The last of the Christmas/New Year game weeks is upon us and I'm sure that the players, managers and possibly even some in the FPL community (especially those creating content) will be glad of a break for the FA Cup this weekend.

Still, there is not the insignificant task of navigating GW21 which sees all sides play across Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday this week.

Injuries, suspensions and just fatigue are likely to be at their peak for a run of fixtures that has seen all Premier League sides play between 5 or 6 times over the past 16 to 18 days.

At the same time, it's difficult to imagine which sides can afford to rest their players.

Arsenal face another big match at home to reigning champions Liverpool and while they look increasingly likely to take the crown this season, Arteta will know that the likes of City won't give up the chase easily.

City themselves will be desperate to get back to winning ways having given up points in their last 2 matches. On paper, they should have beaten both Sunderland and Chelsea but they weren't able to kill off either opposition and now find themselves 6 points adrift.

You've got 2 managerless clubs in Chelsea and United who face potentially tricky away matches. Chelsea showed the quality that they posses in snatching a late point at the Ethiad while United showed the inconsistency that has plagued them for years. A good win at home to Newcastle followed by dropped points to Wolves and Leeds. Wins in those matches would have taken them 4th but a new manager would need to see out January with games against City and Arsenal.

At the bottom, West Ham are in full crisis mode. New manager Nuno can take some of the blame but quite frankly the Hammers don't possess the caliber of player to compete at this level. They became the first team to lose to Wolves this season and now face another 6 pointer at home to Notts Forest.

As for Wolves, it's surely too little too late but if they can string together some results then at least they can shake off the tag of worst Premier League season ever (Derby with 11 points in 07/08). They travel to Everton who themselves need a big performance after conceding 4 at home to Brentford last time out.

All in all, it means that picking 'easy fixtures' from which to score points continues to look tough at present. Over the Christmas/New Year period to date, only the current top 4 plus Brentford and Fulham have managed to pick up back to back wins. When you then factor in that both City and Liverpool have drawn their last 2 fixtures and Villa and Arsenal played each other in GW19 then establishing fixture difficulty as means for selecting players over a sustained period has become next to impossible.

Personally, I see this week being tough again and probably one that we'll all have to suffer before things start to settle down through the later part of January.

Division 1

GW20 Results

Team	Hive Account	Score	Score	Team	Hive Account
Legion fc	@b0s	42	48	Hungry Lions	@gvkanten
YAGMAN FC	@yagman01	63	53	Spero FC	@sperosamuel15
Likodra FC	@teofilex11	48	37	Skander	@skanderh
@blockchainFPL H2H	@blockchainfpl	61	52	Formidable Milano�	@damolexy
Hijos del VAR	@aaalviarez	61	65	Suffragette City	@talesfrmthecrypt
Jungle squad	@george-dee	40	64	Red Cards of Rohan	@thoth442
Steve Herbae	@herbae	48	42	Cunha Do Sum' 4 Mee	@deniskj
Hiveheadz	@borran	61	47	FC McKane	@mckane
nonzy fc	@nonsowrites	41	47	Shamzy FC	@Shamzy
samostically	@samostically	34	56	Vickoly FC	@vickoly

GW21 Fixtures

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

Division 2

GW20 Results

Team	Hive Account	Score	Score	Team	Hive Account
Mighty Fc	@twicejoy	40	28	Tangram	@desro
SportsNerd	@saif-ul-wahab	45	63	Hasaaland	@earplugs
Rubilu	@rubilu	14	36	Holohive	@acidyo
Micheal Fc	@micheal87	27	51	Stevenson Fc	@Stevenson7
PHOENIX FC	@kelvinpeters	68	17	Wongi	@wongi
Rys FC	@omrys5	33	20	Corkscrew	@deraaa
Bennett's Boys	@olibennett	60	56	Show Not Tel	@jmehta
WIKE BOYS	@gone-hive	38	51	Chrisamuda FC	@hive-world
The Cellas	@blanchy	37	36	Magical McFizzy	@mcfizzy
gentleshaid	@gentleshaid	50	71	Working 9 to 5	@aunt-granny
Garuda XI	@aditya-p	41	30	Los Magos del Balón	@el-maestro
HappyBoys FC	@happyboy1	27	39	Murima	@youngvic
Matz Sels Seashells	@doombot75	55	48	Sportin	@depar
ARFANTASY FC	@arfa	45	62	Noobmaster69	@workingdad
adewalehafis	@adewaleopeyemi63	38	30	ThtHive	@tht
Funwarriors	@Jmis101	46	59	racibo	@racibo
K Empire Balls	@kenechukwu97	54	55	Newton Heath RFC	@samirich
Teamkoko	@myanmarkoko	46	57	Large in the Rear	@chineduokafor
Eh, No, Ah, Meh.	@stuartcturnbull	52	38	TheVulcAns⚓️	@the9thcreator
Pepzerbi	@pepzerbi	24	56	Blue Mooners	@leebennett
Uwabbs FC	@uwabbs001	53	51	Corner	@artniche
Deals on Wheels	@derek-trotter	60	51	Tengo Rangers	@tengolotodo
Kingsleyy	@kingsleyy	24	73	Six and the City	@princekwame
Jeremie Ping Pong	@pingpongfrimpong	58	40	Bankai	@belemo
Könttyrät FC	@pvmihalache	67	36	Akatsuki	@seki1
valchiz Fc	@valchiz	74	51	Cygnus FC	@donjaun
Hadji	@hadji	30	62	Krake99	@kraken99
Emeka4	@emeka4	54	67	� Fire Power� #N/A
Kelsco FC	@kilvnrex	34	23	Amirirans	@amirtheawesome1
Queen dynasty	@princess-dara	42	48	The People's XV	@publioscelta
Itachi FC	@justfavour	44	43	hamzamusic	@Hamza-art
Dapomola Fc	@dapomolaaaa	30	43	Sutter Kane	@suttercane
Blugrana	@ronnie10	44	40	Top 10k?	@elvisking

GW21 Fixtures

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

GW21 Player Picks and Tips

Here are our tips and picks for GW21 of the season...

City to open the floodgates?

A couple of frustrating performances for City have helped limit FPL points for almost every manager over the last couple of weeks.

Chelsea became the first team since Spurs way back in August to limit City to scoring fewer than 2 goals in a home Premier League match but can Brighton follow suit?

The Seagulls have themselves conceded twice in their last 3 away fixtures in the EPL but they also have a good record against City with 2 wins and a draw in their last 3 meetings with Pep's side.

Expected FPL points for forwards GW18-20. Only Sesko is underperformed more than Haaland

If you like working on the law of averages then I guess you'll believe Haaland who has blanked in his last 3 matches is due in GW21.

If not him for the captain's armband then who?

Guimarães having the season of his life

Bruno Guimarães has always flown a little bit under the radar both in the Premier League itself and the FPL. His consistent performances over the last few years must make him one of the best players in the Premier League but he rarely gets mentioned in such terms.

In FPL land he's also having a brilliant season with 11 goal involvements to date, putting him on course to beat his PB of 16 GIs in a season (23/24).

His home form is particularly impressive having blanked just once in Newcastle's last 7 matches at St James Park. In fact, only Haaland has delivered more FPL points at home this season than the Brazilian.

Most FPL points scored in home matches 25/26

However, those of you with keen eyesight will also have noticed that his expected FPL points are way down on anyone else on the list suggesting that he's performing beyond his underlying stats.

Does that mean he won't continue to pick up FPL points at this rate? Yes, it certainly suggests that he's in a bit of a purple patch at present but part of what makes Bruno such a compelling footballer is that he isn't a template player like so many others in the modern game. Instead, he is a massive cult figure on Tyneside and a player with the skill set to pull a rabbit out of his hat, as he has consistently done throughout the 25/26 season.

Is the best course of action, no action?

I'm honestly struggling to find many other tips for GW21.

I could tell you to go with Everton defenders at home to Wolves but then again this is a Toffees side who just shipped 4 goals at home to Brentford and a Wolves team whose performances over the last few weeks merited them picking up a first win of the season.

United away at Burnley could be one to target but while the Clarets aren't picking up points, Turfmoor continues to be a tough place to get comfortable wins and bank easy FPL points.

You'd also be trusting that United will turn up! Will Amorim's departure have a positive impact on the squad? With games to come against City and Arsenal, any perceived benefit of bringing in United players for this match might be short lived.

Perhaps the best course of action in GW21, even if your side is struggling to pick up points, is to do nothing! Bank the free transfer rather than making a sideways movement that will cost you flexibility in the medium term.

What changes are you making for GW21?