Xabi Alonso’s Chelsea take centre stage in our latest 2026/27 Fantasy Premier League (FPL) team preview.
Here, we discuss their best FPL picks for the upcoming campaign, predict the line-up for Gameweek 1, review pre-season, detail their set-piece takers, assess the summer transfer activity and more.
REASONS TO BE CHEERFUL
THE MANAGER
There is plenty of optimism that Xabi Alonso, the new Chelsea manager, can deliver some success at Stamford Bridge.
Previously, the Spaniard led Bayer Leverkusen to a superb unbeaten domestic double in Germany.
Although it didn’t quite work out for him at Real Madrid last season, Alonso is still dining out on a reputation as one of the finest young coaches in football.
Given the title of manager rather than head coach, it sounds like he’ll have full control over first-team affairs, unlike some of his predecessors, which marks a positive development.
NO EUROPE
Chelsea’s failure to qualify for Europe could really help their assets from a Fantasy perspective.
It should lead to less rotation, and in theory, fewer injuries.
We’ve seen how it helped Manchester United in 2025/26. With no European commitments, they finished the campaign strongly, taking third place in the Premier League.
A less congested fixture list can only serve to benefit the Blues, then, crucially giving Alonso more time on the training pitch each week.
SUMMERS OFF FOR KEY PLAYERS
While many of the top sides have stragglers coming back to the UK after World Cup duty, the likes of Joao Pedro (£7.5m), Cole Palmer (£9.5m), Levi Colwill (£5.0m), Marco Palestra (£5.5m), Wesley Fofana (£5.0m) and Romeo Lavia (£5.0m) have all had the summer off.
That was particularly key for the likes of Lavia, Fofana, Palmer and Colwill, who all had fitness issues last season.
REASONS TO BE FEARFUL
POOR DISCIPLINE
A contributing factor to their poor 2025/26, Chelsea need to improve their discipline.
They finished bottom in the Premier League fair play table last season, having been shown a whopping eight red cards.
Fofana, on two occasions, Moises Caicedo (£5.5m), Trevoh Chalobah, Marc Cucurella, Malo Gusto (£5.0m), Pedro Neto (£6.5m) and Robert Sanchez (£5.0m) were all sent off at various points.
Alonso must improve on that record, else it’ll put the Blues at a major disadvantage.
TIGHTEN UP DEFENSIVELY
Chelsea really need to tighten up at the back.
The Blues failed to keep a clean sheet in each of their last 16 Premier League games last season. In that period (Gameweek 23 onwards), they conceded 28 goals, the second-most in the division.
Injuries contributed to the issue, but Liam Rosenior failed to settle on a consistent backline, which ultimately led to a lack of cohesion. The performances of goalkeeper Sanchez didn’t help either.
Above: Chelsea were disappointingly mid-table for expected goals conceded (xGC) in 2025/26
Tightening Chelsea up will be a key priority for Alonso this summer, potentially aided by a move to a back three.
BULLIED BY THE BIG BOYS
It’s hard to argue that Chelsea didn’t deserve to finish where they did.
Looking at the 16 fixtures against the top eight, the Blues won just two and kept one solitary clean sheet.
Two of those teams, Brighton and Arsenal, await in the first three Gameweeks. In fact, they lost all three of their corresponding Gameweek 1-3 fixtures in 2025/26.
Can Alonso get Chelsea back to punching with the big boys?
CHELSEA: SUMMER TRANSFER ACTIVITY
Key Transfers In:
| FWD | Emmanuel Emegha | Strasbourg (undisclosed) |
| MID | Geovany Quenda | Sporting (£40m) |
| DEF | Marco Palestra | Atalanta (£47m) |
| MID | Morgan Rogers | Aston Villa (£117m) |
| DEF | Maxence Lacroix | Crystal Palace (£52m) |
| FWD | Danny Welbeck | Brighton and Hove Albion (£5m) |
| MID | Jordan Henderson | Brentford (free) |
| MID | Valentin Barco | Strasbourg (£34m) |
| DEF | Pep Chavarria | Rayo Vallecano (£16.3m) |
Key Transfers Out:
| DEF | Marc Cucurella | Real Madrid (£47.5m) |
| MID | Tyrique George | Everton (£18m) |
| MID | Andrey Santos | Manchester United (£48m) |
| MID | Alejandro Garnacho | Aston Villa (loan) |
| DEF | Trevoh Chalobah | Como (£30m) |
| GK | Filip Jorgensen | Strasbourg (loan) |
It’s been a busy summer of activity, although not every capture will threaten a first-team spot straight away.
Emmanuel Emegha (£5.0m) is going to be a back-up forward, while Danny Welbeck (£6.0m) will likely be relief for Pedro – although we did briefly see the two of them in the same side in pre-season.
Valentin Barco (£5.5m) and Jordan Henderson (£5.0m), similarly, look like reserves in midfield.
Geovany Quenda (£5.5m) and Pep Chavarria (£5.0m) will likely start the season as deputies in the wing-back positions, too. Quenda can also play further forward, if needed.
Maxence Lacroix (£6.0m), Morgan Rogers (£7.5m) and Marco Palestra (£5.5m) are the established first-teamers who were all part of Alonso’s final pre-season XI. That’s often an indication as to what’s to come in Gameweek 1.
- READ MORE: Chelsea sign £40m Quenda – will he play as wing-back or winger?
- READ MORE: Can Rogers be a good FPL asset after Chelsea transfer?
- READ MORE: Can Lacroix offer clean sheets + DefCon at Chelsea?
- READ MORE: Who is new £5.0m Chelsea defender Pep Chavarria?
- READ MORE: Could £5.5m Palestra be a good FPL pick for Chelsea?
CHELSEA: PRE-SEASON FPL REPORTS
| Jul 18 | Chelsea 3-1 Crawley Town (h) | Gittens, Delap, Emegha |
| Jul 23 | Chelsea 3-0 Bromley (h) | Pedro, Gittens, Emegha |
| Jul 28 | Western Sydney Wanderers 4-6 Chelsea (a) | Satpaev (Kavuma-McQueen assist), Essugo (Walsh assist), Gittens (Pedro assist), Pedro (Gittens assist), Pedro (Palmer assist), Pedro |
| Aug 1 | Chelsea 1-2 Tottenham Hotspur (n) | Estevao (Gittens assist) |
| Aug 5 | Chelsea 0-1 Juventus (n) |
| Aug 8 | Chelsea 3-0 AC Milan (n) | Pedro (Caicedo goal), Pedro (Neto assist), Caicedo (Lavia assist) |
| Aug 9 | Johor Darul Ta’zim 3-3 Chelsea (a) | Delap pen, Delap pen (Gittens assist), own-goal (Delap assist) |
| Aug 15 | Chelsea 3-1 Real Sociedad (h) | Rogers (Pedro assist), Pedro (James assist), Pedro (Gusto assist) |
Form Players: Pedro (8 goals, 2 assists), Gittens (3 goals, 3 assists), Delap (3 goals, 1 assist), Emegha (2 goals), Caicedo (1 goal, 1 assist)
OPENING FIXTURES
We’ve already discussed Chelsea’s woes against their Gameweek 1-3 opponents in 2025/26.
The positives, however, are that Fulham are very much a team in transition under a new manager, while Brighton will have been in European action less than 72 hours before they visit Stamford Bridge.
Gameweek 4 onwards is where things start to look appealing, with a very palatable run up to early December.
PENALTY + SET-PIECE TAKERS
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