Fantrax Finds: Waiver Wire Pickups for Gameweek 26

Fantrax Finds: Waiver Wire Pickups for Gameweek 26

This article is part of our Fantrax Waiver Wire series.

Ahead of each Premier League gameweek, I'll take a look at sub-50 percent rostered players on Fantrax whose situations may have changed or improved, and assess whether or not they are worth a pickup in season-long leagues. 

GOALKEEPER

James Trafford (46-percent rostered): It never feels that great to recommend a goalkeeper coming off a negative six-point performance and a 5-0 loss, but prior to the defeat against Arsenal, Trafford had games of at least 9.5 points in three of four matches. A match against Crystal Palace is one of the few spots to feel confident in Trafford, especially with Michael Olise and Eberechi Eze likely out again for the Eagles.

DEFENDERS

Jakub Kiwior (22 percent): Kiwior is still readily available despite making two straight starts for the Gunners with Oleksandr Zinchenko out injured. Zinchenko could return against Porto, but even if he does, he could be rested at the weekend against Newcastle. Kiwior has scored above 13.75 points in his last two starts and also scored 11.5 points after replacing Zinchenko at halftime against Liverpool.

Use our Fixture Difficulty Ranker to spot easy or tough schedules for the next 10 gameweeks.

Nuno Tavares (one percent): Tavares has taken over left-back for Nottingham Forest, putting together his best performance of the season against West Ham, scoring 12.5 points. While the clean sheet did the heavy lifting in his point total, Tavares is not a zero in attack as he's crossed 11 times and created two chances in the last three starts to go with eight tackles and eight clearances. He has a tough run of fixtures coming up with trips to Aston Villa and Brighton sandwiching a home tilt against Liverpool, but following that stretch is an easier run against Luton Town, Crystal Palace and Fulham.

MIDFIELDERS

Facundo Buonanotte (21 percent): Buonanotte has started seven straight matches, scoring double-digit points in three of his last si which included scoring a goal in 65 minutes against Sheffield United on Sunday. While Buonanotte is not a prolific shooter or creator, he's playing in the brilliant Brighton attack. Brighton are also in an excellent stretch of their schedule with games against Everton, Fulham and Nottingham Forest the next three gameweeks.

Albert Sambi Lokonga (17 percent): Lokonga is a floor option for managers needing depth at midfield having started the last eight league matches for Luton Town and scoring at least 5.5 points in five of them. He's only had two goal involvements over that stretch which resulted in his lone double-digit point performances, but Lokonga gets a floor from defensive actions while chipping in with chances created.

FORWARDS

Rodrigo Muniz (23 percent): Since Armando Broja joined Fulham on loan, Muniz has finally found form and now has four goals in his three starts to take full control of the starting No. 9 role while Raul Jimenez is out. Muniz is not just scoring goals, as he also has 13 shots over the same span, helping to boost his floor. He's still readily available on waivers and should be the priority pickup at forward this week with the hope he remains in form.

Danny Welbeck (28 percent): Welbeck started his second straight match at the weekend scoring his first goal since December. He has double-digit points in each of those starts, as well, one of which was in a losing effort against Spurs. Brighton are in a good part of their schedule at the moment and Welbeck is worth rostering as long as he can keep Evan Ferguson on the bench. 

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Ethan Sexton
Ethan Sexton covers soccer and is RotoWire's original League of Legends content provider (starting in late 2015). He is a fan of the Philadelphia Phillies, Chelsea FC, Bayer Leverkusen, AS Roma and the Boston Bruins.
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