FPL Second Draft Team Reveal | Updated Thoughts Ahead of Gameweek 1
Welcome to my FPL Second Draft Team Reveal for the 2025/26 season. After taking in more pre-season matches, transfer news, and the Gameweek 1 fixture landscape, I’ve made some key adjustments to my original squad.
This new draft is a blend of template stability and a few calculated risks that could make a big difference early on.
New Draft
In this draft I’m not planning to Bench Boost early. This is mostly because the Bench Boost basically relies on Tottenham who play PSG days before their game against Burnley, and £4m assets.
Ultimately I’m of the current thinking I can get more from my Bench Boost further on in the season when I use the first Wildcard. This could be around Gameweek 13+. I could then fix issues with the five free AFCON Transfers.
The £4.5m goalkeepers really aren’t great this season, so Robert Sanchez at £5m is better than it would usually be. I think he could be a great long-term hold. Leeds man Karl Darlow (£4m) backs him up for now.
Covering price points could be super important, which is why I think owning a £5.5m defender could be handy. Everton’ James Tarkowski (£5.5m) was one of the best defensive contribution point assets last season, and plays in a good defence.
Covering the £6m price bracket could be equally as important, if not more. Filling that role if Virgil Van Dijk of Liverpool. Playing for the leagues best defence, Van Dijk could also have set play potential.
Neco Williams (£5m) is one of the cheapest and most promising assets in a solid Nottingham Forest defence. The same goes for Aston Villa’s Ezri Konsa (£4.5m). Although arguably boring, the priority should still be clean sheets with defenders and I think Konsa offers that.
Budget enabler and Burnley centre-back Maxime Esteve (£4m) remains a great pick.
Check out more team reveals, types of drafts, top picks in each price bracket and more in our Essential Guide.
£5m midfielder Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall should be on his way to Fulham, so could offer good value for money. There are several £5m midfielders I could opt for like Le Fee or Granit Xhaka, but Dewsbury-Hall plays in a much stronger side.
Mohamed Salah (£14.5m) of Liverpool and Chelsea’ Cole Palmer (£10.5m) are locked into my team.
Aston Villa’ fixtures warrant heavy investment for me, and Morgan Rogers (£7m), even with a price rise, could offer plenty of value.
Everton also have a decent starting schedule and their most promising attacker is DEFCON specialist and penalty taker Iliman Ndiaye (£6.5m).
My front three is ever-changing, However, one player I am fixed to at the moment is Ollie Watkins (£9m). As well as being very consistent, he also covers an important price-point. If he moves from Villa then he will have to come out.
Chris Wood (£7.5m) also offers both price-point cover and consistency. The Nottingham Forest striker was fantastic last season, and he starts the new campaign with good fixtures outside of the Arsenal game.
Niclas Fullkrug (£6m) could be a great pick. He seems to be a regular starter in pre-season as of late. This could mean we see a change of formation from the Hammers. The German has also netted in each of his last two matches. It also helps that the £5.5m aren’t great. I’ll keep monitoring Fullkrug.
