Fantasy Premier League: Top Four Gameweek 1 Picks
The new Fantasy Premier League season opens on Friday at 18:30 BST, and the scramble has begun. Chips are being hoarded, drafts ripped up, mini-league rivalries quietly reignited. Amid the noise, four names stand out as early-season weapons for managers who want to land a blow in Gameweek 1.
Alexander Isak (Liverpool) £9.0m
A cut-price gamble with elite upside
Twelve months ago, Alexander Isak cost £10.5m and looked like one of the league’s deadliest forwards. Then the injuries hit. Eight Premier League starts in 2025/26 tell the story of a season that never really got going.
Now he’s back, fit, and carrying the sharpness of a World Cup and a full pre-season.
In his penultimate warm-up match, Isak produced a goal and an assist against Monaco, a timely reminder of what he offers when he finds rhythm. Liverpool’s decision-makers have already slashed his starting price to £9.0m, and that tag suddenly looks dangerous for anyone going without.
We don’t have to guess at his ceiling. His last full Premier League campaign with Newcastle United brought 23 goals, six assists and 211 points. That’s premium forward territory.
The landscape at Liverpool has shifted too. Mohamed Salah has gone, and with him the established penalty-taker. The spot-kick pecking order is up for grabs, with Dominik Szoboszlai (£7.0m) the main rival, but Isak doesn’t need penalties to be relevant. He has something just as valuable: a clear run at the No 9 role.
Hugo Ekitike (£7.5m) is sidelined with a long-term injury, leaving Isak with minimal competition and maximum responsibility. The fixtures help as well. None of Liverpool’s opening five matches rates higher than three on the Fixture Difficulty Ratings scale. It’s a soft landing for a striker who can be ruthless when the chances flow.
Gameweek 1 brings Newcastle, a club he once lit up but now face a reset after Eddie Howe’s departure and the loss of several key players. Turbulence there, stability and opportunity for Isak at Anfield. It’s set up for a fast start.
Bryan Mbeumo (Man Utd) £8.0m
A midfielder playing up front against soft defences
Some FPL assets are about role, not reputation. Bryan Mbeumo is one of them.
With Benjamin Sesko (£7.0m) injured and absent for the entire Manchester United pre-season, Mbeumo has spent the summer leading the line. Listed as a midfielder but operating as a striker, he’s been making that “out of position” tag count.
Three goals and an assist in his last three friendly starts underline his form. The sharpness is there, and so is the fitness. Cameroon’s failure to qualify for the World Cup gave him a full summer to rest and then build up properly. No late returns, no managed minutes. He looks locked in for the opening weekend.
The schedule almost feels tailored for attacking investment. United face newly promoted Hull City and Ipswich Town in the first two Gameweeks. Hull shipped 66 goals in the Championship last season, with only three clubs conceding more. That kind of defensive record usually struggles to withstand Premier League pace and movement.
If United click early, Mbeumo stands right at the heart of it. He’s the one making the runs, taking the shots, and collecting midfield points for every goal he scores. For managers wanting a short-term burst with the potential to become a long-term hold, the path is clear.
Christos Tzolis (Arsenal) £6.5m
The new Arsenal winger already delivering
Some transfers take time. Christos Tzolis hasn’t bothered with that.
Arsenal’s summer signing from Club Brugge has wasted no time stamping his mark on Mikel Arteta’s side. Across pre-season he produced one goal and six assists, the best attacking return of any Arsenal player. Seven contributions, and every one of them a nudge to FPL managers scrolling past his name.
Crucially, he’s had what many of his new team-mates haven’t: a full, uninterrupted pre-season. While Arsenal’s internationals staggered back late from the World Cup, Tzolis has been with the squad since July. He featured in all six pre-season fixtures, including the FA Community Shield.
In that 3-0 win on Sunday, he added another assist and kept his record intact: he has yet to blank when starting for the Premier League champions.
His numbers from Belgium suggest this is no fluke. Last season in the Belgian top flight he delivered 17 goals and 23 assists, a devastating mix of end product and creativity from wide areas. Now he steps into an Arsenal attack that routinely suffocates weaker opponents.
Up first: promoted Coventry City. It’s the kind of fixture Arsenal usually dominate, and the kind of stage on which an in-form winger can turn pre-season promise into immediate FPL relevance. At £6.5m, Tzolis offers a route into the champions’ attack without paying premium prices.
Dan Ballard (Sunderland) £5.0m
A defender to lock in and leave
Plenty of managers eye a Bench Boost in Gameweek 1 and immediately land on Luke O’Nien (£4.0m). The price is perfect, the role looks appealing, and the budget structure loves it.
But there’s a catch. Omar Alderete (£5.0m) and Nordi Mukiele (£5.5m) are expected back from injury soon, and that clouds O’Nien’s minutes beyond the opening weekend. One short-term win can quickly turn into a transfer waiting to happen.
Dan Ballard offers something different: stability.
If you want a Sunderland defender you can pick now and not worry about for weeks, Ballard fits that “set-and-forget” brief. In 2025/26 he averaged 10.9 defensive contributions per 90 minutes, hitting the required threshold in 58 per cent of his starts. He doesn’t just turn up; he delivers.
There’s more. Ballard carries a genuine threat in the opposition box. He produced four attacking returns last season and ranked seventh among defenders for shots in the box with 25. Corners and set pieces matter in FPL, and he attacks them aggressively.
The opening fixture adds to his appeal. Sunderland host promoted Ipswich Town in Gameweek 1, a match that offers a realistic shot at a clean sheet on Saturday. After that, the run isn’t perfect, but it’s manageable.
Gameweeks 4 and 5 look awkward, yet that can be navigated with rotation. A Leeds United defender, for example, could cover those weeks with two home fixtures, allowing managers to ride with Ballard right through to Gameweek 9 without burning a transfer.
In a season where every million counts, a reliable £5.0m defender who brings both defensive volume and set-piece threat can quietly anchor a squad while the big names grab the headlines.
Gameweek 1 always feels like a guess. These four picks turn it into something closer to a plan.
