The engine's fifteen

A legal FPL squad chosen by optimizing this week's expected points from the same engine that prices every match here — each player's goal and assist rates, his club's clean-sheet probability from the match score grid, his expected minutes — under the real rules: £100.0m, two keepers, five defenders, five midfielders, three forwards, max three per club, legal starting eleven, captain doubled. Two builds, one toggle: the model's pure read, and the starters-nailed overlay for week-one certainty about rotation. Copy either, or argue with the drivers — the squad's actual score is graded here after the gameweek, like everything else we publish.

expected minutes exactly as the engine's recent-form window prices them — rotation risk included
Gameweek 1 · deadline Fri 21 Aug, 17:30 UTC
Lammens
MUN · £5.0m
3.5 pts
Roefs
SUN · £5.0m
3.3 pts
bench GK
V
Gabriel
ARS · £8.0m
5.8 pts
Virgil
LIV · £6.5m
4.7 pts
Castagne
FUL · £4.5m
4.7 pts
Calafiori
ARS · £5.5m
4.7 pts
bench 2
Hume
SUN · £4.5m
4.4 pts
bench 3
C
B.Fernandes
MUN · £12.0m
7.4 pts
E.Le Fée
SUN · £6.0m
5.6 pts
Mbeumo
MUN · £8.0m
5.5 pts
O.Dango
BRE · £6.5m
5.2 pts
Hinshelwood
BHA · £6.0m
5.2 pts
Osula
NEW · £6.0m
5.1 pts
Watkins
AVL · £8.0m
4.9 pts
Thiago
BRE · £8.0m
4.9 pts
bench 1
£99.5m of £100.0m · projected 65 pts incl. captain · as of 2026-08-19

Why each pick

PlayerPosPriceExp ptsGoal λAssist λClean sheetExp mins
LammensGK£5.0m3.50.000.0037%90'
Gabriel (V)DEF£8.0m5.80.190.1257%80'
VirgilDEF£6.5m4.70.320.0218%90'
CastagneDEF£4.5m4.70.120.3820%90'
B.Fernandes (C)MID£12.0m7.40.291.2037%90'
E.Le FéeMID£6.0m5.60.110.9033%90'
MbeumoMID£8.0m5.50.540.1537%65'
O.DangoMID£6.5m5.20.330.4329%76'
HinshelwoodMID£6.0m5.20.470.2027%86'
OsulaFWD£6.0m5.10.720.0918%75'
WatkinsFWD£8.0m4.90.610.1520%76'
Roefs (bench GK)GK£5.0m3.30.000.0033%90'
Calafiori (bench 2)DEF£5.5m4.70.110.0457%52'
Hume (bench 3)DEF£4.5m4.40.090.1633%85'
Thiago (bench 1)FWD£8.0m4.90.660.0729%90'

Close calls — if you'd rather

GK alternatives
Kelleher BRE£5.0m · 3.2
Pickford EVE£5.5m · 3.1
Donnarumma MCI£5.5m · 3.1
DEF alternatives
Kayode BRE£4.5m · 4.3
O'Reilly MCI£6.5m · 4.3
Justin LEE£4.5m · 4.2
MID alternatives
Enzo CHE£7.0m · 4.8
Szoboszlai LIV£7.0m · 4.7
Gakpo LIV£7.0m · 4.6
FWD alternatives
Gyökeres ARS£7.5m · 4.6
Calvert-Lewin LEE£6.0m · 4.4
Richarlison TOT£6.0m · 4.4

Not modeled (and said so): bonus points, saves, defensive-contribution points, cards, price changes. A £14m star can lose to two £7m starters on points-per-pound — that is the optimizer being honest, not forgetful; the premiums sit in the alternatives for the captaincy-faithful. Probabilities, never advice — full record at /model.