The Premier League has returned and with it, so too does the weekly obsession with its accompanying fantasy game.
Fantasy Premier League continues to grow in popularity. It's evolved from a game which solely benefits season-long performances to one which is making an effort to keep you engaged at various points.
The shift has also been effective from simply siding with strong attacking options. The introduction of DEFCON points last season changed the picture in terms of squad building and brought players into the equation who simply served little purpose for FPL players previously.
By Gameweek 38 of the 2025/26 season, 13.1million teams had been entered. Unsurprisingly, that is a record and it shows recent efforts have been worthwhile by the organisers.
The core purpose remains the same though. You're given £100million to pick 15 players split into two goalkeepers, five defenders, five midfielders and three forwards. Find the perfect balance and you win.
But perfection is a near impossibility in any circle but especially this one. Unless you're a dedicated player who has put plenty of hours into in-depth research then finishing in the top 10% represents a brilliant campaign.
And for many, while overall rank is something to keep an eye on, the main focus will be on mini-leagues and where a team is placed among friends and colleagues. Bragging rights, as ever, count for plenty.
With big hitters now priced in a way that makes including them all detrimental to the remainder of your team, there's plenty of dilemmas to solves for the new season.
So how do you go about it? Fantasy football success is often built around a team containing as many of the expected stars as possible. It may sound simple but it's true. We've all fallen into the trap of overthinking certain picks when frankly the pricing is often not wrong - it's worth using a good part of your budget on certain players.
Who are the expensive players worth having?
I've seen a real variety of teams across social media over the last month or so. The common theme is that all of them have at least two of the following:
- Erling Haaland - FWD - £15.5m
- Bruno Fernandes - MID - £12.0m
- Bukayo Saka - MID - £9.5m
- Cole Palmer - MID - £9.5m
- Alexander Isak - FWD - £9.0m
- Antoine Semenyo - MID - £8.5m
- Gabriel - DEF - £8.0m
They are the seven most expensive players in the game as we go into GW1. Taking both Bruno and Haaland uses a significant 27.5% of your total budget with 13 spots left to fill elsewhere. You aren't left with much wiggle room and it, again, potentially forces you down the path of 'overthinking' other picks to try and find the potential bargains.
But then if you're happy to roll with 11 players and a bench which is cheap but won't deliver much, it's an approach which is still worth consideration.
Opting for a Gabriel-Palmer-Haaland approach takes up 33% of the budget although you're getting a solid 'spine' of a team. Prolific forward, star player on penalty duties and main attacking threat from a defensively solid team.
You're left with an average of around £5.5m for players in other positions though so you're essentially forced into two £4.5m and two £4.0m defenders to join Gabriel in the back line. That shuffles your average fee up to £6m-ish for midfielders and attackers.
That's not a lot though, which again reinforces the likelihood of sacrificing a third striker spot for a £4.5m option who won't play.
My approach is going to be taking one of Haaland or Fernandes, with another option from that group above going with them. Both have their strengths as picks so I'm not going into the ins and outs of it, although I have seen some people saying they're tempted to go with Haaland to start with.
That did happen a bit last summer though and we all know the outcome. Haaland is in 71.9% of teams while Bruno is in 48.3%. You're largely getting the same points as everyone else will be but you pay the premium for the captaincy privilege of receiving double.
Currently I've settled on Haaland and Palmer and I don't think I'll change at this stage. That does mean I have plenty to build a decent team around them. Here's some of the alternative picks I've been looking at.
Christos Tzolis
- MID | Arsenal | £6.5m
A player whose ownership has annoyingly shot up following the Community Shield but a possible route into the Arsenal attack at the fraction of the usual cost for the champions.
In fairness it's easy to see why so many have gone for him following the victory in Cardiff after he returned two assists and played the full 90 minutes.
Tzolis also posted attacking returns in three of Arsenal's four pre-season games this month. He heads into the season in fine form and the Gunners kick things off by facing Coventry.
Perhaps we shouldn't be surprised by these early showings considering he scored 22 and assisted a further 29 in 53 games across all competitions for Club Brugge last season.
Riccardo Calafiori
- DEF | Arsenal | £5.5m
Another whose performance in the win over Manchester City will only benefit his FPL popularity. Calafiori found the net having started at left-back.
He feels like a great way into an Arsenal defence which was very solid last season. A total of 22 starts returned 13 clean sheets and that again is where the majority of his points will come from.
Calafiori can contribute in attack as well as we saw on Sunday and last season delivered a goal and two assists. His ability to play on the left side of the centre-back pairing is another positive for minutes.
While we can't deny the quality of Gabriel, I am taking the £2.5m saving and using it elsewhere.
Pascal Groß
- MID | Brighton | £5.5m
A bargain buy who can contribute as well, you're looking towards attacking contributions rather than DEFCON points with Groß but I'm still more than happy to take it.
He netted once and delivered six assists in 18 starts following his return to Brighton in January and everything suggests he could be in for another big season here, even with European football to contend with.
In his previous spell at the Seagulls, Groß did have penalty responsibilities and there's every chance the same happens here given the likely line-up of this Brighton side.
The midfielder looks half a million or so underpriced for me. He should get plenty of minutes.
Joao Pedro
- FWD | Chelsea | £7.5m
You probably already have the Chelsea striker in your side given that he's currently on a 58.8% ownership rate so scroll on if so. If not, he could easily become one of the FPL bargain buys of the season.
Even in what was a poor campaign by Chelsea's standards last time out, Pedro still netted 20 in 50 appearances across all competitions - 15 of those coming in 35 Premier League outings.
All the potential is there under Xabi Alonso that they do have a great season. We're looking at the starting striker in what should be a top four team priced cheaper than four strikers and the same as three others.
With braces scored in recent pre-season wins over AC Milan and Real Sociedad, it wouldn't be a shock at all to see him start in brilliant form.
Andrey Santos
- MID | Manchester United | £5.0m
This could prove to be a really daft pick but it's certainly a name to consider, especially if you don't have much budget to play with after adding one too many big hitters.
Santos netted once in 13 league starts for Chelsea last season but it's his efforts elsewhere which could earn him points. He averaged 9.31 defensive contributions per 90 - you need ten to score two.
He played 61 minutes as Manchester United lost to AC Milan in their final pre-season fixture while being in the first-half team for the draw against Leeds in Dublin a few days prior.
Add in the 65 minutes in the game against PSG and there's every chance he is a starting midfielder in this United side. If that is the case, he could prove far more valuable than most other players in this price range.
Joe Rodon
- DEF | Leeds United | £4.5m
Leeds' defence is fairly settled, even with the arrival of Nico Elvedi from Borussia Mönchengladbach, and Rodon has been a part of it from the very start of the Daniel Farke era.
The switch to the back-three system allowed Rodon the freedom to get forward. We saw this continue in pre-season where he was almost playing as a winger in attack at times.
They do need to improve on the amount of goals they concede yet the signing of goalkeeper James Trafford for a club-record fee is the way they've decided to do this. That should benefit Rodon's FPL potential.
It's a surprise to see that the centre-back didn't register an assist last season. Should he keep his spot in the team, I'd fancy a few to appear in that column this time out.
Kevin Schade
- MID | Brentford | £6.0m
A relatively cheap pick considering he netted eight goals for a Brentford side which so nearly qualified for Europe last season.
Schade concluded pre-season by scoring twice and assisting another two as the Bees surprisingly hammered Eintracht Frankfurt 7-0 last time out. He looks set to line up on the left side of a front three again.
He's among a group of £6.0m midfielders who won't be making a lot of people's teams. It seems to be that range where you'd rather shave half a million off by looking elsewhere or take someone who is floating around the £7.0m range.
But the winger could be a budget-friendly pick who delivers a solid amount of points.
Senne Lammens
- GKP | Manchester United | £5.0m
How important your goalkeeper is divides opinion but Lammens could return some points in the opening stages of the season given Manchester United's fixture list.
They travel to Hull on opening weekend before then hosting Ipswich in two games which could well deliver clean sheets - the first also having the potential for saves given it's a newly-promoted side in their first outing in front of their own fans.
I'm still undecided if he'll be my long-term keeper but it'll be something to evaluate after those first couple of matches. Everton (A), Manchester City (H) and Fulham (A) also have some form of points potential in the weeks which follow.
It's not a bad price at all considering other £5.0m options will be substitutes.
Igor Jesus
- FWD | Nottingham Forest | £6.0m
It does feel like a lot of teams I've seen are carrying one of the £6.0m strikers. Many are looking towards Leeds' Dominic Calvert-Lewin but Jesus could be a strong option in what could be a good season for Nottingham Forest.
He netted 16 in 52 games across all competitions last season but he finished in strong fashion. Four of his six in the league came in his final eight outings.
A run of three games with goals in pre-season put him on the radar and I do wonder if he has a similar run at some stage which will start to put him on more radars.
Forest's start to the season is alright but home games against Coventry, Leeds and Spurs in their first three at the City Ground could deliver chances.
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