Brad Mayor’s Buy or Avoid – The Highest Ownership Players in FPL

Having a good start in FPL is very important as you don’t want to spend the season playing catch up. A key consideration in having a good start is which of the template players to pick and which to avoid. In this article, we’re going to look at the 2 players in each position with the highest ownership and whether you should buy them or avoid them.

BUY OR AVOID?

Dúbravka – 26.0%:

Dúbravka has made the move from Newcastle to Burnley, which has made him a very popular FPL pick at £4m. Burnley sold James Trafford to City so needed a new first choice goalkeeper and it looks like Dúbravka is going to be just that.

He was reportedly injured at Newcastle so hasn’t arrived at Burnley completely fit and this meant that he didn’t feature in Burnley’s final pre-season friendly. In that friendly, their new 21 year old goalkeeper, Max Weiss performed well and saved a penalty so there is no guarantee that Dúbravka starts in GW1 but long term he should be a great option.

Verdict: Buy

Kelleher – 25.3%:

Kelleher moved to Brentford much earlier in the transfer window from Liverpool after Flekken left for Leverkusen.

Brentford have played 3 pre-season friendlies and Kelleher featured in the first 2 but not the most recent one. Andrews did say that Kelleher’s injury is short term so you’d expect him to be fine for GW1. With a lack of good £4.5m goalkeeper options this season, Kelleher does appear to be the standout as Brentford concede a lot of low xG shots leading to easy save points.

Verdict: Buy

Wan-Bissaka – 30.6%:

Wan-Bissaka had an impressive debut season for West Ham after making the move from Man United. He managed 6 assists which is more than any of the other defenders priced at £4.5m this season. Although we can’t expect too many clean sheets from West Ham this season, AWB should benefit from the new defensive contribution points and should also chip in with a few assists. West Ham have bought Kyle Walker-Peters who also plays predominantly as a right wing-back but he’d have to do a lot to take Wan-Bissaka’s place in that West Ham team.

Verdict: Buy

Frimpong – 27.6%:

Frimpong was bought by Liverpool early in the transfer window after Trent Alexander-Arnold left for Real Madrid. We know that he is a very attacking full back that has the ability to provide assists and score goals as he has over 40 goal involvements in his last 3 seasons.

His main competition for minutes this season is Conor Bradley who is currently injured. Whilst his injury isn’t serious, it seems he will miss at least the first few weeks of the season making Frimpong nailed to start the season. Before Bradley’s injury, it looked likely that he would start the season at right back so long term Frimpong’s minutes could be an issue.

Verdict: Avoid

Salah – 56.3%

Unsurprisingly, Mo Salah is the most owned player in the game right now. He had a record breaking season last year so is now the most expensive player in the game too at £14.5m.

Liverpool have added Ekitike and Wirtz to an already elite attack and although the Isak deal appears to be off, they may still make one more attacking signing. Although this may see the goals shared around, these additions can only improve Liverpool as a whole, making Salah as good an option as last year, if not better.

Verdict: Buy

Palmer – 55.5%

Towards the end of last season, Cole Palmer struggled slightly and finished the season with 23 goal involvements, 10 fewer than the season before. Palmer did, however, look back to his best during the Club World Cup as he scored two goals and assisted the third in Chelsea’s final win over PSG.

Chelsea have improved their forward line this season by adding Liam Delap and João Pedro which should lead to more assists for Palmer as Jackson missed plenty of chances last season. They also have nice opening fixtures and are performing very well right now so you’d expect Palmer to have a good start to the season.

Verdict: Buy

João Pedro – 53.8%:

João Pedro has been the talk of the town FPL-wise since the game launched and until only recently, he was the most owned player. A lot of this stems from the incredible start he’s had to his Chelsea career. Since arriving, he’s scored 5 goals in 5 games and he’s only started 3 of those.

Whilst he’s undoubtedly fitting very well into the Chelsea attack, Chelsea do have other good options that can get minutes at number 9. Delap came on for 30 minutes in Chelsea’s recent friendly against Milan and scored 2 goals and Jackson is currently still at the club. These other forward options are a worry for João Pedro’s minutes because whilst he will likely start most games, we’ve seen that he will also likely come off around the 60th-65th minute.

Verdict: Avoid

Gyökeres – 25.2%:

Arsenal fans have been crying out for Arteta to sign a new striker and they’ve finally done just that. We’re all aware of the Swedish international’s impressive goal scoring record in Portugal, he scored 68 goals in 66 games for Sporting. Bringing that kind of form to the Premier League can often be difficult however, just ask Darwin Núñez.

Gyökeres does have all of the attributes to do well in England though and looked impressive in Arsenal’s most recent friendly against Athletic Bilbao. Arsenal’s fixtures aren’t the best to start the season and Gyökeres may share minutes with Havertz to begin with so I think we can wait and see on him.

Verdict: Avoid

 

If you are on the lookout for more players to own or avoid in FPL 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.