FPL Gameweek 1–3: Best Players and Chip Strategy

Our FPL Gameweek 1–3: Best Players and Chip Strategy is your essential guide to staying one step ahead in Fantasy Premier League. Each week, we look three Gameweeks into the future to spot the top-performing players, analyse fixture runs, and plan potential chip usage.

Whether you’re chasing early rank gains or protecting a strong start, this forward-planning approach will help you make smarter transfers and time your chips for maximum impact.

Gameweek 1-3 Fixtures

Below we can see the Fantasy Football Scout fixture ticker. Teams at the top have the best fixtures, all the way down to teams with the worst fixtures at the bottom.

FPL Gameweek 1–3: Best Players and Chip Strategy

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Who has the best fixtures?

Sunderland, Burnley, Everton, Chelsea and Brentford rank among the top five teams with the best fixtures.

Who has the worst fixtures?

Liverpool, Newcastle, Crystal Palace, Bournemouth and Leeds all rank among the bottom five teams with the worst fixtures.

Best Players to Own

Chelsea – Whilst several teams sit above Chelsea on the ticker, none are as consistent or convincing. With rotation at the back among defenders, opting for goalkeeper Robert Sanchez (£5m) could be one fix. Another Chelsea player nailed for minutes at the back is attacking left-back Marc Cucurella (£6m). In attack, midfielder and penalty taker Cole Palmer (£10.5m) remains the pick of the bunch. After Palmer, and likely to start most games unlike the other attackers is former Brighton man and Brazilian striker Joao Pedro (£7.5m). Joao Pedro has made an immediate impact at the Blues and appears settled already.

Everton – Several sides stand out in the opening three Gameweeks, and Everton are one of them. The Toffees appear to have improved under David Moyes and have great starting fixtures. In defence, centre-back James Tarkowski (£5.5m) was one of the best in the league last season for defensive contributions. Full-back Vitalii Mykolenko (£5m) is a cheaper pick at the back. Midfielder and penalty taker Iliman Ndiaye (£6.5m) is arguably one of the best at his price point. There is some doubt over striker Norberto Beto’s (£5.5m) minutes. But, he continues to start for Everton during pre-season.

Nottingham Forest – Forest have three great starting fixtures in the new campaign, and head into them after a fantastic 2024-25. Matz Sels (£5m) is arguably one of the best goalkeeper options in the game due to the pool available to us. Another route into the backline, but with more attacking threat is Neco Williams (£5m). Two more excellent picks at the back are Nikola Milenkovic (£5.5m) and Murillo. The former offers goal threat and defcon potential, whilst the latter was the best in his position for defcons last season. Striker Chris Wood (£7.5m) remains their standout option after racking up 20+ goals in 2024-25.

For top picks, team reveals and strategy articles, check out or Essential FPL Guide.

Who else should we consider?

There are lots of great options to choose from ahead of the opening three Gameweeks, including:

Liverpool: Virgil Van Dijk (defender – £6m), Florian Wirtz (midfielder – £8.5m) and Mohamed Salah (midfielder – £14.5m).
Aston Villa: Ezri Konsa (defender – £5m), Morgan Rogers (midfielder – £7m) and Ollie Watkins striker – £9m).
Manchester City: Rayan Ait Nouri (defender – £5.5m), Tijani Reijnders (midfielder – £5.5m) and Erling Haaland (striker – £14m).
Tottenham: Mickey van de Ven (defender – £4.5m), Pedro Porro (defender – £5.5m), Brennan Johnson (midfielder – £7m) and Mohammed Kudus (midfielder – £6.5m).
Arsenal: Gabriel (defender – £6m), Bukayo Saka (midfielder – £10m), and Viktor Gyokeres (striker – £9m).

Should we play a chip?

Gameweeks 1-3 offers great opportunities to use a chip. So, lets take a look at when FPL managers may decide to use them:

Bench Boost: Bench Boost is a chip many are planning to use early. The introduction of £4m defenders and goalkeepers during pre-season has given the community plenty of justification to activate Bench Boost. Gameweek 2, when Burnley face Sunderland, appears to be the better week to go for it.

Free Hit: Tottenham v Manchester, Liverpool v Newcastle, Manchester United v Fulham and Bournemouth v Wolves could be good enough reasons to play it in Gameweek 2. Although, in Gameweek 3, Arsenal play Liverpool, Manchester United face Burnley, Newcastle come up against Leeds and Everton face Wolves, which could offer another brilliant opportunity for managers.

Wildcard: Starting a season can be tough. Getting it right doesn’t always happen, so if you get it wrong, then using the Wildcard to dump players you thought would be good, or bringing in players who look like they could have huge potential could be wise. Using the Wildcard could also be a good strategy immediately before or after using a bench boost chip.