Best FPL Players for Gameweek 1: Haaland or Bruno Fernandes

Best FPL players for Gameweek 1: Haaland or Bruno Fernandes

Every Fantasy Premier League manager finalizing a squad this week is really choosing between two three-player packages, not one player. Build around Erling Haaland and he arrives with Pascal Groß and Enzo Le Fée. Build around Bruno Fernandes and he brings Iliman Ndiaye and Harry Wilson, with Morgan Rogers waiting as a conditional upgrade once his FPL listing is confirmed. Both packages plug into the same 11-player baseline squad, built from this pre-season's hidden gems and confirmed starters, so picking the best FPL players for Gameweek 1 really comes down to how much ceiling you want from one captaincy pick versus how much cash you'd rather keep in reserve.

Haaland is now Fantasy Premier League's most expensive player ever at £15.5m, after totaling 239 points last season on 27 goals and eight assists. His only pre-season minutes on record, though, came in a brief 53-minute Community Shield appearance (PremierLeague.com, yesterday). Bruno Fernandes finished just four points behind him on 235 last season, but he's missed penalties in back-to-back friendlies, most recently against AC Milan (PremierLeague.com, yesterday).

This guide is for managers finalizing a first squad this week within Fantasy Premier League's £100m budget, the 2 GK/5 DEF/5 MID/3 FWD structure and the three-players-per-club limit. Treat those numbers as the format FPL has used in recent seasons, and double-check the current parameters in the game's official rules section before locking anything in, since small details can shift between seasons. None of this guarantees results. It lays out the pre-season evidence behind each pick and flags exactly what to verify before the deadline.

Fantasy Premier League Gameweek 1 picks: build the 11-player baseline squad

Both anchor packages sit on top of the same 11 players. None of these are guaranteed starters, since team news can still shift before kickoff, but each one earned its spot through a confirmed role, expected minutes or clear pre-season attacking involvement, making this list a sensible starting point among the best Fantasy Premier League players to pick before an anchor is even chosen. Together they fill 2 goalkeepers, 5 defenders and 3 midfielders, leaving 2 midfield slots and 2 forward slots for whichever package comes next.

• Antonín Kinský (£4.5m, GK, Spurs): head coach Roberto De Zerbi has named him Spurs' new No. 1 (PremierLeague.com, yesterday).
• Kjell Scherpen (£4.5m, GK, Ipswich): started Ipswich's last two pre-season matches, a solid low-cost option for a two-keeper rotation strategy (PremierLeague.com, yesterday).
• Gabriel (£8.0m, DEF, Arsenal): posted a career-best 209 points last season from just 30 starts and finally logged a full 90 minutes of pre-season days before kickoff, easing worries about his workload for the opener. Arsenal will also be missing William Saliba, out for an extended period, and Jurrien Timber, sidelined for several weeks (PremierLeague.com, yesterday).
• Riccardo Calafiori (£5.5m, DEF, Arsenal): scored and kept a clean sheet in the Community Shield (PremierLeague.com, yesterday).
• Luke Shaw (£4.5m, DEF, Man Utd): started all but one pre-season match, matching the reliability of fellow defender Harry Maguire (PremierLeague.com, yesterday).
• Milan van Ewijk (£4.0m, DEF, Coventry): racked up eight assists last season and scored from right-back in Coventry's first pre-season friendly (PremierLeague.com, yesterday).
• Trei Hume (£4.5m, DEF, Sunderland): played right wing ahead of full-back Thomas Meunier in a win over Lens and picked up three attacking returns across pre-season. Watch Sunderland's team news closer to kickoff: reporting suggests Hume could get pushed forward again if Meunier or Nordi Mukiele are fit to start, which would raise his attacking upside as a nominal defender (PremierLeague.com, yesterday).
• Christos Tzolis (£6.5m, MID, Arsenal): set to start Gameweek 1 on the left of Arsenal's attack, and leads every Premier League player with six pre-season assists (PremierLeague.com, yesterday).
• Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall (£6.5m, MID, Everton): scored 151 points last season and has taken most of Everton's right-side corners this pre-season (PremierLeague.com, three weeks ago).
• Emi Buendía (£6.0m, MID, Aston Villa): two goals and four assists in seven pre-season games, with reporting pointing to a start at Brighton (PremierLeague.com, yesterday).
• Igor Thiago (£8.0m, FWD, Brentford): scored 21 goals last season from a £7.4m starting price (FPL Pilot, earlier this year) and has already added three goals and an assist across his first two matches back from a post-World Cup break (PremierLeague.com, yesterday).

Together these 11 cost roughly £62.5m, leaving about £37.5m for the four package-specific picks below, enough room for either combination.

Best FPL picks for 2026/27: choose your Haaland or Bruno anchor package

An anchor, in FPL terms, is the priciest attacking player a squad gets built around, paired with supporting picks chosen to complement his style. Both packages here share one conditional pick: João Pedro (£7.5m, Chelsea forward), currently the leading goalscorer of any Premier League club this pre-season with seven goals, including a hat-trick against Western Sydney Wanderers and braces against AC Milan and Real Sociedad (PremierLeague.com, yesterday). That's strong pre-season scoring form, not a confirmed Gameweek 1 role, so treat him as provisional in both builds until the checklist below clears him.

Package A: Haaland, Pascal Groß and Enzo Le Fée. Haaland has topped FPL's scoring charts after the opening six Gameweeks in all four of his Manchester City seasons, averaging nine goals and 61.3 points across that stretch (PremierLeague.com, three weeks ago). Groß (£5.5m, Brighton) appears to be Brighton's new first-choice penalty taker, having converted a spot kick against Strasbourg and added an assist in the same match (PremierLeague.com, yesterday). Le Fée (£6.0m, Sunderland) has been playing centrally in an advanced midfield role and scored three pre-season goals, including a strike against Liverpool, though reporting also flags competition from Habib Diarra for that spot (PremierLeague.com, yesterday).

Choose Package A if the highest scoring upside from a single captaincy pick matters more than bench depth, and carrying just £3.0m in reserve doesn't worry you.

Package B: Bruno Fernandes, Iliman Ndiaye and Harry Wilson, with Morgan Rogers as a conditional alternative. Bruno was FPL's top scorer over the final 17 Gameweeks of last season, producing 129 points at 7.6 per match, a sustained closing run rather than a one-off patch (PremierLeague.com, three weeks ago). Ndiaye (£6.0m, Everton) scored penalties in consecutive friendlies while designated taker Thierno Barry was on the pitch both times, which Premier League reporting says "would seem to confirm" his status as Everton's preferred spot-kick taker (PremierLeague.com, yesterday). Wilson (£6.5m, Fulham) offers a confirmed club and price, with 19 goal contributions from midfield last season (PremierLeague.com, yesterday).

Build Package B around Wilson by default. His club, price and role are the only parts of this package fully confirmed in current reporting. Swap him for Morgan Rogers only once the official FPL player list confirms Rogers' club, position and price: he's tipped to start Gameweek 1 after playing against Real Sociedad and scoring in his first pre-season minutes since the World Cup, but the coverage doesn't spell out his listed FPL details yet (PremierLeague.com, yesterday). If that swap holds at his hinted £7.5m price, the package costs £1.0m more and the reserve drops to match.

Choose Package B if spreading attacking risk across three positions, backed by a source-flagged penalty taker in Ndiaye and the deepest reserve of the two builds, matters more than concentrating everything in one asset.

What each package actually costs. Haaland carries a £3.5m premium over Bruno on his own, £15.5m against £12.0m, built on that four-season record of finishing top scorer through the first six Gameweeks but backed by barely an hour of pre-season action so far. Bruno costs less and has a proven habit of closing seasons strong, though the missed penalties in back-to-back friendlies are worth watching before kickoff. Package A (Haaland, Groß, Le Fée) totals £97.0m and leaves £3.0m unspent. Package B with Wilson (Bruno, Ndiaye, Wilson) totals £94.5m and leaves £5.5m unspent, £2.5m more in reserve than Package A. Swapping in Rogers once his FPL listing is confirmed lifts the total to £95.5m and trims the reserve to £4.5m, still £1.5m more than Package A.

Both packages carry a source-flagged penalty taker, Groß for Package A and Ndiaye for Package B, so that part of the trade-off is close to even. What separates them is whether Haaland's proven opening-Gameweek record is worth starting the season with almost no pre-season minutes behind him.

Once a package is chosen, lean on the official FPL fixture ticker only to help pick the captain between the anchor and Thiago, not to reopen the package decision.

Assemble the complete 15-man squad

FPL managers call unspent budget "the bank." It works as a reserve for the first post-Gameweek 1 transfer, not dead money, and both builds below deliberately hold some back instead of spending every pound now.

Squad A (Haaland anchor), formation 3-4-3

Position Starting XI Bench Goalkeeper Kinský Scherpen Defenders Gabriel, Calafiori, Shaw Van Ewijk, Hume Midfielders Tzolis, Dewsbury-Hall, Buendía, Groß Le Fée Forwards Haaland, Thiago, João Pedro

Total spend £97.0m, £3.0m left over. Captain Haaland (final check below). Vice-captain Thiago, whose three goals and an assist across his last two pre-season matches make him a reasonable hedge if Haaland's minutes stay limited.

Squad B (Bruno anchor), formation 3-4-3

Position Starting XI Bench Goalkeeper Kinský Scherpen Defenders Gabriel, Calafiori, Shaw Van Ewijk, Hume Midfielders Tzolis, Dewsbury-Hall, Buendía, Bruno Wilson Forwards Thiago, Ndiaye, João Pedro

Total spend £94.5m, £5.5m left over. Captain Bruno. Vice-captain Thiago, for the same reason as above. Wilson takes the bench midfield spot by default since his club and price are directly confirmed, unlike Rogers, whose Gameweek 1 hint is promising but whose listed FPL club and position aren't confirmed in the available coverage. Check the official FPL player list before the deadline: if Rogers is listed as a midfielder near his £7.5m price, swap him in for Wilson, which raises the total to £95.5m and trims the reserve to £4.5m.

FPL squad selection tips before the Gameweek 1 deadline

Squads lock before most managers see confirmed Gameweek 1 lineups, so build checks around information that will actually be available in time.

• Haaland: check Manchester City's pre-match press conference and injury bulletin for any update on his minutes buildup beyond the 53-minute Community Shield appearance (PremierLeague.com, yesterday). If Guardiola signals a gradual reintroduction in that press conference, treat it as a nudge toward Package B before the deadline, not a reason to bench Haaland once squads lock.
• João Pedro: check Chelsea's press conference and any reliable predicted-lineup coverage in the 48 hours before the deadline. If he looks set for the bench, swap him pre-deadline for Georginio Rutter (£5.5m, Brighton, started Brighton's last two friendlies and scored in one, saving £2.0m) or Igor Jesus (£6.0m, Nottingham Forest, four goals in six pre-season appearances, saving £1.5m) (PremierLeague.com, yesterday).
• Morgan Rogers: check the official FPL player list for his confirmed club and position. Pre-season reporting hints he starts Gameweek 1 and shows him scoring in his first minutes back from the World Cup, but it doesn't confirm his listed FPL details. If he's a midfielder near his £7.5m price, swap him into Squad B for Wilson and adjust the total to £95.5m; if not, leave Wilson in the starting picture.
• Hume's role: check Sunderland's team news for Meunier's or Mukiele's fitness. Reporting suggests Hume could get pushed forward again if either is fit to start, which would raise his attacking numbers; if neither plays, he should stay at right-back for clean-sheet potential. Either way, this is a monitoring check, not a reason to sell him before the deadline.
• Groß and Ndiaye penalties: confirm through a press conference or match-report follow-up that no new penalty taker has been announced at either club. A change would lower the scoring ceiling on both picks, so treat it as a value drop to watch for rather than an automatic reason to transfer either player out.
• Squad legality: these builds assume the £100m budget, 2 GK/5 DEF/5 MID/3 FWD structure and three-player club limit FPL has used in recent seasons, but treat that as a starting assumption rather than a confirmed rule for 2026/27. Check the official FPL rules section before finalizing anything: confirm total spend sits at or under budget, position counts match exactly, no single club is represented by more than three players, and set captain and vice-captain last.

Next step: lock in the package that fits the risk profile

Check Manchester City's pre-match press conference for any word on Haaland's minutes buildup before touching anything else. A positive update tips the aggressive captaincy call toward Package A; if his minutes are still capped or unclear close to the deadline, Package B's larger reserve gives more room to react after Gameweek 1. Before finalizing Squad B's midfield, confirm Rogers' club, position and price on the official FPL player list: build around Wilson if he's not listed as a midfielder near £7.5m, and swap in Rogers only once that check clears. Whichever package gets locked in, hold the reserve budget for a Gameweek 2 transfer rather than spending it now on a role that hasn't settled.