Is Haaland worth the price? Pick Rogers or Palmer? Five key FPL questions
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- Erling Haaland is priced at a record £15.5m in Fantasy Premier League, up from £14m last season, after scoring 239 points — 33 short of his 2022-23 best — and beating Bruno Fernandes by four points to be last season's top FPL scorer.
- The Fantasy Premier League deadline for the 2025-26 season is Friday at 18:30 BST, and the BBC Sport panel recommends Haaland as the standout captaincy option for gameweeks one and three despite a possible World Cup hangover.
- Bruno Fernandes was the second-highest FPL scorer last season and is currently selected in nearly 50% of teams, with the panel split between Bryan Mbeumo and Matheus Cunha as the best Manchester United attacking partner and divided on Harry Maguire versus Luke Shaw in defence.
- Chelsea have a new manager in Xabi Alonso and spent £117m on Morgan Rogers, with the team expected to line up in a 3-4-3 formation featuring Cole Palmer and Rogers as twin number 10s, though the panel leans toward Joao Pedro as the safest gameweek-one pick.
- World Cup semi-finalists from Spain, France, England, and Argentina only returned to training a week before deadline, creating fatigue risk for assets from Manchester City, Arsenal, Crystal Palace, Chelsea, and Liverpool, with Haaland playing just 53 minutes of Manchester City's 3-0 Community Shield loss to Arsenal.
- Arsenal posted 19 clean sheets last season with an expected goals conceded (xGC) of just 27.45 — 20 goals better than second-placed Liverpool at 47.45 — but will start the new campaign without injured defenders William Saliba and Jurrien Timber.
Why it matters: With the FPL deadline hours away, managers must weigh whether Haaland's record £15.5m price leaves room for a balanced squad or forces template play, while Chelsea's new-look attack and Arsenal's injury-hit defence create differentiation opportunities. The World Cup fallout adds a second-order risk: players from the four semi-finalists who only returned to training a week ago could underperform in the opening gameweeks, rewarding those who pick assets with full pre-seasons.
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