<p>FPL Gameweek 1 doesn&#8217;t conclude until tonight (Monday, August 18) but there&#8217;s been plenty of highs and lows already.</p>
<p>In our concise weekly review, we&#8217;ll cover some of those key highlights &#8211; this week split into four categories:</p>
<p>Haulers documents the biggest stars of the week, howlers the disappointments and disasters, heartbreakers the under-performers, late clean sheet wipeouts and more, while things you might have missed are included in the hidden highlights.</p>
<h3>🤖 Hub AI quick summary 🤖</h3>
<p>Simplicity and speed are among Fantasy Football Hub&#8217;s core values, so many of our articles this season will come with a quick &#8216;Hub AI&#8217; summary for those who want the answer &#8211; fast.</p>
<p>Read the full article for the detailed picture &#8211; and listen to an audio summary 👇</p>
<ul>
<li>🔥Sunderland&#8217;s Dan Ballard the highest-scorer of Gameweek 1 so far on 17 points</li>
<li>👎Aston Villa&#8217;s attack disappointed and defender Ezri Konsa saw red</li>
<li>👀Defensive contributions for Virgil van Dijk and Rayan Ait-Nouri &#8211; Bruno Fernandes fell one short</li>
</ul>

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<h2>FPL Gameweek 1 haulers</h2>
<p><strong>Tijjani Reijnders </strong>(10 points), <strong>Mohammed Kudus </strong>(10) and <strong>Hugo Ekitike </strong>(11) were among the popular fantasy picks to register double-digit hauls in Gameweek 1 &#8211; but here&#8217;s the top three:</p>
<h3>🥇Dan Ballard &#8211; 17 points</h3>
<p>It was a perfect start for promoted Sunderland in front of their home crowd, beating West Ham 3-0.</p>
<p>Centre-back Ballard topped the FPL chart with a goal, clean sheet and three bonus points, as well as hitting the new <a href="https://www.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/fpl-2025-26-changes-defensive-contributions">defensive contributions</a> threshold.</p>
<p>His headed goal brought back memories of a similar effort in the 122nd minute of the Black Cats&#8217; play-off semi final, which sealed victory over Coventry.</p>
<div id="attachment_74143" style="width: 850px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-74143" class="size-full wp-image-74143" src="https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/Ballard-GW1.jpeg" alt="Dan Ballard's stats" width="840" height="690" srcset="https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/Ballard-GW1.jpeg 840w, https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/Ballard-GW1-300x246.jpeg 300w, https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/Ballard-GW1-768x631.jpeg 768w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 840px) 100vw, 840px" /><p id="caption-attachment-74143" class="wp-caption-text">Dan Ballard&#8217;s <a href="https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/opta/" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c="1" title="FPL Stats by OPTA - Player and Team Stats">stats</a></p></div>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<h3>🥈Antoine Semenyo &#8211; 15 points</h3>
<p>Semenyo scored twice on Friday against Liverpool, pulling Bournemouth back to 2-2 before the home team netted two late goals.</p>
<p>He was one of four players to brace in the opening weekend and one of the first players to <a href="https://www.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/fantasy-premier-league-price-rises">rise in price</a> this season.</p>
<div id="attachment_74144" style="width: 850px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-74144" class="size-full wp-image-74144" src="https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/Semenyo-GW1.jpeg" alt="Antoine Semenyo's stats" width="840" height="690" srcset="https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/Semenyo-GW1.jpeg 840w, https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/Semenyo-GW1-300x246.jpeg 300w, https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/Semenyo-GW1-768x631.jpeg 768w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 840px) 100vw, 840px" /><p id="caption-attachment-74144" class="wp-caption-text">Antoine Semenyo&#8217;s <a href="https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/opta/" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c="1" title="FPL Stats by OPTA - Player and Team Stats">stats</a></p></div>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<h3>🥉Riccardo Calafiori, Erling Haaland, Richarlison, Chris Wood &#8211; 13 points</h3>
<p>Haaland, Richarlison and Wood joined Semenyo in scoring two goals in Gameweek 1.</p>
<p>Manchester City forward Haaland topped the table for most expected goals (xG) on 2.01, with more big chances than any other players (three).</p>
<p>And in a carbon copy of last season&#8217;s clinical finishing, Wood had just two efforts on goal &#8211; both on target, both converted.</p>
<p><strong>Richarlison </strong>is likely to share gametime with <strong>Dominic Solanke</strong>, who got 19 minutes off the bench as he continues to work his way back from injury.</p>
<p>But he did his chances of regular minutes no harm with a brace against Burnley, including a well-worked team goal finished off with an overhead kick.</p>
<p>Calafiori scored the only goal of the Manchester United v Arsenal match &#8211; a fixture which the Red Devils were arguably unfortunate to lose.</p>
<p>The Italian &#8211; starting ahead of <strong>Myles Lewis-Skelley</strong> headed home from a corner after an error from goalkeeper <strong>Altay Bayindir</strong>.</p>
<p>With Calafiori, <strong>Ben White </strong>and <strong>Jurrien Timber </strong>all fit, Mikel Arteta has plenty of options at full-back, making <strong>Gabriel </strong>and <strong>William Saliba </strong>worthwhile investments at a higher price.</p>
<div id="attachment_74145" style="width: 850px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-74145" class="size-full wp-image-74145" src="https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/Haaland-v-Wood.jpeg" alt="Erling Haaland v Chris Wood" width="840" height="690" srcset="https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/Haaland-v-Wood.jpeg 840w, https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/Haaland-v-Wood-300x246.jpeg 300w, https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/Haaland-v-Wood-768x631.jpeg 768w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 840px) 100vw, 840px" /><p id="caption-attachment-74145" class="wp-caption-text">Erling Haaland v Chris Wood</p></div>
<h2>FPL Gameweek 1 howlers</h2>
<h3>Ezri Konsa</h3>
<p>The £4.5m Aston Villa centre-back was selected by around 20% of FPL managers and would have been on for a decent return given the Villans&#8217; 0-0 draw with Newcastle.</p>
<p>But he was red carded in the 65th minute for bringing down <strong>Anthony Gordon </strong>as he burst through on goal, ending on just three points.</p>
<p>He will now be suspended for Gameweek 2.</p>
<div id="attachment_74146" style="width: 850px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-74146" class="size-full wp-image-74146" src="https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/Konsa-GW1.jpeg" alt="Ezri Konsa and Aston Villa's Gameweek 1" width="840" height="690" srcset="https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/Konsa-GW1.jpeg 840w, https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/Konsa-GW1-300x246.jpeg 300w, https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/Konsa-GW1-768x631.jpeg 768w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 840px) 100vw, 840px" /><p id="caption-attachment-74146" class="wp-caption-text">Ezri Konsa and Aston Villa&#8217;s Gameweek 1</p></div>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<h3>Aston Villa attack</h3>
<p>There were high hopes for <a href="https://www.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/fpl-pre-season-results-guide"><strong>Ollie Watkins</strong></a> after a strong pre-season &#8211; and even more so when <strong>Morgan Rogers </strong>was fit to start.</p>
<p>No team registered a lower xG than the Villans however, with three shots on goal amounting to 0.2 xG. Even Wolves managed more attempts against a strong City 11.</p>
<p>The fixtures are excellent for Unai Emery&#8217;s side, topping the Hub&#8217;s <a href="https://www.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/fixture-ticker">fixture ticker</a> for the next six gameweeks, but more will be expected from Watkins and co.</p>
<div id="attachment_74147" style="width: 850px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-74147" class="size-full wp-image-74147" src="https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/Watkins-GW1.jpeg" alt="Ollie Watkins' stats" width="840" height="690" srcset="https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/Watkins-GW1.jpeg 840w, https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/Watkins-GW1-300x246.jpeg 300w, https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/Watkins-GW1-768x631.jpeg 768w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 840px) 100vw, 840px" /><p id="caption-attachment-74147" class="wp-caption-text">Ollie Watkins&#8217; <a href="https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/opta/" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c="1" title="FPL Stats by OPTA - Player and Team Stats">stats</a></p></div>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<h3>Matt Doherty</h3>
<p>Wolves defender Doherty was the first player of the season to score minus points, with a yellow card and four goals conceding seeing him end on minus-one.</p>
<p>Vitor Pereira&#8217;s men had the worst expected goals conceded (xGC) of Gameweek 1 (2.4), narrowly worse than Burnley&#8217;s 2.3.</p>
<p>There will be few tougher games than City, so it&#8217;s too early for them to panic &#8211; but <strong>Matheus Cunha </strong>and <strong>Rayan Ait-Nouri </strong>will undoubtedly be hard to replace.</p>
<div id="attachment_74148" style="width: 850px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-74148" class="size-full wp-image-74148" src="https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/Doherty-GW1.jpeg" alt="Matt Doherty's stats" width="840" height="690" srcset="https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/Doherty-GW1.jpeg 840w, https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/Doherty-GW1-300x246.jpeg 300w, https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/Doherty-GW1-768x631.jpeg 768w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 840px) 100vw, 840px" /><p id="caption-attachment-74148" class="wp-caption-text">Matt Doherty&#8217;s <a href="https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/opta/" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c="1" title="FPL Stats by OPTA - Player and Team Stats">stats</a></p></div>
<h2>FPL Gameweek 1 heart-breakers</h2>
<h3>Eberechi Eze</h3>
<p>Eze could soon be on his way to Spurs but started for Crystal Palace in their 0-0 draw with Chelsea at Stamford Bridge.</p>
<p>The midfielder smashed in a free-kick, only for the goal to be ruled out by VAR. <strong>Marc Guehi </strong>was judged to have been too close to the Chelsea wall &#8211; a little-known <a href="https://www.skysports.com/football/news/11706/13413718/eberechi-eze-disallowed-goal-why-crystal-palace-forwards-free-kick-was-ruled-out-vs-chelsea-after-var-check">quirk of the rules</a>.</p>
<p>It was devastating for those who went with Eze from the off &#8211; bringing back memories of his early points dodging last season.</p>
<p>And those who selected the likes of <strong>Matz Sels </strong>over <strong>Robert Sanchez </strong>were dealt a blow when the Chelsea shot-stopper ended with a clean sheet.</p>
<div id="attachment_74149" style="width: 1034px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-74149" class="size-full wp-image-74149" src="https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/Eze-free-kick.jpg" alt="Eberechi Eze's free-kick goal was ruled out by VAR. Picture by Getty Images" width="1024" height="711" srcset="https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/Eze-free-kick.jpg 1024w, https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/Eze-free-kick-300x208.jpg 300w, https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/Eze-free-kick-768x533.jpg 768w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /><p id="caption-attachment-74149" class="wp-caption-text">Eberechi Eze&#8217;s free-kick goal was ruled out by VAR. Picture by Getty Images</p></div>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<h3>Forest and Brighton clean sheet wipeouts</h3>
<p>Forest were flying against Brentford, leading 3-0 at half-time with two goals from Wood and one from debutant winger <strong>Dan Ndoye</strong>.</p>
<p>Their defenders were highly owned after last season&#8217;s heroics &#8211; and they were looking good until a 78th minute <strong>Igor Thiago </strong>penalty wiped out their clean sheet point.</p>
<p>The heartbreak came even later for Brighton backers, with the Seagulls conceding in the 96th minute to hand Fulham a 1-1 draw.</p>
<div id="attachment_74150" style="width: 850px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-74150" class="size-full wp-image-74150" src="https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/Sanchez-v-Sels.jpeg" alt="Robert Sanchez v Matz Sels" width="840" height="690" srcset="https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/Sanchez-v-Sels.jpeg 840w, https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/Sanchez-v-Sels-300x246.jpeg 300w, https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/Sanchez-v-Sels-768x631.jpeg 768w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 840px) 100vw, 840px" /><p id="caption-attachment-74150" class="wp-caption-text">Robert Sanchez v Matz Sels</p></div>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<h3>Marc Guiu left on the bench</h3>
<p>Guiu was the £4.5m forward of choice, having joined Sunderland from Chelsea. He is the fifth most popular forward on 20.2% ownership.</p>
<p>He was not expected to start in Gameweek 1, having not featured for his club in pre-season having joined close to the opening weekend.</p>
<p>But goals from fellow forwards <strong>Eliezer Mayenda </strong>and <strong>Wilson Isidor </strong>will not have helped &#8211; and Guiu could quickly find himself third in the pecking order if the duo continue to score well.</p>
<div id="attachment_73735" style="width: 1034px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-73735" class="size-full wp-image-73735" src="https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/Guiu.jpg" alt="Marc Guiu. Picture by Getty Images" width="1024" height="683" srcset="https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/Guiu.jpg 1024w, https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/Guiu-300x200.jpg 300w, https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/Guiu-768x512.jpg 768w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /><p id="caption-attachment-73735" class="wp-caption-text">Marc Guiu. Picture by Getty Images</p></div>
<h2>FPL Gameweek 1 hidden highlights</h2>
<p>Here&#8217;s a few things you may have missed in Gameweek 1:</p>
<ul>
<li>Fellow £5.5m midfielder <strong>Elliot Anderson </strong>racked up more expected goal involvements (xGI) than Reijnders &#8211; 0.7 v 0.3 &#8211; but Reijnders outscored him by four points</li>
<li>Burnley created nearly one xG against Spurs despite failing to score (0.94) &#8211; only the sixth-worst total</li>
<li>Full-back Ait-Nouri played more like a centre-back for City, helping him scoop unexpected defensive contribution returns. See City watcher <a href="https://x.com/dis_fpl/status/1956947830028804304">Luke Williams&#8217;</a> analysis on Twitter, which also pointed out <strong>Josko Gvardiol </strong>may have played ahead of him in this system if fit</li>
<li>Two of the top four crossers (total) were Spurs players (Kudus and <strong>Pedro Porro</strong>) &#8211; good news for their number nine?</li>
<li>Sunderland created just 0.7 xG despite scoring three &#8211; but a party atmosphere at the Stadium of Light could indicate they may be difficult to beat at home</li>
<li>Gordon was playing up front for Newcastle in <strong>Alexander Isak&#8217;s </strong>absence and took the most shots of the week (seven)</li>
<li><strong>Bruno Fernandes </strong>fell one defensive contribution short (11) of earning extra two points &#8211; subject to any late Opta adjustments</li>
<li><strong>Virgil van Dijk </strong>hit an impressive 21 defensive contributions (first) &#8211; more than double the amount needed</li>
</ul>
<div id="attachment_74151" style="width: 850px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-74151" class="size-full wp-image-74151" src="https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/Ait-Nouri-heatmap-gw1.jpeg" alt="Rayan Ait-Nouri's heatmap" width="840" height="690" srcset="https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/Ait-Nouri-heatmap-gw1.jpeg 840w, https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/Ait-Nouri-heatmap-gw1-300x246.jpeg 300w, https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/Ait-Nouri-heatmap-gw1-768x631.jpeg 768w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 840px) 100vw, 840px" /><p id="caption-attachment-74151" class="wp-caption-text">Rayan Ait-Nouri&#8217;s heatmap</p></div>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
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Haulers, howlers, heartbreakers and hidden highlights of FPL Gameweek 1

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