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GAMEWEEK 25 is not done yet with a full round of Premier League fixtures still to come but Dream Team managers should already have one eye on Gameweek 26.

That’s because the upcoming Gameweek features both double headers and blanks, creating an imbalance that can be worked to one’s advantage.

Dream Team

Fernandes will be busy while Mbeumo rests[/caption]

Gameweek 26 features seven FA Cup games and six European fixtures spread across the three Uefa competitions.

The two teams still active in the cup and Europe are Aston Villa and Manchester United.

Therefore, the Villains and the Red Devils are the only two sides with TWO fixtures in Gameweek 26.

Unai Emery’s side will host Cardiff on Friday night before flying to Belgium to face Club Brugge in the Champions League round of 16.

Amid a busy spell for Villa, extensive rotation is probably to be expected against Championship opposition in the fifth round of the FA Cup.

It would be a surprise if popular assets such as Morgan Rogers (£3.8m), Ollie Watkins (£5.2m) Youri Tielemans (£4m) and Lucas Digne (£3m) were given substantial minutes against the Bluebirds.

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Will Watkins feature against Cardiff on Friday night?[/caption]

Even so, Villa’s relatively favourable European match-up means their best performers are certainly viable.

As for Man United, their double header comes in the form of Fulham (h) and Real Sociedad (a).

Not even the most partisan members of the Old Trafford faithful will be feeling particularly confident during this increasingly disappointing campaign but Bruno Fernandes (£6.2m) continues to thrive in Dream Team nonetheless.

The Portuguese playmaker earned 16 points against Everton at the weekend to take his overall total for the season to 260.

At the time of writing, only Mohamed Salah (£8.3m) and Erling Haaland (£8.1m) are above him in the rankings.

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Fernandes banked 16 points at Goodison Park[/caption]

Such is Fernandes’ importance to Ruben Amorim’s side, he will surely be required to start both fixtures in Gameweek 26.

Dream Team’s leading midfielder is therefore an excellent option at this point in time, despite his team’s broader struggles.

Some gaffers might be able to identify another Man United player with the potential to cash in against Fulham and Real Sociedad but we certainly wouldn’t feel confident putting any other names forward at this stage.

In contrast to the double headers, the following teams will all BLANK in Gameweek 26: Brentford, West Ham, Everton, Southampton and Leicester.

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Mbeumo is the fourth-most selected midfielder in Dream Team[/caption]

First and foremost, this should prompt Bryan Mbeumo’s (£4.7m) owners to take action.

The Bees’ talisman has scored 15 goals on his way to 243 points in what has been a sensational campaign to date but he’ll be watching the cup action from his sofa this weekend.

Jordan Pickford (£4.1m) ranks fourth among Dream Team goalkeepers at present but he too is without a fixture in Gameweek 26.

As are in-form forwards Beto (£2.7m) and Jarrod Bowen (£5.4m) – Dream Team bosses keen on these tempting differentials should keep their powder dry for now.

The other 13 teams have one fixture each, split between the FA Cup and the European competitions.

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GAMEWEEK 26 FIXTURES:

FRIDAY

• Aston Villa v Cardiff

SATURDAY

• Crystal Palace v Millwall
• Bournemouth v Wolves
• Manchester City v Plymouth

SUNDAY

• Newcastle v Brighton
• Manchester United v Fulham

MONDAY

• Nottingham Forest v Ipswich

TUESDAY

• Club Brugge v Aston Villa
• PSV v Arsenal

WEDNESDAY

• PSG v Liverpool

THURSDAY

• AZ Alkmaar v Tottenham
• Real Sociedad v Manchester United
• Copenhagen v Chelsea

Make sure you take the schedule into consideration when making your transfers for Gameweek 26.

The fact Fernandes plays twice while Mbeumo is without a fixture could result in some decisive swings in Mini Leagues worldwide.

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NET zero targets have already finished off Britain’s primary steel industry, but at least we still have an ample supply of brass – in Ed Miliband’s neck.

Responding to today’s news that the Ofgem price cap is going to rise in April by 6.4 per cent, adding £111 a year to the average household bill, he declared that it is all the fault of “petrostates and dictators”.

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Ed Miliband last year rashly promised that he would cut our energy bills by £300 a year[/caption]

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The average household will fork out an extra £111 a year on energy bills[/caption]

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Don’t look to foreign dictators like Putin to know why your energy bills are rising[/caption]

Of course, it is nothing to do with Miliband himself, who last year rashly promised that he would cut our energy bills by £300 a year by aggressively moving towards zero carbon electricity by 2030.

It is nothing to do with Britain’s net zero target, that was nodded through Parliament in the dying days of Theresa May’s government without even a vote.

It is all to do with Vladimir Putin and the sheikhs sitting in their gilded palaces in the Gulf states, throwing UK households to the wolves in their search for personal enrichment.

Actually, the world’s largest gas producer by some margin is the United States, which isn’t a dictatorship even if the liberal left might seem to think it is following the defeat of their preferred candidate in last November’s presidential election.

Moreover, Britain still manages to derive half its own gas from the North Sea.

We could very likely be producing all of it had governments over the past decade encouraged the exploitation of shale gas reserves found under Lancashire and elsewhere.

Instead, companies which were eager to extract the fuel have been banned from doing so.

Miliband personally delivered the final blow to Britain’s shale gas industry this week by ordering exploratory wells to be filled with concrete.

So, no, it isn’t dictators which have lumbered Britain with the highest gas and electricity prices of any member country of the International Energy Agency (IEA).

The real reason we pay an average of 36.39 pence per unit for our electricity while US households pay the equivalent of 12.86 pence is down to failures of UK energy policy.

Miliband, to be fair, is not the sole author of it – the previous Conservative government is as much to blame.

But he has set us on a path which will lead inevitably to even higher energy prices.

By the end of this Parliament, Ed’s promise to save us £300 a year is going to be a huge millstone around the government’s neck – heavier even than the infamous ‘Edstone’ into which he carved his pledges for the 2015 election, before crashing to defeat.

Miliband still seems to think that generating our electricity from wind and solar is cheaper than using fossil fuels.

Yet Britain has already embraced wind and solar more enthusiastically than virtually any other major Western country – only Portugal and Ireland narrowly exceeded the 28.1 per cent of our electricity we generated from wind in 2023. So why aren’t our bills falling?

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The Ofgem price cap is set to rise in April by 6.4 per cent[/caption]

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The more wind and solar farms Miliband builds, the higher this bill will rise[/caption]

Neither Miliband nor anyone else has solved the intermittency problem.

We still have no viable, affordable means of keeping the lights on when there is little wind and solar energy available.

At the moment we are using gas to make up the gaps, but it is very much more expensive to use gas in this way than it would be if we used gas power stations steadily.

An idle gas power station still has to be maintained and the owner still has to earn a return on the capital which has been invested.

So when a gas power station is turned on the per-unit cost of power is much higher.

If you want to know why your energy bills are rising, in other words, don’t look to foreign dictators – look to Miliband himself

The problem is compounded by something called ‘marginal cost pricing’, which means that the prices of all electricity being used at any one time is fixed by the most expensive form of energy.

So, if we have to pay a gas plant an astronomical sum to switch on for a couple of hours, all electricity will be charged at that rate.

When the wind is blowing strongly we have an opposite problem – there is far too much electricity being generated for the national grid to be able to cope.

So what happens then? Consumers are forced to pay ‘constraint payments’ to wind farm owners to compensate them for having to turn off their turbines.

In the first nine months of 2024 alone we collectively paid £1billion in this way.

This year, it is estimated that constraint payments will reach £1.8billion.

Divided between Britain’s 28million households it works out at £64 – and that is on top of other subsidies paid to green energy companies.

The more wind and solar farms Ed Miliband builds, the higher this bill will rise.

Unless, that is, someone discovers the holy grail of affordable energy storage, but even Miliband seems to have given up on that.

His latest plans for a ‘decarbonised’ electricity grid in 2030 envisage keeping just as many gas plants on standby as we have now.

If you want to know why your energy bills are rising, in other words, don’t look to foreign dictators – look to Miliband himself sitting in his Whitehall office, his toes no doubt toasted at taxpayers’ expense.

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Miliband has set us on a path which will lead inevitably to even higher energy prices[/caption]

Throughout the 2024-25 season, Washington Commanders defensive end Jonathan Allen had a series of injuries. However, his time in D.C. might be coming to an end. According to Fox Sports NFL insider Jordan Schultz, the team officially permitted him to seek a trade. The two-time Pro Bowler has spent his entire career with the Commanders. […]

The post Commanders give 2-time Pro Bowler permission to seek trade appeared first on ClutchPoints.

With Giancarlo Stanton’s status for Opening Day in question for the New York Yankees, some are turning their attention to Ben Rice, who could be the beneficiary in the form of designated hitter at-bats along with the flexibility to play catcher and first base as well. This offseason, he worked on his body and put […]

The post Why Yankees have high hopes for potential Giancarlo Stanton backup appeared first on ClutchPoints.

The Cleveland Cavaliers will visit the Orlando Magic on Tuesday night at Kia Center. Darius Garland is questionable on the team’s injury report due to a left hip contusion. Here’s everything we know about Garland’s injury and playing status vs. the Magic. *Watch NBA games LIVE with fuboTV (Get Access | Save $30)* Darius Garland […]

The post Is Cavs’ Darius Garland playing vs. Magic? Latest injury update appeared first on ClutchPoints.

The Las Vegas Raiders could look very different when they take the field later this fall. Las Vegas has already made some big moves after a disappointing 4-13 finish to the 2024 regular season. The Raiders promptly fired head coach Antonio Pierce and eventually parted ways with former GM Tom Telesco as well. Now the […]

The post Perfect trade Raiders must complete in 2025 NFL offseason appeared first on ClutchPoints.

JOSH PADLEY has admitted he is ready to give up his day job after fighting lightweight world champion Shakur Stevenson.

The Doncaster bruiser took on Stevenson at just four days’ notice after Floyd Schofield dropped out after being allegedly ‘poisoned’.

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Josh Padley took on lightweight world champion Shakur Stevenson[/caption]

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He is ready to go full-time in boxing[/caption]

Padley, 29, may have lost the bout, but last nine rounds and earned plenty of plaudits for his performance.

He has now insisted that he is ready to box full-time and give up his part-time job as an electrician.

He had been managing the load by training alongside the part-time role.

He had even been working on a construction site on the Tuesday morning before he got the call to see if he could fight Stevenson

He told Sky Sports: “Luckily I am in a position now where I can probably pack that in and fully dedicate my life to boxing.

“I’m grateful for that, thank you to [Turki Alalshikh] for giving me that opportunity, we’ll be back.

“There’s more of that to come.

“That was four days’ notice. Eight-week camp and I know I’ll be better.”

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Padley was presented with a medal by the WBC after the fight with Stevenson.

He joked: “Not quite the hardware I had in mind to come back with.

“But the rebuild will be on and very good possibility of being a full-time athlete.”

Padley also admitted that he left the ring after the defeat to Stevenson without any regrets.

He added: “I would have loved to have got the win and there would have been some back story to it, but didn’t get it.

“I tried my hardest, no regrets, I gave it everything I could but the body wasn’t conditioned to take them shots.”

He made a name for himself after beating Alalshikh favourite Mark Chamberlain in September 2024.

Stevenson spoke about the fight after being named the win and insisted he could have finished it earlier.

He said: “I barely got touched. Yeah, I probably could have got the stoppage a little bit earlier, but there’s always going to be something to critique.

“As long as I enjoyed what I did, that’s all that matters.

“I was knocking out the ring rust. I fought in July. If I can stay active and stay locked in, I’m good.

“He was supposed to come in here and give it his all, make sure he can make it to the 12th round.

“That’s what he was trying to do. So, I succeeded at my job and he was trying to do his job.”

IT’S no secret that many of the choices we make can directly impact our heart health.

Yet in the UK, heart disease, also known as cardiovascular disease (CVD), is a significant health issue affecting around 7.6 million people, making it one of the leading causes of death and disability.

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Heart disease is a leading cause of death in the UK – so doing everything you can to reduce your risk is essential[/caption]

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Dr Jonathan Behar avoids things like a sedentary lifestyle and being lonely to keep his heart health in check[/caption]

Eating a healthy, balanced diet, regularly exercising, giving up smoking, and reducing your alcohol intake are some of the general recommendations experts make to keep on top of heart health.

But what are the experts doing themselves to keep their ticker ticking?

Consultant Cardiologist Dr Jonathan Behar of King Edward VII’s Hospital doesn’t just help patients lead healthier lives – he follows his own advice every day too.

He shared with Sun Health a few of his most beneficial heart-healthy habits – including four things he avoids.

1. Foods to cut down on

To reduce the risk of heart disease, it’s recommended to cut down on foods that are high in saturated fat, salt, and added sugar.

Dr Behar doesn’t entirely ban any one particular food from his home (except Marmite for the taste!).

He said non-heart healthy foods can be consumed in small amounts as part of a balanced, healthy lifestyle.

But he did advise: “I try not to have too many tempting things around like chocolate spreads, fatty crisps and sugary drinks.

“If it’s very sugary, salty, or high in saturated fat, it’s something to have infrequently and in small amounts.”

2. Sedentary lifestyle

A sedentary lifestyle significantly increases the risk of heart disease by contributing to factors like high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and obesity, ultimately putting strain on the heart muscle and raising the likelihood of cardiovascular issues like heart attacks and strokes.

Multiple studies have suggested sitting for extended periods, particularly exceeding 10 hours a day, can be especially detrimental to heart health. 

So any habits that keep you from a sedentary lifestyle are habits to keep, said Dr Behar.

He added: “Even smaller things like walking up the escalators on my commute can help.

“If it gets the blood pumping then it probably helps.”

3. Sitting on the sofa before 8:30pm

It’s great to relax at the end of the day but it is all too easy to fall into an inactive lifestyle.

To keep even further away from a sedentary lifestyle Dr Behar tries not to touch his sofa before 8.30pm.

He said: “Being on my feet keeps me burning calories and hopefully makes sure I’m spending my day doing something interesting.”

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To stay away from a sedentary lifestyle Dr Behar tries not to touch his sofa before 8.30pm[/caption]

4. Being lonely

Amazingly, your social life does affect your heart health.

Research shows social isolation and loneliness can increase your risk of heart disease and stroke, while strong social connections are associated with better cardiovascular health.

Dr Behar said: “I make sure to see my friends and family as often as possible and to go out and engage in my hobbies.

“We are social animals and our general health genuinely declines when we spend too much time alone or in tricky environments.”

As well as doing things to keep your heart health in check, spotting the first signs something’s wrong is also important…

A WOMAN has been found dead at a flat as a police probe is underway.

Officers were alerted to a property on Burgh Hall Street in Partick, Glasgow, on Monday afternoon.

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Police are probing the death of a woman at a flat in Burgh Hall Street, Glasgow[/caption]

The woman’s body was found within a property after the alarm was raised around 3pm.

Cops are treating her death as unexplained as an investigation is underway.

Forensic officers have been scouring the scene for clues.

A Police Scotland spokesperson said: “Around 3pm on Monday, 24 February, 2025, we were called to a property in Burgh Hall Street, Glasgow following the death of a 48-year-old woman.

“The death is being treated as unexplained and enquiries are ongoing.”

Elsewhere in the city, shocking CCTV footage has emerged of a gang of youths terrorising a shopkeeper.

The man was attacked by the teenage thugs at a convenience store in the Ruchill area of the city.

The frightening incident happened around 7pm on February 21.

Footage shows the shopkeeper struggling to fend off wave after wave of attacks from the relentless youngsters targeting his store.

At one point the man brandishes a wooden stick from behind the counter as he chases the gang.

The vile clips are being investigated by officers as a probe is underway.

EMMERDALE viewers think the soap has hinted a secret affair between two unlikely characters – from before one of them was brutally killed off.

Fans saw Suzy Merton (Martelle Edinborough) die in the ITV soap’s horror limo crash aired earlier this month.

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Has Emmerdale hinted at Mary Goskirk having an affair?[/caption]

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Fans think Mary had something with Suzy before her tragic death[/caption]

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The pair previously grew close – with Mary developing feelings[/caption]

Suzy notably had a relationship with Vanessa Woodfield (Michelle Hardwick) during her time in the village.

But viewers think she may have secretly had an affair before her tragic demise.

Namely, with Mary Goskirk (Louise Jameson), who has mourned the loss of Suzy.

While Mary described Suzy as a “friend”, fans haven’t been left convinced.

One wrote on X: “#emmerdale Oh hello Mary…was suzy more than a friend…..”

Another added: “Yo Mary and Suzy have definitely had an affair or some kind of a moment..

“She was my friend” More than that love. #emmerdale.”

A third remarked: “Why do I get the feeling Suzy and Mary had a secret affair #emmerdale.”

It comes following viewers last year begging show bosses to write a “happily ever after” for Mary.

She and Suzy had grown close while Vanessa was away from the village, in Canada.

 Mary failed to tell Suzy how she really felt when she asked her, after hearing Vanessa gush over her earlier in the episode.

Later, Vanessa and Suzy shared a kiss, but it wasn’t long before Suzy was glancing over at Mary.

This left Emmerdale viewers screaming for bosses to give the pub cook a happy ending.

In the preceding months, Mary had been conned by former love interest Faye Helders and left embarrassed after she shared compromising pictures of her around the village.

She also contended with daughter Rhona’s drama with her ex-partner Gus over baby Ivy, which was stressful for the whole family.

Taking to X – formerly Twitter – Emmerdale fans discussed the love triangle between the three women.

One wrote: “The fact that Suzy had just kissed Vanessa then immediately was making heart eyes at Mary. She needs to sort this out before everyone gets hurt.”

Another said: “I don’t cringe but all my sympathy is with Mary.”

While a third demanded: “WILL SOMEONE PLEASE KISS MARY GOSKIRK????? Suzy Merton, I’m looking at you. Leave Vanessa alone and get on that. Cheers.”

Emmerdale continues on ITV1 and ITVX.

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Suzy was killed off in the soap’s limo crash tragedy[/caption]

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The incident put several residents’ lives at risk[/caption]