The 2026/27 Premier League season is finally here, and with it comes the first deadline of the new Sofascore Fantasy campaign. It has been a frantic summer of transfer business across the division, with Arsenal raiding Newcastle for Bruno Guimarães, Manchester City breaking the bank for Nottingham Forest’s Elliot Anderson, and Tottenham strengthening their midfield with both Sandro Tonali and Mateus Fernandes. Plenty of those new faces will need a few weeks to settle, but several look ready to make an instant impact — and picking the right ones early could be the difference between a strong start and an early rebuild.

Before locking in a squad, it is worth glancing beyond Round 1 as well. Looking at the fixture list for the opening five rounds, Arsenal have arguably the kindest run in the entire league, followed closely by Manchester City, Manchester United and Liverpool, while Aston Villa, Newcastle, Brentford and Everton also have plenty to like about their upcoming schedules. Loading up on assets from those sides now, before prices start climbing, is exactly the kind of early move that pays off over a full season.

Here is our full 15-man squad for Round 1 — 2 goalkeepers, 5 defenders, 5 midfielders and 3 forwards — put together for under €100M, mixing the premium picks who should start every week with a handful of cheap enablers who free up funds for the guys who matter.

Best fixture runs, Rounds 1-5

Arsenal’s run stands out in particular: a home date with newly promoted Coventry to open the campaign, followed by a trip to Villa Park, a home meeting with Chelsea, and away days at Sunderland and Brighton. City and United are not far behind, which is exactly why both feature heavily below.

GOALKEEPERS

David Raya — ARSENAL vs COVENTRY CITY

€6.5M, owned by 30.5% of managers. Raya was the most-selected goalkeeper heading into deadline day, and it is easy to see why. Arsenal open the season at home to a newly promoted Coventry side and follow it up with a schedule that barely throws up a difficult away day inside the first five rounds.

James Trafford — LEEDS UNITED at NOTTINGHAM FOREST

€4.5M, owned by 10.6%. Rather than parking a backup who never plays, Trafford gives us a genuine week-one starter. Signed from Manchester City for a reported €46.7M this summer, he is Leeds’ undisputed No.1 as they return to the top flight, and a newly promoted side tends to face plenty of shots — exactly the sort of workload that racks up save points even on days when the clean sheet does not arrive. The highest-owned budget goalkeeper in the game for a reason.

DEFENDERS

William Saliba — ARSENAL vs COVENTRY CITY

€7.5M, owned by 12.9%. Saliba anchors the division’s best defence on paper and does so with about as gentle a run of fixtures as any defender could ask for over the next month and a half. Clean sheet potential does not get much higher than this to start a season.

Virgil van Dijk — LIVERPOOL at NEWCASTLE UNITED

€7M, owned by 25.3%. The captain remains an automatic pick for Liverpool managers, and while the trip to St James’ Park is no formality, the schedule opens up considerably from Round 2 onward, with Nottingham Forest, Ipswich and Fulham all to come in the following month.

Leif Davis — IPSWICH TOWN vs SUNDERLAND

€4.5M, owned by 1.2%. Rather than a defender buried on the bench, Davis is a nailed-on starting left-back for newly promoted Ipswich. Sides fighting to stay up tend to spend long spells under the cosh, which usually means a healthy tally of clearances, blocks and tackles most weeks — the kind of defensive-contribution stats that keep racking up points even without a clean sheet, and Davis adds a genuine set-piece and crossing threat on top.

Semi Ajayi — HULL CITY vs MANCHESTER UNITED

€4M, owned by 1.6%. A recognised first-choice centre-back for newly promoted Hull, Ajayi should be busy defending against a stronger Manchester United side in Round 1 and every week after — a profile that tends to accumulate clearances and interceptions by the bucketload regardless of results.

Adam Aznou — EVERTON vs CRYSTAL PALACE

€4M, owned by 3.3%. The cheapest way into an Everton defence that has a genuinely useful run of fixtures over the coming month, and Aznou already has real first-team minutes to his name.

MIDFIELDERS

Bukayo Saka — ARSENAL vs COVENTRY CITY

€9.5M, owned by 22.6%. Arsenal’s talisman gets a home banana-skin fixture to open the season before some very friendly matchups follow. Locking in Saka before price rises kick in feels close to essential.

Bruno Fernandes — MANCHESTER UNITED at HULL CITY

€11M, owned by 42.1%. The most-owned midfielder in the game, and deservedly so — Fernandes takes penalties and set pieces for a United side that, on paper, has one of the gentler five-round runs in the entire league, starting with a trip to newly promoted Hull.

Bruno Guimarães — ARSENAL vs COVENTRY CITY

€8M, owned by 4.6%. The headline arrival of Arsenal’s summer, signed from Newcastle for a reported €87.5M, Guimarães slots straight into a midfield that already boasts an excellent run of fixtures. Big-money arrivals of his profile are rarely left out of the side for long, and at under 5% ownership he is one of the sharper differentials in this squad.

Elliot Anderson — MANCHESTER CITY vs BOURNEMOUTH

€7.5M, owned by 5.4%. Anderson’s move from Nottingham Forest was one of the summer’s biggest, and he arrives at a club whose fixture list is arguably the friendliest in the league over the next five rounds. A low ownership figure this early makes him a tempting punt for managers looking to get ahead of the pack before word spreads.

Aladji Bamba — NEWCASTLE UNITED vs LIVERPOOL

€4.5M, owned by 0.2%. One of several new arrivals at St James’ Park this summer, signed from Monaco. He is not guaranteed regular starts yet, but he is cheap enough to stash while he fights for a role, with Newcastle’s own fixtures easing up nicely by Round 5.

FORWARDS

Erling Haaland — MANCHESTER CITY vs BOURNEMOUTH

€12M, owned by 75.6%. The most expensive and most owned player in Sofascore Fantasy needs no introduction. Backed by one of the two best fixture runs in the league, benching him this early would be a bold call few managers will be making.

Gabriel Jesus — ARSENAL vs COVENTRY CITY

€5M, owned by 1.8%. A mid-price route into Arsenal’s attack, which is backed by the best fixture run in the league over the next five rounds, without committing the funds a premium striker would demand.

Brian Madjo — ASTON VILLA vs BRIGHTON

€4M, owned by 2.1%. The final piece of the puzzle, at floor price, from a Villa side whose own schedule holds up well over the coming month. Squad depth rather than a week-one starter, but he rounds out the budget nicely.

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Combined value of this 15-man squad: €99.5M, comfortably inside the €100M budget cap — and, crucially, without a single player parked purely to gather dust on the bench. Fancy building your own team for Round 1? Head over to Sofascore Fantasy and get your squad in before the deadline.