GameDay Squad Football: Round 26 Preview
- Feb 9
- 7 min read
We should have our first (yet to be confirmed) double gameweek of the season with Arsenal and Wolves playing twice. So the only question is, how many Arsenal players is too many?
And who should we select if not them? Let’s take a look below.
Tottenham v Newcastle:
It’s hard to say who’s in a more dire situation between these teams as they are currently both outside the top 10 with only four points separating them on the table. Spurs’ injury crisis was made worse when captain Cristian Romero was shown a straight red last round condemning him to four matches on the sidelines. Meanwhile, Newcastle have gone from being poor away to just poor in general with no wins in the last five league games. Given both teams' circumstances it's hard to see any clean sheets in this game and history backs this up. In the past five meetings there has been one clean sheet between the teams, while the last five Spurs home meetings have resulted in none. Across the recent fixtures Bruno Guimaraes and Anthony Gordon have been involved in the vast majority of goals (barring the departed Alexander Isak), however Gordon may not be recovered in time for this one, whilst Guimaraes could be rested with such a short turnaround.
Recommended Players:
● B Guimaraes
● X Simons
● D Solanke
● H Barnes
Chelsea v Leeds:
Can Chelsea exact revenge on Leeds for their 3-1 drubbing earlier in the season? Speaking of 3-1 wins both teams are coming off of them in the previous round. Leeds continue their hot form on the back of an attacking change to their mentality, which has meant they’ve only been held goalless in two of their past 13 Premier League fixtures. This does appear to put a damper on any plans of picking Chelsea defenders. The issue in picking Chelsea attackers is the chance of rotation after there was a limited amount of it in the previous round. The question, once again, becomes will the likes of Joao Pedro, Enzo Fernandez and Moises Caicedo be rested? There’s most certainly a chance. Can Palmer and Pedro Neto, who’ve had injury issues recently, back up a quick turnaround? Estevao seems the obvious pick to start, but that was the case last round too. We do get lineups here, if you’re willing to get up early enough…
Recommended Players:
● Estevao
● R Sanchez
● D Calvert-Lewin
● S Longstaff
● E Fernandez
Everton v Bournemouth:
Bournemouth have found the answer to Semenyo’s departure and his name is Rayan. The 19 year old Brazilian wonderkid signing impressed as he scored the equalizer on his starting debut versus Aston Villa. This came after he provided an assist in his first ever game for the club the previous round. The only problem is he’s only new to the player pool. Short of Rayan, both teams have shown their inclined to leak stats to the opposition, which means we could see the likes of Ndiaye, Dewsbury-Hall and Alex Scott stack. There’s good news for defenders in this one too, as there has been one clean sheet in each of the past four meetings.
Recommended Players:
● J Tarkowski
● J O’Brien
● J Pickford
● D Petrovic
● M Senesi
● A Truffert
● Rayan
● I Ndiaye
● K Dewsbury-Hall
● A Scott
West Ham v Man Utd:
Two of the inform teams of the competition meet (both top four in the last five games) as they both continue to turn their fortunes around. Whilst West Ham attempts the great escape, United are trying to secure a return to Champions League football. United have won every game under Carrick and that streak should be continued here regardless of form West Ham have been in. West Ham have won their past three home meetings in this matchup, so there is potential for some sort of upset to occur here.
Recommended Players:
● B Mbeumo
● M Cunha
● A Diallo
● B Fernandes
● S Lammens
● M Fernandes
Aston Villa v Brighton:
Villa continued their creative struggles last round in what is looking very similar to their start of season. With only one goal in their past two league games, which coincides with injuries to their key playmakers, they face their ‘bunny’ team in Brighton. Villa have scored 15 goals across the past five meetings with Brighton, which included a 0-1 loss and a 6-1 win. Watkins has feasted on Brighton in the past with nine goals and two assists in 10 career meetings. This included a 55 GDS point game. It’s worth loading up on Villa here, despite their creative shortcomings, however there’s a chance Watkins (fresh back from injury) gets rotated in the quick turnaround with Tammy Abraham now available at the club.
Recommended Players:
● T Abraham
● O Watkins*
● M Rogers
● M Cash
● E Martinez
● E Buendia
● J Sancho
● B Verbruggen
● D Luiz
Palace v Burnley:
Palace have returned to their defensive best with key players Adam Wharton and Daniel Munoz back and up to full fitness. It’s at the perfect time as they meet strugglers Burnley. Burnley were already likely to have a tough time scoring, however coaches can now select Palace defenders again, particularly Munoz, with an air of confidence. As we’ve discussed many times, Burnley, with their low block, allow a great deal of stats to their opposition, which means Palace attackers can also come into the thinking of coaches. While they may not score an absolute ton, they should stack the other stats required to score well without a goal or assist being necessary.
Recommended Players:
● I Sarr
● D Munoz
● C Richards
● M Lacroix
● D Henderson
● T Mitchell
● J Strand-Larsen
● Y Pino
Man City v Fulham:
An absolute goal fest is what we got last time these teams met, but things could be a lot calmer this time at the Etihad. With Dias likely to return as a starter from injury and new signing Guehi strengthening things at the back we could see Fulham struggle to score any in this one. You have to go back 15 home meetings to find a Fulham victory, while City have also won the last 11 times they’ve met here. City have scored 35 goals in one last 11 meetings, and kept clean sheets in seven of them. This means rotation is the only thing stopping coaches from loading up on City players here.
Recommended Players:
● M Guehi
● G Donnarumma
● P Foden
● R Cherki
● A Semenyo
● E Haaland
Forest v Wolves:
Wolves' short lived turnaround in form has come to an end and with relegation hanging over their heads they continue to be the opposition we want to select against. Forest, having kept clean sheets the last two times they’ve met, have the defensive fortitude to produce another one. Neco Williams' return from suspension has come at the right time, as the prospect of a clean along with his usual points stacking could mean he goes nuclear. Popular midfielders in Anderson and Gibbs-White should return well in this one, while we could see Lucca start and be a POD if you’ve managed to pack him yet.
Recommended Players:
● N Williams
● E Anderson
● M Gibbs-White
● S Ortega
● H Bueno
● L Lucca
● C Hudson-Odoi
Sunderland v Liverpool:
This fixture has the makings of a dangerous game to select from. On the one hand, Sunderland remained undefeated at home and drew with Liverpool at Anfield earlier in the season. It would be unsurprising for them to keep it clean here. On the other hand, Liverpool could put Sunderland to the sword as Sunderland have struggled recently without Granit Xhaka in midfield. Liverpool do have their own injury and suspension concerns though, as creator Szoboszlai will miss this game. It means there could be more opportunity on set pieces for both Wirtz and/or Salah, which could lead to an upturn in scoring.
Recommended Players:
● D Ballard
● R Roefs
● M Salah
● F Wirtz
● N Mulere
● C Gakpo
● V van Dijk
Brentford v Arsenal:
My rule of always selecting Thiago when Brentford play at home will, unfortunately, come to a screeching halt here. Brentford, who has been fantastic at home this season, have lost their last four home meetings to Arsenal, only producing one goal during that run. While it’s likely to be a close affair, it’s more likely we target the Arsenal players in this one. How many we target is dependent on if we get a single or double Arsenal round of games. If it’s a single, it makes the selection of players such as Saka (injury), Havertz (rotation) and Timber (rotation) a lot more difficult than if they had two games, which would likely result in at least one start. Of the two games, those three would be more likely to start in the second, if they were rotated out for one, which is the easier of the two on paper. Rice, Gabriel and Raya appear the standout options otherwise.
Recommended Players:
● D Raya
● J Timber
● Gabriel
● D Rice
● K Havertz
● L Trossard
● B Saka
● V Gyokeres
Wolves v Arsenal:
This game may or may not be included in the round. If it is included, it’s much the same as above in the Brentford game. We’d select based on if we were getting this extra game or not, particularly because Wolves offer less of a challenge than Brentford do. It’s hard to pick any Wolves players here, despite their almost heroics when they met earlier in the season.
Goalkeepers:
● Raya ⭐️
● Martinez
● Henderson
● Sanchez
● Donnarumma
Uniques: Ortega and Roefs
Defenders:
● Munoz ⭐️
● Gabriel
● Timber
● N Williams
● Tarkowski
● Cash
● T Mitchell
● Lacroix
● Guehi
● Senesi
Uniques: C Richards and Maguire
Midfielders:
● B Fernandes ⭐️
● E Anderson
● Foden
● Cherki
● Rice
● Mbeumo
● Gibbs-White
● Guimaraes
● E Fernandez
● Garner
Uniques: Wharton and Dewsbury-Hall
Forwards:
● Haaland ⭐️
● Havertz
● Estevao
● Strand-Larsen
● Rogers
● Sarr
● Cunha
● Diallo
● Rayan
● Semenyo
Uniques: Calvert-Lewin and Salah
…And that’s a wrap! Best of luck with round twenty six.
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