The Premier League returns this weekend following our ties in the FA Cup and Carabao Cup, and we have a full round of fixtures for Gameweek 22 of Fantasy Premier League.
After wins at Portsmouth and Chelsea, this Saturday brings the third of four consecutive away matches for the Gunners, with a teatime clash at Nottingham Forest.
SALIBA STARS
That game at the City Ground will be our first league fixture in nine days, since our goalless draw with Liverpool at Emirates Stadium. William Saliba (£5.9m) led the way in red and white in Gameweek 21, earning a seven-point total - his highest Gameweek score since a nine-point haul at Manchester United on the opening weekend, bringing his season tally to 61.
GW21 also saw a new Gunner enter FPL’s 100 club, as Jurrien Timber (£6.3m) obtained six points to hit 104, joining Gabriel (£6.7m) and Declan Rice (£7.3m). Alongside him, Big Gabi and David Raya (£5.9m) also bagged clean sheet points, and our Brazilian now has a whopping 30 points in just three starts since his return.
Five more points for Martin Zubimendi (£5.2m) continue to justify his excellent price - still owned by just 2.2% of squads - while another potential differential is Gabriel Martinelli, priced at £6.8m. While Gabi has just one goal in the Premier League this season, he has eight across other competitions including his FA Cup hat-trick at Fratton Park. His ownership remains under the 1% mark, mainly due to the performances of Leandro Trossard (£6.9m), who himself has 80 points in 2025/26 despite his own low ownership of 1.7%.
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Opponents Nottingham Forest head into Saturday’s game sitting 17th in the Premier League table, though ended their four-match losing run with an away victory at West Ham United in Gameweek 21. Their poor campaign so far means there are currently no outfield players from Forest owned by more than 5% of managers, meaning several of Sean Dyche’s side are available at bargain prices.
England midfielder Elliot Anderson (£5.3m) currently has 87 points to his name - great value for his £5.3m price tag- and leads the entire division for DefCons, with 287 defensive interventions to his name. This has earned him an extra two points in an incredible 15 of his last 18 matches, meaning 30 extra points for those who have fielded him all campaign.
Morgan Gibbs-White (£7.3m) has offered a captain’s contribution for Dyche’s men, and scored the winning penalty at West Ham to make it 17 points in his last two games. Gibbs-White has a knack for hitting purple patches, having picked up 26 points in three matches between GW8 and GW10 earlier in the season.
JANUARY TRANSFER WINDOW
We are now at the midpoint of January, and the transfer market is beginning to heat up. One player to have swapped clubs this month is FPL’s joint-third-highest hauler so far this season, Antoine Semenyo (£7.6m). The winger, whose 120 points are benefiting a huge 43.8% of managers at present, has moved to Manchester City from Bournemouth, where he had been a talisman. Semenyo scored a last-gasp winner in his final match for the Cherries against Tottenham Hotspur in the last Gameweek, and his only blank in the past six matches came in our 3-2 win at the Vitality Stadium.
Crystal Palace - whose defensive players have been huge successes in the Fantasy world so far in 2025/26 - have bolstered their attack, signing Brennan Johnson (£6.5m). The Welshman has started each of the Eagles’ two matches since arriving, but is yet to register a goal or assist.
Brighton have moved quickly in the winter window, securing a return for midfield man Pascal Gross (£5.5m), who rejoins the Seagulls after an 18-month stint at Borussia Dortmund. Gross is now 34 years but has plenty in the tank, demonstrated by his successive 90-minute appearances against Man City in the Premier League and Manchester United in their weekend FA Cup victory.
West Ham meanwhile have notably snapped up not one, but two forwards. One potential budget enabler for your squad’s attacking trio could be Taty Castellanos, available at just £5.5m. The Argentine played the full 90 minutes on his Premier League debut against Forest, and netted his first Hammers goal in the FA Cup against QPR last Sunday. Fellow recruit Pablo (£5.5m) had been a prolific scorer in Portugal, and now aims to carry this form into a Premier League survival battle.
AFCON RETURNS
The five free transfers handed out in Gameweek 16 now seem lightyears away - particularly with the rise in injuries to popular FPL picks across the league. The bulk transfer allowance was handed out before the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON), which saw 32 Premier League stars depart to Morocco to represent their national sides.
The good news from an FPL perspective is that the tournament concludes this weekend, and all 32 players will have returned to their clubs ahead of Gameweek 23. Senegal and hosts Morocco will contest Sunday's final, with the likes of Everton’s Iliman Ndiaye (£6.2m) and Manchester United’s Noussair Mazraoui (£4.9m) involved, while players including Mohamed Salah (£14.0m) and former Gunner Alex Iwobi (£6.3m) will contest the third-place play-off on Saturday between Egypt and Nigeria.
While most active FPL competitors are highly likely to have cleared out the vast majority of their AFCON absentees over the festive period, their gradual returns to England will certainly bulk out squad-building options moving forward.
Be sure to complete your transfers and team selection by Saturday at 11am UK time to make the Gameweek 22 deadline!
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