GW24 and GW25 had a short turnaround and probably for the good. Despite scoring a decent 63 points in GW24 I had a minor red arrow to take my OR from 439k to 467k, most likely due to my captain pick, Cancelo, managing a meagre clean sheet, whereas others like Jota, Bowen, Son getting better returns. However, the tide turned in my favour, albeit slightly with Ronaldo captain in DGW25. I managed to score 71(-4) thanks to Ronaldo captain, Dalot and Sanchez 8 pointers. That Bruno last kick goal did make me lose 40k – 50k rank, but it was a huge relief as a United fan. So all in all I am okay going in to mega DGW26 ranked 414k.

The idea has always been to triple captain Salah in DGW26 and hope for decent rank gains. I am cognizant of the fact that a lot of FPL mangers are following the same approach and the gains might be limited, but from an absolute perspective there won’t be a better opportunity than this to use TC chip – Mo Salah, by far most successful player this season, in double home games against teams struggling defensively. TC Locked.

And apart from this I wasn’t considering any wholesale changes with 8 DGW players in my team, but with Jota’s injury and the fact that King, Dennis and Reguilon are not the best choices for DGW players this week, and hence I am yet again contemplating on the last moment.

Considerations for DGW26

• For the reasons mentioned above, Liverpool presence is absolutely necessary for the double GW. I had 3 Liverpool players planned out – TAA, Salah and Jota. However Jota’s injury has derailed that plan and hence I am considering potential options in Firmino and Luis Diaz. I was also considering Mane before I got Salah in last gameweek, but his price will be a put off in getting him along with Salah.

• Arsenal defensive assets – Arsenal have two home games this double gameweeks against Brentford and Wolves respectively and this makes their defensive assets very attractive and top two names for me are Ben White and Ramsdale and Tierney. The challenge is they have a blank gameweek in GW27 and with Odegaard already part of my team, I might not be able to afford a another Arsenal player.

• Wolves defensive (and maybe attacking) assets – Wolves have been extremely solid defensively this year and have kept 9 clean sheets overall. Although they are playing Leicester and Arsenal this double GW – wolves defender our good value as they are relatively cheaper. They also have another double in GW28 and with the fixtures against Watford and Crystal Palace it would be good to have them early in the team. So Ait-Nouri, Kilman and Sa are great options. The fact that Wolves are playing 5 times in next 3 GWs makes their attacking options attractive as well. However I have a slightly varying opinion on the same. Given the fact that fixtures improve in GW28 dramatically, I might consider them for that GW.

• Nick Pope – Burnley have back to back double GWs in GW26 and GW27 and the only entry I see into Burnley is Nick Pope. Burnley have gotten tighter in defense and Pope can always provide save points in tougher fixtures.

• Son / Kane – DGW26 announcement put a lot on limelight Spurs’ attacking stars but their poor form over last few premier league games has taken the limelight off them. In addition to that Spurs are playing City who don’t concede much. I had personally planned to move Ronaldo out and get Kane in, but I am not so sure, also because Ronaldo seemed very lively against Brighton.

Differential Captaincy Picks – NO ONE! I would be mad to consider and write about any other captaincy option other than Salah this GW. Although TAA could be a possible options, but Salah has a much higher ceiling and downside could be huge.

Hope everyone has a great DGW, green arrows everyone!