After a week of voting from the Fantasy Football Scout community, we’re now able to reveal our Fantasy Premier League (FPL) Team of the Season for 2025/26.

Throughout our goalkeeper, defender, midfielder and forward articles, a total of 7,193 votes took place. Thank you for such an excellent response.

Once seven players were locked in (one goalkeeper, three defenders, two midfielders and one forward; the bare minimum for each position in FPL), our additional run-off poll decided the other four places. That took us to over 8,500 overall votes.

So here is our final XI.

TEAM OF THE SEASON

GOALKEEPER

After a third straight Golden Glove-winning season, it’s no surprise to find David Raya on top of this poll. The Arsenal man kept three clean sheets across the first four Gameweeks and never looked back, amassing 19 in total, to finish with an unrivalled 162 FPL points – 19 more than next-best Caoimhín Kelleher.

The Spaniard started at £5.5m and was in only 1.5 million opening squads, perhaps due to Arsenal’s fixture run. After beating Manchester United 1-0, however, his ownership increased by 50 per cent for Gameweek 2.

Those who kept him were rewarded by shutouts, not save points. Only Robin Roefs, who received the second most votes, bested his 11 bonuses. Averaging a peerless 4.4 points per start (minimum of four matches), Raya’s value had increased to £6.2m by the end, when possessed by nearly 4.8 million managers. He won the poll with a landslide 71.02%.

DEFENDERS

Raya’s team-mate Gabriel Magalhaes was equally imperious for the title-winners. In fact, he fell only four points short of beating the FPL record amongst defenders, set by 2018/19’s Andy Robertson. Had the Brazilian not been reduced to a cameo role on the final day, he’d surely have bettered it.

Gabriel produced three goals and five assists, plus at least four more clean sheets (18) than any other defender. But it was his role as a bonus points magnet that really marked him out.

An enormous tally of 30 was at least double those of all but two others, and no one came close to his 6.9 points per start.

On 5.7 points per start, Nico O’Reilly underlined his credentials as a fantastic FPL asset, capable of returns at both ends of the pitch. The full-back benefited from Manchester City’s poor start to the season, as Pep Guardiola turned to him almost in desperation. O’Reilly took his chance with both hands.

There were 54 points between Gameweeks 3 and 11, underlining his importance to the side by starting in only one of the team’s six league defeats.

Among defenders, only Virgil van Dijk exceeded his five goals and 10 big chances, while nobody surpassed nine attacking returns. The 21-year-old’s ownership soared up to 2.5 million.

Meanwhile, Marcos Senesi was the cornerstone of Bournemouth’s best-ever season, reaching 175 points. Only two defenders picked up more assists (six), while 11 clean sheets placed him near the top for shutouts. But, of course, there was one category where he particularly excelled: defensive contributions (DefCon).

Senesi was a major beneficiary of FPL’s newest points scoring method, rewarded for a collection of clearances, blocks, interceptions and tackles. His 418 DefCon actions were 41 more than the next-best defender, earning him 50 DefCon points.

MIDFIELDERS

After blanking in the first two matches, there was little to suggest that Bruno Fernandes would have his best FPL campaign. He was still lying in 13th place after 10 Gameweeks, as Man United faltered under Ruben Amorim. The playmaker was in a deep-lying role. But the assists soon started to arrive, particularly following Amorim’s dismissal and Michael Carrick’s subsequent release of the handbrake.

In the end, Fernandes’ 24 FPL assists were just one shy of the record set by Luis Suarez in 2012/13, while his 235 points included 12 double-digit hauls, nine goals and 41 bonuses. A total of 138 chances created were 58 more than any other midfielder, rising from £9.0m to £10.4m.

Alongside him is Antoine Semenyo, whose blistering first half of the season earned him a move to Man City. At the Etihad Stadium, he hit the ground running with five goals and an assist in his first seven matches.

His only dip came between Gameweeks 30 and 36, but those managers who swiftly swapped him for Rayan Cherki were punished as Semenyo – defying ‘Pep Roulette’ by starting every City match after signing – returned to scoring ways.

The Ghana international was one of only two midfielders to break the 200-point mark, being his position’s best for goals (17) and behind only Fernandes for attacking returns (23). Owned by 462,000 managers in Gameweek 1, he was in more than six million teams (46%) by the final day.

Despite a mere four goals, Declan Rice finished with the fourth-best midfield points tally. Arsenal’s set-piece excellence certainly played its part. No player delivered more free-kicks (46), and only three produced more assists (nine) than him.

Rice also benefited from starting 36 times, picking up frequent DefCon points (38) and constantly racking up bonuses (23). His price rose from £6.5m to £7.2m throughout the season, explaining his 13% of votes.

Elliot Anderson wasn’t in many teams at the start, seen as just a solid defensive presence with modest end product. Indeed, his nine attacking returns ended 36th among midfielders. But, as with Senesi, Anderson’s game is tailor-made for DefCon, and no player in any position grabbed more than 52 points from this.

It should serve as a reminder that FPL isn’t just about goals and assists, and budget assets can become more than enablers. Anderson ended up on 180 points, placing him fifth among midfielders. He had the game’s greatest midfield value, earning 31.6 points per million spent on him, yet could still only be found in 949,000 teams by Gameweek 38, making him – even then – a differential.

Anderson’s Nottingham Forest team-mate, Morgan-Gibbs White, was much more about attacking returns. The 26-year-old’s season was a tale of two halves. By halfway, he was languishing as the 37th best midfielder, with three goals, two assists and 64 points. Forest looked relegation-bound.

However, that all changed in later months. Between Gameweeks 20 and 38, only Fernandes scored more FPL points than his 124. It derived from 12 goals – four more than any other midfielder – and a further three assists, clocking 7.1 points per start. His highlight was a mid-April hat-trick against Burnley that registered 20 points.

And if it weren’t for a freak concussion forcing him to miss Gameweek 36, Gibbs-White probably would’ve added more. 

Still, his value barely increased throughout and, like Anderson, was still owned by less than 10% by the end. He fittingly polled 9.8% among voters.

FORWARDS

Up front, there are no prizes for guessing which two forwards received approval, as Erling Haaland continued to do Erling Haaland things and Igor Thiago was the only other forward to score more than 20 goals.

Haaland fared better than the previous campaign, scoring and assisting an extra five times to match 2023/24’s final 27 goals and eight assists. It was his second-highest points tally (239).

We can therefore say that Haaland justified his £14.0m starting price. His average of 7.03 points per match was roughly 2.10 better than the next highest scoring forwards, Thiago and Jarrod Bowen.

That said, midfielder Fernandes scored only four fewer points and began £5.0m cheaper. But, even at his astronomical price, Haaland’s end-product inspired an increase in popularity and price. He was owned by 62.5% of managers in Gameweek 38, when he didn’t even play! Dare anyone not own him next season?

Finally, Thiago emerged as the latest in Brentford’s remarkable production line of stellar attackers, filling the gap left by Bryan Mbeumo and Yoane Wissa by netting 22 times.

Thiago only assisted once, but was so consistent at scoring that his inclusion here was a no-brainer. Nearly 23% voted for the Brazilian, who delivered six double-digit occasions, and whose price soared from £6.0m to £7.2m.

HOW THE RUN-OFF VOTE PANNED OUT