FPL 2025-26: Best picks, differentials & who to avoid this year

Talisman: Simon Adingra (£5.5m)

The Ivory Coast winger impressed in spells at Brighton, when given game time, and Sunderland have spent £20m to bring him to the Stadium of Light.

He’s likely to nail down a starting spot on the left wing for the Black Cats and that consistency should lead to more FPL returns – with 25 starts two seasons ago he scored six times and was close to 100 points.

Differential: Granit Xhaka (£5m)

Pras: Xhaka made 33 Bundesliga appearances for Bayer Leverkusen last season, scoring twice and providing seven assists. He will likely have to play a bit deeper at Sunderland, having previously lined up as one of two central midfielders in a 3-4-2-1 formation at Leverkusen, but it should help boost his defensive contributions.

He averaged 7.6 per 90 of those (with 12 needed to gain two points) in his final season at Arsenal, but this will undoubtedly increase playing for a newly-promoted club. At just £5m, he could be the enabler your team needs to afford the other premium picks.

Player to avoid: Reinildo (£4m)

Pras: Sunderland had the fourth-best defence in the Championship last season but their 17 clean sheets were significantly less than Burnley (30) and Leeds (25), suggesting they might not keep many in the Premier League.

Reinildo is a new signing to play left-back, but three goals and one assist in 140 La Liga and Ligue 1 outings suggests attacking returns are going to be in short supply. Despite the £4m price tag, I will be avoiding him and any other Sunderland defenders.