A differential is a low-owned player who can win you your mini-league while everyone else runs the same template. Our FPL AI Rating flags the ones that are actually good — not just cheap and forgotten. Below are the highest-rated players under 6% ownership for 2026/27. See where they sit in the full FPL AI Player Rankings.
What counts as a differential?
We treat a differential as a player owned by under ~6% of managers. Low ownership only pays off if the player is genuinely good — so we sort by AI Rating, which blends form, xG/xA, fixtures, minutes and value into one 0–100 score. More on the method: how our AI Rating works.
Midfield differentials
- Enzo Fernández (CHE, £7.0, 5.4% owned) — 88
- Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall (EVE, £6.5, 4.1%) — 87
- Cody Gakpo (LIV, £7.0, 3.5%) — 86
- Anton Stach (LEE, £6.0, 1.4%) — 85
- Ryan Gravenberch (LIV, £6.0, 1.9%) — 84
- Dango Ouattara (BRE, £6.5, 1.3%) — 84
- Kevin Schade (BRE, £6.0, 2.3%) — 83
Defensive differentials
- Chris Richards (CRY, £5.0, 0.8% owned) — 82
- Malick Thiaw (NEW, £5.0, 2.2%) — 81
- Nathan Collins (BRE, £5.5, 2.0%) — 81
How to use them
Differentials are higher risk — pair one or two with your highest-rated core players rather than filling the whole team with punts. Our guide on how to use the AI Rating to build your team shows the balance.
Full list: FPL AI Player Rankings (Top 50). Test your picks against other readers in our mini-league.
Ratings are generated by our AI model from official FPL data and refreshed every gameweek.