The Scout shows how you can afford all four stars and still have players from Arsenal and Liverpool

Owning all four of Erling Haaland (£15.5m), Bruno Fernandes (£12.0m), Cole Palmer (£9.6m) and Joao Pedro (£7.6m) will cost a combined £44.7m of your £100.0m budget in Fantasy Premier League this season.

While major sacrifices will need to be made, the favourable £4.0m pricing of all promoted defenders for 2026/27, among other things, can help you afford Haaland, Fernandes, Joao Pedro AND Palmer, as well as Rayan Cherki (£7.7m).

Cherki and Szoboszlai v promoted opponents in Gameweek 3

If you’re getting Palmer and Joao Pedro, the downside here is that Chelsea are at Arsenal in Gameweek 3,  before they then embark on a great run of opponents from Gameweek 4.

To offset the potential of limited or no returns for either player against the Gunners, Rayan Cherki (£7.7m) and Dominik Szoboszlai (£7.0m) are also selected in midfield. Both face promoted opponents in Gameweek 3 and can immediately deliver big hauls.

Manchester City‘s Cherki is the top target for managers ahead of Friday’s 18:30 BST deadline, transferred in by over one million managers for a home match against Coventry City.

The Frenchman’s two goals and two assists have earned him 22 points, second only to the 25 of Fernandes among all players. 

Szoboszlai’s dominance of set-pieces, added to his penalty duties and potential for defensive contribution (DC) points, offer multiple routes to returns against Ipswich Town.

Elsewhere in midfield, Hull City’s Regan Slater (£4.5m) has started both their opening matches and is a great option for your bench.

Wissa the form budget forward

Newcastle United’s Yoane Wissa (£6.1m) is a popular pick to go alongside Haaland and Joao Pedro in a front three – he is second only to Cherki for transfers in this Gameweek, with 511,000+ managers bringing him in.

Wissa has a goal and an assist to his name over the first two Gameweeks and faces favourable back-to-back matches against promoted pair Hull and Coventry City in Gameweeks 5-6.

Great value can be found in defence

By having so many attackers and big-hitters in your line-up, the easiest way to balance the budget is by shopping in the sub-£5.0m bracket at the back.

At a cost of just £4.4m, Ezri Konsa offers a route into an Arsenal defence that collected 19 clean sheets last season. Having moved from Aston Villa, he is now expected to establish himself as a regular starter.

Brentford’s Kristoffer Ajer and Newcastle’s Amar Dedic have both excelled at £4.5m each.

Ajer has profited from an injury to his centre-back rival Sepp Van den Berg (£4.9m) to establish himself at the heart of the Bees’ defence. He is one of only four defenders to earn DC points in each of the first two Gameweeks.

Dedic, meanwhile, has made an immediate impact at right-back since joining Newcastle over the summer. His assist and clean sheet against Tottenham Hotspur last time out earned him 11 points.

Similarly to his Hull team-mate Slater, John Egan, along with Coventry’s Bobby Thomas (both £4.0m), can sit on your bench and be called upon in emergencies. Egan is also among the four defenders to earn DC in each of the first two Gameweeks and has helped Hull to back-to-back clean sheets.

Finally, by owning Brighton & Hove Albion’s Bart Verbruggen (£4.5m) and his deputy Jason Steele (£4.0m), you are only spending a combined £8.5m on your two goalkeepers.