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Who are the best under-the-radar players to add to your Fantasy Premier League team for Gameweek 38 of 2025-26?We assess the Opta data to reveal our top picks.
It all comes down to this. We’ve reached the final matchday of 2025-26, so if you’re in with a chance of beating your mates at Fantasy Premier League, this column could make all the difference.
We’ve crunched the Opta data to identify five players you should really consider bringing in down the stretch, despite them currently being picked by fewer than 10% of FPL managers.
GK – Djordje Petrovic | 4.6m | 5.0% Ownership
The final gameweek of the season is the hardest to predict. Common perception is that there are goals galore because the pressure is off. Research has shown that teams with nothing on the line still attack as well as usual without maintaining their standards in defence.
Yet, this didn’t come to pass last season. Anyone expecting a repeat of Boxing Day 1963 will have been very disappointed, as only three of the 10 matches featured at least three goals.
Two of the games in question involved already-relegated teams too. It makes sense to target players who have more than pride at stake.
Bournemouth fit this bill, as Aston Villa’s UEFA Europa League win coupled with a fair chance they finish fifth means sixth could qualify for the UEFA Champions League. Our final goalkeeper selection of the campaign is therefore Djordje Petrovic.
The Cherries are on an incredible run of 17 games without defeat, the longest any club will register in the Premier League this season. In only two of the previous 14 matches have they allowed more than one goal.
Petrovic has obviously contributed hugely to this. Gianluigi Donnarumma is the only goalkeeper included in fewer than 10% of FPL teams who has more clean sheets this season, with 15 to the Serbian’s 11.
Bournemouth finish their remarkable campaign at the City Ground. Only two teams have scored fewer home goals than Nottingham Forest, so don’t be surprised if Andoni Iraola signs off with his team unbeaten for almost half a season.
DEF – Abdukodir Khusanov | 5.4m | 0.7% Ownership
That thing I said earlier about focusing on teams playing for more than pride alone? You can ignore it.
Okay, not entirely. But circumstances dictate that it’s worth considering players from Manchester City, even though their second-place finish is set in stone.
The Etihad Stadium will still be in celebratory mood. City won both domestic cups, plus it looks set to be Pep Guardiola’s final match in charge.
Add in that Aston Villa will be arriving on the back of celebrating winning the Europa League and having already clinched Champions League qualification, and it could be an easy day for City.
One of their recent unsung heroes has been Abdukodir Khusanov, who has started seven of the last eight Premier League matches. Only two teams in the division have conceded fewer goals across this period. The Uzbekistan also started two cup finals, both of which were won to nil.
Their 2-0 loss to Tottenham in their opening home match of the season seems like one of the most ridiculous results of 2025-26 from this vantage point. In their 17 league games at the Etihad since that day, City have won 14, drawn three, and only conceded 10 goals.
Khusanov doesn’t carry a huge goal threat but has had a shot in six of his recent seven league starts. Maybe the time for his first Premier League goal isn’t far off.
MID – Jaidon Anthony | 5.0m | 2.0% Ownership
The Turf Moor faithful have had very little to enjoy this season. Burnley have won just two home matches in the Premier League, both of which occurred against their fellow promoted sides (Leeds and Sunderland).
With Wolves in town on Sunday, the Clarets will not get a better opportunity to thank their fans for their support this season with a victory. The match also offers an opportunity to lay down a marker ahead of a likely Championship promotion battle next season.
While Burnley have only won twice on their own patch, two of their best six games at home for expected goals occurred against Tottenham and West Ham. They can clearly compete with struggling Premier League sides, just not the better ones.
Jaidon Anthony has done more than most to make this happen. His total of 2.80 expected assists leads the squad. It’s in the same ballpark as Morgan Gibbs-White (2.88) and Kaoru Mitoma (2.84), two players who are perceived to have had much better seasons.
Only Zian Flemming (6.18) has amassed more non-penalty xG than Anthony (5.09) for Burnley too. It hasn’t been a very enjoyable season for the Clarets, but they can end it on a relative high and Anthony will likely be central to it if they do.
MID – Jérémy Doku | 6.5m | 6.5% Ownership
Jérémy Doku has had an unusual season. When he scored a cracking goal against Liverpool in November, everyone said he was about to become a regular contributor for Manchester City. His days of dribbles without output were over.
Doku’s next 11 league games? Zero goals and one assist.
He has caught up a little in recent weeks. The 23-year-old scored four goals and assisted the winner at Burnley within his last six league starts. It’s a little surprising Doku hasn’t set up more goals, in fairness.
His total of 59 chances created in open play trails only Bruno Fernandes (95) and is level with Enzo Fernández (59). Pro-rata the figures and not even the assist-record-equalling Fernandes (2.9 per 90 minutes) can match Doku (3.0) for creativity in open play.
No player who costs as little as the City winger has earned more FPL points over the last six gameweeks either. It took longer than expected, but Doku is finishing the campaign like a train. A celebration-weary Villa are unlikely to block the tracks much this weekend.
FWD – Junior Kroupi | 4.6m | 6.6% Ownership
We often consider the difference between a player’s underlying performance and their actual output around here. If someone has had a lot of good chances without scoring recently, they’re probably due a goal soon enough.
But when it reaches the final day, you may as well pick a player in form. Someone who should be brimming with confidence. If they’ve outperformed their expected goals for the campaign, there’s not much time for them to regress now.
Junior Kroupi is a perfect example. He has scored 4.86 goals more than his xG, a total only topped by Antoine Semenyo (+5.01) and Harry Wilson (+4.28). He has also been red hot of late with five goals in his last seven games, behind just Gibbs-White and Ollie Watkins (both six) in this period.
His recent strikes have come against the likes of Arsenal and both Manchester clubs. Indeed, he effectively settled the Premier League title race by netting against City in midweek. An end-of-season Nottingham Forest won’t intimidate the 19-year-old when he’s in form this rich.
If Bournemouth are to have any hope of overhauling Liverpool, they’ll need to win big. Kroupi is the forward who can help them cap Iraola’s final match in style.
*FPL player values and ownership data accurate as of 21 May 2026
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