Pre-Season

FPL 2025/26 team previews: Fulham – Best players, DC magnets + more

8 August 2025 45 comments
FPL Marc FPL Marc
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Our Fantasy Premier League (FPL) 2025/26 team preview guides continue with Marco Silva’s Fulham.

Here, their best FPL picks for the upcoming campaign are discussed. We’ll also attempt to predict the line-up for Gameweek 1, review pre-season, detail the best players for defensive contributions (DC) and more.

GET ALL THE KEY FPL DATA TODAY!

defensive contributions

The data and graphics in this article come from either our Members Area or Statsbomb, with whom we are again partnering in 2025/26.

Fantasy managers can get access to the wealth of Statsbomb numbers, as well as the usual Opta stats, new defensive contribution (DC) points, recalculated points from last season, exclusive articles, transfer planner, tools and app, with a 47% discounted Chief Scout membership today.

REASONS TO BE CHEERFUL

Best defender replacements for injured Konsa in FPL 7

UNDERLYING DEFENSIVE STATS

Admittedly, it’s been a struggle to think of reasons to invest in a team that barely gets mentioned in FPL circles. Their attacking stats are almost always mid-table but, despite a clean sheet total (five) that only outdid the relegated trio, Fulham’s underlying defensive data wasn’t too bad.

They allowed the third-fewest big chances (74, fewer than Manchester City, Chelsea and Newcastle United) and were also in the top seven for restricting attempts (433), shots in the box (308) and expected goals conceded (xGC, 48.16).

In each of these three, they bettered Nottingham Forest’s resolute backline. So perhaps Fulham can be the next Forest, who themselves had good underlying numbers in 2023/24 and converted them into a series of shutouts in 2024/25 that almost brought Champions League football.

COMPETITIVE AGAINST THE TOP HALF

FPL 2025/26 team previews: Fulham – Best players, predicted line-up + more 3

Above: Fulham’s results grid against last season’s league table, from Statsbomb

Speaking of Nuno Espirito Santo’s side, Fulham were unbeaten in their six meetings with Liverpool, Forest, and Newcastle United. They even did the double over the latter two.

Alongside that was a victory at Chelsea on Boxing Day, plus a home draw versus Arsenal.

That resulted in them getting nine wins against the top half and just six against those in the bottom half!

REASONS TO BE FEARFUL

3pm team news: Pedro starts, Merino up top, Evanilson a sub

STANDING STILL

FPL Marc Broadcaster, writer and overthinker. Hoping that ‘differential potential’ will catch on.

45 Comments Login to Post a Comment
  1. Dynamic Duos
    • 12 Years
    9 months, 8 days ago

    Wilson ? Better than Malen?

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    1. Chris_l25
      • 8 Years
      9 months, 8 days ago

      I'm tempted by Wilson, seems to do well whenever he plays but his starts/minutes have been pretty limited since he's been at Fulham

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    2. Ze_Austin
      • 7 Years
      9 months, 8 days ago

      Both are heavy in goal involvement. Both weren't nailed last season. Either could be nailed this season, but I don't know yet

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  2. Sheffield Wednesday
    • 5 Years
    9 months, 8 days ago

    Should I go Fulham?

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    1. Ze_Austin
      • 7 Years
      9 months, 8 days ago

      Never Halfham

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    2. Benedict_Alexander_Arnold
      • 1 Year
      9 months, 8 days ago

      Are you Simple Jack?

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  3. Sheffield Wednesday
    • 5 Years
    9 months, 8 days ago

    It may have been posted before, but I just noticed official FPL Website has DROP DOWN MENUS when selecting players!

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    1. Sheffield Wednesday
      • 5 Years
      9 months, 8 days ago

      & added T CBI R columns [Tackles; clearances, blocks & interceptions; Recoveries] to player data, but omitted historical data

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      1. Sheffield Wednesday
        • 5 Years
        9 months, 8 days ago

        * although they have added total DC historical data for 2024/25.

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        1. Sheffield Wednesday
          • 5 Years
          9 months, 8 days ago

          I get the feeling the UX was improved as a direct response of this Reddit post...
          https://www.reddit.com/r/FantasyPL/comments/1mf7rnf/just_watch_the_difference_in_user_experience/

          ...and the CBIT/CBIRT addition a response to my post here (?)
          https://www.fantasyfootballscout.co.uk/2025/07/28/new-defensive-contributions-per-90-stat-available-in-ffscout-members-area?hc_page=1&hc_sort_by=comment_date#hc_comment_27226929

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          1. Naatie
            • 1 Year
            9 months, 8 days ago

            Virgin 2.0 tendencies?

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            1. Ze_Austin
              • 7 Years
              9 months, 8 days ago

              Nowhere near

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            2. Sheffield Wednesday
              • 5 Years
              9 months, 8 days ago

              I did add a question mark to be fair 😉

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  4. Vazza
    • 5 Years
    9 months, 8 days ago

    Why is Konsa not in many drafts? Fixtures look good and AV defensively aren’t bad either..

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    1. Sheffield Wednesday
      • 5 Years
      9 months, 8 days ago

      I've seen him on a lot of benches as the 4th defender.

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    2. Dynamic Duos
      • 12 Years
      9 months, 8 days ago

      Can't decide whether I want him, Diouf, VDV or Guehi

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    3. Hibbopotamus
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 11 Years
      9 months, 8 days ago

      he's like 25% owned iirc but would guess it's because Villa is poor for DEFCONs. clean sheets still matter most but the floor is a bit lower.

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      1. Sheffield Wednesday
        • 5 Years
        9 months, 8 days ago

        Yes, 23.5% & fourth most owned defender! Hardly overlooked.

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  5. Hibbopotamus
    • Fantasy Football Scout Member
    • 11 Years
    9 months, 8 days ago

    had yet another tinker. think i'm keeping the app closed after this.

    Kelleher (Dubravka)
    VVD, Murillo, Tark (Lacroix, Esteve)
    Salah, Palmer, Gakpo, Mitoma, Anderson
    Watkins, Solanke (Guiu)

    really content with this, but would be just as happy going Solanke/Anderson/Gakpo -> Wood/Malen/Eze if circumstances dictate it.

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    1. Ze_Austin
      • 7 Years
      9 months, 8 days ago

      Solanke missing this friendly completely... Makes it too few preseason games he'd have featured in before Burnley for me to be convinced he'd start, and that's probably his best fixture for a while

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  6. Letsgo!
    • 9 Years
    9 months, 8 days ago

    Will u still start with sanchez?
    Or just do him to kelleher?

    Also will u have watkins or gyokeres?

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    1. Ze_Austin
      • 7 Years
      9 months, 8 days ago

      I've got Watkins due to fixtures

      Kelleher due to price. I'd prioritise Sels over Sanchez, even if it's a Forest defensive double-up, due to the expected impact of Chelsea losing their VVD/Saliba type so close to GW1

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  7. AC Pilkington
    • Fantasy Football Scout Member
    • 10 Years
    9 months, 8 days ago

    Which asset to get?

    A) Elliott Anderson

    B) Paqueta

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    1. Ze_Austin
      • 7 Years
      9 months, 8 days ago

      With those fixtures, my interest in West Ham is limited to Bowen's consistency over the past 5 seasons, making him a fixture-proof set-and-forget, especially with how he ended last season

      Everybody else there is a GW1-fixture punt, imo. 2 to 7 are mostly rough

      That said, Paqueta having a huge weight off his shoulders could rebound. One for the watchlist

      So... Err... Anderson if you're patient. One of the riskier explosive lads if you're transfer crazy

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  8. Ze_Austin
    • 7 Years
    9 months, 8 days ago

    FFS Dead Zone League

    If you can see this message, you're probably active in the FFS Dead Zone: preseason, international breaks, non-GW weekdays, slower comment pages, unpopular time zones, hours between replies

    We have a league for fellow downtime commenters, which you can join below

    https://fantasy.premierleague.com/leagues/auto-join/bytibt

    League Code: bytibt

    Welcome!

    ---

    Foot Note: I'll probably only post this again after the season starts. Scoring starts from GW1 anyway, so late entries still count

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    1. Sheffield Wednesday
      • 5 Years
      9 months, 8 days ago

      Certainly living up to its name today - resorted to answering my own posts. Don't tell TKT.

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  9. Letsgo!
    • 9 Years
    9 months, 8 days ago

    Mitoma or rice?

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    1. Ze_Austin
      • 7 Years
      9 months, 8 days ago

      Mitoma until we see what kind of returns Rice actually gets in the different types of tactics needed for the matches before GW7/8

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  10. A Moon Shaped Pool
    • 9 Years
    9 months, 8 days ago

    Will Marmoush be rotated or is he gonna be in the first 11 squad?

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    1. The FPL Units
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 16 Years
      9 months, 8 days ago

      Ask Pep

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      1. A Moon Shaped Pool
        • 9 Years
        9 months, 8 days ago

        Edgy cool guy

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        1. The FPL Units
          • Fantasy Football Scout Member
          • 16 Years
          9 months, 8 days ago

          Everyone else is just guessing

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          1. Ze_Austin
            • 7 Years
            9 months, 8 days ago

            https://x.com/dis_fpl/status/1950910554610000310

            Here's a respected guesser's preseason thread

            An excerpt:

            "With many other players nailed not from City, it seems silly to even bother trying.

            But if you do want to hope u get the mins...

            Haaland, Gvardiol, Ait Nouri, Marmoush, Rodri

            (Although not sure Rodri is in any training pics again? =[)

            Seem ur best bets."

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    2. Chris_l25
      • 8 Years
      9 months, 8 days ago

      I imagine he will start more often than not, but plenty of competition for places. Got to be prepared for the occasional benching

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  11. Khalico
    • 10 Years
    9 months, 8 days ago

    Thoughts on this team, any changes to this?

    Kelleher
    Neco Williams, Diouf, De Cuyper
    Salah, Wirtz, Palmer, Eze, Malen
    Evanilson, Watkins

    Dubravka, Strand Larsen, Dorgu, Gudmundsson

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    1. Ze_Austin
      • 7 Years
      9 months, 8 days ago

      I'd rather spend that 8th attacker money on the defence here

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    2. Mother Farke
      • 2 Years
      9 months, 8 days ago

      I like your "entertaining" defenders approach. I think those picking the likes of Murillo because he might score high through CBIT's are completely missing the point that there's fun to be had.

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  12. #1 Salah Hater
    • 1 Year
    9 months, 8 days ago

    Anyone else joining me on the Dewsbury-Hall bandwagon? 5m looks an absolute steal

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    1. Sheffield Wednesday
      • 5 Years
      9 months, 8 days ago

      That bandwagon will be so small there won't be room to paint his surname on the side.

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      1. #1 Salah Hater
        • 1 Year
        9 months, 8 days ago

        Hahaha all the more points for me and his family relatives that have an obligation to select him then

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      2. Mother Farke
        • 2 Years
        9 months, 8 days ago

        It's not a game of Scrabble, lad.

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    2. Ze_Austin
      • 7 Years
      9 months, 8 days ago

      Still waiting for him to do something at the top level, when it comes to goal involvement. Still probably a good CM though

      https://www.transfermarkt.com/kiernan-dewsbury-hall/leistungsdaten/spieler/475188

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      1. #1 Salah Hater
        • 1 Year
        9 months, 8 days ago

        Yep, my thinking too. Worth a punt as I think Moyes will push him higher.

        Done well in the Conference League when he finally got some minutes and had a monster campaign when Leicester got promoted.

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        1. Chris_l25
          • 8 Years
          9 months, 8 days ago

          He's currently in my draft but not 100% sold on him

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  13. Ze_Austin
    • 7 Years
    9 months, 8 days ago

    NEW ARTICLE:

    https://www.fantasyfootballscout.co.uk/2025/08/08/fanteam-a-season-long-strategy-guide-for-2025-26-epl-fantasy

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