What is the FPL template team for 2026/27?

The pre-season template is built around Erling Haaland (£15.5m, ~75% owned), João Pedro (£7.5m, ~53%), Bruno Fernandes (£12.0m, ~49%) and Dominik Szoboszlai (£7.0m, ~47%), with Morgan Rogers (£7.5m), Gabriel (£8.0m) and Marc Guéhi (£6.0m) the next most-backed. A valid £100.0m squad can hold all of them only by running a budget goalkeeper and cheap enabler defenders.

Can you fit all the most-owned FPL players in one team?

No — and that's the key lesson of the 2026/27 template. Haaland, Bruno, João Pedro, Szoboszlai, Rogers, Gabriel, Guéhi, Raya and O'Reilly together cost more than £100m once you add a legal bench, so you have to drop one or two. Most managers save on goalkeeper (a £4.0m starter like Dúbravka) and defence to keep the premium attack.

Who should I captain in GW1 2026/27?

Haaland is the default GW1 captain — Man City are at home to Bournemouth (a difficulty-5 opponent for City) on the opening weekend, and he's owned by around 75% of managers, so captaining him is the low-risk play. Bruno Fernandes is the main alternative if you want a differential armband.

Do I need Bruno Fernandes in my FPL team?

Not necessarily. At £12.0m and ~49% ownership he's the safe pick and the only true premium midfielder now Salah has left, but you can spread that money across Semenyo (£8.5m), Rice (£7.5m) and a mid-price forward instead. Our differential build below shows a Bruno-less structure that frees funds for a stronger defence.

How much does the template team cost?

Exactly £100.0m — the full FPL budget — for the main template build below. The differential build comes in at £98.0m, leaving £2.0m in the bank for early price rises. Both are legal 15-player squads (2 GK, 5 DEF, 5 MID, 3 FWD).

←Back to Blog

Guides

FPL Template Team 2026/27: The Best GW1 Draft

A ready-to-copy £100.0m squad built from live pre-season ownership — plus a differential build for managers who want to break from the crowd. Every price and ownership figure below is pulled straight from the FPL API.

The 2026/27 template core is Haaland (£15.5m, ~75%), João Pedro (£7.5m, ~53%), Bruno Fernandes (£12.0m, ~49%) and Szoboszlai (£7.0m, ~47%), with Rogers, Gabriel and Guéhi close behind. You can't fit every most-owned player, so the trick is a budget goalkeeper and cheap defence to fund the premium attack.

Prices are the official 2026/27 launch prices. Ownership is live pre-season selection (late July 2026) and will move before the GW1 deadline. Squad totals are verified against the FPL API and each build is a legal 15-player team (2 GK, 5 DEF, 5 MID, 3 FWD).

Why you can't own everyone

Add up the nine most-owned players — Haaland, Bruno, João Pedro, Szoboszlai, Rogers, Gabriel, Guéhi, O'Reilly and a premium keeper like Raya — and you're already over £100m before you fill a legal bench. That's the whole game in pre-season: the template forces one or two sacrifices. Almost everyone makes them in the same place — goalkeeper and the back of the defence — because that's where points are cheapest to replace. Dúbravka at £4.0m is owned by a quarter of the game precisely because he frees the £2m that gets Haaland and Bruno into the same side.

The template team (£100.0m)

4-4-2 · every most-owned premium in, budget keeper and enablers to balance the books. Bench in italics.

Pos	Player	Team	Price	Own
GK	Dúbravka	TOT	£4.0m	25%
DEF	Gabriel	ARS	£8.0m	25%
DEF	Guéhi	MCI	£6.0m	25%
DEF	Shaw	MUN	£4.5m	23%
DEF	Konsa	AVL	£4.5m	19%
MID	Bruno Fernandes	MUN	£12.0m	49%
MID	Szoboszlai	LIV	£7.0m	47%
MID	Rogers	CHE	£7.5m	33%
MID	Anderson	MCI	£6.5m	12%
FWD	Haaland (C)	MCI	£15.5m	75%
FWD	João Pedro	CHE	£7.5m	53%
GK	Palmer (IPS)	IPS	£4.0m	6%
DEF	van Ewijk	COV	£4.0m	17%
MID	Hughes	CRY	£4.5m	11%
FWD	Kusi-Asare	FUL	£4.5m	9%

Starting XI (4-4-2): Dúbravka; Gabriel, Guéhi, Shaw, Konsa; Bruno, Szoboszlai, Rogers, Anderson; Haaland (C), João Pedro. Total: £100.0m.

Upgrade paths if you'd rather not run this thin at the back: downgrade Anderson to a £5.5m enabler and push Konsa up to Nico O'Reilly (£6.5m, 24% owned), or trim a bench fodder to bring in Antoine Semenyo (£8.5m). The most common single change managers make is swapping Dúbravka for David Raya (£6.0m) and funding it with a cheaper fifth midfielder.

The differential build (£98.0m)

No Bruno. Spread the midfield and spend up on a stronger defence — for managers happy to take on template risk. £2.0m in the bank.

Pos	Player	Team	Price	Own
GK	Verbruggen	BHA	£4.5m	17%
DEF	Gabriel	ARS	£8.0m	25%
DEF	Van Dijk	LIV	£6.5m	16%
DEF	Calafiori	ARS	£5.5m	14%
MID	Semenyo	MCI	£8.5m	20%
MID	Rice	ARS	£7.5m	22%
MID	Anderson	MCI	£6.5m	12%
MID	Ndiaye	EVE	£6.0m	20%
FWD	Haaland (C)	MCI	£15.5m	75%
FWD	Igor Thiago	BRE	£8.0m	16%
GK	Palmer (IPS)	IPS	£4.0m	6%
DEF	Konsa	AVL	£4.5m	19%
DEF	van Ewijk	COV	£4.0m	17%
MID	Hughes	CRY	£4.5m	11%
FWD	Kusi-Asare	FUL	£4.5m	9%

Starting XI (3-4-3): Verbruggen; Gabriel, Van Dijk, Calafiori; Semenyo, Rice, Anderson, Ndiaye; Haaland (C), Igor Thiago, João Pedro — swap a mid or defender for the third forward to suit. Total: £98.0m.

GW1 captain

Haaland is the default GW1 armband. Man City open at home to Bournemouth — a difficulty-5 opponent for City on the FPL fixture scale — and with ~75% ownership, captaining him is the low-variance move that keeps pace with the top of your mini-leagues. If you want to differentiate, Bruno Fernandes (Man Utd away at newly-promoted Hull) is the popular alternative armband. For the full opening-fixture picture, see our best fixtures 2026/27 guide.

The non-negotiables

Haaland (£15.5m). Owned by three in four managers. Not owning him is a rank gamble every week he returns.
João Pedro (£7.5m). Now the most-owned outfield player after Haaland — at ~53% he's effectively template at a mid-price ceiling.
A Liverpool or Chelsea mid at £7.0–£7.5m. Szoboszlai (47%) and Rogers (33%) are the value engine of most drafts. At least one is close to essential.
Gabriel (£8.0m). The one premium defender the template agrees on, off the back of a 209-point season.

Build Your GW1 Draft See Predicted Points Check Fixtures

FAQs

What is the FPL template team for 2026/27?: The pre-season template is built around Erling Haaland (£15.5m, ~75% owned), João Pedro (£7.5m, ~53%), Bruno Fernandes (£12.0m, ~49%) and Dominik Szoboszlai (£7.0m, ~47%), with Morgan Rogers (£7.5m), Gabriel (£8.0m) and Marc Guéhi (£6.0m) the next most-backed. A valid £100.0m squad can hold all of them only by running a budget goalkeeper and cheap enabler defenders.
Can you fit all the most-owned FPL players in one team?: No — and that's the key lesson of the 2026/27 template. Haaland, Bruno, João Pedro, Szoboszlai, Rogers, Gabriel, Guéhi, Raya and O'Reilly together cost more than £100m once you add a legal bench, so you have to drop one or two. Most managers save on goalkeeper (a £4.0m starter like Dúbravka) and defence to keep the premium attack.
Who should I captain in GW1 2026/27?: Haaland is the default GW1 captain — Man City are at home to Bournemouth (a difficulty-5 opponent for City) on the opening weekend, and he's owned by around 75% of managers, so captaining him is the low-risk play. Bruno Fernandes is the main alternative if you want a differential armband.
Do I need Bruno Fernandes in my FPL team?: Not necessarily. At £12.0m and ~49% ownership he's the safe pick and the only true premium midfielder now Salah has left, but you can spread that money across Semenyo (£8.5m), Rice (£7.5m) and a mid-price forward instead. Our differential build below shows a Bruno-less structure that frees funds for a stronger defence.
How much does the template team cost?: Exactly £100.0m — the full FPL budget — for the main template build below. The differential build comes in at £98.0m, leaving £2.0m in the bank for early price rises. Both are legal 15-player squads (2 GK, 5 DEF, 5 MID, 3 FWD).