Last updated on August 14th, 2026
Fantasy Premier League went live on 23 July. The Gameweek 1 deadline is Friday 21 August, 18:30 BST. That gives managers three weeks, and this year there’s more than the usual amount to think through before locking in a squad.
The dugout looks different almost everywhere
All 20 Premier League clubs had confirmed their managers for 2026/27 by the time Newcastle appointed Matthias Jaissle on 5 August. Count it either way, and you land on eight or nine new head coaches, one of the biggest turnovers the league has seen going into a season.
Andoni Iraola is in at Liverpool. Enzo Maresca has replaced Pep Guardiola at Manchester City. Xabi Alonso runs Chelsea now, and Roberto De Zerbi has taken Tottenham. Four of the “big six” have new bosses, and until real matches are played, starting elevens and penalty duty at those clubs are still a guess. That kind of uncertainty is exactly what’s moving early-season odds, so it’s worth comparing prices across the best betting sites before settling on a view.
Iraola gave some sense of what he’s building for at his first Liverpool press conference: “I would like to give them a team that they can feel proud of. I think football, and especially Liverpool, for me is about connecting, connecting with the people, connecting with our supporters.” Nice line. Doesn’t tell you who starts at right back in Gameweek 1.
Haaland’s still the safe pick. Bruno’s the interesting one
Not everything is up in the air. Erling Haaland, now FPL’s most expensive player ever at £15.5m, has been armbanded by roughly three in four managers since launch, according to the Premier League’s own tracking. There’s a track record behind that: in each of his four City seasons, he’s been the league’s top scorer after six gameweeks, averaging nine goals and 61.3 points across that stretch. City’s opening run helps too, with home games against Bournemouth, Coventry and Sunderland in their first five games.
The armband question and the “who’s the safer bet” question are more connected than they seem.
The real challenger for the armband isn’t another striker. It’s a fixture list. United open away at Hull City before hosting Ipswich Town, about as kind a start as anyone gets, and it’s turned Bruno Fernandes into the go-to alternative. He was the league’s top-scoring midfielder last season with 235 points, and his 21 assists broke the previous record of 20 shared by Thierry Henry and Kevin De Bruyne. Mbeumo and Cunha, both £8.0m, are the usual way to lean further into that fixture run.
FPL Pod’s Sam Bonfield put it plainly before launch: “I’m not comfortable starting the season without Bruno Fernandes, despite what we saw at the World Cup. I did think about having Cole Palmer instead, who’s had the summer off.” Defending champion Erik Ibsen went the other way: “I think that’s an obvious choice for many people, going with Haaland.”
Your budget won’t stretch as far this year
Haaland, Fernandes and Gabriel together now cost £35.5m. That’s up £6.5m on the same trio last season, and it’s pushing managers toward the mid-price bracket to make the numbers work. Fantasy Football Fix’s Dan Bennett expects that to drive a lot of early transfers: “There are lots of well-priced midfielders that could provide great value. I can see us turning to the likes of Sarr and Wilson at £6.5m, and Ndiaye and Schade at £6.0m, when they have good fixture runs. I expect a lot of our transfers to be used on midfielders.” All three promoted clubs’ defenders sit at the £4.0m floor, and Neco Williams, Granit Xhaka and Dominik Szoboszlai are getting talked about as the differentials against the Haaland-and-Bruno crowd.
Don’t ignore the World Cup hangover
Players from nations that went deep at the 2026 World Cup, which ended on 18 to 19 July, are given mandatory extended rest. Some weren’t due back at their clubs until 9 to 12 August. That’s under two weeks to get ready for a competitive Premier League match, and it’s already put Aston Villa keeper Emiliano MartÃnez in doubt for Gameweek 1. Haaland’s the exception here: Norway went out at the quarter-final stage, so he’s had a normal pre-season.
Check before you spend, not after
Nothing here is a reason to panic. It is a reason to properly check form, fixtures, and fitness before 21 August rather than just running last season’s team back. That’s what this site’s FPL Manager Tracker and Rate My FPL Team tools are for.
Pre-season friendlies, returning World Cup squads, and the first real look at how the new managers set up their teams: all of that lands in the next fortnight, and all of it can move prices and ownership before the deadline. Whatever you build today is a draft, not a final answer.
