GW26 FPL Guide

Captain Picks · Transfer Targets · Differentials

Deadline: Sat 20 Feb, 13:30 UK time
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What should I do in FPL Gameweek 26?

For Gameweek 26, Onside's model captains Groß (4.5 projected points). The top transfer target is Haaland. The best differential is Tavernier, 6.8% owned. Rankings come from expected points across the gameweek fixtures, graded in public afterwards.

— Onside (onsidearena.com), predictions graded in public.

LIVEGroß 4.5 xPts · GW26

The Onside engine projects every player in the game each gameweek. These are the 30 it rates highest for GW26 — the captains, the transfer targets and the differentials, ranked by projected points.

Captain Picks for GW26

Ranked by the engine's captain expected-value model — the #1 pick is our highest-confidence armband recommendation.

Top Pick
Pascal Groß
1
GroßBHA · MID
£5.8m29.0% ownedMUST CAPTAIN
2.0
8.04.5 avg

Captain — BHA are scoring freely. 4% haul chance.

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Harvey Barnes
2
BarnesNEW · MID
£6.1m5.7% ownedBUY
2.0
7.03.6 avg

Consider buying — NEW are scoring freely. Avg 3.6 pts, ceiling 7.

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Kevin Schade
3
SchadeBRE · MID
£6.2m11.6% ownedBUY
2.0
9.04.7 avg

Consider buying — BRE are scoring freely. Avg 4.7 pts, ceiling 9.

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Marcus Tavernier
4
TavernierBOU · MID
£6.1m6.8% ownedBUY
2.0
9.05.1 avg

Consider buying — BOU are scoring freely. Avg 5.0 pts, ceiling 9.

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Erling Haaland
5
HaalandMCI · FWD
£15.6m73.8% ownedBUY
3.0
9.05.5 avg

Consider buying — MCI are scoring freely. Avg 5.5 pts, ceiling 9.

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Charalampos Kostoulas
6
KostoulasBHA · FWD
£5.6m4.2% ownedBUY
1.0
6.03.4 avg

Consider buying — BHA have a friendly run-in. Avg 3.4 pts, ceiling 6.

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Antoine Semenyo
7
SemenyoMCI · MID
£8.4m15.3% ownedBUY
0.0
7.03.3 avg

Consider buying — MCI are scoring freely. Avg 3.3 pts, ceiling 7.

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Vitaly Janelt
8
JaneltBRE · MID
£5.0m2.5% ownedBUY
1.0
6.03.2 avg

Consider buying — BRE are scoring freely. Avg 3.2 pts, ceiling 6.

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Morgan Rogers
9
RogersCHE · MID
£7.7m40.5% ownedBUY
2.0
8.03.8 avg

Consider buying — CHE have a friendly run-in. Avg 3.8 pts, ceiling 8.

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Emiliano Buendía Stati
10
BuendíaAVL · MID
£5.9m1.0% ownedBUY
2.0
7.03.5 avg

Consider buying — AVL are scoring freely. Avg 3.5 pts, ceiling 7.

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Transfer Targets for GW26

Every player the model rates a buy for this gameweek, ranked by projected points — injured and doubtful players left out.

GW26 transfer targets by projected points
#PlayerClubPosPriceOwnedxPRangeRating
1HaalandMCIFWD£15.6m73.8%5.53.0–9.0BUY
2TavernierBOUMID£6.1m6.8%5.12.0–9.0BUY
3SchadeBREMID£6.2m11.6%4.72.0–9.0BUY
4Gibbs-WhiteNFOMID£8.0m15.7%4.73.0–8.0BUY
5SakaARSMID£9.5m13.7%4.62.0–9.0BUY
6GroßBHAMID£5.8m29.0%4.52.0–8.0MUST CAPTAIN
7João PedroCHEFWD£7.7m65.1%4.41.0–8.0BUY
8GuéhiMCIDEF£6.0m18.2%4.42.0–8.0BUY
9De CuyperBHADEF£5.0m27.8%4.31.0–8.0BUY
10GvardiolMCIDEF£5.7m26.8%4.32.0–8.0BUY
11B.FernandesMUNMID£11.9m38.5%4.32.0–8.0BUY
12TarkowskiEVEDEF£6.2m16.6%4.22.0–8.0BUY
13BarryEVEFWD£5.7m8.3%4.22.0–7.0BUY
14Calvert-LewinLEEFWD£6.0m24.8%4.22.0–8.0BUY
15IsakLIVFWD£9.1m22.3%4.11.0–8.0BUY
16TraffordLEEGKP£5.0m5.5%4.12.0–8.0BUY
17ØdegaardARSMID£6.8m19.8%4.02.0–7.0BUY
18ScottBOUMID£6.1m5.8%4.02.0–8.0BUY
19ThiagoBREFWD£7.8m9.1%4.01.0–8.0BUY
20BogleLEEDEF£4.6m7.2%4.01.0–8.0BUY
21A.BeckerLIVGKP£5.5m4.1%4.01.0–8.0BUY
22RayaARSGKP£6.1m42.3%3.91.0–7.0BUY
23CalafioriARSDEF£5.8m50.5%3.91.0–7.0BUY
24MbeumoMUNMID£7.9m20.6%3.92.0–8.0BUY

Differentials for GW26

Low-ownership picks our engine tags as DIFFERENTIAL — highly rated players most managers won't own, giving you a potential rank edge.

Top Pick
Marcus Tavernier
1
TavernierBOU · MID
£6.1mOnly 6.8% ownedBUY
2.0
9.05.1 avg

Consider buying — BOU are scoring freely. Avg 5.0 pts, ceiling 9.

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Thierno Barry
2
BarryEVE · FWD
£5.7mOnly 8.3% ownedBUY
2.0
7.04.2 avg

Consider buying — EVE are scoring freely. Avg 4.2 pts, ceiling 7.

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James Trafford
3
TraffordLEE · GKP
£5.0mOnly 5.5% ownedBUY
2.0
8.04.1 avg

Consider buying — LEE are scoring freely. Avg 4.1 pts, ceiling 8.

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Alex Scott
4
ScottBOU · MID
£6.1mOnly 5.8% ownedBUY
2.0
8.04.0 avg

Consider buying — BOU are scoring freely. Avg 4.0 pts, ceiling 8.

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Igor Thiago Nascimento Rodrigues
5
ThiagoBRE · FWD
£7.8mOnly 9.1% ownedBUY
1.0
8.04.0 avg

Consider buying — BRE are scoring freely. Avg 4.0 pts, ceiling 8.

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GW26 Planning Checklist

Run through this before the GW26 deadline to maximise your expected points and avoid common mistakes.

  1. 1Confirm captain pick — choose your highest expected-points starter with a favourable fixture. See GW26 captain analysis →
  2. 2Check injuries before deadline — late team news can invalidate your captain and starting XI. View player availability →
  3. 3Review fixture difficulty — avoid players facing a Fixture Difficulty Rating (FDR) of 4–5 unless they have exceptional form. Check fixture difficulty →
  4. 4Monitor price changes — rising players gain value overnight; falling players lose it. Act before the price falls. Track price changes →
  5. 5Identify differentials — any highly-rated player below 10% ownership is a rank-up opportunity. Captaining a differential that delivers can jump you thousands of places. GW26 differentials →
  6. 6Check ownership data — know what the template squad looks like so you can decide where to be brave vs. where to follow the crowd. Most owned players →

Explore More on Onside Arena

GW26 — Common Questions

Answered by Onside AI engine

Who should I captain in GW26?

Onside's top captain pick for GW26 is Groß (BHA) with 4.5 projected points. Captain — BHA are scoring freely. 4% haul chance. Alternative: Barnes.

What are the best transfer targets for GW26?

Onside's top GW26 transfer targets are: 1. Haaland (£15.6m, 73.8% owned, 5.5 projected xP); 2. Tavernier (£6.1m, 6.8% owned, 5.1 projected xP); 3. Schade (£6.2m, 11.6% owned, 4.7 projected xP). These are the highest-projected players the engine rates a buy for GW26, with injured and doubtful players left out.

Who are the best FPL differentials for GW26?

Top differential for GW26: Tavernier (only 6.8% owned, 5.1 projected xP). Consider buying — BOU are scoring freely. Avg 5.0 pts, ceiling 9. A differential is a high-rated, low-ownership pick that gives a rank edge if they score big.

When is the GW26 FPL deadline?

The GW26 Fantasy Premier League deadline is Sat 20 Feb, 13:30 UK time. Make sure to finalise your transfers, captain pick, and vice-captain before this time.

How does Onside generate GW26 recommendations?

Onside blends nine independent signals into an expected-points score, then runs Monte Carlo simulations to rank captains by expected value — the median of doubled-score distributions. Data refreshes every hour. How the signals are built is proprietary.

What happened in FPL GW26?

GW26 has not yet finished. Once all matches are complete, this section will show the average score, highest score, most captained player, and top scorer. Check back after the final GW26 fixture.

Who should I captain in FPL GW26?

Onside's top captain recommendation for GW26 is Groß (BHA), projected at 4.5 expected points. For a full captain deep-dive with fixture analysis, visit /captain/26.

What is a good FPL score in GW26?

A good FPL score varies by gameweek depending on how many matches are played and how many bonus points are distributed. As a rule of thumb, scoring 10+ points above the gameweek average puts you in a strong rank-gaining position. The average FPL score across all managers typically sits between 40–65 points per gameweek. For double gameweeks, average scores can reach 80–100+ points. Check the GW26 retrospective section above once the gameweek finishes for the official average and highest scores.

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Data from the Fantasy Premier League API. Rankings by the Onside v5 engine, refreshed every hour and graded in public after each gameweek.