Fantasy Premier League 2026/27: Key Players to Consider

The countdown is on. Screens are glowing, drafts are being ripped up, and Fantasy Premier League managers are already second‑guessing themselves as the 2026/27 season edges into view.

By 18:30 (UK time) on Friday 21 August, the Gameweek 1 deadline slams shut. Until then, it’s open season: unlimited transfers, endless tinkering, and one big question – which City assets are simply too dangerous to ignore?

Right now, three names are doing most of the talking.

Haaland: The £15.5m Question

Erling Haaland has broken FPL before. Now he’s breaking the pricing model.

Off the back of a 239‑point haul last season – the highest total of any player in the game – the Norwegian has been installed at a record £15.5m. No one has ever cost more. No one has ever been trusted more either.

Thirty‑five attacking returns tell their own story. Goals, assists, bonus points, captaincy hauls that make or break a weekend – Haaland remains the axis around which countless FPL squads spin.

And the managers? They’re not blinking. Despite the eye‑watering price, 75.2% of early drafts already include him. Three out of four teams are built with the same foundation stone up front. The real puzzle isn’t “Haaland or no Haaland?” It’s how to build the rest of your squad around that £15.5m gravity well.

Guehi: Premium Points at the Back

While Haaland hogs the headlines, Marc Guehi has quietly become one of the most reliable defensive assets in the game.

Last season he finished on 179 points, with only one defender in the entire FPL universe outscoring him. That’s not a purple patch; that’s elite consistency.

Fourteen clean sheets laid the platform. Three goals and five assists added edge. Twenty‑two defensive contribution points and 14 bonus points rounded out a profile that screams all‑round value, even at a new price of £6.0m.

Managers have noticed. Guehi currently sits in 24.7% of squads, a quarter of the game trusting him to lock down their back line from day one. In a season where budgets are being stretched by that record Haaland fee, finding a defender who marries reliability with genuine attacking threat feels like gold dust.

O’Reilly: From Breakthrough to Big Time

If last year was about established stars, it was also about one emerging name: Nico O’Reilly.

The 2025/26 campaign transformed him from peripheral option to FPL asset. Listed as a defender, he delivered like a midfielder: five goals, four assists, and 14 clean sheets, all combining for 160 fantasy points.

That’s not just growth. That’s a leap. He improved by 129 points on his 2024/25 tally, a surge that has forced the game to take notice and push his price up to £6.5m.

Even so, managers are buying into the trajectory. O’Reilly sits in 24% of teams already, his ownership almost mirroring Guehi’s. The appeal is obvious: a defender with proven attacking output and clean‑sheet potential, still priced just below the very top bracket.

The pattern is clear. Haaland dominates the conversation, but the real battle in the days before the deadline lies in defence, where Guehi and O’Reilly are shaping up as early season cornerstones.

Budgets are tight. Choices are brutal. Yet as managers stare down that Friday evening cut‑off, one thought lingers: in a season framed by record prices and rising stars, who dares to go without them?