picks for Gameweek 26 and Beyond
5. Best captain pick in Blank Gameweek 26
According to our captaincy index, Haaland is the best captain in FPL Gameweek 26 with a captaincy index score of 1.84.
Saka (captaincy index score 1.65) is the number 2 captaincy pick and Watkins (1.63) is number 3.
6. What bookies odds say about FPL GW26
As usual, we converted bookies odds into probabilities using our Odds to probability calculator, to assess the potential of blank gameweek 26.
Clean sheet odds for GW26
Arsenal and Wolves (40%) are likely to keep clean sheets in BGW26. Bookies also favor Crystal Palace and Aston Villa (37 %) to potentially keep clean sheets in BGW26.
Bookies expect 3.79 clean sheets in gameweek 26 in the last season, we were used to a rate of 5.45 per clean sheets gameweek. This season we have seen clean sheets at the rate of 4.16 clean sheets per gameweek.
Expected clean sheets
Due to correction in the number of clean sheets: Everton, Fulham
Everton overperformed their defensive expectations the most of all teams. They should have kept 5.53 clean sheets instead of 8 according to our expected clean sheets table.
Due to an improvement in the number of clean sheets: Brighton, Man. City
Brighton underperformed their defensive expectations the most from all teams. They should have kept 6.33 clean sheets instead of 3 according to our expected clean sheets table.
You can see the expected clean sheets table and clean sheet odds for all Premier League teams here.
Goalscoring odds for GW26
Check who leads any time goalscoring odds for GW26 here: Premier League Goalsocring Odds.
7. Using Chips in Blank Gameweek 26: time for a free hit? We do not think so
If you aim to deploy free hit or wildcard here, make sure you do it as part of your larger chips strategy, a bigger picture, considering all future blank and double gameweeks (read more: FPL calendar). We think, wildcard and free hit will be more valuable a bit later: for example, free hit in blank GW29 or Double/Blank Gameweek 34, and wildcard in GW27 or GW30 for setting up team for blank and double gameweeks.
Read more: When is next blank and double gameweek in FPL?
But if you do want to use wildcard or free hit now, here are our drafts for inspiration.
- FPL Wildcard Team Inspiration for GW26
- FPL Free Hit Team Inspiration for GW26
8. FPL GW26 Scout Team selection
Now let’s look at our scout picks team for GW26. Haaland is the captain.
9. Fantasy Premier League Tips
Find more tips, strategies and picks for Fantasy Premier League in these articles:
- Beginner? Read our guide: How to play Fantasy Premier League
- Confused about the rules? Read the Official rules of the game or check our FAQs
- Want to beat your mini-league rivals? This article is for you: 7 Key Tips for Fantasy Premier League Success
- Interested in improving your decision-making process when picking players to your fantasy team? Check out Books that will help you to improve your FPL skills
We hope our FPL GW26 tips with the best picks, fixtures, transfer targets, odds, captain picks, and team selection helped you to gather some useful information before the Blank Gameweek 26 deadline.
Feel free to JOIN our Fantasy Football Reports mini-league by clicking this link or using our league code ti56kl.
Good luck in FPL GW26!
