Alright?
Today we’re sharing something that we usually only share with lovers and lawyers: our favourite Gameweek 1 teams.
But you’re not just getting a set of teams today. Through the lens of these squads, we’ll explore answers to some of FPL’s most burning questions. From the viability of a Gameweek 1 Bench Boost to the BruNo/BruYes debate, we’ll be covering the logic and strategy needed to have a decent start to the season.
Before we bare all, remember the golden rule: What happens in this email stays in this email.
Team #1 - A cosy night in.
This squad is a well-balanced merlot, easy on the nose and perfect for any dinner party. It’s the sort of squad you’d give your Mum for Mother’s Day.
The team is designed to get you through to the first international break without much fuss. It’s not optimised for an early Bench Boost, a Free Hit in Gameweek 4 or any of the other edgy chip strategies available.
Instead, it’s a tribute to seasons gone by. Woolworths is still open, Boots is still processing film, and you can build an FPL team without thinking about a Gameweek 1 Bench Boost.
It’s not much, but it’s honest work.
Team #2 - iNobot.
Trigger warning: Squad number 2 illustrates what you can do when you don’t own Erling Haaland. It’s remarkable what can happen when you spread an extra £15.5m around the team, and you might like it a bit too much. Toying with this strategy is like experimenting with recreational drugs.
As AI continues to prosper in 2026, rejecting the robot feels even more of a statement than usual, and we fully support anyone who wants to do it.
We told you it was dangerous.
Some notes about this team:
It puts a huge amount of faith in Liverpool assets under Iraola, with a view to replacing some of them during the international break Wildcard if they haven’t delivered.
You’d probably want to play the Free Hit in Gameweek 3 for Man City’s fixture against Coventry. That way, you can still own Haaland (but won’t be able to Triple Captain him, which some managers are doing).
Ultimately, whilst this squad is fun, not owning Haaland is a huge risk. He’s the best FPL asset in modern times, and he’ll be the most popular captain in Gameweek 1.
Team #3 - Burnt Chips.
This team is perfect for those of you who tend to give up early in the season. The idea is to use your chips early, thus giving you an unassailable lead that will sustain your motivation for the remainder of the season.
How can it possibly fail?
We’ll talk you through the chip strategy here, in which all chips will be burned early doors:
Bench Boost in Gameweek 1.
We want to maximise our Gameweek 1 benchage here, without building a crap team overall. As we discussed in our chip strategy newsletter, a Gameweek 2 Bench Boost is a viable, vegan-friendly alternative to the Gameweek 1 Bench Boost, but comes with an additional risk of your squad sustaining injuries/suspensions between gameweeks.
Triple Captain Haaland in Gameweek 3.
He’s got Coventry at home.
Free Hit in Gameweek 4.
Man United and Man City play one another, which cannibalises this squad's points-scoring potential. A Free Hit here can maximise Chelsea assets (they’ve got Hull at home).
Wildcard in Gameweek 6, during the international break.
The final burning happens during the international break, as is tradition. It’s like The Wicker Man, only the stakes are much higher. Playing your Wildcard here lets you optimise for the fixtures after the break, based on five gameweeks’ worth of data.
Honestly, we don’t hate this approach. There’s plenty of flexibility in the team as well.
Ola Aina is in there for the Gameweek 1 Bench Boost and Nottingham Forest’s Gameweek 5 fixture against Coventry at home, but could be replaced with any £4.5m defender of your choosing.
Bruno Fernandes can easily be moved to a Cole Palmer or a Bukayo Saka after Man United’s initial fixture run comes to an end.
Kevin Schade, Smooth Operator though he is, could be moved to another £6.0m midfielder if he isn’t the sweet taboo he claims to be.
This strategy is dogmatic where chips are concerned, but more liberal with the actual players you pick.
Football analysis that actually works.
Before every season gets underway, The Transfer Flow releases a team preview for every Premier League team, written by some of the best tactical minds in the game.
For FPL managers, it’s essential reading. Not only do these previews provide an excellent overview of existing FPL assets, but they’re particularly useful for assessing new arrivals to a club.
Case in point: last season they said that Rayan Cherki’s £34m move to Man City was “a bit of a heist”, but that Tijjani Reijnders wasn’t great value at £50m. Both calls proved to be true.
These were the spider graphs for each player:
Pathetic mushroom.
Profile headshot of a ponderous dog.
If you’re into deep tactical analysis, it’s a bookmark-worthy resource. Click the button below to read it.
Team #4 - BruNo.
Team 4 is one for the Man City fans. It shows you what’s possible if you reject the tyrannical Gameweek 1 rule of Bruno and Bryan Mbeumo.
Whilst there isn’t an official Lazy party line, if there were, it would probably be to include Bruno in your Gameweek 1 team. He’s the best midfielder in the game, and he has Hull (A), Ipswich (H) and Everton (A) to start the season.
However, after that they’ve got Man City at Old Trafford, and plenty of managers will have to decide what to do with their Man United players.
Let’s imagine, for a second, that Man United are underwhelming in their opening games. A team like the one below would be poised to fully capitalise:
As you can see, this starting XI is pretty stacked. It has a premium defence and, without wanting to point out the obvious, Palmer is in there too. You can do a lot without Man United assets.
You can play chips when you like, but we haven’t optimised the team above for an early Bench Boost.
Team #5 - The Dyche.
Team 5 is for comic effect, but it has some illustrative purpose too. It’s the team Sean Dyche would pick if Sean Dyche were a fantasy manager and not an actual, real manager.
Dyche has picked five at the back, a midfield stacked with DefCon giants, and two big men up top. Dominik Szoboszlai would definitely be forced to get a haircut.
But the longer you stare at this team, the more you can’t help but wonder whether it might outperform the others. It’s uncanny, like those optical illusions that slowly reveal an elephant if you look at them for long enough.
Because wouldn’t it be poetic if, for all of our chip planning, premium picks and underlying statistical analysis, the better Gameweek 1 team is the one we threw together as a bit of fun.
The enablers that make it happen.
Without wanting to sound like we’re accepting an Oscar, a good Gameweek 1 squad wouldn’t be possible without a few shitty, bargain-bucket players.
Some of our preseason resources may come in handy here:
For those wanting more depth about early-season chip strategy, check out our recent newsletter about this exact topic.
And remember, if you haven’t seen it yet, we’ve created a dedicated preseason section this year. It has our archive of past newsletters, as well as links to join our free mini-league.
Tell us what you think.
Which approach are you going for? One of the above? None of the above?
Which GW1 strategy are you going for?
Tomorrow is the big one: The 24h briefing. We’ll cover news, final thoughts, Gameweek 1 captaincy, and offer some much-needed perspective on the hysteria of the opening weekend.
Stay lazy,
The LazyFPL Team.