FPL Gameweek 27 preview: News, injuries, suspensions, fixtures, picks and analysis

Premier League action is coming thick and fast with a midweek gameweek hot on the heels of an action packed weekend.

If it felt like if there was a title race, Liverpool's statement win at Manchester City and Arsenal's toothless loss at home to West Ham United may have put paid to that with the Reds now 11 points clear at the top having played a game more.

Liverpool and Newcastle United were the only teams to win in the top seven with the congested mid-table getting even closer.

A crucial win for Wolves at Bournemouth saw them move five points above the relegation zone with the bottom three seemingly starting to be cut off at this stage.

Aston Villa's Marco Asensio was the top scorer in Fantasy Premier League (FPL) gameweek 26 with his two goals and bonus points putting him ahead of the rest on 16.

Ahead of each FPL Gameweek, we'll be keeping you up-to-date with all the latest that's going on, including transfers while the windows are open, injury news, suspensions, who's playing who and our in-depth analysis of what you need to be thinking about.

Here's indy100's preview for FPL gameweek 27.

Aston Villa's Marco Asensio was the top scorer in FPL gameweek 26 with his double against Chelsea earning him 16 points / Clive Mason, Getty Images

FPL gameweek 27 picks - what to think about

A reminder the assistant manager chip is available now and managers have a monetary value between £0.5m and £1.5m which players need to budget for.

Bournemouth and Adnoni Iraola could be one to think about from FPL GW29 onwards depending on their form if the chip has not already been redeemed.

Wolves are playing well at the moment despite their league position and have a favourable run coming up in the next few gameweeks too so Vitor Pereira could be another option.

Liverpool's Arne Slot and Newcastle United's Eddie Howe could be strong picks as they've got some decent fixtures coming up - but be mindful of the upcoming blank gameweek for both.

Staying with league leaders Liverpool, the Reds do not have a red gameweek until May.

FPL has four difficulty rankings of fixtures - green (2) is the so-called 'easiest' with this then going through neutral (3), light red (4), and dark red (5), which is what is referred to through this analysis.

Arsenal's injury concerns continue, along with the suspension of Myles Lewis-Skelly for this one, and do not have a green game in the next five.

Is Nottingham Forest's strong run coming to an end? Chris Wood continues racking up the goals for the Reds but Forest have conceded 13 goals in their last four league games with visits of Arsenal and Manchester City to the City Ground up next.

Manchester City only have one green fixture between now and the end of May with their form continuing to be a little erratic by their standards. Newcastle United have Liverpool next but then a kind run of fixtures although there is that blank gameweek coming up for them.

Bournemouth have lost two in their last three, including a surprise home loss to Wolves last time out, but don't have a red fixture until May with Evanilson's return imminent. Chelsea have Southampton and Leicester City both at home in their next two.

Aston Villa have a tricky run but Marco Asensio shone against Chelsea (playing in the number 10 role, his price of £6.0m is something to consider), Brighton have no green fixture for two months and Fulham's next fixture is green before none in their next six.

Brentford have a green fixture next but then none in their next eight with four red fixtures in that.

Spurs' resurgence seems to continue but they do not have a green fixture in their next four which includes games against Manchester City, Bournemouth and Chelsea.

Crystal Palace have no red in their next four but do have a blank gameweek with Daniel Munoz and Jean-Philippe Mateta providing consistent returns of late and Everton have two green fixtures in their next three before five red fixtures in a row.

Manchester United have a mixed run with three green and four red fixtures in their next seven, West Ham United have no red in their next five with Jarrod Bowen hitting form and Wolves have a very good run up until May, with Matheus Cunha finding the back of the net again at Bournemouth.

Ipswich Town have four neutral games coming up, Leicester City have a green gameweek but then none in the next six and Southampton have trips to Chelsea and Liverpool up next but then do not have a red fixture in the seven afterwards.

Bournemouth's Evanilson is back fit and could feature against Brighton / Michael Steele, Getty Images

FPL injuries

Each gameweek, this is a comprehensive guide to players who are out or are a doubt for each club in the order they appear for their club in FPL.

If they have a knock and a chance of playing, this will be reflected (if they have a 75 per cent chance of playing, the number will be by their name in brackets, the same for 50 per cent chance and so on), otherwise they are ruled out.

This is correct at the time of writing.

• Arsenal - Tomiyasu Takehiro, Bukayo Saka, Gabriel Martinelli, Kai Havertz, Gabriel Jesus
• Aston Villa - Pau Torres (25), Tyrone Mings (75), Morgan Rogers (75), Amadou Onana, Ross Barkley (25), Boubacar Kamara
• Bournemouth - Adam Smith, Marcos Sensei, Julian Araujo, Enes Unal
• Brentford - Sepp van den Berg, Rico Henry, Aaron Hickey, Christian Norgaard, Mathias Jensen, Josh Dasilva, Gustavo Nunes, Igor Thiago
• Brighton - Jason Steele, Joel Veltman (50), Lewis Dunk, Ferdi Kadioglu, Igor Julio, James Milner, Danny Welbeck (50)
• Chelsea - Trevoh Chalobah, Wesley Fofana, Benoit Badiashile, Noni Madueke, Romeo Lavia, Omari Kellyman, Nicolas Jackson, Marc Guiu
• Crystal Palace - Chadi Riad, Joel Ward, Cheick Doucoure
• Everton - Nathan Patterson, Seamus Coleman, Dwight McNeil, Orel Mangala, Iliman Ndiaye, Dominic Calvert-Lewin, Armando Broja, Youssef Chermiti
• Fulham - Kenny Tete, Emile Smith Rowe (75), Harry Wilson, Reiss Nelson, Tom Cairney (75)
• Ipswich Town - Christian Walton, Conor Chaplin (75), Jens Cajuste (50), Wes Burns, Kalvin Phillips (50), Julio Enciso, Chiedozie Ogbene
• Leicester City - James Justin (25), Caleb Okoli (75), Ricardo Pereira (25), Abdul Fatawu
• Liverpool - Conor Bradley, Joe Gomez, Alexis Mac Allister (75), Tyler Morton
• Manchester City - Manuel Akanji, John Stones, Rodri, Oscar Bobb (25), Erling Haaland (75)
• Manchester United - Altay Bayindir, Tom Heaton, Lisandro Martinez, Jonny Evans, Luke Shaw, Amad Diallo, Kobbie Mainoo, Mason Mount, Toby Collyer
• Newcastle United - Sven Botman (75), Jamaal Lascelles, Joelinton (75)
• Nottingham Forest - Carlos Miguel (25)
• Southampton - Jan Bednarek, Taylor Harwood-Bellis (75), Juan Larios (25), Adam Lallana, Ryan Fraser (50), Ross Stewart (25)
• Spurs - Cristian Romero, Micky van de Ven, Radu Dragusin, Timo Werner (50), Dominic Solanke, Richarlison
• West Ham United - Vladimir Coufal (25), Lucas Paqueta, Crysencio Summerville, Michail Antonio, Niclas Fullkrug
• Wolves - Emmanuel Agbadou, Yerson Mosquera, Goncalo Guedes (25), Hwang Hee-chan, Rodrigo Gomes, Enso Gonzalez, Leon Chiwome, Sasa Kalajdzic

FPL suspensions

Some players have picked up suspensions or are ineligible to face their parent club after joining a different team on loan.

Again, this is correct at the time of writing.

• Arsenal - Myles Lewis-Skelly
• Bournemouth - Illia Zabarnyi
• Chelsea - Mykhailo Mudryk
• Southampton - Lesley Ugochukwu

Manchester City's Erling Haaland missed the Liverpool loss at the weekend but could be back to feature at Spurs on Wednesday / Alex Pantling, Getty Images

FPL gameweek 27 fixtures

These fixtures kick-off on Wednesday (February 26) at 7.30pm GMT unless stated otherwise.

• Brentford v Everton
• Brighton v Bournemouth (Tuesday, 7.30pm)
• Chelsea v Southampton (Tuesday, 8.15pm)
• Crystal Palace v Aston Villa (Tuesday, 7.30pm)
• Liverpool v Newcastle United (Wednesday, 8.15pm)
• Manchester United v Ipswich Town
• Nottingham Forest v Arsenal
• Spurs v Manchester City
• West Ham United v Leicester City (Thursday, 8pm)
• Wolves v Fulham (Tuesday, 7.30pm)

When does the next FPL gameweek start?

The next FPL gameweek gets underway midweek on Saturday, march with Nottingham Forest v Manchester City kicking off at 12.30pm.

Players can still join in and play and if you've missed it, indy100 has put together some tips and strategies to get you started:

• How to get started in Fantasy Premier League
• The best Fantasy Premier League names and how to change it
• Fantasy Premier League: When is the best time to use chips?

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