FPL 1. Oyun Haftası için En İyi Seçimler

Like Mariah Carey and her evergreen holiday anthem, we’re back for another season of the Fantasy Premier League! This is the world’s game; the best interactive platform that fans of the beautiful sport of football, as played in the biggest league in the world, the Premier League, have to understand what it means to be in the shoes of a manager.

Over the next 38 weeks, we will be giving you top-notch analysis to help you scale past the hurdles set for you by millions of players, especially your friends and community, with whom you’ll be competing!

Now, without further ado, let’s get to analysing gameweek 1 of the 2025/26 Fantasy Premier League!

Changes to FPL 2025/26

Before we go into the analysis, though, there are some new developments for the 2025/26 season of FPL that you need to know about.

Last season, the game developers introduced the Assistant Manager chip, which allowed players to choose one manager whose wins, draws, or losses counted towards their weekly points haul. This season, the following changes have been introduced:

1. Defensive contributions

Unlike in previous seasons, when only defenders and goalkeepers earned defensive points while also earning attacking points with the other outfield players, the game developers have made it equal across the board.

This means that if Mo Salah (£14.5m) makes a crucial block or two, has enough ball recoveries, and scores a hat-trick, he will be racking up a massive points haul! More metrics have also been added to help the defenders get more points on the board for your squad. You can also visit the Premier League website to read more.

2. Two sets of chips

The Wildcard chip will no longer be the only chip that can be used twice in a season; all the chips will be available for use twice in the season! That’s right – between gameweek 1 and gameweek 19 (first half of the season), you will be able to use your Wildcard, Free Hit, Triple Captain and Bench Boost chips, and from gameweek 20 to gameweek 38 (second half of the season), you will also have those chips to use again! That means managers will have eight chips in total to help their causes this season!

3. No Assistant Manager Chip this season

The game-changing Assistant Manager chip has been disabled for the 2025/26 edition of the Fantasy Premier League. Managers will have to figure out how to get points hauls with the duplicated versions of the regular chips, which, to be fair, is a solid buffer for those who know their onions.

4. Changes to assists rules

According to FPL official data, managers missed out on 41 assists last season because of some discrepancies. This season, those discrepancies have been cleared. For an FPL assist to be awarded, the player getting the points just has to be the last person from the goalscoring team to have touched the ball.

This means that, for example, if Salah shoots at goal and the shot is saved into the path of Hugo Ekitike (£8.5m), who scores the rebound, Salah gets an assist! You can read more about this wonderful change on the Premier League website.

5. Extra transfers for AFCON

51 players could be leaving over 10 clubs this season to participate in the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations in Morocco from 21 December 2025 to 18 January 2026. The game developers have decided to give all managers two extra transfers in gameweek 16 to cushion the effect of this mass exodus.

6. Changes to the Bonus Points System

FPL managers live for bonus points! It is one of the harder metrics to understand because the game developers technically outsource it to Opta and award points based on the stat company’s data, but those who pay attention would be able to get it.

Now, the game developers have made some changes that will help more managers get more bonus points every game week. Read more about it on the Premier League website.

Oyun Haftası Analizi

We have come to the gist of the matter: the FPL analysis to help you make the best squad selection for a strong start to the 2025/26 campaign!

The first gameweek looks like this:

• Liverpool v AFC Bournemouth
• Aston Villa v Newcastle United
• Brighton and Hove Albion v Fulham
• Sunderland v West Ham United
• Tottenham Hotspur v Burnley
• Wolverhampton Wanderers v Manchester City
• Chelsea v Crystal Palace
• Nottingham Forest v Brentford
• Manchester United v Arsenal
• Leeds United v Everton

As you can see, we’re getting premium action from the start, with the first Super Sunday of the season happening in the first gameweek. The most important thing to look at this season, however, is the signings. Especially in week 1, where many of these guys will be thrown straight into the deep end.

For Arsenal and Manchester United, for example, both Viktor Gyökeres (£9.0m) and Benjamin Šeško (£7.5m) are shoo-ins to start the game. It will be the same thing across teams, with many of their signings being deliberate first-team signings and not just backup signings.

It is also important to study patterns from pre-season, where many of these names have seen action playing for their new club. It is for these reasons that both Cole Palmer (£10.5m) and João Pedro (£7.5m) are the most owned players for gameweek 1 ahead of Salah.

Best Matches for Asset Selection

After careful consideration of each team’s chances, below are the matches where we believe FPL managers can get good returns from and should consider for asset selection.

Liverpool v AFC Bournemouth

The Reds have strengthened and now have some of the most expensive assets in the game. The loss of the core of the Cherries’ defence also makes them ripe for the picking, especially with the game being at Anfield. We expect Florian Wirtz (£8.5m), Jeremie Frimpong (£6.0m), along with the team captain Virgil van Dijk (£6.0m), to be the standout performers in the first match of their title defence season.

Aston Villa v Newcastle United

This match has proven to be a banger in recent seasons, and we expect fireworks from the jump. Alexander Isak (£10.5m) could leave the Magpies before the end of the transfer window, but his goal threat is too much for Eddie Howe to ignore, especially against opponents like Villa. We can count on the usual suspects for this game: Morgan Rodgers (£7.0m), Jacob Murphy (£6.5m), Anthony Gordon (£7.5m) and Ollie Watkins (£9.0m).

Tottenham Hotspur v Burnley

With Thomas Frank and the threat that Mohammed Kudus (£6.5m) brings for Spurs, newly promoted Burnley are up for a baptism of fire. Spurs narrowly lost the UEFA Super Cup to PSG, which means that they will be looking to express their anger, sorrow, regret and remorse on the pitch in front of their home fans. Christian Romero (£5.0m), who is now their new captain, is certain to shine alongside his defensive partner, Micky Van de Ven (£4.5m), as well.

Best FPL players for week 38

Rayan Aït-Nouri (£6.0m) — Manchester City

The Algerian defender scored four goals and provided seven assists last season. He is one of the most attacking defenders in the game.

City’s first game is against his former side, Wolves, who have lost bite with Matheus Cunha (£8.0m) gone. We expect Aït-Nouri to come good for his new team in week 1.

Marc Cucurella (£6.0m) — Chelsea

Cucurella is also one of the most attacking defenders in the game. He ended 2024/25 with five goals and two assists, and was important in all their pre-season outings, which showed the quality of Enzo Maresca’s side. Chelsea’s first game is against the FA Cup and Community Shield winners Crystal Palace, which promises to be tough. However, the La Masia graduate’s form is one of the sharpest in the Chelsea squad, and we expect him to shine.

Erling Haaland (£14.0m) — Manchester City

There are not many players better than the Norwegian in gameweek 1. The evidence is there for you to follow. With Wolves being their first opponents, we do not see a reason why Haaland should not be in everyone’s teams.