Welcome back to the Hive FPL.

It's a fast turnaround for GW19 as we hit the midway point of the 25/26 season with it all still to play for.

GW18 was a tough week to accumulate points. The average score across the game was 44 points but as predicted the wide spread use of chips before they reset meant that there was a significant amount of variation on how teams did. In Hive FPL, 16 of the top 50 deployed a chip and all but one of them scored above average for the week.

@yagman01 topped the scoring charts by hitting 99 points in GW18 thanks to their bench boost. They would have breached the 100 mark but for the fact that Timber and Esteve both missed out due to injury. In fact, had they have had 2 additional players scoring then they might not have been far off the overall high score for the week across all 12 million FPL sides which was 118.

Other significant movers were @desro who also used their bench boost to score 77 points and take themselves into the top 10. Meanwhile, @nonsowrites triple captain choice of Ekitike didn't really pay off but their selection of Cherki, Wirtz and Van de Ven saw them deliver a score of 83 points that moved them 16 places up the table.

All in all it was not a week in which the template players delivered very much at all. Here is the Hive FPL template side, that is the 11 most popular players amongst teams in our classic league.

Dubravka was the only player to hit double points and the reality is that he is the bench option for most sides.

Semenyo did of course score in what might well be one of his last games for Bournemouth and Saka, Ekitike, Rice and Thiago all got assists but otherwise the popular players had a difficult week.

Even assuming that Dubravka was in the starting XI this team would have delivered just 51 points with Haaland as captain (44 out of the top 50 Hive accounts give him the armband in GW18).

Gameweek 19 weirdly straddles the New Year period with 6 of the fixtures taking place on 30 December then 4 of the matches happening 48 hours later on New Years Day itself.

Is there any advantage to targeting fixtures where the teams have had that extra break? I guess if you are banking on players in those last 4 games being a bit fresher then it means that you also believe that they won't have been out all night on the piss during New Years Eve!

Of the games I've witnessed this weekend, it is evident that some teams and players are looking a bit tired and I can't believe that we won't see some squad rotation coming into GW19, adding to the difficulty of picking up points.

It's also worth considering whether players approaching the limit for yellow cards might either be rested for this week's games or otherwise subbed off to avoid them getting an automatic ban.

At present, the limit is 5 yellow cards but that threshold will rise to 8 yellows at the end of this week. Therefore, if the following players can avoid a booking in GW19 the risk of suspension is deferred until later in the season.

Player	Team	Position	Selected by % of FPL teams
Semenyo	Bournemouth	MID	46.9
Collins	Brentford	DEF	1.6
Caicedo	Chelsea	MID	8.8
Munoz	Crystal Palace	DEF	7.6
Tarkowski	Everton	DEF	8.1
Wilson	Fulham	MID	18.5
Konate	Liverpool	DEF	3.6
Donnarumma	Man City	GKP	10.2
Dorgu	Man Utd	DEF	3.9
Bruno G.	Newcastle	MID	13.5
Anderson	Nott'm Forest	MID	4.7
N.Williams	Nott'm Forest	DEF	3.5
Milenkovic	Nott'm Forest	DEF	3.4
Richarlison	Spurs	FWD	7.7
Porro	Spurs	DEF	12.6
Van de Ven	Spurs	DEF	26.3
Le Fee	Sunderland	MID	1
Xhaka	Sunderland	MID	6.7

The above are by no means all the players who are a yellow away from suspension but they certainly represent the most popular picks in FPL who are walking the tightrope at present.

Division 1

GW18 results

Team	Hive Account	Score	Score	Team	Hive Account
Hungry Lions	@gvkanten	49	44	Skander	@skanderh
Spero FC	@sperosamuel15	58	77	Formidable Milano�	@damolexy
Legion fc	@b0s	37	41	Suffragette City	@talesfrmthecrypt
YAGMAN FC	@yagman01	95	32	Red Cards of Rohan	@thoth442
Likodra FC	@teofilex11	51	41	Cunha Do Sum' 4 Mee	@deniskj
@blockchainFPL H2H	@blockchainfpl	63	39	FC McKane	@mckane
Hijos del VAR	@aaalviarez	52	46	Shamzy FC	@Shamzy
Jungle squad	@george-dee	45	41	Vickoly FC	@vickoly
Steve Herbae	@herbae	48	64	samostically	@samostically
Hiveheadz	@borran	45	83	nonzy fc	@nonsowrites

GW19 Fixtures

Team	Hive Account		Team	Hive Account
Spero FC	@sperosamuel15	v	Hungry Lions	@gvkanten
Legion fc	@b0s	v	Skander	@skanderh
YAGMAN FC	@yagman01	v	Formidable Milano�	@damolexy
Likodra FC	@teofilex11	v	Suffragette City	@talesfrmthecrypt
@blockchainFPL H2H	@blockchainfpl	v	Red Cards of Rohan	@thoth442
Hijos del VAR	@aaalviarez	v	Cunha Do Sum' 4 Mee	@deniskj
Jungle squad	@george-dee	v	FC McKane	@mckane
Steve Herbae	@herbae	v	Shamzy FC	@Shamzy
Hiveheadz	@borran	v	Vickoly FC	@vickoly
nonzy fc	@nonsowrites	v	samostically	@samostically

Division 2

GW18 results

Team	Hive Account	Score	Score	Team	Hive Account
Blugrana	@ronnie10	53	31	Mighty Fc	@twicejoy
Top 10k?	@elvisking	41	42	Dapomola Fc	@dapomolaaaa
Sutter Kane	@suttercane	36	50	Itachi FC	@justfavour
hamzamusic	@Hamza-art	48	27	Queen dynasty	@princess-dara
The People's XV	@publioscelta	44	32	Kelsco FC	@kilvnrex
Amirirans	@amirtheawesome1	35	34	Emeka4	@emeka4
Fire Power	@emekaj	52	33	Hadji	@hadji
Krake99	@kraken99	33	41	valchiz Fc	@valchiz
Cygnus FC	@donjaun	33	54	Könttyrät FC	@pvmihalache
Akatsuki	@seki1	66	67	Jeremie Ping Pong	@pingpongfrimpong
Bankai	@belemo	38	47	Kingsleyy	@kingsleyy
Six and the City	@princekwame	29	54	Deals on Wheels	@derek-trotter
Tengo Rangers	@tengolotodo	39	51	Uwabbs FC	@uwabbs001
Corner	@artniche	38	42	Pepzerbi	@pepzerbi
Blue Mooners	@leebennett	47	46	Eh, No, Ah, Meh.	@stuartcturnbull
TheVulcAns⚓️	@the9thcreator	61	54	Teamkoko	@myanmarkoko
Large in the Rear	@chineduokafor	49	48	K Empire Balls	@kenechukwu97
Newton Heath RFC	@samirich	54	37	Funwarriors	@Jmis101
racibo	@racibo	72	79	adewalehafis	@adewaleopeyemi63
ThtHive	@tht	55	50	ARFANTASY FC	@arfa
Noobmaster69	@workingdad	67	45	Matz Sels Seashells	@doombot75
Sportin	@depar	51	46	HappyBoys FC	@happyboy1
Murima	@youngvic	30	48	Garuda XI	@aditya-p
Los Magos del Balón	@el-maestro	67	35	gentleshaid	@gentleshaid
Working 9 to 5	@aunt-granny	52	49	The Cellas	@blanchy
Magical McFizzy	@mcfizzy	62	46	WIKE BOYS	@gone-hive
Chrisamuda FC	@hive-world	30	65	Bennett's Boys	@olibennett
Show Not Tel	@jmehta	54	39	Rys FC	@omrys5
Corkscrew	@deraaa	32	48	PHOENIX FC	@kelvinpeters
Wongi	@wongi	29	37	Micheal Fc	@micheal87
Stevenson Fc	@Stevenson7	30	31	Rubilu	@rubilu
Holohive	@acidyo	49	48	SportsNerd	@saif-ul-wahab
Hasaaland	@earplugs	56	38	Tangram	@desro

GW19 Fixtures

Team	Hive Account		Team	Hive Account
Mighty Fc	@twicejoy	v	Funwarriors	@Jmis101
K Empire Balls	@kenechukwu97	v	adewalehafis	@adewaleopeyemi63
Teamkoko	@myanmarkoko	v	ARFANTASY FC	@arfa
Eh, No, Ah, Meh.	@stuartcturnbull	v	Matz Sels Seashells	@doombot75
Pepzerbi	@pepzerbi	v	HappyBoys FC	@happyboy1
Uwabbs FC	@uwabbs001	v	Garuda XI	@aditya-p
Deals on Wheels	@derek-trotter	v	gentleshaid	@gentleshaid
Kingsleyy	@kingsleyy	v	The Cellas	@blanchy
Jeremie Ping Pong	@pingpongfrimpong	v	WIKE BOYS	@gone-hive
Könttyrät FC	@pvmihalache	v	Bennett's Boys	@olibennett
valchiz Fc	@valchiz	v	Rys FC	@omrys5
Hadji	@hadji	v	PHOENIX FC	@kelvinpeters
Emeka4	@emeka4	v	Micheal Fc	@micheal87
Kelsco FC	@kilvnrex	v	Rubilu	@rubilu
Queen dynasty	@princess-dara	v	SportsNerd	@saif-ul-wahab
Itachi FC	@justfavour	v	Tangram	@desro
Dapomola Fc	@dapomolaaaa	v	Hasaaland	@earplugs
Blugrana	@ronnie10	v	Holohive	@acidyo
Top 10k?	@elvisking	v	Stevenson Fc	@Stevenson7
Sutter Kane	@suttercane	v	Wongi	@wongi
hamzamusic	@Hamza-art	v	Corkscrew	@deraaa
The People's XV	@publioscelta	v	Show Not Tel	@jmehta
Amirirans	@amirtheawesome1	v	Chrisamuda FC	@hive-world
Fire Power	@emekaj	v	Magical McFizzy	@mcfizzy
Krake99	@kraken99	v	Working 9 to 5	@aunt-granny
Cygnus FC	@donjaun	v	Los Magos del Balón	@el-maestro
Akatsuki	@seki1	v	Murima	@youngvic
Bankai	@belemo	v	Sportin	@depar
Six and the City	@princekwame	v	Noobmaster69	@workingdad
Tengo Rangers	@tengolotodo	v	ThtHive	@tht
Corner	@artniche	v	racibo	@racibo
Blue Mooners	@leebennett	v	Newton Heath RFC	@samirich
TheVulcAns⚓️	@the9thcreator	v	Large in the Rear	@chineduokafor

GW19 Player Picks and Tips

Here are our tips and picks for GW19 of the season...

It's tough at the top

With Arsenal playing Villa and Man City traveling to Sunderland, it's fair to say that getting big points out of some of the sides going well this season and the popular FPL picks amongst those teams is going to be tough in GW19.

Even Liverpool who have snuck up to 4th thanks to an unbeaten run of 6 matches face off against another in form team in Leeds who themselves are unbeaten in their last 5.

With Arsenal having conceded just 4 times at home this season and Sunderland shipping just 8 goals in their 9 matches at the Stadium of Light it seems likely that both the aforementioned games will be tight affairs without many points on offer to the attacking players.

The big question then is should you stick with Haaland as your captain or take a punt elsewhere?

By contrast the game at Anfield is likely to have goals! Both teams have scored in the last 8 league matches involving Leeds while 4 of Liverpool's last 5 games have also seen both teams score. The defensive records of both sides are poor this season while Ekitike and Calvert-Lewin have been popular buys over the last couple of weeks and might both prove viable options for the captain's armband in GW19.

Ekitike and Calvert-Lewin's form over the last 3 GWs makes them viable captaincy options for GW19

With Arsenal playing Liverpool and City versus Chelsea to come in the next couple of weeks then it might well be the case (as it was in GW18) that a lot of the popular picks struggle to deliver big points.

Amorim finally gets that call from the Pope

The United manager once famously said that not even the Pope could get him to change his formation and style of play. Well it appears that some form of divine intervention or possibly just a selection crisis has managed to change his mind!

Amorim fielded what was essentially a 4-2-3-1 against Newcastle with a far more conventional back 4 and 2 holding midfielders instead of the wing backs and a single pivot. It worked and United held out for a 1-0 win over the Magpies.

From an FPL point of view, the players worth watching in this new formation are Dorgu and Heaven.

Dorgu (13) played in a 3 behind a striker versus Newcastle

The former switched from his normal left wing-back position to be one of the three behind Sesko and of course scored the winning goal! FPL managers are always on the look out for a player playing further forward than his stated position with Dorgu's goal + clean sheet + bonus delivering a whopping 17 points in GW18.

Heaven meanwhile has been given his chance thanks to the injuries to Maguire and De Ligt and the loss of faith it would seem in Leny Yoro's abilities at this level. The former Arsenal academy graduate has now started the last 5 United games and while you wouldn't necessarily back Amorim's side to keep many clean sheets at 3.8mil it's difficult to ignore him.

In fact, United (as we've mentioned before) also have a very generous run of fixtures now with back to back to back matches against the 3 promoted sides.

Fixture difficultly favours some

As we've noted above, there are plenty of big games involving the teams in the top third of the table coming up in the next few game weeks but that of course does mean that FPL managers might be able to find value elsewhere.

Newcastle head to relegation threatened Burnley this weekend before embarking on an incredibly busy January that sees them play 9 times. The good news for the Magpies is that they don't need to do much travelling during that period. Their next away game is against Wolves on 18 January and in fact that is the only time they leave Tyneside in the next 7 fixtures after this one.

We know that St James Park is a tough place to play so you'd back them to pick up points against Leeds and Palace while improving on their away record versus the bottom 2.

The Magpies patchy form means that none of their attacking players really stand out but there might be value in targeting defenders. Lewis Hall is back fit and taking his fair share of set-pieces. With Palace (10 goals conceded from set-plays this season), Burnley (8) and Leeds (7) to come then that might prove a useful source of both attacking and defensive returns.

Spurs too have a decent run of matches with the red game against Bournemouth based more on how things stood at the start of the season opposed to now with the Cherries below Tottenham in the current standings.

Again, you'd be backing players here on what they might do as opposed to what they are doing with it being very difficult to know which Spurs side will turn-up on any given weekend.

Richarlison has 3 goal involvements in his last 4 games and in fact has 10 GIs over the entire season. Only 4 players have managed more goal involvements in the 2025/26 season than the Brazilian and they've done so from far more minutes on the pitch than he has been afforded.

Player	Total Goal Involvements	Minutes Played	Mins per GI
Haaland	23	1576	69
Thiago	12	1500	125
Semenyo	12	1530	128
Bruno	12	1489	124
Richarlison	10	1053	105
Ekitike	10	1068	107

10+ goal involvements in 25/26

We saw at a similar stage last season that when afforded a run of games, Richarlison can deliver consistent points hauls. Will that be the case again in 2026?

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Who are you picking in GW19?