With Chelsea in second place Fixture sticker over the next five Gameweeks we thought we’d get a fan’s take on the Blues and their potential in the Fantasy Premier League (FPL).
Step forward Captain Sensible author Tom, a regular at Stamford Bridge.
Before the start of the season, FPL managers had long earmarked Gameweek 9 as the time to invest in Chelsea players.
However, with Nottingham Forest’s poor form under Ange Postecoglou, it is fair to classify the Gameweek 8 trip to the City Ground as an attractive event.
Between now and Gameweek 16, when the Blues host Everton at Stamford Bridge, Enzo Maresca’s men will play just one of last season’s top four teams, playing all three promoted clubs, as well as 20th-placed Wolverhampton Wanderers.
But which combination of ‘trump cards’ should you choose?
Here we look at Chelsea in more detail.
WHO ARE THE MOST OWNED CHELSEA PLAYERS IN FPL?
| Player | Position | Property % (top 10k) | Property % (general) |
|---|---|---|---|
| João Pedro | Come on | 62.5 | 61.6 |
| Etc | MIDDLE | 20.0 | 14.9 |
| Caicedo | MIDDLE | 19.8 | 13.9 |
| Worm | DEF | 4.6 | 21.9 |
| Sanchez | GK | 2.8 | 14.8 |
| Palmer | MIDDLE | 1.6 | 11.6 |
| Chalobah | DEF | 1.0 | 7.4 |
| Marc Guiu | Come on | 0.1 | 7.7 |
João Pedro (£7.7m) was Chelsea’s most popular player in the FPL top 10k heading into the Gameweek 7 deadline, per Live FPL.
Enzo Fernandez (£6.7m) ranks second in terms of ownership within this group (20.0%), followed by Moses Caicedo (£5.8m) at 19.8%, Marc Cucurella (£6.1 million) at 4.6% and Robert Sanchez (£4.9 million) and 2.8%.
Trevor Chalobah (£5.1 million) and Marc Guiu (£4.3m) are owned at least by the top 10K, but are part of around 7.0% of total teams.
LATEST CHELSEA INJURY NEWS
First, the good news.
Chalobah returns from suspension in Gameweek 8 after serving his one-match suspension against Liverpool Wesley Fofana (£4.4m) has completed the concussion protocol and returned to training this week.
Moreover, this has been widely reported Benoit Badiashile (£4.4 million) and Josh Acheampong (£4.0 million) were withdrawn against Liverpool as a precaution. The latter has not even withdrawn from England U21 duties.
If we can believe Maresca’s first diagnosis, then yes Indeed AdarabiYO (£4.4 million) and Andrej Santos (£4.5m) could return in time for Gameweek 8. Despite withdrawing from the England squad, Reece James’ (£5.4 million) injury not considered a concern.
The most important thing is that reports Wednesday to suggest Cole Palmer (£10.3m) will be out of action until at least Gameweek 10, although it appears the club have decided not to go down the surgery route.
Liam Delap (£6.2 million) and Dario Essugo (£4.4m) will not return until at least the next international break Levi Colwill (£4.8m) continues to recover from his long-term cruciate ligament injury.
DEFENSIVE ASSETS
A combination of injuries, suspensions and rotation has resulted in nine different defenders making at least one start for the Blues in the first seven games.
At the moment it is very difficult to recommend a Chelsea centre-back in the FPL.
Badiashile and Acheampong performed incredibly well against Liverpool, even though all other options were unavailable. The former in particular has impressed since returning from injury and is the oldest, naturally left-footed option in the squad.
From a fantasy perspective, Chalobah has the most upside, provided he regains his spot. The Englishman has achieved defensive contribution points (DefCon) in three of his six starts, the most of any Chelsea defender. He is also the biggest attacking threat, having already scored twice and picked up an assist.
That said, no Chelsea fan would be shocked if two of Badiashile, Fofana and Tosin start against Nottingham Forest in Gameweek 8.
“If you can play with the same two, or change one after four or five games, that’s much better. The more you play together, the better the relationship becomes.” – Enzo Maresca
However, don’t be surprised if a permanent collaboration emerges in the coming Game Weeks. As can be seen from the quote above, Maresca has spoken about the importance of consistency in the centre-back position. However, at the time of writing this, it is probably a matter of monitoring and not investing now.
Among the full-backs, Malo likes it (£4.9m) and James is too unreliable to factor in, having played three and four games respectively so far. Of Romeo Lavia (£4.9m) was fit again, we could even see Caicedo emerge at right-back.
Cucurella is the most successful defender at the club. He started six of the seven games and provided two clean sheets and two assists. However, he has not yet reached the DefCon points threshold and has been surpassed by 23 defensemen in Fantasy. In reality, the winner of Euro 2024 is probably not worth the premium spend.
With minutes problems in the backline, all roads point to Sánchez if you want a defensive asset from Chelsea. The Spaniard dropped in price after his red card at Old Trafford and now costs just £4.9m at FPL, which is £0.8m cheaper than the more popular David Raya (£5.7 million).
Yes, Maresca promised Filip Jörgensen (£4.4m) some game time in the Premier League, but the Dane did little to impress against Lincoln City in the League Cup. Most managers will have done that Martin Dubravka (£4.0m) on the bench, ready to step in anyway for a single break from Sánchez.
OFFENSIVE ASSETS
Already bought by over 140,000 FPL managers this week, Enzo Fernandez ranks top in expected goal involvement (xGI), big chances and goal attempts among Chelsea forwards. The Argentinian has started every match for the Blues in all competitions and has risen to a number 10 role in recent weeks. He also took a penalty in Palmer’s absence in Gameweek 3.
Caicedo is also being heavily bought ahead of Gameweek 8 following his 10-point win against the champions. No player has collected more than their 96 DefCons in 2025/2026. A word of caution: Caicedo’s three goals have come from a total of just 0.5 xG. While there’s no doubt that the Ecuadorian has exceptional potential for DefCon points, don’t be surprised if he doesn’t score again this season!
In contrast, Joao Pedro is being heavily sold after being blank for the third consecutive match despite being the second highest scoring striker in the match. Admittedly, the Brazilian looks calm and registers only two shots in four game weeks.
However, both he and Maresca admit that Pedro has suffered an injury. As he is not in the Brazil squad, a week off comes at a good time ahead of the Chelsea match. Another boost to Pedro’s Fantasy prospects is his Champions League suspension, which makes him a certain starter in Gameweek 9 against Sunderland.
As for the wingers, Pedro Neto (£7.0m), however, is the only one to start every Premier League match Estevao (£6.5m) has almost doubled the Portuguese’s xGI tally in two fewer starts. While the latter’s underlying data is very impressive, don’t be surprised if Maresca the 18-year-old continues to breathe life into a Chelsea player with minutes scored. In reality, none of the big men can match Fernandez as a midfielder of choice.
CONCLUSION
All things considered, in my opinion, the best Chelsea players in the FPL right now are (in order): Enzo Fernandez, Joao Pedro, Robert Sanchez and Marc Cucurella.
I would like to buy Fernandez for my own team Idiman Ndima (£6.5m), provided he returns unscathed from international duty. He faces a tight turnaround for next week’s trip to Nottingham Forest after Argentina’s friendly against Puerto Rico was rescheduled.
If I had a Wildcard in Gameweek 8, I’d opt for Fernandez and Pedro, while keeping the third spot open in case Palmer gets fit again sooner than expected, or if a reliable, cheap centre-back emerges, as I suspect one or two will emerge.
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