The FPL Template: The Players Almost Everyone Owns

The Template Report, GW4: Rogers Is the New Must-Have — and One Big Name We Can Skip

Over 730,000 managers bought Morgan Rogers this week. That's not a trend, that's a stampede — and when the crowd moves that fast, we need to know whether to move with it or get trampled.

Short answer: move with it. Rogers sits at £7.6m, owned by about 3 in 10, and our model has him good for 6-7 points most weeks over the next six — comfortably the best midfielder in his price bracket right now. If we don't own him and he hauls, that's rank bleeding away every week. Get on.

The rest of the template is what you'd expect. João Pedro (£7.7m) is the most-owned player in the game at roughly 7 in 10 — that's a shield, not a choice. Same with Haaland at £15.5m and about 7 in 10; he blanks occasionally, but the weeks he goes big are the weeks that wreck non-owners. Bruno Fernandes is the quiet essential: £12.0m, about 4 in 10 own him, and our projections make him the biggest scorer in the entire XI over the next six — call it 8-9 points a week. Expensive, yes, but he's the one premium we shouldn't be clever about.

Palmer (£9.7m, only about 2-3 in 10) is the one to watch — nearly 600,000 bought him this week alongside Rogers, so Chelsea coverage is fast becoming compulsory. At the back, De Cuyper is the value pick of the season so far: £4.8m for the best clean-sheet returns of any defender in the template. Own him and stop thinking about that slot.

Now the honest bit: not everything here is essential. Cherki (£7.8m, about 3 in 10) is the piece we can safely skip. Our projections have him well behind Rogers and Palmer for similar money — roughly 4 points a week — and Manchester City's attacking minutes are a crowded room. Szoboszlai at £7.0m offers nearly the same output for 80p less if we want the Liverpool route instead.

The call: cover the shields — João Pedro, Haaland, Fernandes — and join the crowd on Rogers before his price climbs any further. De Cuyper is the cheap defender to lock in. Cherki is the one template piece we let other people own. Protect the rank first; the clever stuff can wait.