Welcome to our Festive FPL Cheat Sheet, previewing the key things you need to know about the busy Christmas schedule.
There&#8217;s just 10 days in between the Gameweek 18 and 21 deadlines and with so much football to be played in a short space of time, rotation and injuries have the potential to cause plenty of chaos for FPL managers to deal with.
Delve deeper into the week&#8217;s talking points in our <a href="https://www.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/fantasy-premier-league-ultimate-guide-fpl-tips">Ultimate Guide to FPL </a>&#8211; but use this cheat sheet as your quick go-to summary.

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<h3>🤖 Hub AI quick summary 🤖</h3>
Simplicity and speed are among Fantasy Football Hub&#8217;s core values, so many of our articles this season will come with a quick &#8216;Hub AI&#8217; summary for those who want the answer &#8211; fast.
Read the full article for the detailed picture &#8211; and listen to an audio summary 👇
<ul>
<li>🔮Erling Haaland leads the way for predicted points over the festive period &#8211; no player is within 1.5 points in any given gameweek</li>
<li>📅Liverpool&#8217;s next two fixtures are unmatched, with Aston Villa&#8217;s improving from Gameweek 20</li>
<li>♻️Matheus Cunha is among the replacement options for the injured Bruno Fernandes</li>
</ul>

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<h2>Who has the best and worst fixtures over the next four gameweeks?</h2>
West Ham, Everton and Manchester United top the Hub&#8217;s fixture ticker up to Gameweek 21.
It&#8217;s a differing picture for numerous teams, with different entry and exit points.
Liverpool&#8217;s immediate fixtures couldn&#8217;t get much better, with two great home games against Wolves and Leeds, but the following away trips look tougher before Burnley (H).
In contrast, Aston Villa&#8217;s next two against Chelsea (A) and Arsenal (A) put them bottom of the ticker &#8211; but from Gameweek 20, their fixture run will bring their players into our thinking.
🤖 <a href="https://www.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/my-team/transfers">Your AI-recommended transfers </a> 🤖
Newcastle look strong between Gameweek 19 and 21 and even Manchester United (A) this week could be better than it looks amid the Red Devils&#8217; midfield injury crisis and Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) absentees.
Brentford and Everton defenders are solid bets, with both teams having consistently targetable fixtures.
Brighton are among the worst-rated sides over the next four but West Ham (A) and Burnley (H) in the middle offer a reason to hold onto their assets.
<div id="attachment_76611" style="width: 1034px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-76611" class="size-large wp-image-76611" src="https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/GW18-21-fixtures-1024x401.jpg" alt="The top of the Hub's fixture ticker up to Gameweek 21" width="1024" height="401" srcset="https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/GW18-21-fixtures-1024x401.jpg 1024w, https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/GW18-21-fixtures-300x117.jpg 300w, https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/GW18-21-fixtures-768x301.jpg 768w, https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/GW18-21-fixtures-1536x601.jpg 1536w, https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/GW18-21-fixtures-1080x423.jpg 1080w, https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/GW18-21-fixtures.jpg 1674w" sizes="(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" />The top of the Hub&#8217;s fixture ticker up to Gameweek 21</div>
<h2>FPL Gameweek 18-21 tips: Predicted points and transfer targets</h2>
Erling Haaland leads the <a href="https://www.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/predictions">Hub AI</a> predicted points chart by nine points ahead of Matheus Cunha.
No player gets within 1.5 predicted points of the Norwegian in any gameweek during this period, with the gaps widest in Gameweek 20 and 21.
There&#8217;s little to split Arsenal midfielders Bukayo Saka and Declan Rice, offering FPL managers a potential route to saving money and beefing up their benches in case of unexpected issues.
Liverpool&#8217;s next two fixtures help Hugo Ekitike to be the second best forward option, while it&#8217;s security of minutes that keeps Antoine Semenyo in the top 10 despite Bournemouth having some challenging games.
Outside the top 10, Jarrod Bowen, James Tarkowski or Michael Keane and Morgan Rogers (from Gameweek 20) are all transfer considerations given the fixtures.
<div id="attachment_76612" style="width: 850px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-76612" class="size-full wp-image-76612" src="https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/Predicted-points-GW18-21.jpeg" alt="Predicted points for Gameweek 18-21" width="840" height="690" srcset="https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/Predicted-points-GW18-21.jpeg 840w, https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/Predicted-points-GW18-21-300x246.jpeg 300w, https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/Predicted-points-GW18-21-768x631.jpeg 768w" sizes="(max-width: 840px) 100vw, 840px" />Predicted points for Gameweek 18-21</div>
<h2>FPL team news: Fernandes injury the first challenge</h2>
The busy period has yet to begin but there&#8217;s already been a major injury issue to deal with.
Bruno Fernandes suffered a hamstring injury in Gameweek 17 and looks a doubt for at least a portion of the festive season.
In around a quarter of teams, the news has already triggered significant transfer activity &#8211; and FPL managers will be lucky if they get through the coming gameweeks without more headaches.
We discuss the <a href="https://www.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/bruno-fernandes-injury-latest-fpl-replacements">best Fernandes replacements in this dedicated article</a> but as can be seen above, it&#8217;s teammate Cunha who is most fancied by Hub AI.
Keep an eye on our predicted lineups article throughout the coming days and weeks for the latest news.
<ul>
<li><a href="https://www.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/premier-league-predicted-lineups">FPL team news and predicted lineups</a></li>
</ul>
<div id="attachment_74577" style="width: 1034px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-74577" class="size-full wp-image-74577" src="https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/GettyImages-2232926004-1.jpg" alt="" width="1024" height="683" srcset="https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/GettyImages-2232926004-1.jpg 1024w, https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/GettyImages-2232926004-1-300x200.jpg 300w, https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/GettyImages-2232926004-1-768x512.jpg 768w" sizes="(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" />Bruno Fernandes. Picture by Getty Images</div>
<h2>FPL chips: Refresh coming</h2>
Gameweek 19 is the last opportunity to use the first Wildcard, Triple Captain, Free Hit and Bench Boost of the season.
After that, FPL managers will be able to use their second set of chips &#8211; but caution is advised.
<a href="https://www.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/fpl-blank-double-gameweek-guide">Blank and double gameweeks</a> will dictate how best to use them, so we would advise keeping hold of them for now.
Injuries could tempt some into an early Wildcard but bigger challenges may lie ahead, with the schedule for the first blanks and doubles not set for some time.
Our <a href="https://www.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/fpl-chip-strategy-guide">FPL Chip Strategy Guide</a> article will be updated early in the new year.
<div id="attachment_73561" style="width: 730px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-73561" class="size-full wp-image-73561" src="https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/FPL-chip-strategy.jpg" alt="" width="720" height="377" srcset="https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/FPL-chip-strategy.jpg 720w, https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/FPL-chip-strategy-300x157.jpg 300w" sizes="(max-width: 720px) 100vw, 720px" />FPL chip strategy</div>
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Festive FPL Cheat Sheet: Gameweek 18-21 tips

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