Who are the players to add to your Fantasy Premier League team for Gameweek 21 of 2025-26? We assess the Opta data to reveal our top under-the-radar picks.
It’s another tiny gap between gameweeks in Fantasy Premier League, so you have to act fast. Teams have around a 10-day break from league action after this matchday thanks to the FA Cup third round, so the immediate round of fixtures has to be the main concern.
We’ve crunched the Opta data to identify five players you should consider owning, even though they are currently being picked by fewer than 10% of FPL managers.
GK – Caoimhín Kelleher | 4.5m | 8.8% Ownership
Keep watching the skies. It’s a line from an old science fiction film but it also applies to Brentford’s match with Sunderland on Wednesday. The long throw count is going to be off the scale. If you want to see the ball at the Gtech, look up.
The match presents an excellent opportunity for Caoimhín Kelleher to continue his recent form. He is among the top FPL points-scoring goalkeepers anyway, but the Ireland international has recorded the most in his position over the last four matchdays.
In Sunderland, Kelleher will face a team that has scored just five goals in their 10 away matches this season. While they beat Brentford 2-1 at home earlier in the campaign, the Black Cats didn’t score until the 82nd minute. They came very close to being shut out.
It seems remarkable that Sunderland won at Chelsea given their lack of goals on the road. It is to Stamford Bridge that Brentford will head for their following league game.
We’ll have to see how Chelsea set up under a new manager, but with only seven goals in their last five home matches against teams other than Wolves, the Blues haven’t been too potent at the Bridge. Kelleher might have Chelsea looking for yet another new manager before we know it.
DEF – Ian Maatsen | 4.2m | 0.5% Ownership
Clean sheets have been thin on the ground for Aston Villa this season. They have won 10 Premier League matches in which they’ve conceded, while no other club has done this more than six times. Eleven such games was the most any team recorded last season too.
This is part of what made their 11-match winning run in all competitions statistically unlikely. In only one of those games did they not concede a goal and/or allow at least one expected goal.
Irrespective of this record, the fixture list has handed them a chance for a couple of shutouts. Villa are the only team in the Premier League whose next two matches are against sides averaging a maximum of 1.1 goals per game.
The first of those games is against Crystal Palace, which isn’t ideal news. The Eagles have won five of the last six meetings between the two sides in all competitions, drawing the other. However, Oliver Glasner’s men are also winless in their last five league matches at Selhurst Park.
Villa’s following league game sees them host Everton, who have only outscored five teams in 2025-26.
These goal-shy opponents should enable Ian Maatsen to collect some FPL points. He offers a threat offensively too. The Dutch defender averages 1.33 shots per 90 minutes, which is more than the likes of Youri Tielemans (1.21) and John McGinn (1.07).
Among Villa players with at least as many as minutes as Maatsen, he ranks fourth for expected assists per 90 and joint-fourth for chances created per 90. He could do some damage to the defences of Palace and Everton.
MID – Anthony Gordon | 7.4m | 6.1% Ownership
Newcastle have been very inconsistent this season. Their longest unbeaten run in the Premier League only stretches to four games. Only twice have they won as many as two consecutive matches.
Despite this erratic form, they are closing in on the top five. With successive games against Aston Villa and Liverpool at the end of the month, a long winning run may remain beyond them. But they face Leeds at St James’ Park then travel to Wolves in the next two matchdays so could collect more victories in the short term.
The Magpies’ expected goal difference is the fifth best in the division. The issue is that they have scored below their xG while conceding over it at the back. It’s a combination guaranteed to produce underperformance.
Their main culprit in attack is Anthony Gordon, who has scored 2.27 goals fewer than expected. Just four players in the top flight have underachieved by more. The former Everton man has also only recorded one assist from 2.04 expected assists, though of course that shortfall is down to his colleagues’ finishing woes.
Gordon didn’t feature against Leeds or Wolves earlier this season but two of his best four games for FPL points came against Burnley. He almost scored against Crystal Palace on Sunday, only to see the goal chalked off, and thrives against the strugglers. This could be a big couple of gameweeks for Gordon and Newcastle.
FWD – Mateus Mané | 4.5m | 0.4% Ownership
Could there be anything more wild than buying a Wolverhampton Wanderers player? They have been understandably scarce in this column but Rob Edwards’ side are starting to pick up form.
Wolves lost by a single goal at Anfield, then drew at Old Trafford before thumping West Ham 3-0 in a basement battle on Saturday. Correlation is not always causation, but Mateus Mané made his first three starts in those matches, capping his introduction to the XI with a goal against the Hammers.
Ollie Watkins and Igor Thiago (both with 24) are the only forwards who have earned more FPL points than Mané (16) across the previous three gameweeks. He must be full of confidence so let’s see if he can maintain it against potentially favourable opponents.
Wolves travel to the Hill Dickenson Stadium on Wednesday to face an Everton side that conceded four goals at home to Brentford on Sunday. One goal from Wolves and the natives will get very restless, very quickly.
Edwards’ men then host Newcastle, who have won just twice in 10 away games this season. This pick is very much a punt but it’s easy to see how Mané could continue taking the Premier League by storm over the next two matchdays.
FWD – Richarlison | 6.4m | 7.8% Ownership
With a decent run of results, Tottenham could get back into the race for Champions League qualification. They are only four points behind fifth, after all.
Easier said than done, perhaps, but they have an opportunity to bank some points in the next three matchdays. None of their opponents in that time currently sit above 15th in the league table.
In Bournemouth, West Ham and Burnley, Spurs will be facing three of the four worst teams for goals conceded in 2025-26 (and no prizes for guessing the other club). This run of opposition should be welcomed by Richarlison, who is goalless in his last three matches.
This is not through a lack of trying, though. He had three shots in Tottenham’s 1-1 draw with Sunderland on Sunday, the joint-most of any man on either side. Richarlison has fired off at least two shots in each of the last six matches, with 14 in total and 13 from inside the penalty box across those games.
Only seven other players have taken more than 13 penalty-box shots over the last six matches, five of whom would cost you more to buy. It’s time to cash in on Richarlison with some open defences coming up for him to feast upon.
*FPL player values and ownership data accurate as of 5 January 2026
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The 10% Club: Opta’s Best Under-the-Radar FPL Picks for Gameweek 21 Opta Analyst.
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