FPL Gameweek 26 Tips: Who to replace your Liverpool assets?
With Liverpool, Chelsea and Tottenham all missing out on gameweek 26 in Fantasy Premier League as a result of Sunday’s Carabao Cup final between the former two sides, we’ve taken a look at a Goalkeeper, Defender, Midfielder and Forward to potentially bring in your team.
Arsenal goalkeeper David Raya could be a smart pick for your team, with the Gunners having kept clean sheets in three of their last five league matches, and in each of their last two. With Liverpool’s Alisson suffering an injury, Raya could be the man to turn to over the next few weeks, with kind fixtures coming up for Mikel Arteta’s side. Indeed, after hosting Newcastle on Saturday, they travel to Sheffield United before hosting Brentford and Chelsea.
What’s more, Arsenal have kept more clean sheets than any other team in the Premier League this season, with 10, while they concede fewer xG per 90 minutes than any other side, too (0.85).
🧺 Most clean sheets in the Premier League this season:
— WhoScored.com (@WhoScored) February 20, 2024
◎ 10 - Arsenal
◎ 8 - Liverpool
◎ 8 - Everton
◎ 7 - Manchester United pic.twitter.com/BpzxQlIlqC
Raya ranks third behind Brentford’s Mark Flekken and Manchester City’s Ederson according to FPL’s form index, while he can be brought into your side for £0.5m cheaper than the latter.
Diogo Dalot - Manchester United
Long-term FPL favourites Andy Robertson and Virgil van Dijk will be out of action at the weekend, so why not turn to a low-cost, productive full-back in Manchester United’s Diogo Dalot? The Portugal international has returned six or more points in two of his last three matches and, with United in good form heading into the weekend, looks a smart pick at just 5.4% ownership.
Only three defenders - Arsenal centre-backs Gabriel Magalhaes and William Saliba, and Brighton’s Lewis Dunk - have been transferred into teams more than Dalot this week…
Since returning from injury, Wolves star Pedro Neto has picked up where he left off under Gary O’Neil, with his involvement in goals much increased compared to recent seasons.
Wolves head into gameweek 26 with arguably the most appetising fixture of any team, and with Neto bang in form - the 23-year-old has been directly involved in four goals in his last four games - he’s surely a must-have. Wolves face bottom-half sides, at home, in three of their upcoming four matches, so now would appear to be the perfect time to bring Neto in if you’re yet to.
If you’ve been banking on the likes of Darwin Nunez and Richarlison in recent weeks, and haven’t already brought Aston Villa striker Ollie Watkins into your team, you’re missing out. The England international returned a whopping 13 points last time out at Fulham, having returned 18 at Sheffield United two weeks before. The 28-year-old is currently the outright leader when it comes to points scored by forwards, and at £8.7m is surely a certain pick ahead of the weekend.
Villa face Nottingham Forest (H) and Luton (A) over the next two weeks, before hosting Spurs and travelling to West Ham - sides that Watkins has scored against already this season. Despite the impressive recent performances of Rasmus Hojlund and Rodrigo Muniz, it’s Watkins who tops the form charts among forwards in FPL, with an average return of 10 points across his last three matches.
