Who are the most popular FPL players for Gameweek 1?
With just a few final days until Fantasy Premier League (FPL) kicks off for 2025/26, who are the most popular players in terms of ownership?
Some of these percentages may still be affected by the ‘Auto Pick’ option when managers first sign up. Also, expect the current total of 5.5 million squads to increase massively between now and Friday evening.
MOST POPULAR FPL PICKS
Goalkeepers
Moving to Burnley should ensure we have a starting £4.0m stopper in Martin Dubravka. He’s rocketed past £4.5m favourite Caoimhin Kelleher in recent days, though neither played at the weekend in their teams’ final friendlies.
Also popular are joint Golden Glove winners Matz Sels (£5.0m) and David Raya (£5.5m), while Levi Colwill’s (£5.0m) makes Robert Sanchez the safest £5.0m route into Chelsea’s backline.
Defenders
Wing-back Aaron Wan-Bissaka (£4.5m) assisted three in last season’s final four and gets to face Sunderland in the opening round.
- READ MORE: Best fixtures in FPL Gameweek 1
That puts him currently ahead of Liverpool pair Jeremie Frimpong (£6.0m) and Virgil van Dijk (£6.0m), who had mixed fortunes in Sunday’s Community Shield.
Rayan Ait-Nouri (£6.0m), another newly-moved attacking full-back, is immediately well-selected. Ezri Konsa‘s (£4.5m) early fixtures are hard to ignore, plus the reliable Gabriel (£6.0m) has recovered from injury.
Midfielders
Naturally, there’s a lot of love for champions Liverpool. The huge Mohamed Salah (£14.5m) price hasn’t deterred managers – he’s just broken the FPL record for points in a season. Let’s hope he remains on penalties after a couple of very recent misses.
Another shiny new toy, Florian Wirtz, is currently the most expensive British transfer of all time. The German looks dangerous and could make a mockery of his £8.5m price tag.
Between these is Cole Palmer (£10.5m) – still liked despite a horrific end to last season. One goal and three assists in 16 outings.
However, be aware that Mohammed Kudus (£6.5m) could be a trap and we need to hear more about Morgan Rogers‘ (£7.0m) availability after hurting his ankle.
Forwards
For a while, Joao Pedro‘s (£7.5m) large ownership was believed to be due to the Auto Pick function, deemed too much of a rotation risk to be considered truly. But, then again, he keeps scoring.
Elsewhere, Arsenal finally have the big-money striker they’ve been craving. Many FPL managers believe Viktor Gyokeres (£9.0m) could be the jigsaw’s final piece.
Good luck trying to squeeze Erling Haaland (£14.0m) in alongside Salah, though the Norwegian remains a better option than the petulant Alexander Isak (£10.5m).
Reclassified as a forward, Jarrod Bowen (£8.0m) is West Ham’s talisman and faces Sunderland. He’s a reliable name in FPL circles, as is Ollie Watkins (£9.0m). The latter marries both great fixtures and strong pre-season form.
