FPL Goat’s Fixture Ticker: Gameweek 1

Gameweek 1 of the FPL season kicks off this Friday 15th August, with the GW1 deadline being 6:30pm BST on Friday, ahead of the opening game of the season – Champions Liverpool face Bournemouth at Anfield at 8:00pm. Ahead of the deadline, let’s take a look at some key teams with appealing fixtures over the upcoming GWs, and which players from those teams we want to target!

NOTE: Before we get into it I want you all to look at teams and players with fresh eyes and give them a clean slate for the new season. Don’t disregard players who under-performed or flopped last season. Every season is different – new players, new coaches and new systems can completely change the fortunes of a player.

1. Aston Villa:

Aston Villa have a decent run of fixtures coming up but they are featured here more so because they have looked really good in pre-season

🥇 Watkins: 16 goals and 8 assists last season in 31 starts last season. He has 3 goals in the last 3 games this pre season and has looked sharp, he might possibly on penalties too

🥈 Malen: I believe he could turn out to be way better value than Rogers this season for £1.5m less. He started only 2 times for Villa last season but scored 3 goals in that time. A huge positive for him this season for his xMins is the fact that both Rashford and Asensio have left the club. He does now have competition with Villa signing Guessand from Nice who can play anywhere along the front-line.

Malen has started upfront and on right wing this pre-season, producing a goal and 3 assists. He could really make mockery of his £5.5m price tag if his xMins stays nailed.

🥉 Rogers: The standout option if you don’t want to spend on Watkins and don’t trust Malen’s xMins. 8 goals 10 assists in 37 starts and 2 great goals in pre season. Rogers went off injured in a pre-season game but the media revealed that it isn’t serious and he could be available for GW1.

2. Chelsea:

They are a team in red hot form which has carried through this pre-season as well. Since their conference league win, they have lost just 1 game in 9 – scoring 23 goals conceded just 6 goals and keeping 5 clean sheets.

🥇 Palmer: He had one of his worst runs starting from January 2025 till the PL season end where he scored just 2 goals and 2 assists in 18 league appearances. Then since the Club World Cup Final he has been in amazing form with 3 goals and 4 assists in 8 games including a brace and an assist vs PSG in the CWC Final.

🥈 Joao Pedro: It has been an explosive start to his Chelsea career with 4 goals in the first 4 matches for the club including a goal vs PSG and recently in a pre-season friendly vs Leverkusen. He is one of the best strikers to own in FPL at the moment and his ownership is a proof of that.

Chelsea signed Delap and had Jackson before him and earlier it looked like Joao Pedro could be a minutes risk or a 60-70 minute man in the league but with a potential departure for Jackson and Delap not impressing like he should, Joao pedro should be nailed, at least for the first few GWs.

Even with Delap playing striker Joao Pedro can easily play as a 2nd striker or as a 10 behind the striker, he has actually made palmer thrive, Joao pedro play style has helped palmer play more freely with Pedro dropping deep sometimes to unleash palmer

🥉 Cucurella: I think he is the 3rd best Chelsea option ahead of Rob Sanchez. Chelsea have lost Colwill with an ACL and he won’t be available for the majority of the season which could shake their defence up but they still have great backups in Tosin and Fofana and are looking to sign a CB too.

The LB has been given the license to bomb forward in the maresca system as we’ve seen with Cucurella cutting in and taking great shooting positions around the box He is also decent for the newly introduced defensive contribution points.

3. Nottingham Forest:

A team that I think are on a decline this season in terms of their league position and will under-perform this season compared to last. But I am again really bullish on their defence with their pre-season results.

🥇 Murillo/Neco Williams: Murillo probably the standout forest defender with his massive defcon potential combined with attacking and bonus points. Neco Williams being £0.5m cheaper I would say is an equally good option being decent for defcon points and a fullback who bombs forward a lot.

🥈 Milenkovic/Sels: Milenkovic is an underrated pick with him having the highest odds of an attacking return out of all the Forest defenders but falls behind in defcon points, but not by a large margin.

Sels for £0.5m cheaper could be decent value again in isolation but when compared to Sanchez at £5m I would still prefer the Chelsea Goalkeeper.

NOTE: Their attack has looked absolutely blunt and underwhelming so I would rather wait before picking any attacker from Forest.

4. Spurs:

The team that looked to have the most potential with Thomas Frank in charge haven’t done much in pre-season and got battered by Bayern Munich most recently. They still have the best fixtures of any team in the league in the first few GWs and it would be foolish to go without atleast 1 or 2 Spurs players.

🥇 Porro: For me he is even better than the £5.5m Forest defenders. Porro has decent defcon potential and maybe a few clean sheets early on. A huge blessing in disguise is he will be on corners and all set pieces with Maddison out for the season with an ACL injury suffered in pre-season

🥈 Van de ven: £1m cheaper than Porro and looks to be nailed, not as high of a ceiling as Porro but he would be better for defcon points. Pick him over Porro if you just want to cover the good Spurs fixtures and want an entry level asset for it.

NOTE: Their attack is very similar to Forest – they have not looked good. I would be eyeing up Solanke if the coach says he is good to go in the press conference.

Their man creative outlets from last season in Son, Maddison and Kulusevski are all not available and that has dented their attack massively.

5. Sunderland:

Now you don’t need to actively pick their players with the aim of playing them week in week out but as bench fodders who can occasionally come in from the bench if and when needed.

🥇 Adingra: Probably the best option if you want a Sunderland attacker for cheap. Should be nailed on their left wing but may get no more than 70-75 minutes every game with Sunderland having signed so many players. Has 1 goal in the last 4 pre season games for the club

🥈 Enzo Le Fee: A decent option and probably their most nailed midfielder at the moment, he is on all set pieces and corners too. He also played some games as a 10 recently so if you want more avenues to goal or an attacking return, pick Le Fee.

 

 

As well as his fixture ticker, FPL Goat selected his favourite differential players in FPL ahead of GW1. If you are on the lookout for more great GW1 content to help you build the best possible FPL team, then look no further than our best players to target and avoid series for each Premier League team, starting with Liverpool, Arsenal, Chelsea and Man United.

There is a lot of premium heavy player teams in FPL this season with so many great new signings, but a heavy premium player draft is only successful if you can hit on your budget players! Check out our best budget Defenders, Midfielders and Forwards in FPL 25/26.