In order to help beginners and those who have been frustrated by poor starts in previous seasons, The Scout looks at the dos and don’ts of building an opening squad for the start of the new Fantasy Premier League campaign.
Any managers seeking further explanation of how to play FPL will find useful links from our "FPL basics" series at the bottom of this page.
How to spend your budget
Once you have registered, Fantasy managers have a budget of £100.0m to spend on an initial squad of 15 players.
A squad consists of two goalkeepers, five defenders, five midfielders and three forwards.
A maximum of three players can be chosen from any one Premier League club.
The main factors to consider when selecting an opening squad are players' form, fixtures and history - as well as their price and ownership.
Pick the player, not the club
When analysing the price list, it’s important to look at a player’s position for his club, rather than the club they play for.
At a cost of £5.0m, for example, Wataru Endo may well be one of the cheapest options in Liverpool's squad, but there’s a reason for that low cost - he is a defensive-minded midfielder who only started once last season, registered no attacking returns and wouldn't have picked up any defensive contribution points.
See: What are defensive contribution points
Brighton & Hove Albion's Carlos Baleba (£5.0m) is exactly the same price, yet last season he registered four attacking returns. He would also have returned 30 defensive contribution points.
Play the fixtures
Targeting the sides with kind schedules over the first four to six Gameweeks can help managers enjoy a strong start to the campaign.
There’s not as much need to look beyond that point as you have one free transfer each Gameweek to address any issues.
Chelsea's opening six fixtures, for instance, are all ranked at three or below in the Fixture Difficulty Ratings (FDR), with one being the easiest possible match and five being the hardest.
Chelsea's first six fixtures
| Gameweek | Opp. | FDR* |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Crystal Palace (H) | 3 |
| 2 | West Ham (A) | 2 |
| 3 | Fulham (H) | 3 |
| 4 | Brentford (A) | 3 |
| 5 | Man Utd (A) | 3 |
| 6 | Brighton (H) | 3 |
*1=easiest possible fixture, 5=hardest possible fixture
Marc Cucurella (£6.0m) is the standout option in Chelsea's defence, having registered an impressive seven attacking returns last season.
Moises Caicedo (£5.5m) could also deliver terrific value from the outset, too. Caicedo would have been one of the players to benefit the most from the addition of defensive contribution points last season. The midfielder would have registered an additional 42 points. As it was he registered 98 points for 12 clean sheets, one goal and four assists.
Don’t take unnecessary risks
When constructing your squad, look to limit the risk attached to each decision.
If a player is uncertain of featuring, for example, whether it be due to injury or a lack of pre-season action, simply leave them out and select someone more reliable.
This approach should be the same when picking your captain, who scores double points in each Gameweek.
In Gameweek 1 of 2025/26 Fantasy, picking a captain should be a relatively straightforward decision for most managers - Mohamed Salah (£14.5m) or Erling Haaland (£14.0m).
Salah faces AFC Bournemouth having returned in every Gameweek 1 fixture he has played in, while Haaland will be up against Wolverhampton Wanderers.
Granted, there are a number of strong alternatives such as Cole Palmer (£10.5m) and Brennan Johnson (£7.0m), who face Crystal Palace and Burnley respectively. But with millions likely to rely on Haaland and Salah, captaining anyone other than these two stars seems an unnecessary risk to start the season.
Go cheap on the bench
Managers should look to invest heavily in their starting XI and mainly use the bench for cut-price picks who you can turn to in emergencies.
For goalkeepers, a wise approach is to pick a £4.5m starter who offers plenty of save points in addition to clean-sheet potential, and who has a deputy costing only £4.0m.
Alternatively, rotate a pair of £4.5m 'keepers according to their fixtures and spend no more than £9.0m.
In defence this season, all three promoted clubs have regular starters who cost only £4.0m. Burnley's Maxime Esteve, Leeds United's Gabriel Gudmundsson and Sunderland's Reinildo Mandava can prove very valuable squad players, freeing up funds for the bigger spends in attack.
A smart tactic can be to rotate your squad, swapping players from your starting XI to your bench in each Gameweek depending on who has a better fixture.
In this case, limit that tactic to budget 'keepers and defenders and simply plough the rest of your budget into your starting XI.
As midfielders and forwards are far more likely to deliver huge points returns in Fantasy, managers should focus the majority of their funds in attack.
Although this season managers should also weigh up the benefit of a cheap midfielder with good potential for defensive contribution points.
Price points can help structure your squad
An opening squad should be structured in such a way that a manager is well-placed to react to any early trends without the need for multiple transfers.
After all, managers are only given one free transfer in each Gameweek, and every additional transfer costs four points.
Using price points across each outfield position is a key tactic for planning ahead.
For example, some managers may decide to start with Ollie Watkins (£9.0m) alongside Haaland as their second forward in a 3-5-2 formation.
Watkins' cost of £9.0m essentially allows a single-transfer move to almost any other forward who costs the same or less, apart from Alexander Isak (£10.5m) and Haaland.
In midfield, by starting with Cole Palmer (£10.5m), managers need just one transfer to bring in any other player in this position apart from Salah.
For defenders, the £6.0m price point covers a host of key names such as Josko Gvardiol, Rayan Ait-Nouri, Virgil van Dijk, Marc Cucurella, Gabriel Magalhaes and William Saliba.
By starting the season with Van Dijk for Liverpool's fixtures, managers could easily move to Gabriel or Saliba if Arsenal are looking as strong defensively as they did last season, or ahead of their fixture swing in Gameweek 7, where the opposition they face may not be as tough. This depends on price rises/falls, of course.
Do your research
After assessing the player price list for FPL 2025/26 and the fixtures, follow pre-season form, set-piece takers, new signings and any changes of head coach and/or tactics.
The more knowledge you can soak up, the better chance there is of gaining an early advantage over your mini-league rivals.
Be patient
Don’t pencil in a transfer for Gameweek 2 in advance. If a key player gets injured or dropped in Gameweek 1, you may have far more important issues to deal with than the move you were planning to make.
Instead, managers should construct their squads in a way that avoids the need to make a transfer in Gameweek 2.
This affords the luxury of heading into Gameweek 3 with two free transfers, which can open up a lot more options for squad changes.
FPL managers are now able to bank up to five free transfers, of course. There is, therefore, an opportunity to make more widespread changes in September by holding fire on buying/selling over the opening Gameweeks.
Crucially, by keeping faith in their early plans and waiting until Gameweek 3 or later before making any changes, managers also have extra Gameweeks' worth of valuable new information to base their decisions on.
FPL basics
Part 1: How to register
Part 2: How to pick a squad
Part 3: Managing your team
Part 4: How to make transfers
Part 5: How FPL points are scored
Part 6: How to use chips
Part 7: Mini-leagues and FPL Cups
Part 8: How to use the statistics menu