Welcome back to the HIve FPL for game week 7 of the 25/26 season!

Quick reminder - There's a Friday night game for GW7 so get your changes and transfers in asap!

Last week we anticipated a strong usage of chips across our leagues and the managers didn't disappoint as they jumped on the opportunity to triple captain Haaland who delivered a whopping 16 points against Burnley courtsey of 2 very late goals.

FPL in general saw the trip captain chip used a record number of time (over 800k players in GW6) for a single game week. Those who used it got a massive boost in the classic league and essentially made themselves unbeatable in head to heads against sides without it.

In fact the highest points tally that any Hive FPL side managed last week without giving Haaland the armband was 56 points delivered by @deraaa who bucked the trend by captaining Salah and leaving Haaland as VC. Meanwhile the top score for a side that didn't include Haaland full stop was @herbae's 49 points. A very decent return in an otherwise difficult week but it dropped him from a top 10 spot down to 19th as rivals around him benefited from those additional Haaland points.

In fact, 27 of the current top 50 sides in the Hive FPL classic league had Haaland as captain last week with a further 11 managers using their triple captain on him to excellent effective.

It does mean that there are some gaps opening up even at this early stage of the season. Top placed @stuartcturnbull is now 100 points clear of 61st placed @blockchainfpl who of course finished last season in 2nd. Still a very long way to go but a definite need for some teams to start picking up points.

In the head to head leagues, 6 sides went into GW6 looking to extend their unbeaten run but only 3 came out the other side unscathed.

Unbeaten in the league are...

Division 1

GW6 Results

GW7 Fixtures

Division 2

GW6 Results

GW7 Fixtures

Is Haaland a must have (again)?

On the basis of last week the answer is a resounding yes!

The big man started the season in 2.2mil FPL squads, that's about 17% of teams but is now already in just shy of 6 million sides, 55% of teams and that number only appears to be going up as we get towards the GW7 deadline.

In fact, we know it's gone up significantly because his price has increased again to 14.4mil and on current market trend is set to rise once more by the time we get to GW8 if not before. Bear in mind that he started last year at a record 15mil so by that measure he's actually on sale at the moment...

Of course the real big draw for him at the moment is that other premium players aren't performing.

Salah has just 4 goal involvements this season and was rested/dropped for Liverpool's Champions League game in Istanbul on Tuesday. It's likely he'll return to the side at the weekend but Liverpool, despite still being top, aren't really playing with any fluency and face a couple of top 4 opponents over the next month.

With Cole Palmer out injured, Saka just making his way back into the Arsenal starting XI and Isak similarly not having many minutes under his belt then managers are only left with one option to spend their money on...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cixr-7fMWwU

It does however mean that we're back to a similar position as the 22/23 and 23/24 seasons where having Haaland isn't really an advantage because everyone else has got him too!

While he looks like a shoo-in for the next 3 weeks, it might be worth considering an exit strategy beyond that as City take on Bournemouth, Liverpool and Newcastle.

Tempted by Villa players?

That's right, just as you became fed-up with your Villa attacking options they go and stick 3 past Fulham in the space of 14 minutes!

This week they play at home again versus a Burnley side whose away form has looked pretty fragile to date. The Clarets have conceded 11 goals on their travels so far this season (3 matches) and while you wouldn't expect them to pick up points away at Spurs and the 2 Manchester clubs, getting hammered on a weekly basis isn't great for morale!

However, before you rush back in for the likes of Watkins and Rogers remember how poor Villa have been so far this season (Morgan Rogers doesn't look interested in my opinion) and that they played away in Europe on Thursday night.

Villa's league results following their Champions League group stage games in 24/25

Following their 8 Champions League group matches last season, the Villans won just 1 league match in the proceeding weekend fixtures, scoring only 6 goals in the process with half of them coming in the 3-1 win they managed against Wolves in September. Coincidentally a mirror of the result they achieved after their first European game this season against Fulham...

United stars to deliver or Sunderland to prove value for money?

United had a very difficult run of fixtures at the start of the 25/26 campaign but now enter into some games where you'd be backing their players to pick up points on a regular basis.

Add to that, the fact that they don't have any midweek football to contend with and this is a squad of players who you would assume should be both fit and well drilled in the style of play their manager wants to deliver, right?

United's most popular midfield options in Fernandes, Mbeumo and Cunha have contributed just 3 goal involvements between them in 6 weeks. Yes, that figure is impacted by the fact that Fernandes has missed 2 penalties so far this season and it will be interesting to see who takes the next one for United with Mbeumo waiting in the wings. However, United continue to look like a team more likely to under-perform their stats than over-perform them as evidenced by the above.

By contrast, Sunderland are flying and look by far the best of the promoted clubs to date. Granit Xhaka has already recorded 3 assists this season, no doubt helped by the fact that his teammates, unlike United's players, don't suffer from collective brain farts when presented with a goal-scoring opportunity. He's also recorded 6 DC points too, equal 2nd best for a midfielder in the FPL this year.

At the same time, keeper Roefs continues to be a hero between the posts and has picked up more points than any other goalie to date. Contrast that to United, who might be better off asking if they can just play rush-goalie for the remainder of the season and sticking Mason Mount in there - he's played pretty much every other position this year!

Despite the public backing of Amorim, this feels like a defining match in his reign. It has been nearly a year since his appointment and I don't think anyone in their right mind could claim that this United side has gotten better during that time. However, their home performances so far in 25/26 have been pretty good and so the crowd remains with the side, at least for now...

Arsenal good value against the Hammer and beyond

I'm sure that most managers will want to get at least a couple of Arsenal players in their XI for the home match against West Ham.

Not only are you looking at a match this week between one of the most effective sides from dead ball situations versus one that has been all over the place, particularly from corners so this season but the Gunners fixtures more generally are looking good for the foreseeable future.

Arsenal's next 5 games

There is no such thing as an easy game in the Premier League but Arsenal's next 5 matches look like very decent opportunities for their players to get points on the board.

Arsenal defenders will be the obvious picks for FPL sides while the injury to Madueke and the return of Saka might well see the later become a popular option.

Gyökeres has hardly had a sniff against higher class opposition recording xG of precisely zero against City, Liverpool and United. He may find a few of these defenses more at his level!

Who are you picking in your team for GW7?