Some of the world's top Fantasy Premier League managers combine to pick a dream squad and explain their choices ahead of the Gameweek 1 deadline on Friday 15 August at 18:30 BST.
Goalkeeper
Robert Sanchez (£5.0m)
Ben Crabtree: "The Chelsea goalkeeper had an average season in 2024/25 but the Blues have improved and have good fixtures to start the season. At £5.0m, he is a fair price for a player who should improve on the 126 points he got last year."
Defenders
Virgil van Dijk (£6.0m)
Pras: "Van Dijk is one of the key beneficiaries of the addition of defensive contributions. Of all the defenders priced at £6.0m this season, he would have gained the most defensive contribution points (22) in 2024/25. His minutes and clean-sheet potential is already obvious. Van Dijk was also joint-top among defenders for headed efforts, with 21, and his 23 shots in the box ranked joint-sixth. For all these reasons, I think Van Dijk is the standout premium defender option."
See: What are defensive contribution points?
Neco Williams (£5.0m)
Gianni Buttice: "Williams beats Ola Aina (£5.0m) in the vast majority of underlying defensive and attacking metrics. At £5.0m he offers a cheaper route into the Nottingham Forest backline, which is expected to keep clean sheets with their favourable fixture run early on."
Micky van de Ven (£4.5m)
Sam Bonfield: "Tottenham Hotspur were woeful defensively last season and Van de Ven only started 12 games through injury. However under Thomas Frank we are expecting big improvements, including attacking threat from set-pieces, which Frank's teams are known for. At £4.5m, Van de Ven is great value for money and can rotate with Ezri Konsa (£4.5m), who we've picked for our bench, when either player has a tough fixture."
Midfielders
Mohamed Salah (£14.5m)
Lee Bonfield: "What needs to be said that hasn't already? With all the attacking talent at Liverpool's disposal, I suppose those going without the Egyptian could make the case that the FPL points may be more spread out at Anfield this season. I'm not buying that narrative though. Salah's looking good in pre-season and, fully rested, who'd back against him going big again this year?"
Cole Palmer (£10.5m)
Pranil Sheth: "When it comes to Palmer, I believe in the one-and-a-half seasons of data versus the blip in the second half of 2024/25. He looked rejuvenated in the FIFA Club World Cup and playing with Joao Pedro (£7.5m) in an upgraded Chelsea attack will only make Palmer better in my opinion."
Florian Wirtz (£8.5m)
Gianni Buttice: "Wirtz has always been an output monster and whilst some will question the Bundesliga as a weaker league, he has consistently delivered when playing UEFA Champions League and international football. Pre-season has shown us that he will play in his preferred position as a No 10 behind the frontman, and everything will go through him. He’s also taking set-pieces and at £8.5m it feels too good an opportunity to miss."
Morgan Rogers (£7.0m)
Andy North: "Priced at only £7.0m, Rogers should be considered in every team. His eight goals and 11 assists last season led to a justified price hike but he is, arguably, still too cheap. Aston Villa's fixtures are kind up to Gameweek 8 and they face two of the promoted teams in this run - Sunderland and Burnley. Rogers' biggest draw is his security of starts, having started 37 games last season on his way to amassing 161 points. Another stellar season is on the cards. However, he did seem to pick up and injury in Villa's last pre-season friendly so if he is a risk for the start of the season we would swap him for Spurs' Mohammed Kudus (£6.5m)."
Villa's first seven fixtures
| Gameweek | Opp. | FDR* |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Newcastle (H) | 3 |
| 2 | Brentford (A) | 3 |
| 3 | Crystal Palace (H) | 3 |
| 4 | Everton (A) | 3 |
| 5 | Sunderland (A) | 2 |
| 6 | Fulham (H) | 3 |
| 7 | Burnley (H) | 2 |
*Fixture Difficulty Ratings: 1=easiest possible fixture, 5=hardest possible fixture
Elliot Anderson (£5.5m)
Holly Shand: "Anderson is my favourite budget midfielder pick, with some attacking threat from set-pieces, a proven record of defensive contributions and promising early fixtures. You won't find much better at £5.5m."
Forwards
Ollie Watkins (£9.0m)
Utkarsh Dalmia: "Despite playing just 2,609 minutes last season, Watkins was ranked fourth amongst forwards for big chances, with 33. With Jhon Duran gone, his game time should go up significantly and there's a chance he might be on penalties as well."
Joao Pedro (£7.5m)
Nick Harris: "Joao Pedro is one of the exciting new signings for Chelsea this summer and there is an expectation that he will be trusted to lead the line. At £7.5m, he isn't too much of an expensive pick for FPL managers and Chelsea have an excellent set of opening fixtures, so hopefully he can hit the ground running."
Bench
Martin Dubravka (£4.0m)
Harry Daniels: "One of the most exciting things in FPL is when we get our first starting £4.0m goalkeeper. We may have just got that with Burnley signing Dubravka from Newcastle United."
Marc Guiu (£4.5m)
Harry Daniels: "Looking for a cheap forward, Marc Guiu of Chelsea going to Sunderland this season could give us that. He is not guaranteed to start from Gameweek 1, but Chelsea will likely have wanted some guarantee of minutes for the young forward to develop."
Ezri Konsa (£4.5m)
Sam Bonfield: "Villa's fixtures are great to start the season so there should be plenty of opportunities for clean sheets in the early weeks. Whilst, maybe surprisingly, Konsa didn't perform well for defensive contributions last season, he did score two goals and had 11 attempts on goal so there is some potential upside on top of the clean sheets."
Maxime Esteve (£4.0m)
Lee Bonfield: "Every FPL team needs a £4.0m defender in order to spread the budget across the rest of the squad. Esteve played 41 matches in the Championship last season and his role as Burnley's centre-back should mean plenty of opportunities for defensive contributions."