The 2025/26 Fantasy Premier League season is officially underway, and Gameweek 1 has already managers wishing for a restart. It was a mixed bag and unlike traditional Gameweek 1 matches it was very defensive except a few games.
Liverpool vs Bournemouth: Hugo Ekitike announced his arrival to the Premier League with a goal and assist on his debut. Virgil Van Dijk had 20 Defensive contributions but came out with 2 points thanks to a brilliant brace from Semenyo. Kerkez and Frimpong were both subbed off just 1 min before the 60 min points threshold and were left with 1 point which could have been 6, classic FPL. The FPL king made us wait till injury time for a return but delivered nabbing a goal and a bonus point.
Aston Villa vs Newcastle: This was a boring stalemate, neither side could convert. Elanga had a glorious chance in the opening minutes but had his shot saved by Bizot. Ollie Watkins was especially very frustrating to watch and wasted many chances to counter. Konsa got a red card for a last man challenge on Anthony Gordon but still finished on 3 points due to Villa keeping the clean sheet. He will now be suspended for the Brentford fixture.
HT: Aston Villa (0.00) 0-0 (1.28) Newcastle
— The xG Philosophy (@xGPhilosophy) August 16, 2025
Brighton vs Fulham: This was a very close and tight match, Rutter would win a penalty and O’Riley would score. Lot of managers who went for Verbruggen were heartbroken as a deflected cross from a corner was put in by Rodrigo Muniz in the 97th minute.
Sunderland vs West Ham: Biggest surprise of the Gameweek, Sunderland would smash West Ham 3-0. Many managers had Diouf in their team who came close and had his shot cleared by the Sunderland defender. Nottingham Forest have shown the blueprint buy big in the summer and hope you don’t get dropped and that is exactly what The Black Cats have done. Sunderland was a team to target but that could soon change. Ballard was the hero for this Gameweek coming with a 17 pointer thanks to a goal, 3 bonus points a clean sheet and DC points.
Tottenham vs Burnley: Mohammed Kudus was one of the players who shone the most this Gameweek, assisting Richarlison who would score a brace. Although R9 looked good he is very much a confidence player and with Dominic Solanke faces competiton for minutes. Burnley meanwhile lacked any substance and look like a team to target for your triple captaincy chip.
Wolves vs Man City: The Haaland and Reijnders show, after his brace against Palermo many managers decided to switch from Anderson to the Dutchman and he rewarded them with a 10 pointer. Erling Haaland would show why he is one of the top goalscorers with a brace and reminded everyone who went against him in their FPL teams to not count him out. Ait Nouri also showed us why DC points are a game changer, he would rack up 9 points just one shy of Reijnders who had a goal and assist. The Algerian would pocket 6 points due to a clean sheet, 2 for DC points and one bonus.
Chelsea vs Crystal Palace: This was one of Palmer’s worst games, despite him having a brilliant performance at the Club World Cup, he could not bring this momentum to the Premier League. Same can be said for Joao Pedro, he had a brilliant pre season and was scoring goals for fun. Managers had made a promise to not buy the Brazilian after him being a FPL troll for Brighton last season. Another shocking stat was on display during the Chelsea game about Cole Palmer showing how us managers can get swayed by recency bias, happened last year with Nkunku as well.
Nottingham Forest vs Brentford: Forest have shown that last season was not a fluke and Nuno’s side have put on a brilliant display. Chris Wood especially was showing us that he has still got the minerals. Managers with Forest defenders saw their clean sheet disappear due to a controversial penalty decision. As we have seen before teams that face Europe usually fall off due to them not having mid week fixtures of this intensity before, it is wise to wait and see how Forest fair in that regard before purchasing their assets.
Man United vs Arsenal: The biggest match of the Gameweek was a let down for United fans who despite dominating the game could not convert their chances. It was yet another set piece goal from the Gunners and a brilliant defensive performance from the Arsenal defenders. Cunha looked like a real game changer and had Ruben Amorim started with Sesko instead of Mount, United could have possibly got something from this fixture. Gyokeres was not able to show his goal scoring prowess and lacked any real threat throughout the game, he is looking like one to avoid for now.
Arsenal created 0.29(xG) from open play against Man Utd.
— The xG Philosophy (@xGPhilosophy) August 17, 2025
