The FPL Template: The Players Almost Everyone Owns
The call — Seven in 10 managers already own Haaland — and they haven't even priced in a game yet. That's the number that frames everything this pre-season. Before a ball's been kicked, the £15.5m man is the most-owned player in the game, and our projections say the crowd is right: he's top of the pile for points over the opening six gameweeks.…
What has not being with FFIQ cost you this season?
One squad, picked before a ball was kicked and run for six gameweeks on three transfers — no hits taken. Scored on FPL’s own results.
Your name and your FPL team name. That is all it takes, and we will have your answer before you have finished reading this sentence.
↓ Start here — your name, then your team.
No FPL password, ever. We only read what FPL already publishes.
Here's how we protect our rank together. The template XI costs £91.0m, and three pieces are non-negotiable shields:
Haaland (£15.5m, ~7 in 10). When he hauls and you don't own him, you fall off a cliff. Owning him isn't clever — it's survival, and survival is a strategy.
João Pedro (£7.5m, ~6 in 10). At that price with that ownership, going without him means betting against most of the game every single week. Our numbers say he's a steady scorer rather than a monster, but steady at £7.5m is exactly the point.
Bruno Fernandes (£12.0m, ~5 in 10). He projects almost level with Haaland over the next six, which is remarkable for a midfielder. Half the game has him. We should too.
The interesting middle: Mbeumo (£8.0m, ~3 in 10) is quietly the best value in the whole XI — our model has him third for points in this team, ahead of players costing more and owned by more. If we're picking one sub-30%-owned piece to match, it's him. Semenyo (£8.5m) and Szoboszlai (£7.0m) are solid but optional — miss them and a blank won't sink us.
And the safe skip? Calafiori (£5.5m, ~2.5 in 10). He's the weakest projection in the side by a distance — Pedro Porro costs exactly the same and projects meaningfully better, so even inside the template there's a better version of that slot. Gabriel is the Arsenal defender worth paying for; Calafiori is the one the crowd will drift away from first.
The call: lock in Haaland, João Pedro and Fernandes before GW1 — those three are the flock's armour. Take Mbeumo as your value pick, and skip Calafiori without a second thought. Safe first, clever second.