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Gameweek 18 in the Fantasy Premier League starts this weekend

The Premier League is back from Boxing Day and with it comes the action-packed Fantasy Premier League Gameweek 18.

Following our midweek progress to the semi-finals of the Carabao Cup, our next encounter sees us host Brighton & Hove Albion at the Emirates Stadium on Saturday afternoon, before a quick fire to face Aston Villa in Gameweek three days later.

December Howls

We retained top spot over Christmas last weekend with a 1-0 victory over Everton on our first visit to the Hill Dikinson Stadium.Victor Giokeres (£ 8.8m) again showed his violence with a first half winner of the penalty place to demand a five-point game claiming a five-point game claim.

Declan Rice (£7.1m) had an assist on a goal scored within FPL guidelines as it was his corner pass that achieved the goal-scoring award, ensuring he continued his fine form with 11 points from GW17, his second-highest weekly tally so far this season.

Another player in red and white to reach double figures in the clash with Everton was Piero Hincapie (£5.5m).The Ecuadorian's performance helped him to his first appearance with 10 points, after keeping a clean sheet, a DefCon bonus and two additional points.Piero is still chosen by only 3.1% of managers and has been a differentiator in terms of acquisition strategy.

The rest of our defenders - including David Raya (£6.0m) - who started last Saturday's win on Merseyside, all combined for at least six points.

If you plan to add more assets to your team before our next home games, keep an eye out for price increases.For example, Rice has already been signed by more than 220,000 FPL chiefs ahead of GW18, and Jurrien Timber (£6.5m) - already owned by more than 33% of clubs - is a new signing from more than 73,000 clubs.Increased demand will cause prices to skyrocket, so it is not always advisable to delay transfers until just before the deadline.

Saturday's visitors Brighton will travel to North London for the second time this season, following our 2-0 win over the Seagulls in the Carabao Cup in October.

Fabian Herzeler's side have unveiled a host of FPL players for the first half of the 2025/26 season - none more so than Yankuba Minte (£6.1m), the budget midfielder who has scored a club record 74 points to date.Jan Paul van Heke (£4.6m) unexpectedly missed Sunderland's goalless draw in GW17, having been in excellent form of late, impressing many managers who have now brought him in after missing out on a clean sheet.

Brighton continue to be somewhat overlooked in the fantasy market this term, with Minteh's share of 6.6% the highest in their squad.As a result, the jewel turned out to be goalkeeper Bart Verbruggen (£4.4m).The opposition's number one picked up 11 points in GW17 and between Gameweeks 10 and 13 weighed in with a combined 26 points.Verbruggen is currently the third cheapest first-choice goalkeeper in the game, behind Burnley's Martin Dúbravka (£4.0m) and West Ham United's Alphonse Areola (£4.3m).

Only chips causing trouble?

As discussed extensively in the latest issue of FPL Focus, there are now just two Gameweeks left to use your remaining chips in the first half of the season.

If you are in a position where you have two chips left, both must be used in consecutive weeks of play to avoid losing your entire advantage.

Another important point that can go under the radar for some is that if your Free Hit stays the same and you choose to save it for Week 19 - the next half of the next week - then you cannot use your new Free Hit in the second half of Week 20.

While claiming two clean sheets in a row would be a far-fetched scenario for any FPL manager, the pressure has certainly increased with a number of injuries to a number of Premier League stars in recent games.

With famous assets such as Daniel Munoz (£5.9m), Dan Burn (£5.1m) and Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall (£5.0m) on the sidelines, and many key players currently out of the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON), further injuries have hit ahead of GW17.

Among them is Manchester United captain Bruno Fernandes (£9.4m), a player who between Gameweeks 13 and 16 has rewarded his owners with 46 points.A major problem for 24.9% of his managers, Fernandes is going to be out of action after injuring his hamstring against Aston Villa last weekend.

Another high-profile injury case involved Liverpool striker Alexander Isak (£10.3m), who suffered a broken leg while scoring the opening goal in a win over Tottenham Hotspur in GW17.

Isak's failure could secure minutes for in-form forward Hugo Akitaike (£8.9m) as his side host back-to-back home games with Wolves and Leeds United next.

There is another doubt in the form of Fulham midfielder Harry Wilson (£5.8m), who received treatment on the pitch for a knee problem that was initially feared to affect his side's win against Nottingham Forest on Monday night.Fulham played down the seriousness of the injury to Wilson, who has averaged nine points in his last five weeks.The Cottagers visit third-placed West Ham this weekend.

As already mentioned with Wilson at Fulham, how to identify and exploit differentials and cheaper options will be the deciding factor during the marathon FPL campaign.

While building the foundations of your squad with the likes of Erling Haaland (£15.1m), Rice and Timbers, as well as new signings this season like Antoine Semenho (£7.7m) and Mark Gehi (£5.3m), smart signings from cheap publishers for these players is where success is achieved regularly.

The form table can be a red herring as every manager thinks about the possibility that an expensive player could stop immediately when we sign him.

However, it cannot be protected, and if the player enjoys the red tablet, has good equipment on the site, and certainly has enough minutes, you should not waste time before raising the price.

Leeds winger Dominic Calvert-Lewin (£5.8m) is currently a prime example, averaging just under nine points in his last five games and showing his ability to score against any caliber of opposition of late.While his side have faced tough competition over the festive period, Calvert-Lewin has netted against Man City, Liverpool and Chelsea so far this season.

One player who has broken through in GW17 is Brentford's Keane Lewis-Potter (£4.8m), who scored an impressive 21 points in the Bees' win over Wolves last weekend, with two goals, a clean sheet and three bonus points.Lewis-Potter has been registered as a full-back in this season's games but has moved to the wing as an attacking outlet - with three home games in his next four he could prove prized at both ends of the pitch.

The last star of his prime, whose price remains sky-high, is Premier League man of the hour, Aston Villa's Morgan Rogers (£7.2m). Rodgers now owns more than 18 per cent and is a player millions of managers are vying for. The England international's 15-point miracle against Manchester United in GW17 was a back-to-back success, his third this season.

While most of this weekend's games will be played on December 27th and 28th, keep in mind that the clash between Man United and Newcastle will take place on Boxing Day.Therefore, the selection and transfer deadline for the teams ends this Friday at 6:30 p.m.Starting next Tuesday evening we will be back in action with Game Week 19!