Is the price right? The Definitive FPL 2026/27 Cheat Sheet

Staff Writer Guy de Basto gives insight into the best players to include for the 26/27 Fantasy Premier League season.

Roar FPL League code: qmqz55

So you’ve read my article about the return of the Fantasy Premier League, and now you’ve got FPL fever. That’s totally understandable. 

In the second part of the Roar FPL mini-series, I am covering the players you will likely rely on over the coming season. We’ve decided to split the article into FPL’s most expensive players, Roar’s underrated players, Roar’s Steer Clears and, last but certainly not least, Roar’s Ones to Watch, before giving you the fifteen players we’ll be heading into Game Week 1 with.  

Roar’s Most Expensive: 

The Norwegian has a hefty price tag to live up to. Credit: “Manchester City open practice for the FC Series in Cary, North Carolina”, Photo by: Hameltion, CC BY 4.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Erling Haaland – MCI, FWD – £15.5 million – You must have known this was coming. The most expensive player ever in FPL, Haaland also had the most FPL points last year (239) and had a characteristically fantastic campaign with 27 goals and 8 assists. With a massive 72% ownership, it is almost certain he will be the captain for most people every week. After a great WC campaign with 7 goals, the only downside is that he looked rather uninspired in the Community Shield final, getting subbed off at the 52nd minute mark. It won’t be a great deal of concern for many though and he’s certainly a top-gun candidate heading into this year.  

Bruno Fernandes – MUN, MID – £12.0 million. Off the back of the most assists in Premier League history, it’s not a surprise that Bruno’s price jumped up by 3 million. Owned by 49% of managers, he had the second most points last year (235) and looks in a fantastic position to have a similar finish this time around. In addition,  Manchester United have Hull, Ipswich and Everton to start the season, which makes him likely to pile on the points early. 

Cole Palmer – CHE, MID – £9.5 million – Dropping a million from his 10.5 million price tag from last year, surprise England rejectee, Cole Palmer had an underwhelming 114 points last campaign. On top of that, he isn’t the most chosen option on his own team, with Joao Pedro being the heavily favoured option with 59% ownership compared to Palmer’s 11%. That being said, he could see more success in Xabi Alonso’s 3-4-3 or 3-4-2-1 in addition to the lack of European football (sorry Chelsea fans).

Bukayo Saka – ARS, MID – £9.5 million – Arsenal Starboy Saka completes the final spot on our most expensive list. Like Palmer, his ownership rate sits low, at around 10%, but he is interestingly classed as a midfielder in-game. A very positive sign was his fantastic finish with 157 points in spite of various injury problems. Furthermore, as part of an Arsenal team that (I’m sorry to say) looks like it has no intention of slowing down, he has a high likelihood of outperforming last season’s tally of 7 goals and 5 assists.  

Roar Steer Clear

This Arsenal Man is one of the players I would stay away from (in the early weeks at least) Credit: ‘Kai Havertz Arsenal 2026’, Photo by: Chensiyuan, CC BY 4.0, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Bruno Guimarães – ARS, MID – £7 million – Despite many Toon fans thinking he was going to retire in Newcastle, Bruno managed to get his big money move to Arsenal this summer. However, I have my doubts. He is a very talented player no doubt, but I don’t see him matching his 9 goals and 6 assists, where his minutes might be limited for the aforementioned team, looking likely to retain their title. A lot of his Newcastle value was built on his designation as default penalty and free kick taker and in a system where he wouldn’t be doing that, the smart move is to consider an alternative that doesn’t cost £7 million.  

Nordi Mukiele – SUN, DEF – £5.5 million – If you are looking for a reliable defender who has proven FPL experience, Mukiele might not be the worst option in the world. However, the jump from £4 to £5.5 million gives me slight cause for concern. This is due to the incredibly similar nature of his role compared to this summer. There are worse players, I’m sure, but I think someone like Luke O’Nien (£4 million) is a better option in virtually every aspect this season. Just to escalate concerns, he is nursing a slight injury into GW1 so keep that in mind if you decide to go against my advice and pick him. His low ownership of 2.5% only increases my apprehension in choosing him.

Kai Havertz + Victor Gyokeres – ARS, FWD – Both £7.5 million – I can imagine the outrage from Arsenal fans reading this. I just can’t imagine either performing up to their value in the game this year. Whilst Gyokeres did manage to net 14 last year, even Arsenal fans have to admit he is erratic at best and anonymous at worst. Kai Havertz only managed 7 starts last year. With respective ownerships of 4.5% for the German and 10.6% for the Swede, the question about who will be Arsenal’s leading scorer in the 26/27 season is a question that is most likely to be answered only in GW1, so it’s not worth a gamble to figure it out before the first couple of gameweeks.

Roar’s Underrated:

Ex-Liverpool GK Kelleher tops my list for the most undervalued players this year. Credit: Igor Thiago and Caoimhín Kelleher in a match between Brentford and AFC Bournemouth. Photo by: Timmy96, CC BY 1.0, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/1.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Caoimhín Kelleher – BRE, GK – £5.0 million – In my eyes, goalkeeper value in FPL is mostly shots against volume rather than save percentage. If you are in the market for a dependable shot-stopper with significant top-flight experience, the Irishman is a very compelling value proposition. While his price has seen a slight uptick, his proven reliability makes him a savvy alternative to more expensive household names. With a 5.8% ownership, it might be wise to keep him in your squad for the time being and we certainly will be here at Roar.

Bobby Thomas – COV, DEF – £4 million – Part of the newly promoted Coventry side, Bobby Thomas is a fantastic, cheap defensive option to have. Although he is unlikely to keep many clean sheets, his DEFCON points (defensive contributions) are likely to be high, and his aerial ability and a knack for scoring the odd goal (3 goals and 2 assists) mean that he’s an underrated option to pick up. He is also owned by 7.8% of players so could be a fantastic differentiator.

Pascal Groß – BRI, MID – £5.5 million – Arguably the most underrated player in the league (if you’re a ball knower), Groß is also fantastic in the fantasy version of the game. He gets a good number of goals and assists (4 goals and 10 assists in 23/24), so is worth an inclusion just for that. The German will also likely be on penalties for the Seagulls after Welbeck’s departure, which is another good selling point. After Villa and Chelsea in the opening weeks, he has an easier run with Leeds and Coventry; thus, it might be worth a free transfer at some point later in the season. Keep your eye on this fella. His 12.5% ownership also proves there are a lot of ball knowers in FPL this year.

Piero Hincapié – ARS, DEF –  £5.5 million – The Ecuadorian man is on this list because he provides versatile cover across left-back and is a solid centre-back in what was the best side defensively in the league last season. With Saliba carrying a slight injury concern into the opener, there’s a real pathway to regular starts behind a rock-solid Arsenal backline. My only slight concern is about minutes with the strength of the aforementioned Arsenal team, but he’s definitely worth considering for an underrated option in your squad, which is only furthered by a 2.6% ownership. 

Roar OTW: 

Many predict this is the year Wirtz will take the league by storm. Credit: Florian Wirtz arriving at Craven Cottage prior to the match between Fulham and Liverpool, Photo by: Timmy96, CC BY 1.0, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/1.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Florian Wirtz – LIV, MID –  £7.5 million – Despite a somewhat disappointing campaign last time out, no one can possibly doubt the talent he has. Moreover, with his preseason positioning as a proper number 10, he has more creative license to get forward and improve on his stats from last season, with 14.5% of managers thinking he’s going to smash it. As a Liverpool fan and the namesake for my team name (Everybody Wirtz),  he is a surefire inclusion. If there was ever a time for the lad from Pulheim to prove it, it’s now. 

Morgan Rogers – CHE, MID – £7.5 million – Signed to the Blues for £117 million, expectations are fairly high for the Englishman. He had 10 goals and 6 assists last year, so he could be someone to squeeze in. It is also worth noting that Rogers has missed a lot of preseason, so do make sure to keep an eye on whether Alonso actually gives him the nod in GW1. A lot of owners also backed him to excel at Stamford Bridge and a couple of returns would make 26.4% of people very happy. 

Mateus Fernandes – TOT, MID – £6.0 million –  Mateus Fernandes is one of the more intriguing new faces at Spurs this summer. He’s a fresh arrival with no Prem experience yet, which honestly makes him a bit of a punt for managers. At £6.0m, he’s priced like a hit-and-miss prospect and not a sure thing, which is part of the allure. With Tottenham beginning to find their feet after De Zerbi’s arrival in GW32 last year,  nobody quite knows yet whether he’ll settle and perform or whether he needs time to acclimatise to the hardest league in the world. If his goal against MK Dons is anything to go by, he will take the league by storm and with a 2.3% ownership, he is one to keep in your peripherals. 

César Palacios – FUL, MID – £5.5 million – Signing a 5-year deal for the Cottagers in August, this is the most outlandish shout I’ve presented. He has a measly 0.2% ownership percentage but has impressed me during pre-season. The 5.5 million price tag might be hard to stomach now, but don’t be surprised to come back to this with a feeling of regret in the case he doesn’t appear in your squad. 

ROAR news starting 15

Without further ado, these are the 15 FPL players that we will be backing for the first couple of gameweeks. Just make sure you thank us when you win your league.

Goalkeepers: Caoimhin Kelleher, Đorđe Petrović

Defenders: Luke Shaw, Bobby Thomas, Riccardo Caliaifori, Pedro Porro, Piero Hincapié

Midfielders: Pascal Groß, Bruno Fernandes, Cesar Palacios, Iliman Ndiaye, Florian Wirtz

Forwards: Erling Haaland, Joao Pedro, Brian Brobbey

We at Roar wish you all luck going into this season and may the FPL gods be on your side! 

Fantasy Premier League can be played on the official FPL website. 

If you would like to participate in a KCL-based Fantasy League, you can join the Roar League using the code below:

Roar FPL League code: qmqz55