It's a quick turnaround for the Hive FPL with a full set of midweek fixtures making up GW27.

The pundits would have you believe that the title is already decided following Liverpool's victory at the Ethiad and Arsenal's slip up against West Ham but in fantasy terms there's still plenty to play for.

The potential for squad rotation is going to be a key concern for all FPL managers in GW27 with some sides having only 2 days in between matches not to mention the return of European football next week too. Having some decent options ready to come off the bench if necessary could well be the difference in many of the head to heads.

Onto the matches and players themselves

Brighton crushed fellow South Coast side Southampton at the weekend and will want to throw a spanner in the works of another in this match. Bournemouth will be bitterly disappointed to have lost to Wolves last time out so expect a response from them. If the Seagulls were to win, they'll draw level on points with the Cherries as the battle for Europe really hots up.

Joao Pedro (FWD) got his first goal involvements since the start of January last time out but the form men for Brighton continue to be Mitoma (MID) and Mineth (MID) who between them have 10 goal involvements so far in 2025. The later has started consecutive games (now 3 in a row) for the first time since the opening 4 GWs of the season. Selected by just 1.2% of teams, he could prove to be a very good differential for the remainder of the season.

FPL managers shouldn't be too perturbed by Bournemouth blanking at the weekend. They've been particularly effective away from home this season, scoring at least twice in their last 8 away fixtures. Semenyo (MID) has had a hand in a goal in his last 5 away Premier League matches.

After a rocky start to the season, Palace and their players are beginning to look like consistent and affordable picks.

Mateta (FWD) may not have scored but he did get an assist at Fulham to ensure that his fine run of points in 6 out of last 7 GWs continued. Muñoz (DEF) has also been in great form of late helped by 3 goal involvements and 4 clean sheet bonuses since the start of the year. Palace have a blank in GW29 to be wary of but the fact that they play Ipswich and Southampton either side of that makes it tempting to bring in their players for now.

Why is that whenever a player leaves Manchester United, they instantly look the better for it?

2 impressive cameos off the bench mean that FPL managers have started to turn back to Rashford (MID) who is now owned by more teams than at any point this season. Villa's other loan signing in January, Asenio (MID) opened his Premier League account with a brace against Chelsea. I dare say Palace will be better organised at the back and rotation still seems a real possibility especially given that Villa have a Friday night cup match followed by a return to the Champions League next week.

Wolves got a massive win at the weekend in their bid for Premier League survival especially given that the 3 teams below them all lost heavily. The fact that they have to play all 3 of those sides between now and the end of April means that they very much have their destiny in their own hands.

It's Cunha (FWD) he continues to be the man for them. 3 goals in his last 3 games with all of Wolves attacking play going via the talented Brazilian. He also has 4 goal involvements in 3 previous appearances versus Fulham. With Wolves uptick in both form and performances plus a nice run of fixtures over the Spring, then he's looking increasingly like a must have player.

With 5 of the 9 teams above them losing at the weekend then Fulham will be disappointed to have missed out on the opportunity to move up the table. They had lots of the ball against Palace but recorded xG of just 0.23. Wolves might not be quite as well organised as their last opponents but a tactical tweak over the last few matches suggests they'll get plenty of bodies behind the ball too. Do Fulham have the players to unlock those kind of defences?

This is a must win for Chelsea and a must score for Palmer (MID) who has now gone 5 matches without a goal. He and Chelsea more generally had their chances against Villa and you'd back them to create a few more in both this match and their next against Leicester. If results and individual performances don't turn around by the international break then I'd imagine quite a few FPL managers will be reconsidering their selection of the England midfielder and Chelsea's hierarchy might be considering another managerial change!

Chelsea's problem continues to be keeping clean sheets. They haven't done so in the league since GW17 and despite owning half the goalkeepers on the planet, they don't seem to be able to find a man to stand inbetween the posts who hasn't got a massive hole in his chest. I noted a couple of weeks ago that Snachez (GK) had more errors leading to a goal than any other keeper this season and Jorgensen (GK) seems to have taken on the challenge.

With a couple of injury problems and a lack of depth upfront, Chelsea have been forced to play Neto (MID) out of position as their central striker and he could therefore prove a decent option at least for the next couple of weeks. He's £6.2 mil and owned by fewer than 1% of teams.

Everton have not only started winning games but they're suddenly scoring goals too. 14 in their last 6 Premier League matches to be precise having scored just 15 goals in the 20 games prior to that. Given Brentford's desire to play attacking football, particularly at home, then you'd expect more goals from both sides in this one too.

Mbeumo (MID) and Wisssa (FWD) were unsurprisingly on the scoresheet as Brentford thrashed Leicester last time out. However, if you're looking for a less popular pick from Brentford them Damsgard (MID) has already passed the 100 point mark for the season and costs just £5.1 mil. The Dane looks like he might get blown over by a strong breeze but his 10 assists this season is bettered only by Mo Salah.

Beto (FWD) continues to be a real handful upfront for Everton. Only Mbeumo and Bournemouth's Dango have carried more goal threat over the last 5 GWs. With all of Everton's other attacking options out for the foreseeable future then FPL managers should be confident that he'll remain in the starting XI for some time to come.

United have been really poor at home of late but this is surely a game they have to win. Ipswich haven't won since the turn of the year and have conceded 4+ goals in 3 of their league matches in that time.

Delap (FWD) is supposedly a target for United over the summer and he does have more league goals than Hojlund (FWD), Zirkzee (FWD) and Garnacho (MID) combined this season.

Whether that means you should rush out to buy him or any of the United players is debatable. With this game against Ipswich and then an away trip trip versus Leicester in GW29, United players should get some points on the board but their performances of late would make any additional FPL acquisition high risk.

A massive game for the immediate hopes of both these teams.

The pundits are being quick to write Arsenal off following their defeat to West Ham but 3 days is a long time in football and by the end of Wednesday night it's not impossible that they'll be claiming the title race is back on!

For their part, Forest need to arrest their run of 3 loses in 4 games which has seen any notion of them 'doing a Leicester' quickly evaporate. Instead, they'll be looking nervously over their shoulder at a sizeable chasing pack that are all competing for the Champions Leage.

Arsenal were poor against West Ham, taking 20 shots but managing just 2 on target. Their depleted frontline will be given another chance simply because they don't really have any other options beyond Trossard (MID) and Nwaneri (MID).

Forest can at least take comfort in the fact that their last home appearance saw them put 7 past Brighton. Equally, even through their poor spell of form of late, they haven't stopped scoring with the ever popular Wood (FWD) and Gibbs-White (MID) proving very consistent points getters over the last couple of months.

With relatively easy fixtures coming through the Spring for both clubs, FPL managers will be keen to see how players on either side perform between now and the international break with a view to potentially strengthening their options from Forest and/or Arsenal in the near future.

Spurs mini-revival continued with a 3rd straight league win at Ipswich last time out. City meanwhile have had a tough February with defeats against Arsenal, Liverpool and Real Madrid underlining the fact that they aren't an elite squad at this moment in time.

Liverpool managed to hold them at arms length with relative ease on Sunday and City now face a team that put 4 past them in the reserve fixture earlier in the season.

Haaland (FWD) missed the game at the weekend due to injury which was a significat blow considering that he'd blanked only once in the previous 7 GWs. He may well return for this one though.

Spurs themselves have had a number of players coming back to fitness of late. Maddison (MID) scored twice against City earlier in the season and has managed 15 goal involvements so far in 25/26 despite only starting in 16 games. It suggests if you can pick him at the right time then he's got the potential to be a really effective FPL asset.

Similarly, Johnson (MID) returned to the first XI at the weekend and has recorded 9 league goals in 17 starts. There are only 3 midfielders who have managed a better return in the league so far this season in Palmer, Mbeumo and Kluivert and they have all either played significantly more games and/or their stats are boosted by penalties.

While I've been keen to play down the idea that the title race is over just yet, I do think that if Liverpool win this game and Arsenal drop points at Forest that it is a done deal.

Newcastle though will be tough opponents albeit ones who have been a bit leaky at the back of late. They haven't kept a clean sheet in the league since a 3-0 home win against lowly Wolves and since then they've conceeded 14 goals in 5 Premier League matches. They'll certainly need to tighten up versus Salah et al if they want to get something from this match.

The game within the game is of course the battle of the golden boot with Isak (FWD) looking to close the gap on Salah (MID) at the top. Given that those 2 players are owned by 57% and 72% of FPL teams respectively, it won't however, be where your head to head is likely to won or lost.

Gordon (MID), the former Everton player that Liverpool were keen to sign 12 months ago, has goal involvements in his last 3 appearances versus the Reds. Szoboszlai (MID) got a goal and assist versus City, the third time this season he's returned multiple involvements in a game, it's the barren patches in between that put FPL managers off.

Leicester are absolutely desperate for a win in this match and I'd imagine that another poor performance could well spell the end of the line for RvN's Premier League management career. They also got a pretty tough run of fixtures over the next couple of months before they play Ipswich, Southampton and Wolves at the very back end of the season. They need to get themselves into a position so that something from those games gives them a chance of survival.

Both these teams are better suited to not having the ball!

West Ham looked very effective on the break against Arsenal with Kudus (MID) and Bowen's (MID) pace stretching the Arsenal back line. I doubt they'll get as much room in behind against this Leicester side but even a deep Foxes defence is having trouble keeping sides out at present and the West Ham captain does have 5 goal involvements in 7 previous matches against them.

Division 1

GW26 Results

Team	Hive Account	Score	Score	Team	Hive Account
Likodra FC	@teofilex11	89	67	Skander	@skanderh
Suffragette City	@talesfrmthecrypt	77	71	Solat FC	@reservedsingle
Shamzy F.C	@shamzy	87	90	@BlockchainFPL H2H	@blockchainfpl
NONZ FC	@nonsowrites	87	82	Hungry Lions	@gvkanten
Legion fc	@b0s	84	74	Whyte FC	@Ipalibo
FC McKane	@mckane	83	81	INEOS REVIVAL	@deniskj
Herbae	@herbae	60	72	Vickoly FC	@vickoly
Espressos	@aaalviarez	63	71	Lazz	@martinlazizi
Creekside FC	@pappyelblanco	75	62	Simcard FC	@akomoajong
YAGMAN FC	@yagman01	67	116	HallAnd Oats FC	@thoth442

GW27 Fixtures

Team	Hive Account		Team	Hive Account
Skander	@skanderh	v	YAGMAN FC	@yagman01
HallAnd Oats FC	@thoth442	v	Creekside FC	@pappyelblanco
Simcard FC	@akomoajong	v	Espressos	@aaalviarez
Lazz	@martinlazizi	v	Herbae	@herbae
Vickoly FC	@vickoly	v	FC McKane	@mckane
INEOS REVIVAL	@deniskj	v	Legion fc	@b0s
Whyte FC	@Ipalibo	v	NONZ FC	@nonsowrites
Hungry Lions	@gvkanten	v	Shamzy F.C	@shamzy
@BlockchainFPL H2H	@blockchainfpl	v	Suffragette City	@talesfrmthecrypt
Solat FC	@reservedsingle	v	Likodra FC	@teofilex11

Division 2

GW26 Results

Team	Hive Account	Score	Score	Team	Hive Account
ARFANTASY FC	@arfa	72	67	Akatsuki	@seki1
Hungry Lions	@gvkanten	82	63	ACX United	@pvmihalache
Stevenson FC	@stevenson7	74	40	Emeka4	@emeka4
OG Squad	@graat	63	85	Barca	@muka-vybz
HIVE KILL STEEM	No Hive Account Linked	34	45	Smiley Team	@carita-feliz
The Dream Team	@spidersilk	22	78	Yahuzah	@yahuzah
KELLYMAN FC	@justfavour	89	89	Chris Football Club	@hiveworld
Cygnus FC	@donjaun	54	49	The Cella’s	@blanchy
The Urge	@kenzzi	87	76	Hadji	@hadji
SportsNerd	@saf-ul-wahab	55	27	ArgyeeChitthuFC	@agct1226
ALH	No Hive Account Linked	57	69	Change Name	No Hive Account Linked
Change Name	No Hive Account Linked	48	44	foloxfc	@thelonegreywolf
Tangram	@desro	60	82	Coldone	@nasfyneboy92
Holozing.com	@acidyo	45	78	Formidable Milano	@damolexy
Happyboys FC	@happyboy1	74	67	Hornstra XI	@elvis123
Ballgasms	@preshpresh	61	53	The Beast	@iamchuks
Outside of Time	No Hive Account Linked	44	84	RHYDA	@rhyda1
Headies	@Headies	43	93	rubilu	@rubilu
Trinex fc	@og-gamershub	36	65	Wanderteam	@kelvinpeters
GunnersLoverFC	@nwt93	57	71	samostically	@samostically
Tilia	No Hive Account Linked	54	72	Kane and Unable	@jmehta
Dapomola fc	@dapomolaaaa	91	97	racibo	@racibo
Hiveheadz	@borran	98	51	Micheal Fc	@micheal87
TGIF	@gentleshaid	70	89	Kraken99	@kraken99
Mighty Fc	@twicejoy	68	42	Olawalium FC	@olawalium
Newton Heath FC	@samirich	87	91	Jungle Boy	@george-dee
Diistroyers	@diikaan	97	45	Ifeyemi Fc	@valchiz
Holte Me Close	@stuartcturnbull	80	74	Lame Ducks	No Hive Account Linked
Mollina United	@femisapiens	75	75	Ref's team	@sperosamuel15
11 idiots	No Hive Account Linked	92	34	Monitox	No Hive Account Linked
Tengo Rangers FC	@tengolotodo	71	48	Tricky Trees 2024	@doombot75

GW27 Fixtures

Team	Hive Account		Team	Hive Account
ARFANTASY FC	@arfa	v	Cygnus FC	@donjaun
The Urge	@kenzzi	v	KELLYMAN FC	@justfavour
SportsNerd	@saf-ul-wahab	v	The Dream Team	@spidersilk
ALH	No Hive Account Linked	v	HIVE KILL STEEM	No Hive Account Linked
Change Name	No Hive Account Linked	v	OG Squad	@graat
Tangram	@desro	v	Stevenson FC	@stevenson7
Holozing.com	@acidyo	v	Hungry Lions	@gvkanten
Happyboys FC	@happyboy1	v	Akatsuki	@seki1
Ballgasms	@preshpresh	v	ACX United	@pvmihalache
Outside of Time	No Hive Account Linked	v	Emeka4	@emeka4
Headies	@Headies	v	Barca	@muka-vybz
Trinex fc	@og-gamershub	v	Smiley Team	@carita-feliz
GunnersLoverFC	@nwt93	v	Yahuzah	@yahuzah
Tilia	No Hive Account Linked	v	Chris Football Club	@hiveworld
Dapomola fc	@dapomolaaaa	v	The Cella’s	@blanchy
Hiveheadz	@borran	v	Hadji	@hadji
TGIF	@gentleshaid	v	ArgyeeChitthuFC	@agct1226
Mighty Fc	@twicejoy	v	Change Name	No Hive Account Linked
Newton Heath FC	@samirich	v	foloxfc	@thelonegreywolf
Diistroyers	@diikaan	v	Coldone	@nasfyneboy92
Holte Me Close	@stuartcturnbull	v	Formidable Milano	@damolexy
Mollina United	@femisapiens	v	Hornstra XI	@elvis123
11 idiots	No Hive Account Linked	v	The Beast	@iamchuks
Tengo Rangers FC	@tengolotodo	v	RHYDA	@rhyda1
Tricky Trees 2024	@doombot75	v	rubilu	@rubilu
Monitox	No Hive Account Linked	v	Wanderteam	@kelvinpeters
Ref's team	@sperosamuel15	v	samostically	@samostically
Lame Ducks	No Hive Account Linked	v	Kane and Unable	@jmehta
Ifeyemi Fc	@valchiz	v	racibo	@racibo
Jungle Boy	@george-dee	v	Micheal Fc	@micheal87
Olawalium FC	@olawalium	v	Kraken99	@kraken99