DPLCommLeague have brought the concept over to Fantrax, and it is sensational. We're here to provide Draft Premier League managers with our very own Perfect XI tips for each gameweek. Details of the concept and rules can be found here!
Check out DPLCommLeague for further information on the format, regular updates on the latest standings, as well as information on how you can enter.
Fantasy EPL Gameweek 26 Perfect XI
So, what is Perfect XI? Similar to Official Fantasy Premier League game, all managers have full access to the entire player pool each week, meaning multiple teams within the league could be completely identical. The main departures from OFPL are the Fantrax Default Scoring, unlimited transfers each week, no budget/salary cap, and live lineup changes available. This means that each week you can select a dream team of Fantrax assets who you think will score the most points on a given gameweek, and have the added bonus of being able to see the real life lineups before your players lock in. Magic.
Check out our Perfect XI tips below. These are our recommendations for the best eleven players this weekend! Picks are now accompanied by our weekly projections, which our Inner Circle members can exclusively access. Due to the tight scheduling, these will be a bit abridged for a couple weeks.
GK: Aaron Ramsdale
It’s yet another big DGW and naturally all our Perfect XI picks will be guys with 2 games for maximum points. Particularly when we have multiple good teams that have double gameweeks including Arsenal & Liverpool. Ramsdale has two favourable matchups vs Brentford then Wolves both at home. He has a 54% chance at a clean sheet vs BRE and a ~35% chance vs WOL. Allison may have combined better clean sheet odds vs Norwich and Leeds, but I'm not sure he sniffs a save against those 2 at home.
Pivot: Allison
DEF: Trent Alexander-Arnold, Virgil Van Dijk, James Tarkowski
As mentioned earlier, Liverpool have 2 great matchups vs Norwich (62% clean sheet) and Leeds(~40% clean sheet) both at home. So the trick is all about picking their defenders that are most likely to start 2 games. Trent and VVD fit that bill for me, as they've been rotated less than Robertson (with Tsimikas as a backup) and Matip/Konate. If either don't start vs Norwich, I'd pivot off of them (for PXI sake at least). Tarkowski is another solid pick who has 2 decent matchups and should ghost well. If you want a higher ceiling pick, Tierney or Robertson are your best bets.
Pivot: Andrew Robertson, Kieran Tierney, Joel Matip
MID: Raphinha, Dwight McNeil, Martin Odegaard, Bakayo Saka
Finally we have a week where we're opting to take neither of Bruno or KDB! This week neither man has a DGW so we'll be going with some steady, trusty options from other DGW teams. Raphinha, Odegaard, and Saka all fit that description well, with nearly guaranteed 2 starts, and good upside and floors when they do start. McNeil was benched last week, but we're counting on him getting back into the side and scoring his usual consistent ghost points. Saka and Odegaard have good matchups and Raphinha has been a bit slow lately, but provides plenty of potential despite hard matchups. Outside of these 4, a lot of the other DGW mids are riskier or have worse matchups like Lucas and Podence. Alternatively, you can be boring and stick with KDB, who should still be viable despite only having 1 match this week.
Pivot: Lucas Moura, Bruno Fernandes, Kevin De Bruyne, Daniel Podence
FWD: Mohamed Salah, Alexandre Lacazette, Son Heung-Min
The most important question this week in PerfectXI in my opinion is how much you trust Liverpool players to get 2 starts, particularly if and when they start the first vs Norwich. Salah, Mane, and Firmino all fall into this category as they all have the potential, but lack of guarantee of getting 2 starts or 120+ minutes this week, especially with Jota out injured after their UCL game. Liverpool also play in the Carabao cup final after this DGW so their might be some thought to resting their top players in their second game. Firmino is debatably the most safe pick to start 2 with Jota out, and him not starting the UCL match. However, its hard to bench Mo Salah who's the #1 scorer this season and if he gets 120+ minutes almost needs to be in your team. I think Salah is worth the risk (if he starts vs Norwich), but its your choice whether you want to include Firmino, or even Mane along side him. Outside the Liverpool guys, I like Lacazette and Son who are very likely to start 2 games. Laca has great matchups and is 63% likely to score in at least 1 of them. Son has harder matchups (first against City) but provides a nicer floor than the other options (including Kane generally).
Pivot: Robert Firmino, Harry Kane, Sadio Mane, Josh King
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