The start of the Premier League season means another year of incredible football, intense stakes and electrifying drama in the best league in the world. It also means the start of another season of Fantasy Premier League. The fantasy team-building game, which sees users build a squad of Premier League players before they earn points from their performances throughout the season, has become a popular game for football fans over the years.
Whether it's smaller private leagues with friends, or competing against players from all over the globe, everyone wants to win and as such, they want to build the best possible team heading into 2025/26. Who better to take advice from, then, than the user who finished with more points than anyone else last season? The reigning FPL champion, Lovro Budisin, finished the 2024/25 campaign with 2810 points, making him the overall leader. In a recent video on the FPL Focal YouTube page, the team he's set to start the opening weekend of the new season with was revealed.
Goalkeeper & Defence
Sanchez, Williams, Gvardiol & Udogie
The majority of Fantasy Premier League points come from the midfield and attack, so Budisin has wisely opted to only play three defenders in his side, allowing an extra body in the midfield which we'll touch on soon. In goal, he's gone with Robert Sanchez. One the surface, that looks a little suspect considering his issues at Chelsea last season, but the Blues had one of the best defences in the league and he is a cheaper option than some of the top keepers.
His back three is comprised of Nottingham Forest's Neco Williams, Manchester City's Josko Gvardiol and Tottenham Hotspur's Destiny Udogie. All three have earned a reputation for contributing offensively at times, with the former chalking up a handful of assists last time out while the latter two are no strangers to driving forward and getting in on the action.
Midfield
Adingra, Rogers, Salah, Palmer & Wirtz
Playing one less defender, Budisin chose to use an extra midfielder instead. In the middle of the park, he named Sunderland new boy Simon Adingra, Morgan Rogers, Mohamed Salah, Cole Palmer and Florian Wirtz. There are a couple of risks there, with there being no guarantee that Adingra and Wirtz will succeed at their new clubs.
The other three are tried and tested, though. Rogers has become a key figure for Aston Villa, while Salah and Palmer are club heroes for Liverpool and Chelsea respectively. Expect the pair of them to be at the heart of everything their sides do this season and they're almost certain to bag plenty of points.
Attack
Solanke & Watkins
Surprisingly, Budisin decided to play just two strikers. Neither is Erling Haaland, with Tottenham's Dominic Solanke and Villa's Ollie Watkins leading the charge. Solanke joined Spurs last season and had an average debut campaign with the club. He scored nine league goals throughout 2024/25 and will need to up that output if he's to make many points for players.
On the other hand, Watkins had another stellar year with Unai Emery's side and barring any shocking turn of events, he'll be key for them this season too and AI has tipped him to be among the goals again. He'll likely bring in plenty of points for users who pick him, especially with favourable fixtures early in the season.
Substitutes
Kinsky, Maatsen, Gudmundsson & Kroupi Jr
Ian Maatsen
Considering you get no points for the players on your bench, the personnel included don't matter too much. Many players opt for just getting the cheapest possible figures to round out their team, with no intention of ever playing them. Budisin has Tottenham's Antonin Kinsky as his back-up goalkeeper.
He's got a few solid outfield players on the bench, though. Ian Maatsen is one of his substitutes, alongside Leeds United's Gabriel Gudmundsson and Bournemouth's Eli Junior Kroupi who set Ligue 2 alight last season with 22 goals. At 19 years old, he could be a sneaky bargain, should he replicate that form with the Cherries.
Lovro Budisin's Fantasy Premier League Team
Position
GK
DEF
DEF
DEF
MID
MID
MID
MID
MID
FWD
FWD
SUB
SUB
SUB
SUB
All statistics courtesy of Fantasy Premier League & Transfermarkt and accurate as of 07/08/2025