Fantasy Premier League 2026/27: Key Players to Watch
The familiar itch has started again. Screens glow, draft buttons are hammered, and Fantasy Premier League managers across the globe are ripping up and rebuilding squads ahead of the 2026/27 curtain-raiser.
By 18:30 (UK) on Friday 21 August, when the Gameweek 1 deadline slams shut, every decision will be locked in. Until then, it’s chaos – unlimited transfers, endless permutations, and one club’s assets dominating early drafts: City.
Three names, in particular, are driving that traffic.
Haaland: The £15.5m Question You Already Know the Answer To
Erling Haaland has broken FPL before. Now he’s broken its pricing.
After racking up 239 points last season – more than any other player in the game – the Norwegian has been installed at an eye-watering £15.5m, the highest starting price tag in FPL history.
He earned it. Thirty-five attacking returns, relentless output, and a season where every blank felt like a statistical anomaly rather than a trend. The game has responded by stretching the budget to its limit.
Managers, predictably, don’t care.
Despite the premium, 75.2% of FPL bosses have already found a way to squeeze him in. That level of ownership turns Haaland into more than just a forward; he’s a shield. Go without him and you’re not just betting against a striker – you’re betting against three-quarters of the game.
The risk is obvious. So is the reward.
Guehi: The Defensive Rock With Attacking Bite
At the other end of the pitch, Marc Guehi sits in a very different price bracket, but his appeal is just as clear.
Listed at £6.0m, the England international comes off a 2025/26 campaign that would make most full-backs jealous, never mind centre-halves. He banked 179 points, with only one defender in the entire game outscoring him.
The numbers behind that total tell the story. Fourteen clean sheets formed the backbone of his haul, but Guehi added real end-product: three goals, five assists, and 22 defensive contribution points. Fourteen bonus points underlined his influence in tight matches, where his all-round display consistently caught the eye of the FPL scoring system.
It’s no surprise, then, that 24.7% of managers have already moved early. In a season where value at the back could define the template, Guehi looks like one of the first names on many defensive team sheets.
O’Reilly: From Footnote to Essential
If Guehi was dependable and Haaland inevitable, Nico O’Reilly was the revelation.
Classed as a defender and priced at £6.5m for 2026/27, O’Reilly is coming off a breakout FPL season that has forced the game to sit up and take notice. In 2025/26 he delivered 160 points – a staggering leap of 129 points compared to his 2024/25 tally.
The jump didn’t happen by accident. O’Reilly combined defensive security with genuine attacking threat: five goals, four assists, and 14 clean sheets. Those returns turned him from a differential punt into a mainstay in serious squads by the end of the campaign.
That surge has naturally triggered a price rise, but it hasn’t scared people off. He currently features in 24% of teams, a clear sign that managers trust last season’s numbers to hold up under renewed scrutiny.
The pattern is already forming. Haaland as the immovable premium pillar up front, Guehi as a high-ceiling anchor at the back, and O’Reilly as the dynamic enabler who can match midfielders for output from a defensive slot.
Unlimited transfers won’t last. The deadline will arrive, the tinkering will stop, and the season will start to answer the only question that matters: have FPL managers backed the right City trio to shape another year of fantasy obsession?
