FPL
FPL Budget Picks for 2025/26: Forwards, Midfielders, and Defenders
Top FPL budget picks for 2025/26: best value forwards, midfielders, and £4.0m defenders revealed.
As FPL managers, we all know the thrill (and pain) of hunting for those budget gems. Nailing the cheap options is the difference between a great start and weeks of painful, sideways transfers. The 2025/26 season throws up some interesting names, and it’s more important than ever to spot the value early, especially with new scoring tweaks and promoted clubs in the mix.
Here’s your comprehensive breakdown of the best budget picks across forwards, midfielders, and defenders for the 2025/26 FPL campaign.
Budget Forwards
Finding a reliable budget forward is tough. The pool is small, game time is never guaranteed, and many options are streaky at best. But a well-chosen cheap striker lets you load up on premiums elsewhere, so let’s dive into the standouts between £5.0m and £6.0m.
Igor Thiago (Brentford) – £5.5m
Thiago arrived at Brentford with a strong scoring record from Club Brugge, and with Bryan Mbeumo now at Manchester United and Yoane Wissa possibly leaving, the path is clear for him to start. He’s fit, looks set for plenty of minutes, and might even be on penalties. At £5.5m, he’s not just a budget pick, he’s a potential enabler for your whole squad. Brentford’s opening fixtures are decent, making Thiago a solid early punt.
Beto (Everton) – £5.5m
Beto became Everton’s first-choice striker towards the end of last season, finishing with eight goals. His physicality fits David Moyes’ style perfectly, and while new arrival Thierno Barry is lurking, Beto should get the nod to start the season. With a good fixture run and reliable minutes, Beto is the type of set-and-forget pick you want from your bench forward.
Rodrigo Muniz (Fulham/Leeds) – £5.5m
Muniz showed his goal threat last season even in limited minutes. He’s one to watch in the transfer market, if he moves to Leeds, he’ll be the main man and likely on penalties. At Fulham, there’s still competition with Raul Jimenez. Either way, Muniz is an ideal third striker for rotation or emergencies, and could end up being a steal if his minutes are secure.
Eliezer Mayenda (Sunderland) – £5.0m
Sunderland are blessed with a generous fixture run, and Mayenda is set to start as their striker with Isidor still regaining fitness. His numbers don’t jump off the page, but with injuries elsewhere, he’s great value for now. Mayenda is perfect if you’re looking for a cheap enabler who actually plays.
Joel Piroe (Leeds) – £5.5m
Piroe bagged 19 goals and seven assists in the Championship last season, scooping the Golden Boot. With Leeds strengthening up front, his position is a bit less nailed, but he’s featured as a number 10 in pre-season. Keep an eye on him, if he holds his spot, Piroe could be one of the surprise packages.
£4.0m Defenders: Enablers With Real Minutes
The £4.0m defender slot is the ultimate budget hack in FPL. You want someone who’ll play, won’t tank your team value, and might, just might, get you a clean sheet or an attacking return. Here are the best options this year:
Joe Rodon (Leeds) – £4.0m
Rodon is about as safe as they come. He started every single Championship game for Leeds last year and should anchor their Premier League backline. While attacking threat is low, he’ll hoover up clearances, blocks, and tackles, perfect for bonus points.
Gabriel Gudmundsson (Leeds) – £4.0m
If you like a defender who gets forward, Gudmundsson is your man. He’s versatile, takes set-pieces, and has even chipped in with goals. He’s likely to start at left-back, replacing Junior Firpo, and offers more attacking upside than most at this price.
Maxime Esteve (Burnley) – £4.0m
Esteve played every match for Burnley in the Championship and was key to their amazing defensive record. Burnley will be up against it this year, but that means more chances for clearances and blocks, and thus bonus points. If you want nailed minutes, Esteve is your guy.
Reinildo (Sunderland) – £4.0m
Signed from Atletico Madrid, Reinildo offers flexibility (LB and CB) and attacking promise with goals and assists last season. Sunderland’s defence is thin, so he’s almost certain to start. He’s a short-term enabler, especially while Sunderland’s injury crisis continues.
Ayden Heaven (Manchester United) – £4.0m
Heaven is one for the watchlist. He impressed in his brief appearances and pre-season, even winning a penalty and scoring. If injuries continue to trouble United’s backline, Heaven could force his way in. If he nails a spot, he’ll be the £4.0m defender everyone scrambles to get.
Aaron Hickey (Brentford) – £4.0m
Fresh off a long injury layoff, Hickey is versatile and has attacking pedigree. If he wins a starting spot, his attacking threat could make him a season-defining bargain. One to monitor as pre-season develops.
Budget Midfielders (£5.0m–£6.0m): Safe Points and Bonus Potential
A strong fifth midfielder gives you flexibility and sometimes a surprise haul. These are the standouts:
Youri Tielemans (Aston Villa) – £6.0m
Tielemans is a proven performer, with three goals and seven assists last season. He racks up bonus points for his all-action style and could be Villa’s penalty taker. He’s nailed for minutes and is a safe, steady pick.
Moises Caicedo (Chelsea) – £5.5m
Caicedo’s attacking returns are rare, but under the new rules, his defensive work is a goldmine for bonus points. He played every league game last year and is locked into Chelsea’s midfield. With great opening fixtures, Caicedo could offer a solid four-point floor most weeks.
Elliot Anderson (Nottingham Forest) – £5.5m
Anderson offers a blend of attacking and defensive returns. With Elanga gone, Anderson should have more set-piece duties and a clearer run at starts. Forest’s fixtures are friendly early on, so Anderson is a great cheap option.
Ryan Christie (Bournemouth) – £5.0m
Christie’s injury record is a concern, but when fit, he racks up defensive contributions and can chip in with goals and assists. Fixtures after Gameweek 1 are promising, so if he’s healthy, don’t sleep on him.
Enzo Le Fée (Sunderland) – £5.0m
Le Fée is Sunderland’s set-piece maestro. His minutes look assured, and he’s got the attacking threat to go with it. If Sunderland hit the ground running, Le Fée will be involved.
Ready to give your squad the ultimate edge? Download the We Play FPL app today for free transfer planning, instant player comparisons, and the most up-to-date points predictions. Don’t leave your team to chance, use our tools for the best possible start.
May your arrows be green. Happy managing!
Fixtures
GW10 Gibbs-White: hold or switch to Tavernier?
Keep Gibbs-White with cover unless a sale funds a clear upgrade. Tavernier offers a cheaper GW10 starter; compare the saving and the next fixtures.
Keep Gibbs-White for GW10 if you can cover Manchester City at home and have no clear use for the money from a sale. Tavernier offers a cheaper route to a starting midfielder, but make the switch to improve your squad rather than to escape one difficult fixture.
At current purchase prices, Gibbs-White costs £7.9m and Tavernier £6.6m. That £1.3m gap deserves attention if it pays for an upgrade you want elsewhere. Check your own selling price before planning the move: your available budget may differ from the gap between their purchase prices.
Gibbs-White has a case for patience
Gibbs-White has averaged 90.0 min/match, with 0.60 expected goal involvements per 90 minutes. That combination gives owners a reason to keep him when the rest of the XI looks strong enough.
Manchester City at home makes GW10 an awkward week to need a return. You can bench him if you have a stronger alternative, though keeping him does not require benching him. Judge that choice against the player who would take his place.
Forest then face Bournemouth away in GW11, Chelsea at home in GW12 and Hull City away in GW13. Consider those matches before using a transfer on a one-week escape. You may want Gibbs-White back in your XI once the City fixture has passed.
Our hold recommendation applies to existing owners with cover. A manager buying a midfielder for GW10 faces a different decision and can choose Tavernier without paying for a sale first.
Tavernier offers a useful saving
Tavernier has averaged 83.3 min/match and recorded 0.61 expected goal involvements per 90 minutes. His attacking involvement rate is close to Gibbs-White’s, at a lower purchase price. Gibbs-White has the stronger playing-time average; neither player’s historical rate guarantees future points or starts.
Bournemouth visit Ipswich Town in GW10, then host Forest in GW11. For a manager who needs a midfielder to start now, we lean Tavernier. He offers the immediate fixture and leaves more money for the rest of the squad.
The later schedule needs attention too: Fulham away in GW12, Brighton at home in GW13, Hull City at home in GW14 and Arsenal away in GW15. Pick the matches in which you intend to start him before committing to the transfer.
You can map both transfer plans in We Play FPL, using future squad drafts to compare your planned line-ups across several Gameweeks. Include the second purchase that the saving would fund, so you judge the effect on your whole XI.
Spend the saving with a purpose
Sell Gibbs-White for Tavernier if you need the GW10 starter or can name a worthwhile improvement that the released money funds. A vague intention to spend the money later gives you less reason to move now.
Keep Gibbs-White if you can field a strong XI, have cover for the City match and would leave the saving unused. You retain his playing-time record and avoid spending a transfer on a problem your bench can cover.
Before confirming either plan, refresh prices and team news. For an existing owner, we lean towards holding until the sale solves a specific squad problem. For a new GW10 purchase between these two, Tavernier gets our vote on price and the immediate fixture.
Differentials
GW9 budget midfield: Tonali, Enciso or Rudoni?
Tonali offers playing time and defensive contributions, Enciso more attacking involvement, and Rudoni a saving. Match the choice to your planned starts.
Pick your cheapest playable midfielder around the job he needs to do. At £5.3m, Sandro Tonali offers a strong playing-time record and more defensive contributions than Julio Enciso or Jack Rudoni. Enciso gives you more attacking involvement for another £0.2m. Rudoni costs £4.9m, with a shorter average appearance to weigh against the saving.
We would consider Tonali for a slot that needs dependable playing time, Enciso when attacking returns take priority, and Rudoni when the extra cash improves another starter. Each choice involves a compromise. Decide your planned starts before spending a transfer on a small price difference.
Tonali: playing time with a defensive contribution caveat
Tonali has averaged 87.1 minutes per match for Spurs. His 10.07 defensive contributions per 90 minutes, or DefCon/90, exceed Enciso’s 6.84 and Rudoni’s 7.95. He has the strongest case of the three if you want playing time and a route to extra points through defensive work.
Keep your expectations measured. Across his last six league matches, Tonali recorded 12, 11, 11, nine, 15 and 12 defensive contributions. Those near misses show why you should allow for matches without a defensive contribution return. A season average cannot tell you which side of the scoring threshold he will finish on in a particular fixture.
He also has the lowest attacking involvement rate in this comparison: 0.21 expected goal involvements per 90 minutes, or xGI/90. You accept less attacking threat in exchange for his playing-time record and defensive contribution rate.
Spurs host Crystal Palace in GW9, visit Leeds in GW10 and host Ipswich Town in GW11. Tonali fits a plan that needs cover across those weeks, provided the final team news supports his selection. His average playing time describes his record so far; it guarantees no future start.
Enciso: pay £0.2m for more attacking involvement
Enciso costs £5.5m and has averaged 80.6 minutes per match for Ipswich Town. At 0.46 xGI/90, he has offered more than twice Tonali’s attacking involvement rate. You pay £0.2m extra for that route to returns while accepting a lower defensive contribution rate and less playing time per appearance.
His immediate fixtures are Hull City away in GW9 and Bournemouth at home in GW10, followed by Spurs away in GW11. Check whether you need him for that third fixture before treating him as a purchase for the whole run.
We would lean towards Enciso over Tonali if the £0.2m leaves your other plans intact and you want attacking potential from this midfield slot. Expected goal involvements measure season-to-date performance, so avoid reading 0.46 as a forecast for the next match.
Rudoni: the saving comes with a playing-time trade-off
Rudoni costs £0.4m less than Tonali and £0.6m less than Enciso. He has averaged 69.4 minutes per match for Coventry City, alongside 0.52 xGI/90 and 7.95 DefCon/90.
His attacking involvement rate leads this group, but he has played fewer minutes per appearance. Compare the time you expect him to spend on the pitch as well as his per-90 threat. Do not add a permanent penalty role to his buying case while that role remains uncertain.
Coventry host Sunderland in GW9, visit Everton in GW10 and host Crystal Palace in GW11. Rudoni makes sense when you can use those home fixtures and spend the saving on another starter. A cheap substitute you seldom select may be enough; a midfielder you need for several consecutive starts deserves a closer look at playing time.
Choose the slot before making the transfer
All three have the official FPL midfielder classification and current available status. Availability alone confirms no place in the starting XI. Recheck the team news before the GW9 deadline.
Map out the starts you need and compare the midfield options in We Play FPL, where you can review player statistics and upcoming fixtures side by side. Use that comparison to test whether the saving improves your intended XI.
Our preference depends on the squad: Tonali for his playing-time record and defensive work, Enciso for more attacking involvement at a modest extra cost, or Rudoni to release money for a specific upgrade elsewhere. Keep your current enabler if a sideways move leaves the rest of your team no better off.
Chip Strategy
GW9 Liverpool defence: Jacquet, Araujo or Van Dijk?
Jacquet offers Liverpool defensive value at £5.1m; Van Dijk has the stronger playing-time record. Compare the price tiers and plan your starts from GW10.
Jeremy Jacquet is our first Liverpool defender to consider if you want to keep the cost down. At £5.1m, he costs £0.3m less than Ronald Araujo and £1.3m less than Virgil van Dijk. His playing-time record and defensive contribution rate make that saving worth taking seriously.
For a new purchase, we would reassess after Arsenal at home in GW9. You can then decide whether Liverpool’s GW10–14 fixtures suit the weeks you need a defender. Van Dijk offers the stronger playing-time record if you have room for £6.4m; Araujo needs a clearer reason for the extra spend over Jacquet.
Jacquet offers the cheaper route
Jacquet has averaged 85.3 minutes per match, with 9.37 defensive contributions per 90. Araujo has averaged 61.6 minutes per match and 7.85 defensive contributions per 90. Neither average promises a future start, but Jacquet has given owners more playing time so far.
The attacking numbers offer little reason to pay up for Araujo. Jacquet has 0.07 expected goal involvements per 90 (xGI/90), compared with Araujo’s 0.02. Both rates are low, so we would buy either for the defensive role and budget fit rather than an expectation of regular attacking returns.
Araujo has the lower expected goals conceded rate: 0.97 xGC/90 against Jacquet’s 1.16. That deserves a place in the comparison, but the players have spent different amounts of time on the pitch. We would not treat it as proof that choosing Araujo gives you a better chance of a clean sheet in the next match.
Our lean is Jacquet when choosing between the two at current prices. Fresh selection news could change that call. Paying another £0.3m makes more sense if you can identify a role or playing-time advantage that the current record does not show.
Van Dijk costs £1.3m more for a stronger minutes record
Van Dijk has averaged 90.0 minutes per match. That is the strongest record of the three, alongside 9.75 defensive contributions per 90. His 1.20 xGC/90 and 0.05 xGI/90 do not establish a large expected-performance advantage over Jacquet.
At £6.4m, we would choose Van Dijk when you can afford the premium and place a high value on his playing-time record. You still need to check availability and selection news; a historical average cannot guarantee his next start.
For a tighter budget, Jacquet leaves £1.3m available elsewhere. Compare what you gain from that saving with the extra playing-time confidence you want from Van Dijk before committing to either player.
Plan the starts from GW10
Liverpool’s schedule after Arsenal includes three away matches in five:
- GW10: Crystal Palace away.
- GW11: Man Utd at home.
- GW12: Everton away.
- GW13: Sunderland at home.
- GW14: Chelsea away.
You need a plan for that whole stretch. A lower price helps, but you may still want another defender available for selected away fixtures. You can compare Liverpool’s defensive options in We Play FPL using player statistics and upcoming fixtures, then map out the starts in the planner.
We would shortlist Jacquet for value and Van Dijk for the stronger playing-time record, then revisit the choice after GW9 with fresh team news. Araujo’s lower xGC/90 merits attention, but his shorter average appearances and higher price leave us preferring Jacquet for the cheaper slot. These season-to-date rates describe past performance; they do not predict clean sheets or attacking returns.
