GW26 stats: Glasner wins battle of Assistant Managers

More than 126,000 Fantasy Premier League managers are celebrating a 20-point haul after backing Oliver Glasner (£0.8m) with the Assistant Manager chip. 

Crystal Palace secured a 2-0 win at Fulham handing Glasner a 10-point table bonus in addition to six points for the win and four points for the two goals and clean sheet.

Glasner was the second-most recruited manager ahead of the deadline with Fantasy bosses aware that Palace, five places below their hosts, benefitted from underdog status. 

And while Glasner's side remain 13th in the Premier League table, the Eagles have performed particularly well away from home, with their 22 points on the road double their tally at Selhurst Park. Canny Fantasy managers took full advantage of that fact.

GW26 most-bought Assistant Managers

Mikel Arteta (£1.5m) was the No 1 target snapped up by over 158,000 for Arsenal's home encounter with West Ham United. 

Table bonus wasn't on offer for the Gunners but, on a three-match winning streak and having not lost at Emirates Stadium  all season, Arteta was considered a safe pick. Unfortunately, it didn't turn out that way as West Ham sprung a surprise 1-0 win.

Instead, Graham Potter's (£0.5m) 11,500+ owners claimed the bragging right thanks to an unlikely 19 points.

The other big winners this week were the 16,000 who opted for Vítor Pereira (£0.8m) as they, too, were rewarded with 19 points.

Wolverhampton Wanderers' 1-0 win at AFC Bournemouth earned Pereira his second table bonus win in three matches. 

So far, the three top-scoring assets of the round are all managers, highlighting the potential gains on offer for those using the chip. 

More than 2.4million Assistant Manager chips are in play after another 390,000 people activated it ahead of Friday's deadline - 65 per cent of the total chips deployed for Gameweek 26.

Fabian Hurzeler (£1.1m) was also in demand, seeing his ownership increase by more than 73,000 for Brighton & Hove Albion's meeting with bottom club Southampton. Unlike Arteta's backers, it did all go to plan for those with Hurzeler as the Seagulls secured a 4-0 win over their south coast rivals, resulting in 12 points.

Slot still popular

Despite an ownership drop of more than 170,000, Liverpool's Arne Slot (£1.5m) was still the most-selected manager in Gameweek 26, followed by Unai Emery (£0.8m) and David Moyes (£0.5m).

GW26 most-selected Assistant Managers

For those who activated the Assistant Manager chip ahead of Double Gameweek 24, back-to-back Doubles helped Slot amass 28 points for his owners, thanks to two wins and two draws. The Liverpool head coach added a further 10 points in Gameweek 26 thanks to his team's 2-0 win over Manchester City. 

Having been in the top five since the opening match of the season, Slot hasn't had a single opportunity to earn a table bonus. Nonetheless, he would have surpassed 200 points - the only manager to do so - had the chip been available since Gameweek 1.

Emery, the other manager to have two matches in Double Gameweek 25, has also suffered a slight dip in popularity. There were mixed fortunes for the Aston Villa boss last time out - a draw against Ipswich Town netted just four points but he picked up table bonus from the draw with Liverpool to earn 10 points.

Emery's side hadn't won in six matches heading into their encounter with Chelsea but two second-half goals brought that run to an end as they emerged 2-1 winners. The comeback netted Emery eight points.

Moyes tops the manager standings having accrued 54 points across the last four Gameweeks. That total includes the five points he picked up in Everton's 2-2 home draw with Manchester United on Saturday.

But it could have been double that tally. At half-time, with the Toffees leading 2-0, it looked like Moyes would register a fourth double-figure haul in five matches. However, Everton were unable to hold onto their lead, and an overturned penalty decision in stoppage time denied them the chance of a late win.