How to read the cheat sheet
The graphic above shows the Onside model's GW1 26/27 starting XI in a 4-3-3 formation. Captain Haaland wears the acid-green C armband (Tier-1 default at 56% projected top-1k ownership). Vice-captain Bruno Fernandes wears the cyan V (£8.5m premium-mid anchor at 12% ownership, ready to inherit if Haaland blanks).
Each player tile shows: photo (via Wikidata proxy), name, role tag colour, projected price. Acid-green ring = PREMIUM. Neon cyan = VALUE. Neon magenta = DIFFERENTIAL. The £100m budget tally sits at the top right.
Below the pitch, three verdict cards summarise the model's headline calls: captain pick, differential bet, trap to avoid. This is the single most-shareable visual in the cluster — designed to land in Reddit + X + WhatsApp.
The XI explained
GK · Robin Roefs (£4.5m, Sunderland) — 28% projected ownership at the price point. Sunderland's defensive xGA is poor but Roefs' shot-stopping volume + save-points scale produces top-3 budget GK output. Budget enabler unlock for the premium squad.
DEF (4) · Gabriel (£6.0m, Arsenal · PREMIUM) leads the defence at 205 25/26 points. Robinson (£5.0m, Fulham) and Tarkowski (£4.5m, Everton) anchor the budget bracket — both 90% minutes-confidence. Murillo (£5.0m, Forest · DIFFERENTIAL) is the model's sub-10% ownership pick at the price point.
MID (4) · Saka (£9.5m · PREMIUM), Bruno (£8.5m · PREMIUM + VC), Semenyo (£7.0m · VALUE), Rogers (£6.5m · DIFFERENTIAL). Each row covers a price tier. Saka + Bruno deliver template captaincy ceiling; Semenyo + Rogers are the cheap-mid breakouts.
FWD (2) · Haaland (£14.0m · CAPTAIN) + Watkins (£9.0m · PREMIUM). The £14m + £9m split locks in 23% of the £100m budget on the two highest-projected forwards. No room for a 3rd starting striker.
The 3 model verdicts
Captain pick · Haaland 56%. The unanimous Tier-1 default. 239 FPL points in 25/26, 27 goals, Golden Boot. Norway did not play at the World Cup = no major-tournament fatigue. Captain unless he draws a top-six away opener AND a confirmed CL midweek before GW1.
Differential bet · Isak 22%. £10m forward at Newcastle. NO European football in 26/27 = lightest top-half fixture load + sharpest minutes confidence (96%). The persistent Saudi/Madrid transfer rumour is the only risk — confirm Isak is still at Newcastle by Tue 16 June.
Trap to avoid · Palmer 31%. 102-point 25/26 collapse under Maresca. Alonso-bounce trade is 50/50 — wait for confirmation. Owning Palmer when 48% of your mini-league does AND he underperforms = −15 percentile rank drop by GW8.
When to refresh + cross-reference
This cheat sheet is the pre-fixtures-release baseline. The 19 June 10:00 BST fixtures drop will refresh the article within 30 minutes — the XI may rotate by 1-2 picks based on opening run difficulty.
Cross-reference points: see /tips/fpl-template-team-2026-27 for the full template + 4 bench fillers; see /tips/fpl-captain-shortlist-2026-27 for Tier 1/2/3 captain ladder; see /tips/fpl-transfer-planner-gw1-to-gw6-2026-27 for the 6-GW transfer sequence after GW1.
Print the graphic, screenshot it, share it — the model's GW1 26/27 starting position fits on one page. Everything else builds from this XI.