POWER RANKINGS 2018/19: The Aftermath of FPL Gameweek 26
After the dust has settled in a round of Premier League fixtures, we here at The Hype Train provide a post-mortem in the shape of our Power Rankings. We highlight the five key performers for FPL players in each position (GK/DEF/MID/FOR), with our selections based off of our own opinion of in-game performance and the end result with Fantasy points on the board. All aboard.
Fantasy Premier League: Gameweek 27 Deadline
For the 2016/17 Premier League season, the FPL deadline will be one hour before the commencement of the week's first game. The Premier League website lists each FPL deadline, you can always ask on social media, and you can also view a real time countdown on our Weekly Hype page.
GW26 POWER RANKINGS: Goalkeeper Picks
1) Ben Foster (WAT): £4.6m - vs. Cardiff (A)
2) David de Gea (MUN): £5.7m - vs. Liverpool (H)
3) Neil Etheridge (CAR): £4.7m - vs. Watford (H)
4) Hugo Lloris (TOT): £5.4m - vs. Burnley (A)
5) Ederson (MCI): £5.6m - vs. None
For FPL players across the world the last couple of months has just come and gone in a flash, with our Power Rankings last time out looking massively different.
After Gameweek 26, Watford's Ben Foster finds himself positioned as the in-form keeper in FPL.
Foster has registtered 4+ points from 5 of his last 6 fixtures, a run which includes 3 clean sheets in his last 4 matches. Watford find themselves away at both Liverpool (GW28) and Man City (GW30), so it might be a bumpy road for Foster's owners if they keep faith.
David de Gea, much like Paul Pogba and Marcus Rashford, has also benefited from a change in the managerial hot seat at Man United. De Gea has been in the sticks for 4 clean sheets from his last 6 games, totalling 39 FPL points in that time. Like Foster, de Gea hosts Liverpool (GW27) and Man City (GW31), with United also travel to Arsenal (GW30).
Neil Etheridge's form is proving to be a permanent fixture this season, with the shot-stopper just 5 points shy of top keeper Alisson on 118 points, managing 5 healthy returns from 8 fixtures. Cardiff have kept 4 clean sheets in that time, whilst Etheridge made 6 saves and earned a bonus point in Gameweek 26's last-gasp 2-1 away win at Southampton.
We round off our selections without sight of Liverpool's Alisson for the first time this season. The chasing pack of keepers are well represented though. Hugo Lloris save a penalty from Jamie Vardy in an edgy 3-1 home win for Spurs during Gameweek 26, which adds to a clean sheet the week prior against Newcastle (1-0 home win), with 4 clean sheets between Gameweek's 16-21 acting as a precursor.
Ederson rounds off the list and made a few fine saves to keep a clean sheet intact for Man City in a 6-0 home mauling of Chelsea. City have kept 4 clean sheets in 6 games, with the 7 points during Gameweek 26 the most the Brazilian shot-stopper has managed since managing 8 points in a 1-0 away win at Spurs during Gameweek 10.
GW26 POWER RANKINGS: Defender Picks
1) Aymeric Laporte (MCI): £5.9m - vs. None
2) Andrew Robertson (LIV): £6.6m - vs. Brighton (A)
3) Craig Cathcart (WAT): £4.5m - vs. Cardiff (A)
4) Victor Lindelof (MUN): £5.0m - vs. Liverpool (H)
5) Fabian Schar (NEW): £4.6m - vs. Huddersfield (H)
There's a sense of familiarity with our defensive picks from the opening weeks of the season, with Aymeric Laporte and Andrew Robertson the must-have options right now once again.
Laporte was City's standout player during Double Gameweek 25 as he managed 20 points over a brace of fixtures - all of which included 1 goal, 1 assist, 1 clean sheet, and for the first time this season, all 3 bonus points in a 2-0 away win at Everton. Laporte, used as a left-back for Gameweek 25's fixtures, was utilised as a central defender in the 6-0 win over Chelsea and had very little to do on his way to an easy 6 points.
Andrew Robertson has been a reliable source of points this season and this proved to be the case during Gameweek 26 as he assisted a brilliant lob from Gini Wijnaldum in Liverpool's 3-0 home win over Bournemouth. Over the last 10 games, Robbo has 6 returns (4 clean sheets and 2 assists).
Below the usual suspects there is a bit of a chasm of players producing regular FPL returns, meaning we have had to call on some unexpected faces to will out our Power Rankings selections.
Watford's Craig Cathcart has provided FPL returns in his last 4 outings (2 goals and 2 clean sheets), amassing 27 points that just 1.7% of players revelled in.
Man United's Victor Lindelof, like many Man United assets, has become a cheap route into United's defence for their recent on-field revival, with the Swedish international scoring and keeping 3 clean sheets in the last 5 matches he's played.
Rounding off the list is a defender who has promising fixtures upcoming, and once again was involved in the attacking third. Newcastle's Fabian Schar plays as the right central defender of a back 3 for The Toon, and it is Schar that comes out of the back to link up with the attack. Schar was Gameweek 21's top player with 21 points after scoring a brace at home against Cardiff, and this past Monday assisted Isaac Hayden in Newcastle's 1-1 away draw at Wolves. Huddersfield up next should be comfortable points if Newcastle kick on from recent performances.
Sead Kolasinac was destined to make the cut had it not been for the most unfortunate of circumstances at Huddersfield. On for 12 points with Arsenal cruising 2-0 at Huddersfield, and with an assist to his name, the left-back scored an own goal, received a yellow card, saw his clean sheet and bonus points all wiped out within seconds. It was crushing.
GW26 POWER RANKINGS: Midfielder Picks
3) Paul Pogba (MUN): £8.8m - vs. Liverpool (H)
1) Heung-Min Son (TOT): £8.9m - vs. Burnley (A)
2) Mohamed Salah (LIV): £13.6m - vs. Man United (A)
4) Raheem Sterling (MCI): £11.3m - vs. None
5) Sadio Mane (LIV): £9.6m - vs. Man United (A)
The midfield portion of our Power Rankings writes itself this week with 5 key performers head and shoulders above the rest right now. Pogba and Son are having their best league campaigns to date, whilst Raheem Sterling's form has hit a hot patch, whilst Liverpool's African wingers are producing the goods on a weekly basis.
Paul Pogba - 8 goals, 9 assists and 13 bonus from 9 matches (92 FPL points)
Heung-Min Son - 9 goals, 5 assists and 15 bonus from 10 matches (95 FPL points)
Mohamed Salah - 10 goals, 3 assists and 13 bonus from 11 matches (99 FPL points)
Raheem Sterling - 3 goals, 6 assists and 7 bonus from 8 matches (57 FPL points)
Sadio Mane - 6 goals, 0 assists and 5 bonus from 10 matches (59 points)
In the case of Son, Pogba and Salah at the top of the pack this week, this will be the period of the season where you look back and say 'this is where I went right' or more accurately, 'this is where it all went so horribly wrong'.
GW26 POWER RANKINGS: Forward Picks
1) Sergio Aguero (MCI): £11.5m - vs. None
2) Alexandre Lacazette (ARS): £9.5m - vs. Southampton (H)
3) Marcus Rashford (MUN): £7.8m - vs. Liverpool (H)
4) Raul Jimenez (WOL): £6.8m - vs. Bournemouth (A)
5) Ashley Barnes (BUR): £5.6m - vs. Spurs (H)
The first Double Gameweek of the season was supposed to be a time for FPL players to fear Pep Guardiola's selection for Man City, and in the case of Leroy Sane, we were all right to be worried. Instead, it was City's established stars that did the business. Sergio Aguero provided back-to-back trebles in both Gameweek 25 and 26, though he was pipped to the post as the best player in each Gameweek by another Man City player - Laporte (GW25) and Sterling (GW26). It's just impossible not to have an attacker in Aguero's form not at the top of the charts given the Argentine has scored a total of 9 goals in 8 league games.
There's no room for poorly Pierre this week, with Alexandre Lacazette taking the limelight for Arsenal ahead of Gameweek 27. Lacazette scored the winning goal at Huddersfield, meaning Laca has now scored in 4 of his last 6 games as a shortened Gameweek at home to lowly Southampton looms.
Marcus Rashford didn't feature at Fulham as Man United prepared for an eventual 2-0 home loss to PSG in the Champions League last-16 stage, though a run of 6 goals and 2 assists in 8 games prior is more than enough to keep Rashford in firm contention and might benefit from more minutes in the league with United suffering a few injuries against PSG, as well as early elimination from the competition the most likely route for United.
Raul Jimenez actually played this past week in a 1-1 home draw with Newcastle and only really had 1 clear chance to score, but much like with Rashford, preceding form and healthy fixtures means that Raul stays in contention with 4 goals and an assist to his name from 6 matches.
The clean and obvious option to round off our Power Rankings this week is Burnley's Ashley Barnes. Sean Dyche's men are back in form and with a cheap attacker in red-hot form. The Austrian has scored in his last 3 matches, and has totalled 5 goals and 2 assists over 9 matches. A home match with Spurs looming is one to probably miss, but with Newcastle (GW28) and Crystal Palace (GW29) looming, Barnes is definfely one to consider.
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The Hype Train is an entertainment website founded in 2015, specialising in the Fantasy Premier League (#FPL), providing beautiful graphics and weekly insight for hopeful players attempting to climb ranking tables. We are also occasional media reviewers, with a keen interest to review movies, live sport, and professional wrestling.
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All aboard.
