Fantasy Football Tips: FPL Gameweek 1 Guide 2026/27

Q: How many chips do FPL managers get?

FPL managers get eight chips across a season, two each of Wildcard, Free Hit, Bench Boost and Triple Captain. The first set must be used before the Gameweek 19 deadline in early January, after which any unused chips from that set expire and a fresh set becomes available for the second half.

Q: When is the Gameweek deadline?

The Gameweek deadline falls 90 minutes before the first match of that gameweek kicks off. Once it passes, your squad locks completely, so any transfers, captaincy changes or chip plays made after that point simply won't count for the gameweek ahead. This is especially important to know when there are Friday night games.

By Mark Fordham

Aug 13th, 2026 11:00 AM EDT

Right then, the Premier League season's back,and so is the yearly ritual of staring at a squad screen at midnight convincing yourself Bench Boost in Gameweek 1 is a masterstroke. Arsenal kick the whole thing off against newly promoted Coventry City on Friday 21st August, an 8pm curtain-raiser that also happens to double as your Gameweek 1 deadline day in Fantasy Premier League (FPL), with the deadline closing at 6:30pm. Miss that and you're watching the opening weekend with whatever squad you left lying around.

What a weekend it is for FPL fans and football betting site visitors alike. Hull host Manchester United on the Saturday lunchtime slot, Man City welcome Bournemouth and Brighton face Aston Villa in the early Sunday kick-offs, before Newcastle against Liverpool takes the headline evening slot. The West London derby of Fulham vs Chelsea rounds the whole gameweek off on the Monday night, so there’s plenty to plan around before a ball's even been kicked.

Team news worth knowing before you lock anything in with FPL team this year: Erling Haaland goes into the new season as the most expensive player FPL has ever priced at £15.5m after another monstrous campaign in front of goal.

Eleven players have shifted position entirely for this season too, including Omar Marmoush and Georginio Rutter both reclassified from midfielders to forwards, and Patrick Dorgu and Myles Lewis-Skelly moving into midfield. It’s worth double checking anyone you already rate hasn't quietly changed job on you over the summer. Luckily, our FPL tips for this week should steer you in the right direction.

Three Players to Target This Gameweek

Riccardo Calafiori, £5.5m - Arsenal vs Coventry, 21st August 8pm

Packing your team with as many Arsenal players was a pretty good theory last season, and we’ll be starting that way again this time around. They are the reigning champions and should expect to be solid defensively, but this is a matchup well worth taking advantage of.

You’re never quite sure who Mikel Arteta might pick at left-back over Calafiori or Piero Hincapie, but with the former having had the summer off from the World Cup, he’ll be fresh and should be the obvious pick. His cavalier runs forward could also get him some offensive points too. Arsenal to win the game to nil looks value even at short odds of 4/6 with bet365 at present.

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Jordan Pickford, £5.5m - Everton vs Crystal Palace, 22nd August

Jordan Pickford has always been a solid option for FPL players in recent seasons because of his proclivity for saving penalties and playing for an Everton team that gives up its fair share of shots. He was the fourth-highest scoring keeper last season, and we should expect another good points haul from him.

The Toffees get their season underway against a Crystal Palace side that could struggle to score goals as they try to adapt to a new manager in Pierre Sage. Sage worked wonders with Lens last season, but the Premier League is a different beast, so starting slowly shouldn’t be a surprise. A clean sheet to start the season looks on the cards and can be backed at 9/5 with Betfred.

Yoane Wissa, £6m - Newcastle vs Liverpool, 23rd August 4:30pm

In the search of a bargain to help supplement some of the star players you might be choosing for Gameweek 1, we plump for someone signed for £50m last summer. Obviously. Despite that figure, Wissa is going under the radar because his debut season with Newcastle couldn’t have gone much worse. But he has a chance to change the narrative this season, and a start against Liverpool could be just what the doctor ordered.

Liverpool’s attempt to go back-to-back in the Premier League was halted before it even got going because they couldn’t really defend anymore. Their 53 conceded was the second-most of any team in the top half. In pre-season, the Reds conceded four goals in 25 minutes against Leeds and then three against Monaco after being 2-0 up.

That sort of form could play into Wissa’s hands nicely for a Newcastle team that not much is expected of this time around. Considering Liverpool to not keep a clean sheet is a best price 1/4 with Star Sports, Wissa could be a good shout.

Captaincy Pick of the Week

Bukayo Saka, £9.5m - Arsenal vs Coventry, 21st August 8pm

The start of the season, in theory, couldn’t have been any kinder to newly crowned Premier League champions or any crueler to PL newbies Coventry City. That is something we could all take advantage of. Yes, Arsenal weren’t exactly attacking juggernauts last season, but there is hope they can be on the front foot a bit more this time around.

If they are, Saka is likely to be the focal point of the Gunners. It also doesn’t hurt that he takes corners for them! Saka returned early for pre-season and having a slightly lighter load at the World Cup than he would have expected, he should be raring to go for Week 1.

Chip Strategy Watch

Nobody needs reminding that chips exist in FPL. What actually matters week-to-week is timing, and the pressure isn't really on this early in the season. Your first Wildcard, Free Hit, Bench Boost and Triple Captain all need using before the Gameweek 19 deadline in early January, so there's a good few months of breathing room before that clock starts to matter.

That said, plenty of sharp managers don't wait around. A Bench Boost in Gameweek 1 or 2 can work nicely if your squad's freshly built and every single player has a fixture worth having. There's no point holding a chip that rewards a full squad if half your bench is injured by October. Triple Captain tends to get saved for a home fixture against one of the three promoted sides, and with Haaland facing all three of them before the January cutoff, there's no shortage of obvious weeks to pull the trigger.

Whatever you don't use by that Gameweek 19 deadline vanishes. There's no carrying a Wildcard over into February out of habit. Plan around that deadline rather than being surprised by it in December.

New Rules for 2026/27

A few changes have landed for this season, and you’ll want to be in the know about them rather than half-remembering from a headline.

Gameweek lockdown moved later: Scores used to become final an hour after the last match of a gameweek finished. Now that happens at 9am the following morning instead. It sounds like a small tweak but it gives Opta enough time to finalise bonus points and defensive contribution data, so don’t be hitting refresh on your FPL on the same night unless you want to be disappointed.

The Bonus Points System rebalanced: Full-backs and defensively minded attackers should see a bit more love from the algorithm this season. Be aware, though, Defensive Contributions themselves, the CBIT and CBIRT thresholds, haven't changed. That's a separate system and is staying exactly as it was.

A Price Change Predictor now exists officially: FPL will show you how close a player is to a price rise or fall based on transfer activity, rather than leaving you to guess from third-party sites like everyone's had to do for years.

There's a squad building assistant too: Answer a few quick questions about favourite club, how you like to split your budget, attack or defence, and it'll build you a starting squad. This is handy for anyone starting out, but seasoned managers will probably still want full control.

How to Play Fantasy Premier League

Starting from scratch isn't as difficult as it might seem once you know the shape of it. You get £100m to build a 15-player squad, split as two goalkeepers, five defenders, five midfielders and three forwards. The biggest thing to be aware of is that you can't have more than three players from any single club.

Each gameweek you pick a starting XI from that squad of 15, in a valid formation (4-4-2, 3-5-2 or 3-4-3) and name a captain whose points double for the week. Whoever you don't start sits on your bench as backup, only cashed in if you play the Bench Boost chip, or if one of your starters doesn’t play.

You get one free transfer every gameweek, and if you don't use it, it rolls over, up to a maximum of five banked at once. Anything beyond your free allowance costs four points each, so think carefully before making three panic transfers the week after a bad result.

Deadlines matter more than anything else in this game. Your squad locks 90 minutes before the first match of each gameweek kicks off, and once it's locked, that's it, no late changes, no exceptions for a shock injury news alert five minutes after the whistle. Build the habit of checking your team the night before rather than relying on a lunchtime scramble.

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FPL Scoring System Explained

Every action on the pitch translates into points, and the value of that action often depends on which position your player plays. For instance, a defender scoring is going to be worth more points than a striker because of how less likely that is to happen. Here's the full breakdown.

Action	Points
Playing up to 60 minutes	1
Playing 60 minutes or more (excluding stoppage time)	2
Goal scored by a goalkeeper	10
Goal scored by a defender	6
Goal scored by a midfielder	5
Goal scored by a forward	4
Goal assist	3
Clean sheet by a goalkeeper or defender	4
Clean sheet by a midfielder	1
Every 3 shot saves by a goalkeeper	1
10 or more CBIT (defenders)	2
12 or more CBIRT (midfielders and forwards)	2
Penalty save	5
Penalty miss	-2
Bonus points for the best players in a match	1 to 3
Every 2 goals conceded by a goalkeeper or defender	-1
Yellow card	-1
Red card	-3
Own goal	-2

A goalkeeper scoring is worth more than any other position precisely because it happens so rarely. It's the game rewarding a real rarity rather than a typo. CBIT stands for clearances, blocked shots, interceptions and tackles. This is the defenders' route to a defensive contribution point. CBIRT adds recoveries into that mix for midfielders and forwards, since defensive work matters less to their usual job. Therefore, the bar sits slightly higher to compensate.

Your captain's points double automatically, and your vice-captain steps in and inherits that double if your actual captain doesn't play at all that gameweek. Bonus points come from an underlying algorithm weighing up everything a player did in a match. It is based on the player(s) who did best in a given game, no matter whether they scored a goal or not.

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Chips Explained

You get four chips, two of each across the season. Each one does something different to the others, so choose wisely when you spend them.

Wildcard: Make unlimited transfers for that gameweek at no points cost. This is a full squad rebuild you'll get without burning through your bank of free transfers one at a time.
Free Hit: Also unlimited transfers, but only for a single gameweek. Once that gameweek's done, your squad snaps straight back to whatever it looked like before you played the chip. This is perfect for a blank gameweek where half your usual squad has no fixture at all.
Bench Boost: Every point scored by your bench that gameweek counts toward your total on top of your starting 11. It is only worth playing when your whole 15 has a decent chance of getting minutes and returning points.
Triple Captain: Your captain's points triple instead of double. Save it for your most explosive player in his single best fixture of the season, not just a random Tuesday because it felt like time to use it.

Fantasy Football Tips FAQs

What is Defensive Contribution scoring?

Defensive Contributions award two points when a defender reaches 10 or more combined clearances, blocked shots, interceptions and tackles in a match, known as CBIT. Midfielders and forwards need 12 or more of the same actions plus recoveries, known as CBIRT, since defensive work is less central to their usual role.

How many chips do FPL managers get?

When is the Gameweek deadline?

About the Author

Mark Fordham

More About Mark

Mark spent over a decade as a sports reporter and editor with Goal.com and Bleacher Report. He is now a Content Manager at Bookies.com covering all manner of sports from the Premier League and cricket to the NBA and NFL. Mark also has years of experience working in the online casino industry and knows how to rate a good one over a bad one.