Nailed-on starters — players guaranteed ~90 minutes every week, minimal rotation or bench risk.
| Player | Club | Pos | Price | Ownership | Score | Reason |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Trafford | LEE | GKP | £5.0m | 5.4% | 32 | Rotation risk — only 270 mins last season; ranked on likely to start and play meaningful minutes right now; points-per-£m value floor; 270 minutes last season — the strongest signal of guaranteed game time. |
| AjayiC | HUL | DEF | £4.1m | 11.2% | 40 | Rotation risk — only 243 mins last season; ranked on likely to start and play meaningful minutes right now; points-per-£m value floor; recent scoring form. |
| EganV | HUL | DEF | £4.1m | 6.2% | 39 | Rotation risk — only 270 mins last season; ranked on likely to start and play meaningful minutes right now; points-per-£m value floor; recent scoring form. |
| Mendy | HUL | DEF | £4.0m | 7.2% | 38 | Rotation risk — only 191 mins last season; ranked on likely to start and play meaningful minutes right now; points-per-£m value floor; recent scoring form. |
| Bogle | LEE | DEF | £4.5m | 1.4% | 36 | Rotation risk — only 217 mins last season; ranked on likely to start and play meaningful minutes right now; points-per-£m value floor; recent scoring form. |
| De Cuyper | BHA | DEF | £4.8m | 19.8% | 36 | Rotation risk — only 243 mins last season; ranked on likely to start and play meaningful minutes right now; points-per-£m value floor; recent scoring form. |
| Gakpo | LIV | MID | £7.2m | 14.5% | 37 | Rotation risk — only 250 mins last season; ranked on likely to start and play meaningful minutes right now; points-per-£m value floor; recent scoring form. |
| Scott | BOU | MID | £6.0m | 4.4% | 36 | Rotation risk — only 266 mins last season; ranked on likely to start and play meaningful minutes right now; points-per-£m value floor; recent scoring form. |
| Janelt | BRE | MID | £5.0m | 1.6% | 36 | Rotation risk — only 270 mins last season; ranked on likely to start and play meaningful minutes right now; points-per-£m value floor; recent scoring form. |
| Tavernier | BOU | MID | £6.0m | 3.2% | 35 | Rotation risk — only 268 mins last season; ranked on likely to start and play meaningful minutes right now; points-per-£m value floor; recent scoring form. |
| João Pedro | CHE | FWD | £7.7m | 72.4% | 33 | Rotation risk — only 270 mins last season; ranked on likely to start and play meaningful minutes right now; points-per-£m value floor; recent scoring form. |
| Player | Club | Pos | Price | Ownership | Score | Reason |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Raya | ARS | GKP | £6.0m | 38.9% | 31 | Rotation risk — only 270 mins last season; ranked on likely to start and play meaningful minutes right now; points-per-£m value floor; 270 minutes last season — the strongest signal of guaranteed game time. |
| King | FUL | MID | £5.5m | 1.1% | 34 | Rotation risk — only 270 mins last season; ranked on likely to start and play meaningful minutes right now; points-per-£m value floor; recent scoring form. |
| Isak | LIV | FWD | £9.1m | 20.6% | 33 | Rotation risk — only 243 mins last season; ranked on likely to start and play meaningful minutes right now; recent scoring form; points-per-£m value floor. |
| Havertz | ARS | FWD | £7.5m | 7.5% | 30 | Rotation risk — only 257 mins last season; ranked on likely to start and play meaningful minutes right now; 257 minutes last season — the strongest signal of guaranteed game time; points-per-£m value floor. |
Starting XI, captain doubled, for the current squad — not a forecast of who will actually start.
A model estimate from our own projection engine (form, FPL's next-fixture estimate, and underlying minutes/involvement, adjusted for fixture difficulty) — not an official FPL figure. How this is calculated
The inclusion reason behind every squad slot.
Rotation risk — only 270 mins last season; ranked on likely to start and play meaningful minutes right now; points-per-£m value floor; 270 minutes last season — the strongest signal of guaranteed game time.
Rotation risk — only 270 mins last season; ranked on likely to start and play meaningful minutes right now; points-per-£m value floor; 270 minutes last season — the strongest signal of guaranteed game time.
Rotation risk — only 191 mins last season; ranked on likely to start and play meaningful minutes right now; points-per-£m value floor; recent scoring form.
Next best next-fixture point projections per position that didn't make the squad.
Squad changes since Gameweek 2.
Ranks every player — goalkeepers included — by how guaranteed their minutes are, not by how good they are in them. The primary signal is season minutes played, rescaled against a full ~3,000-minute campaign: pre-season this reads LAST season's total (FPL doesn't reset it until the new campaign starts), which is an honest and genuinely useful proxy from day one — a regular ever-present already shows 3,000+, a fringe or rotation-risk player already shows a low number. That's blended with FPL's own start-and-play-time signal, plus a small floor of points-per-£m value and recent form so that among equally 'nailed' players, the more productive and better-value pick ranks higher — the squad stays usable, not just safe. A flagged, doubtful or injured player is marked down regardless of their minutes history: being nailed on last season doesn't help if they're not playing this week. A first-choice goalkeeper is exactly as 'nailed' as a first-choice striker here, so keepers are scored the same way as everyone else, no special treatment needed. Until GW5, 30 players are held out despite strong last-season minutes: deep 2026 World Cup runs (a short pre-season and fatigue management mean early rotation) and summer transfers (no nailed starting role at a new club yet). From GW5 they're re-judged on their actual minutes this season. This is a maintained editorial list — FPL's data flags neither World Cup participation nor transfers.
Read the full methodologyRotation risk — only 270 mins last season; ranked on likely to start and play meaningful minutes right now; points-per-£m value floor; recent scoring form.
Rotation risk — only 243 mins last season; ranked on likely to start and play meaningful minutes right now; points-per-£m value floor; recent scoring form.
Rotation risk — only 217 mins last season; ranked on likely to start and play meaningful minutes right now; points-per-£m value floor; recent scoring form.
Rotation risk — only 243 mins last season; ranked on likely to start and play meaningful minutes right now; points-per-£m value floor; recent scoring form.
Rotation risk — only 270 mins last season; ranked on likely to start and play meaningful minutes right now; points-per-£m value floor; recent scoring form.
Rotation risk — only 268 mins last season; ranked on likely to start and play meaningful minutes right now; points-per-£m value floor; recent scoring form.
Rotation risk — only 270 mins last season; ranked on likely to start and play meaningful minutes right now; points-per-£m value floor; recent scoring form.
Rotation risk — only 266 mins last season; ranked on likely to start and play meaningful minutes right now; points-per-£m value floor; recent scoring form.
Rotation risk — only 250 mins last season; ranked on likely to start and play meaningful minutes right now; points-per-£m value floor; recent scoring form.
Rotation risk — only 257 mins last season; ranked on likely to start and play meaningful minutes right now; 257 minutes last season — the strongest signal of guaranteed game time; points-per-£m value floor.
Rotation risk — only 270 mins last season; ranked on likely to start and play meaningful minutes right now; points-per-£m value floor; recent scoring form.
Rotation risk — only 243 mins last season; ranked on likely to start and play meaningful minutes right now; recent scoring form; points-per-£m value floor.