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            <p>Which five popular players should you avoid putting in your FPL Gameweek 1 team?</p>
<p>Expert FPL manager BigManBakar shares his list of the highly owned picks he thinks should be avoided, exclusively for Hub members.</p>
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<h2><strong>Joao Pedro (£7.5m)</strong></h2>
<p>Pedro’s current ownership of 53% is surprisingly high - and arguably difficult to justify at this stage.</p>
<p>Despite the hype, there are several red flags that make him far from a 'no-brainer' FPL pick.</p>
<p>For starters, there’s no guarantee of regular minutes and even when he does start, he runs the risk of being subbed early.</p>
<p>He’s also expected to lose penalties, which significantly dents his upside, especially considering how crucial they were to his value last season.</p>
<p>Add to that a £2.0m price increase and the fact he’s no longer the focal point of an attack and it becomes clear that his appeal has taken a step back.</p>
<p>While he might emerge as a great option later in the season, right now he’s a wait-and-see - and certainly doesn’t warrant ownership levels this high.</p>
<div id="attachment_73478" style="width: 850px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img aria-describedby="caption-attachment-73478" class="size-full wp-image-73478" src="https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/Pedro.jpeg" alt="Joao Pedro" width="840" height="690" /></p>
<p id="caption-attachment-73478" class="wp-caption-text">Joao Pedro's stats</p>
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5 popular FPL players to avoid in your Gameweek 1 team

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