Top five must-own FPL players for Gameweek 1

The 2025 calendar has just entered the month of August, which means it is the month of the new Premier League season. The Fantasy Premier League managers are busy figuring out how to pick the best possible squad under the tight budget.

The FPL Gameweek 1 for the new season (2025/26) is about to become active and go live after the deadline on Friday, August 15, at 18:30 BST. The opening FPL gameweek is usually critical for managers because it is also known as the most difficult gameweek for them, as the competition begins from scratch with no form available. During this hectic team selection process, every manager has doubts from goalkeepers to forwards, from the playing XI to substitutes, from captain to vice-captain. The new managers face more difficulties, and they need to learn the FPL rules thoroughly to start their FPL journey positively.

Here, we are following the best FPL tips for Gameweek 1, which means the top five must-have players for the FPL managers.

Five Must-Have Players for FPL Gameweek 1

Let's take a look at the five indispensable players who should be present in every manager's FPL squad for Gameweek 1:

Ollie Watkins (£9.0m)

English forward Ollie Watkins has been serving for Aston Villa since the summer of 2020, while the Premier League giants Manchester United have reportedly serious eyes on him.

Watkins is a very consistent performer for his club, as he scored over 130 FPL points in the last five seasons. His FPL points for these five PL seasons are 168 (2020/21), 131 (2021/22), 175 (2022/23), 228 (2023/24), and 186 (2024/25). In the last three seasons, the English forward recorded at least 15 goals and eight assists each season, while scoring 19 goals and 18 assists for the 2023/24 season.

In the pre-season friendlies in the ongoing United States tour, Watkins scored one goal each in the first two games, which shows his form and confidence at present.

Aston Villa have favourable fixtures for their first eight games of the new Premier League season (2025/26), as there is no opponent with more than a three-difficulty rating. So, there is no doubt about Watkins' presence in the best probable FPL Gameweek 1 team.

Cole Palmer (£10.5m)

English attacking midfielder Cole Palmer is a key name for Chelsea. In the last two seasons, he produced more than 200 FPL points and became a valuable name for the managers. With the help of 22 goals and 13 assists, he provided 244 FPL points for the managers in the 2023/24 season. Meanwhile, last season, he brought 214 FPL points with 15 goals and 10 assists.

Palmer scored three goals in the FIFA Club World Cup 2025, where Chelsea won the title after Palmer recorded two goals in the Final.

Chelsea have to wait till Gameweek 7 for their first challenge over the three-difficulty rating, which strongly pushes Palmer to the best possible FPL Gameweek 1 team.

Mohamed Salah (£14.5m)

Liverpool’s Egyptian forward Mohamed Salah is a very special and important name for most of the FPL managers, as he has set the consistency level to the top notch. Not only as a player, he is a favourite as a captain too for most FPL managers.

Starting the new FPL season (2024/25) as the most valuable player, Salah finished the last season with the record-breaking FPL points of 344 with the help of 29 goals and 18 assists. Even before that season, Salah generated FPL points like 303, 259, 233, 231, 265, 239, and 211 for seven straight seasons, respectively.

Salah is also a very dependable name for the FPL Gameweek 1, as we experienced solid points from him in the opening gameweeks of past PL seasons. There is no requirement to look at the difficulty fixtures rating to select the Egyptian maestro.

Jarrod Bowen (£8.0m)

West Ham United’s English forward Jarrod Bowen is another consistent name for the FPL managers. In the last five seasons, Bowen scored 141 (2020/21), 206 (2021/22), 145 (2022/23), 182 (2023/24), and 193 (2024/25) FPL points. He scored 16 goals (6 assists) and 13 goals (11 assists) in the last two seasons, respectively.

Last season, after Graham Potter became the Head Coach of West Ham United in Gameweek 20, Bowen became a strong card for the English manager. While Potter has utilised him as a forward in the 3-5-2 formation, the English forward has produced 103 FPL points since then. Due to his new role, Bowen has been reclassified as a forward from a midfielder.

In the pre-season friendlies, Bowen scored one goal in their 2-1 defeat against Manchester United. As Hammers have the favourable fixtures for the first six gameweeks of the new season, all under the four difficulty ratings, Bowen is surely among the names of the best FPL team for Gameweek 1.

Jordan Pickford (£5.5m)

Talking about the best FPL tips for Gameweek 1, especially for the top five names, we are going with a goalkeeper rather than any defender, despite the introduction of defensive contribution points, which are limited to two only. Not only a clean sheet, but a goalkeeper can also bring unlimited extra points in a match with each three saves, and more saves also generally lead to the chance for bonus points.

Everton goalie Jordan Pickford has recorded 100+ FPL points for the last nine seasons, including four times recording 145 or more FPL points. In the last two seasons, he recorded 153 and 158 points, respectively. In the last three seasons, he saved 124, 121, and 122 times, respectively. So, there is no doubt about his consistency. Also, not to forget that he saved two out of two penalties last PL season, which were among the seven penalty saves in his PL career.

While Everton will start the new PL season with the promoted Leeds United, their first four games of the season won’t have over three difficulty ratings.