Fantasy Premier League – best performers and biggest flops after GW1

The first gameweek of the 2025/26 Fantasy Premier League season is almost in the books – only one match remains, when Leeds United take on Everton this evening.

Few surprises were offered up – perhaps the most notable result of the weekend came when Sunderland trounced West Ham United by a score of 3-0 in their first game back in England’s top division.

Today, we’ll break down the best and worst performers in FPL from this weekend across each of the four positions. We will base this on their points total from the weekend, as well as their costliness. 

Goalkeepers

The highest scoring goalkeeper at the weekend was David Raya of Arsenal, who picked up 10 points for his excellent display against Manchester United. At £5.5, he is expensive, but he has also been selected by 17.7% of all FPL players. If you have wiggle room in your budget, it might be time to give the Spanish shot stopper his flowers. 

The biggest underperformer of the weekend between the sticks was, at least in FPL terms, Liverpool’s Alisson. He is every bit as expensive as Raya is, but could only muster a single point as the Reds let two goals in against Bournemouth on Friday night.  

Defenders

The highest scoring defender of the weekend caught everyone by surprise. Sunderland’s Dominic Ballard scored a header and helped keep a clean sheet, netting him a tidy 17 points. Only 2.5% of players have him selected – three of them even triple captained him (we would like to find these three players and ask them for their lottery picks). 

Arsenal star Riccardo Calafiori was also impressive, scoring a goal and collecting a clean sheet – he amassed a total of 13 points this weekend. 

Those who selected Milos Kerkez, however, will have been gravely disappointed. Failing to pick up a clean sheet bonus or notch up a goal contribution, Kerkez’s points total sits at zero as things stand. He also costs £6.0, making him one of the game’s most expensive defenders.