Four FPL Picks With Serious Upside for Gameweek 1
The first deadline of the 2026/27 Fantasy Premier League season lands at 18:30 BST on Friday, and the margins already feel tight. Wildcards are staying in pockets, Bench Boosts are being toyed with, and mini-league rivals are quietly building very similar drafts.
To break away from the template, four names stand out. Different clubs, different price points, but the same thing in common: real potential to explode in Gameweek 1 and beyond.
Alexander Isak (Liverpool) – £9.0m
Last season barely got started for Alexander Isak. Eight Premier League starts, a campaign shredded by injuries, and Liverpool never truly saw the player who terrorised defences at Newcastle United.
Now he looks ready to make up for lost time.
A summer of World Cup minutes, a full pre-season, and the sharpness is back. His penultimate friendly told its own story: a goal and an assist against Monaco, the kind of direct, ruthless involvement FPL managers crave.
The pricing only adds to the temptation. Isak has dropped from £10.5m to £9.0m, a cut that doesn’t reflect what he can do over a full season. We don’t need to guess; we’ve seen it. In his last complete campaign for Newcastle he hit 23 goals, six assists and 211 FPL points. That’s elite forward territory.
Liverpool’s attack has also changed. Mohamed Salah has gone, and with him the automatic claim on penalties. Dominik Szoboszlai (£7.0m) was last season’s deputy and will stake his claim, but the door is open. If Isak steps through and takes spot-kicks, his ceiling rises again.
Even without that, the path is clear. Hugo Ekitike (£7.5m) faces a long spell out, so Isak has minimal competition for the central role. The fixtures help too. None of Liverpool’s opening five matches rate higher than three on the Fixture Difficulty Ratings scale. It’s a gentle run-up for a striker who doesn’t usually need one.
Gameweek 1 brings a twist of narrative. Liverpool face Newcastle, a club in transition after the departure of Eddie Howe and several key players. Old employers, new era, fragile opposition. If you’re hunting for an early-season haul, Isak sits right in the crosshairs.
Bryan Mbeumo (Man Utd) – £8.0m
Bryan Mbeumo has been here before in FPL – listed as a midfielder, playing like a forward, and quietly racking up points. This time, the stage is even bigger.
With Benjamin Sesko (£7.0m) sidelined and missing Manchester United’s entire pre-season, Mbeumo has spent the summer leading the line. Not as a stopgap, but as a genuine focal point.
He’s made it count. Three goals and an assist in his last three friendly starts underline how comfortable he looks in that advanced role. For FPL, that “out of position” tag is gold dust: striker’s chances, midfielder’s points.
There’s another edge. Cameroon’s failure to reach the World Cup gave Mbeumo a proper summer break and a full pre-season. No late returns, no minutes managed, no rust. He should be ready to go straight into heavy involvement from Gameweek 1.
The schedule does the rest. United open against newly promoted Hull City, then face another of the Premier League’s newcomers, Ipswich Town, in Gameweek 2. These are the fixtures managers look for when targeting early differentials.
Hull’s defensive record last season in the Championship tells its own story: 66 goals conceded, with only three sides shipping more. Step up in quality, same defensive questions. United’s attackers, Mbeumo in particular, will fancy this.
If you want immediate returns from your £8.0m slot, there are few better scripts than a nailed-on forward, classified as a midfielder, with back-to-back games against promoted sides.
Christos Tzolis (Arsenal) – £6.5m
Every summer, one new signing catches fire in pre-season and forces their way into FPL conversations. This year, that player is Christos Tzolis.
Arsenal brought him in from Club Brugge and he has wasted no time making north London feel like home. One goal and six assists in pre-season is an outstanding return, and no Arsenal player could match his seven attacking contributions.
Crucially, he’s been around. While many of Mikel Arteta’s internationals trickled back late from the World Cup, Tzolis has been with the squad since July, training, building chemistry, and stacking minutes. He featured in all six of Arsenal’s pre-season matches.
He saved one of his most telling contributions for a competitive curtain-raiser. In Sunday’s FA Community Shield, Tzolis supplied an assist in a 3-0 win. Every time he has started for the reigning Premier League champions, he has delivered some form of attacking return. That kind of consistency, even in friendlies, is hard to ignore.
The numbers from Belgium back it up. Last season in the top flight there, he produced 17 goals and 23 assists – a monstrous attacking haul, whatever the league. The talent is clear; the question was always how quickly it would translate. Early signs say: very quickly.
Gameweek 1 offers a soft landing. Arsenal face promoted Coventry City, a fixture that should allow the champions’ attacking patterns to flow and give Tzolis the chance to carry his pre-season form straight into the Premier League.
At £6.5m, in a dominant attack, with fitness and rhythm on his side, he looks like one of the standout mid-price midfielders for anyone willing to move early.
Dan Ballard (Sunderland) – £5.0m
While most eyes are on explosive attackers, the first Gameweek often rewards managers who quietly lock in reliable defenders. At Sunderland, the obvious budget pick is Luke O’Nien (£4.0m), especially for those flirting with a Bench Boost in Gameweek 1.
The problem? His minutes may not last. Omar Alderete (£5.0m) and Nordi Mukiele (£5.5m) are expected back from injury soon, and once they return, O’Nien’s place becomes far less secure.
Dan Ballard is a different proposition.
If you want a defender you can pick and leave alone for weeks, Ballard fits that “set-and-forget” brief far better. Last season he averaged 10.9 defensive contributions per 90 minutes, hitting the required threshold in 58 per cent of his starts. For bonus points hunters, that kind of activity is gold.
He isn’t just a blocker, either. Ballard offers a genuine threat at the other end. Four attacking returns last season and a top-10 ranking among defenders for shots in the box – seventh, with 25 efforts – underline his presence from set-pieces.
Gameweek 1 gives him a clean-sheet platform. Sunderland host promoted Ipswich Town, a fixture that looks promising for defensive returns. If you can navigate their tougher run in Gameweeks 4 and 5 – perhaps by rotating with a Leeds United defender, with two home matches in that spell – Ballard shapes up as a strong option right through to Gameweek 9.
While others chase the cheapest route into Sunderland’s backline, Ballard offers something more valuable: security, steady points, and a hint of upside every time he wanders into the opposition box.
The first deadline is looming. The template is forming. The question is simple: will you follow it, or trust players like these to drag you clear before the season has even found its stride?
