FPL is back!. After all the researching, eye testing & scouting, finally the wait is over & it’s time to lock in our final teams. This season, FPL has seen a monumental level of change, but don’t worry, we have you covered for every single fantasy aspect you could think of. So strap in, buckle up & join us for the ride to become the 25/26 FPL Champion.

You can also follow our Fantasy Premier League Football Tips throughout the season for gameweekly insights and opinions.

The 25/26 season is on its way, and our experts will begin to roll out their Premier League Predictions soon, so now is the perfect time to get involved. We will remain across all the action on the continent, the EFL, and in Scotland in our various Football Betting Tips & Predictions, with fresh tips available here on Andy's Bet Club every day.

⚔️ My Team for Gameweek 1

Finally, here we are at the deadline, team locked in and raring to go. This season, I have decided to attack right from the start, so here’s my team:

A solid start to the new season is required, so Van De Ven & Milenkovic are locks with their high likelihood of clean sheets & an underrated double up on Brighton with Verbruggen & De Cuyper completing the defensive backline. Verbruggen saves me £0.5m over most other goalkeepers, and all my defenders have an attacking threat, vital for huge points.

My midfield is stacked with Palmer, Fernandes, and Wirtz, all template picks, then adding Gakpo, who is a tier below, for the double-up against Bournemouth on the opening Friday night. With the new addition of defensive contributions, it's important to get a ball-winning player in your side, and Baleba is he can also score a goal here or there.

A strong forward line of Haaland & Watkins is a must, and I see them both scoring highly, especially in the opening GW. A strong, playing bench is always needed with all them bar Kroupi. Jr is nailed to play 80 mins+ every single game. I am extremely confident in my team selection and can’t wait for GW1.

💎 Gameweek 1 Gem Pick

🇩🇪 Florian Wirtz – Lliverpool (£8.5m, 34.7%)

• Ridiculously Underpriced

• Transitioned well in the squad

• Proven record at the highest levels

The newly arrived German powerhouse makes his debut on GW1 in front of the home fans at Anfield. Big things are expected of the midfielder with a £140m price tag & big things are what I think he will deliver. 30 goal involvements in 45 games in the form of 16 goals and 14 assists, bodes extremely well for the season. Even on the biggest stage of all in the Champions League, he performed with 6 goals and 1 assist (in 9 apps).

He has already hit the ground running in preseason, and almost every attacking move seems to come through him. Not only is he a great player, but FPL have got his price wrong, in a good way. At only £8.5m, he will make a mockery of his price tag; he is a must-have inclusion. I expect to see many points & almost Salah-type levels of return, for almost half the price.

Top Tip – Confirm your team in good time. The FPL website is notoriously bad & crashes on the first deadline of previous seasons, so lock your team in no later than 1 hour before (17:45). You don’t want to accidentally start the season with Hojlund, do you?

🦸 Gameweek 1 Captaincy Calls

🇳🇴 Erling Haaland – Man City (£14m, 22.7%)

• Lowly Owned and currently a differential pick

• Top record v Wolves (7 goals in 5 games)

• Wolves haven’t kept a clean sheet in preseason, conceding 7 goals in 4

• Lost their best defender (Ait-Nouri) to Man City

• Current form of 7 goals in 8 games (in all comps)

🎯 Target Game

Wolves v Man City

In truth, there were many games I could have selected this weekend, but Man City’s Saturday evening trip to Wolves looks the best. I haven’t heard much discussion around Man City’s new look, ultra-attacking lineup yet, and think this is the perfect match in which to remind all of us. Wolves narrowly avoided relegation last season, have had a terrible preseason & with a current record of no clean sheet in 8 straight Premier League games, Man City are set to score highly. The Citizens have won 9 of the last 10 against Wolves, and with Haaland on a scoring run of 7 goals in the last 8 games, he could easily score more than one. I don’t see anything other than an exciting game with plenty of goals!

🪙 Chip Update - Bench Boost?

Every season in GW1, we see a great deal of managers using the Bench Boost(BB) chip, just to get rid of it. If you're new to FPL, it's notoriously difficult to line up chips to use in back-to-back GWs & BB is the hardest of them all to optimise. But using it in GW1 doesn’t give you that potential high ceiling score, so save it for further down the season. Managers currently playing it have a weak overall 15, and it wouldn’t be that big a shock if a few started on the bench. Don’t fall into the trap, stay clear!

🗒️ FPL Gameweek 1 Bet Builder Tips

Man City dominance is the order of the day, so it’s no surprise I have gone in hard on them. Haaland to score anytime is a great price at 10/11 & if he scores early on, its likely to be a cricket score. The bet builder below seems a solid, safe bet to me.

Conclusion

Good luck & be sure to visit  X for my captaincy, final GW1 team, and football insights/analysis throughout the 2025-2026 season. Look out for my special articles and follow me on X @FplVeteran_ for daily fantasy football content.