18 Aug, 2025
The main man himself FPL Goat is bringing back his fixture ticker for the 25/26 FPL season and we here at Ingenuity are delighted. Nothing gets you prepared to dominate your FPL leagues like the Goat’s fixture ticker. After an eventful GW1, we look ahead at GW2 and what fixtures and teams managers will want to be targeting for the weeks ahead.
Gameweek 1 was eventful and full of useful data points and information, from starting lineups, the way certain teams or players performed, who the DEFCON monsters were or which premium or budget players we might want to own vs which ones we may already want to move on from. 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!
Villa have a decent run of fixtures coming up but they looked nothing like they were in pre-season form still against Newcastle United.
🥇 Watkins: 16 goals and 8 assists last season in 31 starts last season. He had 3 goals in the last 3 games this pre season but looked absolutely blunt in GW1 with only 1 shot taken and a chance created
🥈 Malen: I believe he could turn out to be way better value than Rogers this season for £1.5m less. He looked amazing in pre-season but just like that was benched in GW1, the whole attack in general looked absolutely atrocious with Tielemans at 10 and Mcginn at right wing.
I expect that to change. Tielemans will surely drop deep, Mcginn plays more centrally and Malen coming in the XI in GW2. If you have Malen don’t sell him, if you don’t have don’t buy.
🥉 Rogers: The standout option if you don’t want to spend on Watkins and don’t trust Malen’s xMins. He had a forgettable game but we would give the benefit of the doubt to them because it was just the first game of the season and players and teams in general can look rusty.
They are a team in red hot form which has carried through this pre-season as well. But they didn’t look convincing especially in attack in GW1 but we should give them the benefit of the doubt. First game of the season rust potentially. They also played a robust palace defence who are extremely high on confidence after their community shield win over Liverpool.
🥇 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. I read a stat after the game that Palmer has 0 open play goal in the league since January 14 of this year which is a mind boggling stat and shows his poor form in the league.
That being said he is a don’t buy, don’t sell player at the moment. Kinder fixtures to come so if you have him keep patience and if you don’t have him look elsewhere.
🥈 Joao Pedro: He had a league debut to forget for Chelsea. His Club World Cup and pre-season form did not reflect in the league at least in GW1. Looked totally out of touch and got subbed at 73′ for Delap, get used to a lot of early subs for him and even and odd benching if such form continues.
A benefit Joao Pedro provides is that if Delap starts as the striker, Joao Pedro can easily play as a second striker or as a 10. I know the temptation will be to move any GW1 flops on but keep patience with your squad, at least for the first 3 GWs.
🥉 Cucurella: I think he is the 3rd best Chelsea option ahead of Rob Sanchez. Chelsea have lost Colwill to an ACL tear and he won’t be available for the majority of the season which could shake their defence up. They still have good backups in Acheampong, 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 the backbone of that Chelsea defence and got 9 points in GW1 raking up 3 BPs as well.
A team that I think are on a decline this season in terms of their league position and would under-perform this season. But I am again really bullish on their defence with their pre-season and their performance in GW1 vs Brentford where they conceded only 3 shots on target.
🥇 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 and is a fullback who bombs forward a lot.
They looked rock solid vs a blunt Brentford attack and only conceded via and unlucky penalty to Thiago, Murillo and Williams both got 5 and 6 DEFCONs respectively.
🥈 Milenkovic/Sels: Milenkovic surprisingly pipped both Murillo and Williams in DEFCONs and was 3 contributions away from 2 defcon points.
I still maintain my stance about Sanchez being a better pick than Sels.
NOTE: I still am not bullish on the Forest attack despite wood getting a brace and over-performed his xG massively again.
Spurs are the team I was most impressed with on the weekend. It could be that they were good or could be that the opposition was that bad.
🥇 Porro: Still the standout Spurs asset for me. If you want to chase upside with the spurs defence he is the pick of the bunch. A total of 8 crosses and 13 long balls with an xA of 0.26, extremely high up the pitch spraying crosses into the box.
🥈 Van de Ven: If you want an entry level pick into spurs defence purely for clean sheets and defensive contributions VDV is the guy for you. £1m cheaper than Porro and was just 4 defensive contributions away from DEFCON 2 points. Great fixtures ahead so there’s still time to get him.
🥉 Kudus: I would pick Johnson if he was the same price as Kudus but I don’t think you should pay £0.5m more for almost the same attacking threat. Kudus was the player with the most chances created in the game (5). He was 6th for xA I’m GW1 with 0.43 xA created.
NOTE: Richarlison did score 2 goals and has looked great but he is not first choice by any means with Solanke returning to fitness and even if he does start there will be a lot of early subs for him.
Now you don’t need to actively pick their players with the aim of playing them week in week out but pick them as bench fodders who can occasionally come in from the bench if and when needed. That being said they looked really good vs West Ham in GW1 with their low volume of shots but higher quality which the Big chances reflects.
🥇 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. Looked decent vs West ham missed a big chance and got an assist
🥈 Mayenda: A perfect 3rd striker for FPL if you can afford to spalsh £5.5m for him. I’m sure he will be better than most £5.5m Midfielders through the course of the season so there’s merit in picking him over a £5.5m midfielder – of course Anderson and Reijnders are exceptions.
NOTE: All the front 3 attackers from Sunderland are subject to rotation and limited minutes with a plethora of attackers they have.
The newest addition to the list of good fixtures are wolves. The man city fixture in GW1 made getting Wolves players risky. Now they have one of the best fixtures runs in the next 9-10 GWs with them playing 3 of the promoted teams and Everton in that time.
🥇 Strand Larsen: I don’t think anyone should consider any wolves attacker apart from strand Larsen. Absolute talisman in that team and will be on penalties too, 14 goals and 4 assists in 30 starts last season. He had an amazing game vs man city with wolves choosing a narrow structure with their wingers so they can feed Larsen more on the counter
Out of the 0.56 xG wolves created 0.38 belonged to Strand Larsen and that will be the case throughout the season. Cunha leaving the club will only help his case to be in FPL teams during the course of the season.
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.
FPL GOAT is just that, one of the GOAT’s of the FPL space who has been a valued contributor to Ingenuity from the beginning. He has 4 top 4k finishes and 9 years of experience mastering FPL.
