7 Easily Overlooked Players To Pick In Fantasy Premier League 2025/26

Offensive-minded defenders like Crystal Palace’s flying winger Muñoz could be smart pick this season.

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The return of Premier League soccer means one thing for Fantasy Football fanatics: poring over all the statistics and meticulously planning their teams for the brand new season.

Whether you’re choosing a squad from a budget or taking part in a Draft League—where the rules vary slightly—there’s a natural inclination to prioritize the stars known to get tonnes of goals. And with good reason. Who wouldn’t bag bountiful Mohammed Salah from the outset?

While luck also plays a part, making a good lineup a great lineup requires a little more thinking, however. First, being wise to the league’s new faces, tempting to pick because of novelty or a colossal signing fee over their head, but not nailed on to hit the ground running. Then, going for those who are bedded into a club and therefore more likely to play. Or names less prone to injury for the very same reason.

Bearing some of these factors in mind, here are seven options (easy to discount) to consider before Liverpool takes on Bournemouth in the opening match this August 15. It’s aimed at the Premier League’s Fantasy Football product, while knowing that players can still move before the transfer window shuts at the end of the month. And yes, there’s no Salah, Alexander Isak, Erling Haaland, et al.

Djordje Petrovic (Bournemouth)

Bournemouth has spent around €29 million ($34 million) on goalkeeper Petrovic, likely to start ahead of Neto. Similar to the highly rated Caoimhin Kelleher, who left Liverpool for Brentford, competition for places previously limited Petrovic, yet he can be the protagonist here. There’s a strong case for him being Chelsea’s best stopper last campaign, while not even representing the Blues for the most part; on loan at Strasbourg, Petrovic made Opta’s Ligue 1 team of the season. He’s also cheap, this after joining a side building on a ninth-place finish.

Maxim De Cuyper (Brighton)

Brighton and Club Brugge supporters aside, this addition to the league may have gone unnoticed. Arriving from Belgium, De Cuyper brings Champions League experience and, perhaps more importantly, a goal threat from the full-back position. Scoring nearly once per seven matches on average in the league for Brugge, he could well bring points hauls at coach Fabian Hürzeler’s expansive operation, even if his clean sheet record proves inferior. He’s a fun option for any lineup.

Daniel Muñoz (Crystal Palace)

Since another full-back, Colombia’s Muñoz, walked into a Colombian-style café in South London as Crystal Palace announced its bargain €8 million ($9.5 million) signing in 2024, he’s also seemed at home in a Palace jersey. Similar to De Cuyper, his offensive output is excellent, having grabbed six goals and eight assists last term. Defensively, he also puts in a shift; only Idrissa Gana Gueye tackled more than Muñoz’s 128 in 2024/25, StatMuse states. He’s a criminally underrated player and deserves more airtime.

João Palhinha (Tottenham Hotspur)

Defensive midfielders will soon get better points tallies, and quite rightly, thanks to rule adjustments that reward disruptive actions. So, while it’s still reasonable to prioritize the best strikers and defenders, a player like Tottenham’s incoming Palhinha may be a fruitful later selection. At his former Premier League employer, Fulham, he was an exceptional tackler who interrupted the opposition. If the Spurs coach Thomas Frank adopts a counter-attacking style rather than a possession-based one, his contributions will be valuable. The only caveat is the Portuguese’s propensity to receive yellow cards.

Morgan Rogers (Aston Villa)

Rogers isn’t exactly the game’s best-kept secret. Nevertheless, the powerful ball carrier should be high up on the agenda based on the evidence to date. Perhaps without the superstar quality of a Salah or Palmer, he produced eight goals and 11 assists in the division last term, just over one key offensive impact every two league games on average. Rogers featured in 37. Assuming he kicks on as a mainstay in coach Unai Emery’s lineup, he’s a reliable choice.

Iliman Ndiaye (Everton)

Lightweight offensively last season, Everton seems a bizarre shop from which to locate an attack-minded player. Nevertheless, Senegal’s agile entertainer Ndiaye packed a punch, with nine goals in 33 showings putting him top of Everton’s scoring charts. That he’s gone from a forward to a midfielder in Fantasy Football means every successful strike will now earn more points, too. And he’s playing for an Everton that appears more potent under returning boss David Moyes.

Igor Thiago (Brentford)

Thiago will feel like a new signing for Brentford. The Brazil striker, the Bees’ most expensive ever acquisition at around €35 million ($41 million), arrived last summer but has been on the fringes. So far, injuries and other forwards’ performances—Yoanne Wissa and Bryan Mbeumo—have restricted Thiago, but the picture is changing as Wissa may follow Mbeumo in exiting the club. 24-year-old Thiago has led the line in Brentford’s preseason, and taking momentum into the season will only help. On those grounds, any success won’t come out of the blue.