Premier League: Team of Round 26

So then, back-to-back hat-tricks for Sergio Aguero in our full Premier League fantasy game. It's been incredible to watch his recent performance levels but also quite annoying if, like me, you assumed you'd missed the boat after not picking him for Round 25 so also avoided him for Round 26.

Aguero is again the ideal captain of this TOTR which features one too many Manchester United players and, incredibly, not just one Burnley striker but two! The below graphic is certainly an image to save if you're a Burnley fan.

Here is this week's Team of the Round along with a quick run-through of each player. The best possible team you could have selected would have scored one point fewer with Crystal Palace's Wilfried Zaha replacing Anthony Martial.

Community average score in Round 26: 53.5
Community best in Round 26: 106
TOTR score: 139
Theoretical best legal score: 138

Defence

Hugo Lloris starts in goal in this week's TOTR and he managed a very impressive 10 points considering he didn't keep a clean sheet! The Frenchman made 9 saves in total against Leicester including a penalty save vs. Jamie Vardy. In front of Lloris is a back three consisting of Liverpool's Andy Robertson, Wolves' Willy Boly and Man United's Phil Jones.

Whilst there were clean sheets for Liverpool and United as they defeated Bournemouth and Fulham respectively, Robertson and Jones feature in this TOTR because of the attacking returns they managed on top of those defensive shutouts. Both players managed an assist with Robertson picking up a Yellow Card to see his tally slightly beneath that of Jones.

As for Boly, the centre-half scored a crucial injury time equaliser against Newcastle last night to make up for his lack of a clean sheet that was ruined by scorer Isaac Hayden (and Rui Patricio who probably should have saved his effort). Of this back three, it is naturally Robertson who stands out as the leading scorer of all defenders in our fantasy game this season though Boly is inside the top 20 and is second only to Matt Doherty in terms of the points accumulated by Wolves defenders.

Midfield

There are four star names in this week's TOTR midfield and you probably don't need me to tell you about the strengths each of them have. Paul Pogba remains a must-pick in each of our fantasy games - there are very few players that compete with him each week in Band 3 of our 5-a-side fantasy game - while Raheem Sterling has been a high-scoring near ever-present for Manchester City this season. That's rare given Guardiola's rotation.

Both of those players managed 13 points in this round after each scoring a brace while Christian Eriksen and Anthony Martial weren't far behind them with 10 points for a goal and an assist each. Of the clubs these midfielders represent, it's Manchester City who probably have the kindest upcoming fixtures though make sure you remember that like Chelsea, Brighton and Everton, they will not play at all in Round 27! Use your transfers wisely and make sure you have a fairly certain starting XI if keeping hold of City players on your bench ahead of R28.

Strikers

Of course, the current Manchester City star to carefully manage around next round's bye is Sergio Aguero who as earlier mentioned is this week's ideal captain due to his hat-trick against Chelsea. The Argentinian could have had 5 against the Blues and looks to be playing better than ever this season. Now the top scoring striker in our fantasy game, it certainly appears wise to own him for City's next three PL fixtures - West Ham, Bournemouth and Watford.

Alongside Aguero is Burnley duo Chris Wood and Ashley Barnes. Helping their team to a very impressive 3-1 win at Brighton, Barnes assisted Wood for the opener before Wood scored again and Barnes took the game out of sight with a penalty after 74 minutes to make it 3-0. If you're confident Burnley will continue their recent strong form, it remains tricky to choose between their strikers as both Wood and Barnes have scored a similar number of points so far this season (72 and 78).

Premier League ideal 5-a-side teams by daily round during R26:

Saturday: Foster, Jones, Pogba, Martial, Wood (51 points)
Sunday: Lloris, Zinchenko, Eriksen, Sterling, Aguero (63 points)
Monday: Dubravka, Boly, Hayden, Traore, Jimenez (26 points)


We now head into another FA Cup weekend meaning there's some time for PL fantasy players to catch their breath again! We resume on the 22nd of February with a rare double Friday night fixture round in the 5-a-side. There will then be four games on the Saturday and two on the Sunday.

Click here to play Premier League Fantasy at Superbru

Click here to play Premier League 5-a-side Fantasy at Superbru