Here’s our fantasy premier league wildcard tips GW26 article where I pretend I’m using my wildcard. It gives player suggestions with more longevity than just for the up coming gameweek.
fantasy premier league wildcard tips GW26 – the FFGeek imaginary wildcard
This article brings together the various earlier articles in the week.
In this article I’m pretending I’m using my wildcard to give you player picks with more longevity than the next game.
I’ve given links to articles below with all the detailed stats you’ll need if you want to investigate a player in more detail.
Player rankings defence and GK
There’s also our fixture ease article which gives player suggestions with good fixtures. You can also see who the popular transfers are in our bandwagons article .
There’s also last season’s 715 overall ranked Andrew Ferguson’s team for ideas. Lastly you can see who the 10 top managers I follow have in their teams
A bit of blank and double preamble
See my latest blanks and double gameweeks article for background. Rob Reid has done an article on navigating the doubles and blanks if you’ve already used your wildcard
However things will be come clearer after GW26 when the FA Cup 5th round is played. The subsequent quarter final draw before GW27 will give us a clearer idea of the removal of fixtures from GW31 and GW33. These are likely to go into GW32 and GW35 in some form.
For that reason I would say that I wouldn’t wildcard now. I would wait at least another week for the position to become clearer
Here’s some of the chip options that have been put forward for the blanks and doubles
Option 1 and 2 means you need to prepare in advance for the quarter final postponements in GW31. The triple captain if not used would be for 3 possible instances. If Chelsea reach the FA Cup semis they will need an additional double gameweek. A last gasp use of the triple captain would be GW36 with Salah home to Huddersfield. Otherwise you have to hope for the weather to create one.
Option 3 means you can do what you like up to GW30 knowing you will be using your wildcard and then free hit.
The 4th option means you prepare for GW32 with some assumptions on who will have fixtures based on the quarter final draw. It also hopes you transition easily between 32 and 33.
At the moment I’m thinking of option 1 and 2 and I haven’t used any of the chips. If after the 5th round the dates are given for postponed games in GW32 then I may switch. Otherwise I will be concerned that there will be no certainty until after the FA Cup quarters in GW31 as the TV companies will have a big input into where the fixtures are moved to. That adds risk to option 3 and 4 as you are committing yourself to a set of postponed fixtures in GW32 which may not materialise.
You can use Joseph Crilleys team planner to help you navigate the doubles and blanks
The FFGeek imaginary wildcard team 1
It’s important to note that the intention with this team is not to show you how to navigate the blanks after using your wildcard. It is merely there to give you a selection of players to pick from for this weeks transfers which may be useful depending on which blanks and doubles strategy you’re thinking of following and then followed through for illustrative purposes. If you were to Wildcard using this team you would need a different strategy to manage the blanks and doubles
This team assumes you are going down the option 3 and 4 road so can pretty much pick anyone you want.
My value at the moment is a fairly low £102.8m and this team is higher at roughly £103.5m
The players who have fixtures in the future blank weeks of GW31 and GW33 are Boruc, Robertson, Salah and McNeil.
The rest could still have double game weeks. With 5 transfers after GW26 to GW31 you would only be able to field 9 players and your transfers would be focused on Liverpool, Bournemouth, Huddersfield, Burnley and Leicester. This may change depending on 5th round results.
There is a feeling that concentrating on transfers from those teams to GW31 is less than optimal which is why a number of managers have focused on options 3 and 4.
The FFGeek imaginary wildcard team 2
It’s important to note that the intention with this team is not to show you how to navigate the blanks after using your wildcard. It is merely there to give you a selection of players to pick from for this weeks transfers which may be useful depending on which blanks and doubles strategy you’re thinking of following and then followed through for illustrative purposes. If you were to Wildcard using this team you would need a different strategy to manage the blanks and doubles
This team will follow option 1 or 2 and prepare for GW31 through future transfers. This means you won’t be using your wildcard or FH until after the quarters when all the postponements will be known and their location will be known.
Here’s the team:
I have made 3 changes to the team in option 1.
Pogba is out for Mane
Jimenez is out for Barnes
Yedlin is out for Pereira
This team is £0.5m more than the previous 1 I have to confess. There are now 7 BGW31/33 players in the team. If you save 2 transfers for GW31 then you only have to make 2 transfers before GW31 to have a full playing 11. That also assumes that there are no more guaranteed fixtures added to GW31 which depends on FA Cup 5th round results.
A few words on each of the player choices
As I said above though there are a load of stats and information in the linked articles above but here’s a few words on each.
GK and defence
Boruc is the cheapest playing GK as a reserve.
I’m still keeping the faith with Fabianski for save points and bonus when West Ham keep clean sheets. Only Etheridge has more points for a cheap GK and that’s principlly through 3 penalty saves. Fabianski doesn’t have a guaranteed fixture in GW33 but he does have a home game in 31 guaranteed v Huddersfield.
Robertson with the uncertainty over the cheaper options is my reluctant Liverpool defender of choice until Alexander Arnold is back fit.
The Man Utd defence is improving and with some good fixtures and the value of Lindelof I think it’s worth a punt. I chose Lindelof over Shaw as it was an attacking sacrifice for less injury risk
Newcastle have some good fixtures and a defensive minded manager. Yedlin is the best prospect for attacking points and Lascelles for bonus.
Doherty has been an attacking revelation in a strong Wolves defence. £4.3m Jonny is the cheaper option with some attacking sacrifice.
The Palace defence at home is strong against non top 6 sides and Wan Bissaka if he can avoid a card is great for bonus. GK Guita is £4.2m entry into the Palace defence.
Pereira is a good attacking option who has played in the front 3 for Leicester (who hasn’t with Puel in charge). Leicester have a great run of fixtures after GW26
Midfield
Pogba has been churning out consistent returns and has pens for a Man Utd side with good fixtures
Son is playing striker and is in incredible form
Salah may have had a quiet game against West Ham when he played RW but has great stats and very few quiet games recently. Hopefully he will return to CF and Firmino plays CAM
Felipe Anderson is purely a fixture punt as West Ham have a great run of fixtures coming up. Anderson doesn’t have a guaranteed fixture in GW33 but he does have a home game in 31 guaranteed v Huddersfield.
McNeil has been churning out some good stats for Burnley although he does carry some risk as a new entrant to the team
Mane has been in great form lately with a goal in each of his last 3 games
Forwards
Rashford is great value producing consistent returns backed up by underlying stats. Also good fixtures ahead.
Aubameyang has 3 great fixtures but has been put down as a sickness risk which needs monitoring.
Jimenez may not have the greatest undelying stats but he has been a consistent returner with good shooting volumes and great fixtures.
Barnes has scored in his last 2 games and has been producing pretty good underlying stats. Also cheap enough to bench for the poorer fixtures
That’s it hope you found it useful. Please leave comments if my thinking around the blanks and doubles is flawed. I don’t pretend to be the guru here so comments welcome.
The next 5 fixtures from the official FPL site
If you want to see how any players performed over the season see our cumulative underlying stats article or if just for GW25 see our GW25 review article
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