Fantasy Premier League: Gameweek 1 Picks With High Potential

The new Fantasy Premier League season always starts the same way: optimism, tinkering, and that nagging fear you’ve missed the pick everyone else has spotted. With the Gameweek 1 deadline set for Friday at 18:30 BST, four names stand out as potential early-season difference-makers.

Alexander Isak (Liverpool) £9.0m

A fit, angry Alexander Isak at a reduced price. That’s the headline.

Last season never really got going for him. Injuries cut him down to just eight Premier League starts in 2025/26, a frustrating campaign for a forward of his calibre. But the context has flipped. He’s back from a full summer of World Cup minutes and pre-season action, and he’s already left a mark: a goal and an assist in Liverpool’s penultimate friendly against Monaco.

The pricing is what really grabs you. He’s dropped from £10.5m to £9.0m, despite a recent full season at Newcastle United that yielded 23 goals, six assists and 211 FPL points. That’s elite-level output now sitting in the mid-premium bracket.

There’s more. Mohamed Salah has gone, and with him Liverpool’s long-standing penalty monopoly. Dominik Szoboszlai (£7.0m) was the deputy last season and will have his say, but Isak is firmly in that conversation. Even without spot-kicks, he’s almost uncontested as Liverpool’s main striker, with Hugo Ekitike (£7.5m) sidelined by a long-term injury.

The fixtures give him a runway. None of Liverpool’s opening five matches rates higher than three on the Fixture Difficulty Ratings scale. Gameweek 1 brings Newcastle, a club still adjusting after Eddie Howe’s departure and the loss of several key players. It’s a meeting with his former side at a vulnerable moment. Perfect conditions for a statement start.

Bryan Mbeumo (Man Utd) £8.0m

Bryan Mbeumo has quietly become one of the most intriguing midfield picks for Gameweek 1 – by not really playing as a midfielder at all.

With Benjamin Sesko (£7.0m) still recovering from injury and missing Manchester United’s entire pre-season, Mbeumo has spent most of the summer leading the line. That “out of position” role has suited him. Three goals and an assist in his last three friendly starts underline how comfortable he looks as United’s central threat.

Crucially, he’s fresh. Cameroon’s failure to qualify for the World Cup gave him a proper summer break and a full pre-season, something many of his team-mates can’t claim. That usually translates into early-season minutes and sharpness, two things FPL managers crave in Gameweek 1.

The schedule only sweetens the deal. United open against Hull City and Ipswich Town, two newly promoted sides, in their first two Gameweeks. Hull’s defensive record in the Championship last season – 66 goals conceded, with only three clubs letting in more – hints at vulnerabilities that a front-line featuring Mbeumo can exploit.

If United click early, he won’t just be a placeholder. He could be the one punishing those who waited to “have a look first.”

Christos Tzolis (Arsenal) £6.5m

Every season throws up at least one mid-priced midfielder who explodes out of the blocks. Christos Tzolis is auditioning hard for that role.

Arsenal’s summer signing from Club Brugge has wasted no time in making an impression. One goal and six assists in pre-season tell their own story; no Arsenal player matched his seven attacking returns. He hasn’t blanked in any match he’s started for the reigning champions, including Sunday’s 3-0 FA Community Shield win, where he supplied another assist.

While others have been easing back from World Cup duty, Tzolis has had a clean run. He’s been with Mikel Arteta’s squad since July, featuring in all six pre-season fixtures. That continuity matters. It puts him in a strong position for serious minutes in Gameweek 1, at a time when some of Arsenal’s usual starters are still playing catch-up.

His numbers from Belgium demand respect: 17 goals and 23 assists in the top flight last season. Those are not the figures of a punt; they’re the profile of a player who knows how to rack up returns.

Then comes the opener. Promoted Coventry City visit the Emirates in Gameweek 1. Arsenal, at home, as champions, with a new winger in form and fully integrated. If his pre-season is any guide, Tzolis won’t stay at £6.5m for long.

Dan Ballard (Sunderland) £5.0m

Gameweek 1 is often where Bench Boost chips go to die. Managers load up on cheap defenders, then watch them lose their places by September. Sunderland’s Luke O’Nien (£4.0m) fits the budget template, but his longer-term prospects don’t.

Omar Alderete (£5.0m) and Nordi Mukiele (£5.5m) are expected back from injury soon, and O’Nien’s minutes could quickly come under threat. If you want a Sunderland defender you can pick and then largely ignore for weeks, Dan Ballard is the safer, and arguably smarter, play.

His underlying numbers back that up. Ballard averaged 10.9 defensive contributions per 90 minutes in 2025/26, hitting the target threshold in 58 per cent of his starts. He isn’t just a body in the back line; he’s consistently involved in the actions that matter for defensive bonus.

There’s attacking upside too. Four attacking returns last season and a top-seven ranking among defenders for shots in the box (25) show he’s a set-piece presence, not a token threat.

Ipswich Town at home in Gameweek 1 offers a clean-sheet platform. From there, Sunderland’s schedule turns awkward in Gameweeks 4 and 5, but that can be managed. Rotating Ballard with a Leeds United defender, for example, works neatly, with Leeds enjoying two home fixtures in that spell.

Stretch the view to Gameweek 9 and Ballard still looks viable. At £5.0m, he’s not just a one-week wonder. He’s a structural pick for managers who want stability at the back while they chase fireworks further up the pitch.

The deadline is closing in. The question is simple: will these four be in your squad when it hits?