Who should be your next Assistant Manager in FPL?

The Scout highlights the opportunities available for managers who have activated their Assistant Manager chip prior to Gameweek 26 of Fantasy Premier League.

Who is the best Assistant Manager for Gameweek 26?

If you are one of the 1.1million managers who activated their Assistant Manager chip in Gameweek 24 to profit from back-to-back Double Gameweeks, there is now just one Gameweek remaining to earn more points.

There are two tactics to consider with the Assistant Manager chip.

You can pick a top-five club with a favourable fixture, which is a safe tactic but has a low ceiling for points.

Alternatively, you can adopt a riskier approach and target managers from clubs who can earn table-bonus points. This tactic has a higher ceiling.

Here you can see the six clubs (in bold) whose manager can earn table-bonus points against a team who are ranked at least five places higher in the Premier League table. 

Gameweek 26 fixtures

Leicester v Brentford
Everton v Man Utd
Arsenal v West Ham
AFC Bournemouth v Wolves
Fulham v Crystal Palace
Ipswich v Spurs
Southampton v Brighton
Aston Villa v Chelsea
Newcastle v Nott’m Forest
Man City v Liverpool

Arteta and Iraola the most reliable

In a Gameweek where six of the top nine clubs go head-to-head, Arsenal’s Mikel Arteta (£1.5m) and AFC Bournemouth’s Andoni Iraola (£1.1m) have very favourable home fixtures against bottom-six opponents.

Arsenal, who host West Ham United, are the only side who are yet to lose a home match this season, winning eight and drawing four of their 12 outings at Emirates Stadium.

Bournemouth, meanwhile, have lost only one of their last 13 outings ahead of their encounter with Wolverhampton Wanderers. 

Pick Frank v Leicester?

Another tactic is to pick managers of clubs who face promoted opponents, as this offers the opportunity of points for wins and should also ensure plenty of goals.

Brentford’s Thomas Frank (£0.8m), Tottenham Hotspur’s Ange Postecoglou and Brighton & Hove Albion’s Fabian Hurzeler (both £1.1m) all play promoted clubs in Gameweek 26.

Of the trio, Frank’s record against such opponents is by far the best ahead of the Bees’ visit to Leicester City. 

Brentford have won all four of their matches against promoted clubs, scoring 16 goals in the process. That’s more wins and goals than Spurs and Brighton’s records combined. 

Brentford, Spurs and Brighton's record v promoted clubs 24/25

Glasner the best for table bonus

As was shown in the schedule earlier in this article, only six managers are able to collect table-bonus points in Gameweek 26.

However, five of those six sit in the bottom five places in the league and are struggling for form. Crystal Palace’s Oliver Glasner (£0.8m), on the other hand, could be a great alternative away to Fulham.

The Eagles have won five of their last six road trips, drawing the other one. In away matches this season, they have conceded only 11 goals – the best record in the league.

So, who is the best pick for Gameweek 26?

Arsenal’s home record makes Arteta the most likely to reward managers who are looking for a reliable, relatively low return, while Palace’s record on the road suggests Glasner is the likeliest to profit from table-bonus points.

What if you have TWO Gameweeks left with the chip?

If you still have two Gameweeks remaining with your Assistant Manager chip, then it makes sense to also factor in the Gameweek 27 schedule before making any decision.

Arteta, Iraola, Frank and Glasner were marked out as the best options for Gameweek 26 and therefore carry forward in the analysis. 

The Arsenal manager undoubtedly has the toughest fixture of the quartet, though, in Gameweek 27. The Gunners visit Nottingham Forest, whereas Brentford are at home to Everton, and Bournemouth are away to Brighton, while Palace visit Fulham.

Again, the statistics look promising for both Frank and Iraola to pick up wins and goals.

In home matches, Brentford have scored a league-high 29 goals and have amassed 23 points, just three fewer than Manchester City, for example.

Bournemouth, meanwhile, rank second for goals scored in away matches and are the most in-form team of the trio.

With Glasner, there is the prospect that he might be able to collect table-bonus points in Gameweek 27 against Aston Villa. But that is dependant on results in Gameweek 26, because Palace are currently only four places behind Villa and that gap could either be increased or reduced over the weekend.

That factor adds even more doubt to the riskier of the two approaches.

At present, only two clubs can definitely collect table-bonus points in both Gameweek 26 and Gameweek 27 - Wolves’ Vitor Pereira (£0.8m) and Southampton’s Ivan Juric (£0.5m). Both are on their travels in Gameweek 27, with Wolves facing Fulham and Saints up against Chelsea.

Of the two, Pereira is by far the better pick. The Portuguese’s best three-match rolling score this season is 41 points, the third-best total in the league, compared with Juric's league-low 12 points.

So, who is the best pick across Gameweeks 26-27?

Bournemouth’s overall form marks Iraola out as the most likely to reward managers across  the next two Gameweeks.

But if you’re willing to accept the added risk to the table-bonus strategy, Glasner is the one who could deliver far bigger hauls.