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            <p><a href="https://twitter.com/fplmatthew">FPL Matthew</a> is back for the 2025/26 season, sharing his initial draft ahead of Gameweek 1 following the game's launch.</p>
<p>With three top 500 finishes and a further six top 10k ranks, Matthew details the reasons for his team selection, captain, and transfer plans, exclusively for Hub members.</p>
<p>Check out what our other FPL experts are doing on our dedicated <a href="https://www.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/fantasy-premier-league-team-reveals?via=matthew">team reveals page</a>.</p>
<p><em><strong>Last updated: 21/07/25</strong></em></p>
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<h2><b>2024/25 review and lessons learned</b></h2>
<p>I was pretty happy with my 13.6k finish last season. A bit more luck here and there might have got me into the magic top 10k!</p>
<p>Some lessons I learned or, more accurately, consolidated were:</p>
<ul>
<li>Look forward at captaincy</li>
<li>Don't do sideways moves - each move needs to be a clear improvement to the squad</li>
<li>Focus on the 'fundamentals' - proven quality, good players in good teams, solid minutes, expected returns, medium-term fixtures and set-pieces</li>
<li>Only consider effective ownership where its a very tight decision</li>
<li>Tend towards maximising players for doubles even if it means the odd hit, especially if you'll want them afterwards</li>
<li>Captaincy - quality, expected minutes, form and fixture</li>
<li>Look for key players for their teams that are unlikely to be rotated</li>
<li>Defenders in teams that get clean sheets, attacking returns a bonus</li>
<li>Don't pick <strong>Ederson (£5.5m)</strong>!</li>
</ul>
<div id="attachment_32876" style="width: 1034px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img aria-describedby="caption-attachment-32876" class="size-full wp-image-32876" src="https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/GettyImages-1229897720.jpg" alt="fpl gw38 tips" width="1024" height="683" /></p>
<p id="caption-attachment-32876" class="wp-caption-text">Ederson - a no from Matthew. Picture by Getty Images</p>
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<h2>Initial thoughts on the new rule changes</h2>
<p><strong>Defensive contribution points:</strong> Like it - may increase the pool of players and nudge us from full-backs to central defenders</p>
<p><strong>Simplified assists rule</strong>: Like it - no real impact on tactics though</p>
<p><strong>Two sets of chips:</strong> On the fence about this one - may push us towards more aggressive play, especially early on</p>
<p><strong>Removal of Assistant Manager chip:</strong> Love it - I was not a fan of this high-variance chip</p>
<p><strong>Extra transfers for AFCON:</strong> Not a fan - a step too far for me but I'm sure I'll find a way to capitalise</p>
<h2><b>FPL Gameweek 1 team reveal: Fixture highlights</b></h2>
<p>My main takeaway when the fixtures were released was that it is a very mixed picture, with no teams having very good or very bad early fixture runs, which makes things interesting.</p>
<p>That said, here are the teams with the best opening fixtures as per the <a href="https://www.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/fixture-ticker">Hub's fixture ticker</a>:</p>
<div id="attachment_73356" style="width: 1034px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img aria-describedby="caption-attachment-73356" class="size-large wp-image-73356" src="https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/Screenshot-2025-07-20-2.47.39-PM-1024x228.png" alt="" width="1024" height="228" /></p>
<p id="caption-attachment-73356" class="wp-caption-text">Best early fixtures</p>
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<h2><b>F</b><b>PL Gameweek 1: First draft</b></h2>
<p>This is my very early first draft following the game's launch.</p>
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FPL Matthew’s Gameweek 1 team reveal: Early draft

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