Ahead of the new season in Fantasy Premier League, The Scout looks at players who could have a major impact on their team and the role they could play.
William Osula’s late-season displays for Newcastle United in 2025/26 look very encouraging for his prospects of securing a regular role in 2026/27.
Osula began as a back-up option for the Magpies last season, with head coach Eddie Howe recruiting forwards Nick Woltemade and Yoane Wissa following the departure of star striker Alexander Isak to Liverpool.
Osula had started only one of his side’s opening 31 matches, earning a further 16 appearances as a substitute, and scoring only two goals.
But Howe’s decision to move Woltemade into a deeper role allowed Osula to start each of Newcastle’s final seven matches up front.
The Dane seized his opportunity, scoring five goals in just seven matches. Osula finished with a tally of seven for the season in just eight starts – one goal behind the eight of Woltemade, who started 24 matches by contrast.
Osula’s 2025/26 season
GW1-31
GW32-38
Starts
1
7
Substitute appearances
16
0
Goals
0
5
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Great mid-season schedule
Newcastle’s excellent mid-season schedule shows why managers should look beyond Gameweek 1 when building their opening squads.
According to the Fixture Difficulty Ratings (FDR), their opening match against Liverpool is the only one of their first 10 which scores more than three.
FDR key (1=easy; 5=hard)
Howe’s side face only THREE of last season’s top 10 clubs across Gameweeks 1-10 and all of those encounters are at home – as well as the Liverpool clash, they host AFC Bournemouth and Aston Villa in Gameweeks 3 and 7 respectively.
As you can also see from the table below, Newcastle have back-to-back matches against promoted clubs in this period, hosting Hull City then visiting Coventry City over Gameweeks 5-6.
Newcastle’s opening 10 matches
GW
Opp.
FDR*
1
LIV (H)
4
2
TOT (A)
3
3
BOU (H)
3
4
LEE (A)
3
5
HUL (H)
2
6
COV (A)
3
7
AVL (H)
3
8
CRY (A)
3
9
EVE (H)
3
10
FUL (A)
3
*1 =easiest possible fixture, 5 =hardest possible fixture
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Newcastle forwards compared
A delve into the forwards’ underlying data from 2025/26 lends more weight to the idea that Osula can thrive as Newcastle’s main striker this season.
When it comes to frequency, he leads the way in three of the four categories below: minutes per shot, shot in the box and big chances, which is a situation where the player is expected to score.
Notably, Osula and Wissa were near-identical for both minutes per shot in the box (50.1 v 52.2) and minutes per big chance (90.2 v 89.4).
But whereas Wissa scored just one goal from his 13 shots (a conversion rate of 7.7 per cent), Osula proved far more reliable by scoring with seven of his 23 shots, or 30.4 per cent.
Meanwhile, Osula’s average of 128.9 minutes per goal is almost twice as fast as the 241.4 of Woltemade, further highlighting why the Dane can have a bigger impact in 2026/27.
Ultimately, a total of 76 points last season should ensure Osula remains kindly-priced for 2026/27.
A cost of around £6.0m or £6.5m seems likely and combined with that kind schedule, Osula could be great value for the first quarter of the season.
Newcastle forwards compared, 2025/26
Osula
Woltemade
Wissa
Starts
8
24
4
Goals
7
8
1
Mins/shot
39.2
60.3
48.2
Mins/shot in box
50.1
64.4
52.2
Mins/big chance
90.2
160.9
89.4
Mins/goal
128.9
241.4
626.0
Goal conv.
30.4%
25.0%
7.7%
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