The first gameweek has passed, and it’s been quite a storm. With key premiums all over the game underperforming, and the most owned players in the game struggling to earn more than the base two points, it feels like the first week has been a disaster for many. But, it’s just the first gameweek; there’s 37 to go, so don’t panic just yet.
There have been a lot of surprises this game week, but it’s still way too early to make any longterm decisions like a Wildcard GW2. With that being said, it’s still important to go over what’s happened, and the plans I have for next week and beyond. But, if you take nothing else from this article, just don’t panic. There’s so much to go yet, and one bad gameweek isn’t going to be the end of your season.
So, in this article, we’re going to do exactly that. Take a look at my own gameweek, and what I thought of certain players and teams, and then go on to discuss what my plans are, loosely. I’ll go over more major transfer plans and players I want in a later article, but for now let’s take a look at this week.
FPL 25/26 Gameweek 1: My Team Overview and Thoughts
So unfortunately, it looks like I should have taken the gamble and went with my original Gameweek 1 team, but I'm not feeling too bad finishing at 48 points. A lot of players that people expected to perform just didn't perform and so a lot of people had middling game weeks. Do I think it's not ideal? For sure. Am I super worried? No. The fixture still look very good for me and with some changes (and hopefully some better performances next week) I feel as though Gameweek 2 might end up being okay.
We do still have the Monday night fixture of Leeds and Everton, but being honest I feel as though it won't change much for me as I have no desire to own assets from either team at this point. I am a little disappointed in so many players’ performances this week but it's not the end of the world; and certain moments like the 370-frimpong sub at 59mins, you have to just laugh at the absurdity off. We have a whole season ahead of us in which things will drastically change and so it's important not to get caught up in the weekend week out and keep focused on the big picture.
FPL Gameweek 1 Results: Palmer Out? Ekitike In?
Chelsea 0 - 0 Crystal Palace
To put it simply, 235-palmer is definitely one of the most contentious players this whole week. After a disappointing game week, in which he was completely absent throughout the match against Crystal Palace, many people are questioning whether he's even worth the 10.5 or if he should be downgraded to another option. Being realistic, the performance that we've seen this week does indicate that the Chelsea midfielder might not perform to meet his price tag, but with a match against West Ham next week; I don't think it's worth selling him just yet..
However, when it comes to other Chelsea players; 249-joao-pedro does feel underwhelming and it feels as though there are other options that may perform better; he was subbed off early with no attacking returns, and this could be easily repeated throughout the season. However on the defensive side, 220-sanchez did manage to keep a clean sheet. But his goalkeeping ability just isn't there in my opinion from watching him, and I do think he got fairly lucky. So, if you have him in your team, don't panic, but be aware that there’s a chance that he could fail to perform against better teams.
The defensive players in Crystal Palace looked really good, and are definitely worth adding to your team if you didn’t already. All three of 256-munoz, 261-richards, and 257-lacroix are definitely great options, and I feel like this showing definitely helped cement that they’re worth at least looking at this season. As for their attack, it looks as though 266-eze is leaving to Tottenham this week, so be aware of that.
Liverpool 4 - 2 AFC Bournemouth
Liverpool certainly looked interesting this week. As predicted, their defensive line was poor, but offensively they showed a lot of potential with 661-ekitike and 384-gakpo performing solidly. I'm really liking Ekitike, and I do want to get him in my team after this set of difficult fixtures.
381-msalah did have a strong attacking return but other than that late goal, didn't really show much. However, this is something that he is able to do constantly and I think that he will only have more moments like this throughout the season, which goes to show why he’s so consistent; even in his worst games, he can still easily return out of nowhere.
However, 370-frimpong and 371-kerkez both got subbed off at the 59th minute, meaning they brutally missed out on their clean sheet bonus. I do feel as though both of these players could become insane FPL assets, but they are also risky right now and it feels as though they haven't quite found their places in the team just yet.
The same can be said for 382-wirtz, who massively underperformed against Bournemouth. Though I do think his positioning was very strong and I like the fact he took a lot of set pieces, he obviously underperformed in pure numbers and didn’t really contribute much. I don't think I'm going to take him out of my team as I like a lot of what I saw, but it could also be something to watch if he doesn't manage to adjust to the league in a good amount of time.
Bournemouth did look great this week, with 82-semenyo looking very strong at two goals. However, I feel as though Liverpool's defence was incredibly disjointed, and I don't know if he'll have as many chances against other teams that have a tighter defensive line. Next week, against Wolves, does feel like a great matchup for Semenyo to shine, if you want to make that transfer. But, I feel as though getting rid of the risk with Frimpong is probably more critical than replacing 47-rogers in a gameweek against Brentford, if I did want to make any changes.
Manchester United - 0 - 1 Arsenal
United just didn't really perform at all against Arsenal. But on the other hand, other than one goal, Arsenal looked stilted as well.
I feel as though 16-saka was quite absent, and 449-bfernandes not hitting that DEFCON stat made it quite painful for those who have all three of him, Wirtz, and Palmer. Otherwise, I don’t feel like any of the players on either side are very appealing. 666-gyokeres was subbed off and didn’t do anything, 119-mbeumo and 450-cunha played fine but United still looked so lethargic.
Next week I feel as though my most obvious transfer is Frimpong to 6-saliba, just due to the great matchup and wanting to facilitate the Ekitike transfer, but I’m not left inspired by either team’s performances here.
Aston Villa 0 - 0 Newcastle
Against all preseason hype, Aston Villa looked absolutely shocking on the offensive half. It feels as though there's a massive disconnect between 64-watkins and the midfield, and 47-rogers failed to perform whatsoever.
Newcastle surprised me, being able to hold their own against a Villa team that were clear favorites for the start of the season. The lack of a striker is still concerning, and Villa felt very disjointed, so I don't know if this will continue but it is an interesting development with the 499-isak saga alongside. However, Liverpool are looking very aggressive and we haven't really seen if they fold under a cohesive unit like the current Liverpool attacking threats. So for me Newcastle is currently a wait and see.
Wolverhampton Wanderers 0 - 4 Manchester City
654-strand-larsen also didn't get any returns either, despite playing very well; however I feel as though Wolves’ hardest matchup is out of the way at this point. I am very confident that he will score against Bournemouth (or maybe I’m just praying that he’ll return). He’s a creative striker and can perform incredibly well even against high-level teams.
Otherwise, Wolves have nothing to write home about, their defence has holes and I feel as though Strand Larsen is a level higher than the rest of the team.
On that note, 427-reijnders looked incredible and is definitely going to be a part of my team going forward. Even with Pep Roulette, I feel that the benefits are just too high for that 5.5m price point, and I expect him to be starting every week with these performances. 430-haaland was also great, and congrats if you captained him! (I should’ve). I do wish I had him in my starting team, and I may want to upgrade to him later on, but I feel like doing so will require a Wildcard and I’m not sure I want to commit that hard.
Tottenham Hotspurs 3 - 0 Burnley
Spurs also looked great, but it was a match against Burnley. With a tough matchup week too and a volatile lineup, I don't know if I really want to invest in more Spurs assets just yet. They are definitely my favorite looking team after Liverpool out of the Big Six.
Hopefully they can keep themselves together, and have a great start to the season so 568-pedro-porro can do well in my 11, but they really need to get a consistent team together and play against some better squads before I start looking at their attackers.
Nottingham Forest 3 - 1 Brentford
Nottingham Forest also looked really good, but Brentford looked terrible at the same time. However, the general sentiment was that Forest wouldn't be able to score going into the season, so 525-wood getting a brace is insane. I wouldn't exactly transfer into a Forest striker, as Brentford looked absolutely dreadful, but they are also definitely one to consider.
It is unfortunate that they couldn’t get a clean sheet, and 136-thiago getting a return is definitely interesting. I do feel as though their defense will tighten up after this week, though, and it’ll only get better as the season goes on. 517-anderson looks great when it comes to defensive contributions and xGI, and I feel as though they could definitely be one to watch going forward.
Looking Past Gameweek 1: Thoughts and Plans for GW2 and Beyond
I feel as though for me, there are two options here: either transfer Frimpong, or roll the transfer.
I really like how aggressive Frimpong looks, but at the same time he has a far lower defensive capability and so I don't know if he'll be getting many clean sheets for as long as Liverpool continue to struggle getting a cohesive defense. Otherwise, I did consider a Gameweek 2 wildcard, but I feel as though my team has enough solid players that I don't need to worry too much just yet.
Palmer and Rogers are both slight concerns but I'm willing to give them one more game in the hope that they both start to perform, with their upcoming fixtures being quite favourable. Wirtz also worries me a little bit, but I feel as though it's more of an adjustment to the Premier League than a complete lack of form from a player with Premier League experience, and so I would like to keep him for the good set of fixtures after the Arsenal game to see if he does start to get returns.
I definitely want Ekitike in my team as his performance was solid, but I am worried about the rotation risk if Isak does arrive at Liverpool. So, depending how Liverpool vs Newcastle goes, I will either bring him in for the Arsenal game, or for the game after. I'm not really thinking about bringing in Haaland right now as I don't know if he will be as consistent, but if Palmer fails to deliver there is also a chance that I can facilitate a double transfer of Palmer out and Haaland in. This is the only reason why I'm thinking of keeping Frimpong another week, though that does lock me out of being able to get Ekitike later on which I feel as though might be a priority due to the fixtures that Liverpool have lined up.
I'm hoping that Haaland falls off in the next few weeks because I really don't want to have to put aside 15 million for another player. Sadly it does feel as though the game week one draft that I posted last week would have been way better in hindsight but the risk of taking Haaland did scare me out of it unfortunately.
Closing Time
Gameweek 1 has been wild, and with so many players and teams failing to perform it looks as though this season is going to get off to a weird start. Will Palmer perform? Is Haaland going to dominate? Has Salah shaken off the pre-season rust? We’ll find out next week, for Gameweek 2.
If you’re interested in more in-depth written content about FPL as well as my other opinions and thoughts, keep an eye out on FPLZone. We’ll be here the whole season, week in week out, and will make sure you’ve got everything you need to keep track of the 25/26 FPL season.
In any case, thank you for your time, and I’ll catch you later in the week!