The big Fantasy Premier League review of 2025-26 (so far)
SOURCE:The Athletic|BY:Holly Shand and Abdul Rehman
We asked our FPL experts to take a look back on 2025 and to preview what 2026 may bring, as well as the best strategies for January onwards
What has been the leading Fantasy Premier League storyline of the season so far?
From the inevitability of Erling Haaland and the dramatic drop-off of Mohamed Salah (and Liverpool) to the impenetrable Arsenal back line and the budget-friendly brilliance of Antoine Semenyo, Harry Wilson and Morgan Rogers, there’s plenty to choose from.
So we asked our FPL experts Holly Shand and Abdul Rehman to look back at the past five months — the biggest FPL lessons they have learned, the most frustrating players they’ve owned, and their ultimate differentials — and to spotlight the best strategies for Fantasy managers to double down on from January 1.
Let us know your FPL highlights in the comments below.
Who is your FPL player of the season so far?
Holly Shand:Erling Haaland (£15.1m). I discounted him from my pre-season drafts, which really hampered my opening five gameweeks, where he scored six goals in his opening five games. I really need to learn my lesson that the City striker always starts a season fast!
Things drastically improved for me when I transferred him in for Gameweek 6 against Burnley, also playing the Triple Captain chip on him. He bagged a 16-point haul that day — his joint-highest return of the season and my best result from playing the chip. I’ve left the armband on Haaland ever since.
Remarkably, he has 23 goal involvements (19 scored, four assisted) even before the midway point of the season, and I’m backing him to beat his output from each of his three completed seasons at City.
Go without Erling Haaland at your peril (Oli Scarff / AFP via Getty Images)
Abdul Rehman: It has to be Bruno Fernandes (£9.1m). Many doubted his FPL value but before he got injured in the run-up to Christmas, he was the highest-scoring midfielder in the game.
Since I bought him in Gameweek 12, Fernandes has registered three goals and four assists — and most of those FPL points were from when he was fairly low-owned, so he really helped me climb the ranks. He’s on five goals and seven assists for the season and, being as he’s on set pieces, is nailed to start if available and is United’s first-choice penalty taker, he is such a reliable source of points when fit.
Who has been the most underwhelming asset?
Holly: Having been a lock in my Gameweek 1 team, it’s Cole Palmer (£10.4m). I was lured in by his previous two electric seasons in a Chelsea shirt, where he got to double-digits for both goals and assists. He also dazzled for his team as they won the Club World Cup in the summer, but the hangover from that tournament became his downfall.
He blanked on the opening weekend against Crystal Palace before failing to feature in Gameweek 2 or 3, with his next significant minutes not coming until Gameweek 15.
Palmer could certainly turn his fortunes around, with two goals and an assist in the five gameweeks since returning from injury. Gameweek 24 could be a key entry point for him, as that’s the start of a run of fixtures against West Ham, Wolves, Leeds and Burnley for Chelsea.
Abdul: I hate to say this, as he’s one of my favourite players, but it has to be Mohamed Salah (£14.0m). Even before his fallout with head coach Arne Slot at the start of December, he wasn’t justifying his heavy price tag: by Gameweek 12, he only had four goals and two assists. In his defence, a big factor in his drop in form is that Liverpool have been extremely poor this season.
But it will be interesting to see how he is treated when he returns from ongoing AFCON duty with Egypt: will he continue being the nailed-on asset he was before, or has the recent confrontation with Slot moved him down the pecking order? If it’s the latter, this may well be the last time a lot of us have Salah in our FPL teams.
Are we reaching the endgame of Mo Salah as an FPL must-have? (Chris Brunskill/Fantasista/Getty Images)
Who has been your ultimate differential?
Holly: Crystal Palace defender Chris Richards (£4.5m) has been in my side since the opening weekend and has been a loyal servant, averaging better than four points per game. Palace have kept an impressive seven clean sheets in their 18 matches this campaign, with Richards picking up the two defensive contribution points in more than half (nine) of his 17 performances.
His ownership has not gone above the five per cent mark throughout the campaign. While an injury has impacted his festive-period availability, I’m hoping to have him back in my team very soon, with a lengthy stretch of favourable-looking fixtures for Palace coming from Gameweek 22 onwards.
Abdul:Rayan Cherki (£6.7m) has gone fairly under the radar. He has only started eight Premier League games in what is his debut season in English football, but along with five appearances off the bench, has two goals and eight assists.
He has been phenomenal for Manchester City when he’s played, but I can understand why FPL managers have been reluctant to buy him. We all know how City boss Pep Guardiola likes to rotate and most of his players aren’t safe from a random benching. However, with the recent injury to Jeremy Doku (£6.4m), Cherki’s minutes have increased.
The 22-year-old Frenchman was still owned by under 10 per cent of FPL managers at time of writing and as long as Doku, who has missed City’s past three matches, remains out, I anticipate his expected minutes will be solid.
What has been your biggest FPL regret this year?
Holly: Goalkeepers have been the bane of my season.
I began it bullish on the Nottingham Forest defence following the unit’s outstanding 2024-25 season but my first-choice ’keeper Matz Sels (£4.6m) failed to log a clean sheet in the opening 11 gameweeks… and then trolled me when I took him out in Gameweek 12 by immediately keeping one away to champions Liverpool!
Beware of Forest goalkeeper Matz Sels, Holly’s FPL troll (Darren Staples/AFP via Getty Images)
His replacement Djordje Petrovic (£4.5m) failed to impress, and I’ve only got one clean sheet so far from David Raya (£6.0m), who I picked up on a Wildcard in Gameweek 15. Seven points from Emiliano Martinez (£5.0m) on a Free Hit in Gameweek 13 was the high point from a position I’ve struggled with all season.
Abdul: Showing too much faith in Liverpool.
I kept Salah and Florian Wirtz (£8.2m) for far too long at the start of the season, thinking (and hoping) they would come good. I also showed faith in Virgil van Dijk (£5.9m), buying him as my Gabriel (£6.3m) replacement when the Arsenal defender suffered the injury he’s only just returned from ahead of Gameweek 12. Liverpool had a great run of fixtures coming and I thought they would turn things around…
Although there has been improvement in attack, their defence has been really shaky: since I bought Van Dijk, they have only kept two clean sheets in seven matches.
My other option as a Gabriel replacement in Gameweek 12 was Daniel Munoz (£5.8m). Despite only playing three games since then due to his own injury, the Palace wing-back has still outscored Van Dijk!
Where do you think you can improve in 2026?
Holly: I fear I’ve been neglecting defensive picks this season and not truly adjusting to the new defensive-contribution method of points scoring. Gameweek 18 gave me a big reality check in this area: I somehow ended up with just one playing defender from five, as injuries struck, leaving me with just nine players scoring and a big red arrow, depleting my available transfers from three to one via some emergency repair work.
Three of the 10 top-scoring players in the game are defenders as we go into 2026, and so it’s a position not to overlook, with all three of those assets being centre-backs. Meanwhile, the two full-backs are still the most expensive defenders in my squad. I’m stuck in the past…
Abdul: I feel I need to start looking into recent form more, and at exactly why certain teams are playing better or worse, rather than relying on historical data. For example, it didn’t make a whole lot of sense to me why Liverpool were performing so badly when they actually made improvements to their team after walking the title last season.
The wisest approach might be to not get too influenced by small sample sizes but, at the same time, if there has been a change, then examine exactly why: new signings not gelling, systems not working with the players, et cetera. Adapting to the new landscape is an important trait for FPL, and I sense I’ve been a bit lazy in this area so far this season.
Tell us one low-owned player you think everyone should have in their team in 2026…
Holly:Matheus Cunha (£8.1m) has only just tipped the scales out of differential territory, hitting ownership of 11 per cent going into 2026. He has produced 22 and 19 goal involvements in the two previous completed seasons with Wolves, and his current form suggests that he could go close to those numbers again if he stays fit.
The Brazilian has been among the top assets in terms of his underlying numbers across December, leading the way for both shots and shots in the box, while creating some chances for team-mates. The short-term absence of Fernandes could work in his favour in terms of minutes.
Abdul: Sticking with United, Patrick Dorgu (£4.2m) is looking like a steal right now — and not only because he delivered a 17-point performance in Gameweek 18. He played as a right-winger in that game against Newcastle, and this really moves the needle on the 21-year-old as an FPL asset.
The best thing about him is that, due to his price, you can just buy him to be your fifth defender and bench him during his tougher games. If he loses his place in the side or doesn’t get played on the wing anymore, it’s no real loss. It’s a low-risk, high upside move.
Could Patrick Dorgu evolve into an FPL budget gem in 2026? (Darren Staples/AFP via Getty Images)
What is the biggest trap Fantasy managers should avoid in 2026?
Holly: Arsenal. Their form has already taken a dip this month, with that away loss to Villa and slender victories in seemingly favourable fixtures against Wolves, Everton and Brighton. That said, they did bounce back brilliantly against Villa last night in a 4-1 home win.
Still, we know they are a side prone to crumbling under pressure and there are some tough fixtures in their next 10 gameweeks, while they have just one clean sheet in five outings. Their progression to a two-leg Carabao Cup semi-final with Chelsea next month will also make their schedule at the start of the new year even more congested.
Abdul: People losing faith in the Arsenal defence. Yes, they only have two clean sheets in nine games but this has mostly been due to injuries knocking out Gabriel and William Saliba (£5.9m). They are still the best defence in the league and Gabriel is coming back to fitness now: he played 19 minutes in Gameweek 18 and started against Villa last night, playing 76 minutes and getting himself the opening goal.
Now that the Gabriel-Saliba partnership seems reestablished, I believe it will be business as usual for Mikel Arteta’s side. So if you haven’t already, I would start planning on how to get Gabriel back into your team.
What will be the key to FPL success in 2026?
Holly: The second half of a season always hinges on chip strategy, with blank and double gameweeks the key. I have been prone in the past to being too maverick in my approach here. This time, I plan to follow the herd with the most popular strategy.
Those managers who have been able to keep hold of some of those five free transfers topped up in Gameweek 16 will have maximum flexibility from New Year on, holding the crucial Wildcard and Free Hit chips in reserve for longer, with disruption in the schedule this season expected in Gameweek 31, for the Carabao Cup final, and Gameweek 34, for the FA Cup’s semi-finals.
Abdul: How well you prepare for the inevitable double and blank gameweeks. Deploying your chips in and around the double and blank gameweeks has been a recipe for success since their introduction, and it’s the best way to make up ground against the game’s less-engaged managers.
It might be tempting to use your second set of chips right after the Gameweek 19 deadline, but I would advise holding onto them. You ideally want to be able to play them in a double gameweek.
Choose your chip strategy — including Triple Captain — wisely during the second half of the season (Rob Newell – CameraSport via Getty Images)
Finally, let’s have your predictions for title winners, top-four finishers and relegation?
Holly: I am predicting City to take the title from under Arsenal’s nose, with Villa and United making up the top four. Despite the loss at Arsenal, Villa have shown they can keep finding a way to win, while United should continue to capitalise on no midweek European football.
At the opposite end of the table, it’s difficult to imagine Wolves surviving, while Burnley and West Ham look up against it too. They have poor defensive form and lack the firepower to outscore their opponents, whereas Forest and Leeds are beginning to turn their seasons around.
Abdul: My top-four prediction, in order, is: Arsenal, City, Liverpool and Villa. I feel Liverpool’s attack should be good enough to get them over the line in third, and I anticipate a close-fought battle between Villa and Chelsea for fourth. Villa have got enough points on the board to give themselves a great chance, as they currently sit nine ahead of Enzo Maresca’s men.
Relegation is a bit easier than the top of the table to call this season, as I would be very surprised if the current bottom three of Wolves, Burnley and West Ham aren’t the clubs who end up being relegated. Wolves are on three points, so they’re pretty much done for, and Burnley and West Ham sit six and four points respectively behind fourth-bottom Forest, who have a much better squad than either of them.
