The first double gameweek of the Fantasy Premier League season is upon us, so we have picked out some of the best Arsenal players to buy ahead of the deadline.
The Gunners face Brentford this Thursday and Wolves next Wednesday, with an FA Cup tie against Wigan Athletic squeezed in between.
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The Wolves game has been moved from GW31 as Arsenal are playing Manchester City in the League Cup that weekend. City’s game against Crystal Palace will be moved to a different gameweek.
We are looking exclusively at Arsenal players for DGW26 as Wanderers are, frankly, terrible and don’t have much in the way of viable options to transfer. Mateus Mané (£4.6m) is the best pick of a bad bunch and could act as an enabler to afford expensive transfers elsewhere, but Nottingham Forest away and Arsenal at home is not an enticing set of fixtures.
FPL Deadline: Tuesday, 10 February, 18:00 BST.
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Fantasy Premier League: Five Arsenal players to buy in DGW26
Gabriel Magalhaes (£7.1m)
The most obvious player to transfer in if you don’t already own him is Gabriel. The centre-back is already owned by over 42 per cent of managers, although I’m slightly shocked that number isn’t higher. He’s arguably one of the best picks in the game, if not the best.
The Brazilian has been a lethal threat from set pieces, which has resulted in three goals, while he also has two assists. But his real value has come in terms of clean sheets and defensive contributions (defcons). He’s helped the side keep 12 shutouts this season, which is incredible when you consider he missed six games through injury. And he’s completed 10 or more defcons on six occasions, earning him an extra 12 points.
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Gabriel is arguably the best captaincy pick, although I’m not convinced he’s a good Triple Captain given his lack of offensive numbers in recent weeks.
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Declan Rice (£7.5m)
Another contender for the armband, Declan Rice has a decent floor for returns as he always farms defcons. He’s hit the threshold of 12 for midfielders eight times this term, and come close to hitting on another four occasions.
The England international’s set-piece delivery is a huge threat, although Arsenal’s improvement in attack from open play of late has reduced his output. His last attacking returns came in GW20, when he grabbed a brace at Bournemouth. His underlying numbers have not been great since then either, so I would avoid using the Triple Captain chip on him, but he’s a perfectly good midfield buy this week.
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David Raya (£5.9m)
Probably the least exciting transfer you could make, but David Raya is guaranteed to start both games and should keep at least one clean sheet. Unfortunately there is no scope for bonus points as he makes so few saves per game, which is the downside of owning a goalkeeper playing behind a world-class defence.
A major benefit of buying Raya is that he is easy to hide in blank GW31, as you can just start your backup keeper.
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Jurrien Timber (£6.4m)
If you already have Raya and Gabriel, but want to triple up on Arsenal defence, then Jurrien Timber is a solid shout. The Netherlands international has locked down the right-back spot and should start both games.
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Like Raya, though, his ceiling is not particularly high. He has no attacking returns in his last six outings and he has reached 10 defcons in a single match just twice this season. A perfectly fine buy who could fetch up to 12 points in DGW26, but likely no more than that.
William Saliba (£6.1m)
Almost everything I just wrote about Timber you can apply to William Saliba, but the Frenchman is cheaper. If you’re picking between the two, I’d go for Saliba for that reason, although Timber is more like to get an attacking return.
Riccardo Calafiori (£5.6m) is even cheaper, but I would expect him to be rotated out of the lineup for Piero Hincapie (£5.1m) for one of these games. I liked Leandro Trossard (£6.8m) as a midfield differential, but he is a doubt for the Brentford game.
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