Fantasy EPL Gameweek 26: Hot or Cold Player Rankings

Our Hot or Cold Player Rankings are here to outline the current prospects of key Fantasy EPL Draft players. The ‘Hot’ or ‘Cold’ status will help take away your emotional attachment to certain Premier League players and bring in the players that you need to help you dominate your Fantrax Draft League!

Use these hints and tips to increase your chances of success! New kid on the block hitting good form? Early draft pick not performing? Use this article as an objective way to influence your transfer and trade activity!

🔥🔥🔥 Gameweek 26 Player Rankings: Hot List 🔥🔥🔥

These are Fantasy EPL Draft players that have risen in our rankings! These are potential free agents on good form or established players that you should be looking to trade-in. Keep an eye on these players, and bring them into your Fantrax squad if you can!

Willy Boly

Position: Defender

Team: Wolves

Ownership: 81%

Form Last 30 Days: 15 PPG

Next 5 Fixtures: LEI (H), NOR (H), tot (A), BHA (H), whu (A)

What’s Changed?: The long-awaited return of the King of Wolves. Boly is back chaps and more fool you if you’ve not been paying attention to the @FPLKickaround podcast where both host @JWillDraft and analyst @draftgenie have been advising for weeks to go out and trade or pick up Boly! Those of you who make up part of that 81% ownership will be very smug indeed as Boly came straight back into the side, picking up like he had never been away. Solid and commanding, with excellent aerial threat for picking up defensive and attacking returns; Boly registered a clean sheet and a solid 15 point haul against an average Manchester United side. But still, impressive never the less considering his time out; not to mention Boly played the full 90 minutes!

Ondrej Duda

Position: Midfielder

Team: Norwich

Ownership: 49%

Form Last 30 Days: 13 PPG

Next 5 Fixtures: LIV (H), wol (A), LEI (H), shu (A), SOU (H)

What’s Changed?: The new Canary midfielder has taken to life in the Premier League very well. Duda is a no.10 and looks both threatening in terms of creativity and making late runs into promising goal-scoring positions. For all of Norwich’s faults, the one that gets less discussion than their defensive frailties is that of Norwich’s massive over-reliance this season on Pukki scoring goals. With Norwich’s second-highest goalscorer, Cantwell with six, it is clear that Duda has been brought in to not only create but score goals. Yet in his opening three games for Norwich Duda has failed to pick up an attacking return; making it even more impressive that he has registered double-digit scores in all of his outings! Duda is an essential pick-up in any league!

Steven Bergwijn

Position: Forward

Team: Tottenham Hotspur

Ownership: 47%

Form Last 30 Days: 14.5 PPG

Next 5 Fixtures: avl (A), che (A), WOL (H), bur (A), MUN (H)

What’s Changed?: We graded new boy Bergwijn in our January transfer analysis as four out of five stars. But after the Premier League debut, he had against Manchester City, we might need to upgrade this rating to a full five stars! The goal scored by Bergwijn tells you everything you need to know about him: excellent control, ice-cool composure and an exquisite finish. With his ownership statistic rising 27.8% to 47% owned, presumably the bulk of that rise coming when managers saw Bergwijn named in the starting lineup; you need to move fast to get your man! He’s locked in for the rest of the season and looks an obvious choice for any Fantrax side!

Gameweek 26 Player Rankings: More Hot Players!

Fantasy EPL Defenders

Trent Alexander-Arnold (100%, Liverpool) – Just a ridiculous talent. Top 5 overall player
Cesar Azpilicueta (100%, Chelsea) – On great scoring form. Making a play for a top-level defender
Lucas Digne (100%, Everton) – Really in-form and re-established himself as the best Everton defensive prospect
Harry Maguire (96%, Manchester United) – Beast in Togga scoring, despite United being poor at the back
Serge Aurier (94%, Tottenham) – Scoring incredibly well at the moment
Reece James (68%, Chelsea) – Scores very well whenever he starts!
Matt Targett (66%, Aston Villa) – Scores consistently well despite a lack of clean sheets
Mason Holgate (24%, Everton) – Established in the Everton side, and scoring well
Charlie Taylor (22%, Burnley) – The left-back has put in some good performances in recent weeks, despite clean sheets being hard to come by
Adam Masina (20%, Watford) – Very under the radar, but scoring very well!
Shkodran Mustafi (19%, Arsenal) – Scoring very well at the moment, and over his recent injury issue

Fantasy EPL Midfielders

Kevin De Bruyne (100%, Manchester City) – Continues to perform at the highest of levels!
Riyad Mahrez (100%, Manchester City) – Really upped his game in recent weeks
Jack Grealish (99%, Aston Villa) – Continues to perform to a very high standard
Emi Buendia (95%, Norwich) – Back from injury now, and should start again for The Canaries in Gameweek 26
Nathan Redmond (92%, Southampton) – Getting back to the Togga Scoring player we know and love
Ryan Fraser (87%, Bournemouth) – FINALLY showing some good scoring form!
Harvey Barnes (84%, Leicester) – An inconsistent player, but if he’s starting, you have to gamble on him scoring. Four attacking returns in his last three games
Jordan Henderson (83%, Liverpool) – Hendo has really upped his game in recent weeks!
Gabriel Martinelli (63%, Arsenal) – If he’s starting, he’s scoring! Hopefully, he’ll keep his place in the side
Fred (53%, Manchester United) – Consistent scoring midfielder, and taking set-pieces
Nabil Bentaleb (19%, Newcastle) – A must have player from the January signings
Stuart Armstrong (13%, Southampton) – Playing very well for The Saints, and gets forward surprisingly well. Picked up an injury in the FA Cup, but should only miss the Liverpool game

Fantasy EPL Forwards

Mo Salah (100%, Liverpool) – He’s really turned on the style the last couple of gameweeks!
Roberto Firmino (100%, Liverpool) – Had a very productive last few games!
Raul Jiminez (100%, Wolves) – Continues to score goals, even against the top clubs
Danny Ings (98%, Southampton) – Not scored for a couple of games, but has a great fixture schedule coming up
Gerard Deulofeu (98%, Watford) – Scoring consistently well at the moment
Sebastian Haller (97%, West Ham) – Winning lots of aerials, and contributing the odd attacking return
Troy Deeney (91%, Watford) – An old favorite of The Chaps, scoring goals and winning aerials for fun!
Adama Traore (90%, Wolves) – Now the top-scoring FWD this season. Just incredibly consistent scoring!!
Dominic Calvert-Lewin (86%, Everton) – The young striker is thriving under Ancelotti
Ismaila Sarr (61%, Watford) – We’ve featured Sarr a lot recently, hopefully he’s back to full fitness for Gameweek 26
Allan Saint-Maximin (52%, Newcastle) – Back in the side, and back in the points
Shane Long (23%, Southampton) – Starting games, and scoring pretty well!

❄️❄️❄️ Gameweek 26 Player Rankings: Cold List ❄️❄️❄️

These are Fantasy EPL players that have fallen in our rankings. This may be due to poor form, they have been dropped from the best 11, they have suffered an injury, or received a suspension. It’s time to consider dropping these players from your squads!

Joel Matip

Position: Defender

Team: Liverpool

Ownership: 76%

Form Last 30 Days: 0 PPG

Next 5 Fixtures: nor (A), WHU (H), wat (A), BOU (H), eve (A)

What’s Changed?: This feels a little bit harsh, and could or should be Lundstram, but given that Matip hasn’t played since October we’ve picked out the Liverpool defender. We saw some massive hype for Matip about two to three weeks ago, as the central defender started to appear in training having been out for such a long time injured. Yet here we are, with Matip having not featured for Liverpool in the league since his return. Moreover, Joe Gomez has been in sublime form helping Liverpool to nine clean sheets in the last 10 Gameweeks; massively impressive form and clearly undroppable.

Recommendation: Without a doubt, Matip is the ‘next cab off the ranks’ if the form of Gomez dips. If you can afford to stash Matip away, do so, and hold onto him in the hope that he breaks into the team as we head into playoff season.

Daniel James

Position: Midfielder

Team: Manchester United

Ownership: 91%

Form Last 30 Days: 1.38 PPG

Next 5 Fixtures: che (A), WAT (H), eve (A), MCI (H), tot (A)

What’s Changed?: James is in dreadful form, as defenses appear to have completely sussed out how to cope with the young winger. With bundles of talent and pace to burn, yet United seems to get very little out of James; much to the frustration of all Fantrax managers. The last double-digit score came for James six Gameweeks ago now, this double-digit score coincide with his last attacking return; of which James is very heavily reliant upon for big scores.

Recommendation: Despite the fact that James is likely to play the vast majority of the fixtures, we would drop him. United doesn’t exactly have stars to replace James, but his position is under serious pressure.

Neal Maupay

Position: Forward

Team: Brighton

Ownership: 57%

Form Last 30 Days: 6.5 PPG

Next 5 Fixtures: WAT (H), shu (A), CRY (H), wol (A), ARS (H)

What’s Changed?: Having scored three goals on the bounce, Maupay was on everyone’s radar, but since then the Brighton forward has registered only two assists in the following seven gameweeks. Having played a full 90 minutes and scored double-digit points in Gameweek 24, Maupay was an unused substitute in Gameweek 25, which saw Brighton come back from 3-1 down, to draw 3-3. Massively concerning that Potter turned left Maupay on the bench despite only using two of his three changes.

Recommendation: Given the stage of the season, we think you need to be looking at regular starters, and would, therefore, be happy to drop Maupay from your squad.

Gameweek 26 Player Rankings: More Cold Players!

Fantasy EPL Defenders

Jonny Evans (88%, Leicester) – The clean sheets, and points, have dried up for Evans
Kyle Walker (85%, Manchester City) – Scoring poorly and being rotated with Cancelo
John Lundstram (77%, Sheffield United) – Form has dipped of late and Berge looks to have taken his place. Definitely worth cashing in on him with a trade!
Victor Lindelof (45%, Manchester United) – Never scores well in Togga Scoring
Nathan Ake (61%, Bournemouth) – Never scores well in Togga Scoring, not sure why his ownership is so high!
Kurt Zouma (38%, Chelsea) – Recently dropped from the side with Rudiger and Christiansen being preferred in central defense

Fantasy EPL Midfielders

Bernardo Silva (100%, Manchester City) – Only started once in the last four games. Very concerning
Luka Milivojevic (89%, Crystal Palace) – Has been scoring very poorly this season
Rodrigo (88%, Manchester City) – The points have dried up
Pascal Gross (87%, Brighton) – Doesn’t look to be in the best eleven, although Potter rotates a lot!
Mesut Ozil (81%, Arsenal) – The German is starting every game, but not scoring well. Try and trade him out
Manuel Lanzini (69%, West Ham) – Not hitting the heights he’s expected to, and now looks set to ride the bench
Erik Lamela (49%, Tottenham) – Never been on board with him, too much competition at Spurs

Fantasy EPL Forwards

Raheem Sterling (100%, Manchester City) – Not hitting the heights he should be, and City sometimes look better without him in the side!
Jamie Vardy (100%, Leicester) – The goals have dried up. A good fixture schedule coming up though
Alexandre Lacazette (99%, Arsenal) – Another big name who’s struggling for points at the moment
Nicolas Pepe (94%, Arsenal) – Same old story, as Pepe didn’t feature at all in Gameweek 25
Joelinton (60%, Newcastle) – The forward continues to struggle for goals, and Fantrax points
Ashley Barnes (52%, Burnley) – The goals have dried up for Barnes, and now he’s going to be missing for a few weeks with injury
Takumi Minamino (28%, Liverpool) – We didn’t rate his prospects very high in our January Transfer Analysis, and he is struggling for minutes as we suggested

Navigating Blank Gameweek 28 is essential for all Fantasy EPL managers! With two games postponed, you need to make a plan!!

Follow The Fantasy Football Chaps on Twitter @TheFFChaps for all the latest!

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EPL Player Rankings