What "template" means in FPL 26/27
In FPL, the "template" is the cluster of 8-12 players you can expect 60%+ of top-1k managers to own. Owning the template doesn't win mini-leagues — it protects you from losing them. The Onside model's 26/27 template is built around three structural anchors that cannot be faded without significant rank risk: Erling Haaland at premium forward, Bruno Fernandes at premium midfield, and the Arsenal defensive double-up (Gabriel + Saka or Raya).
The post-Salah, post-TAA reshuffle means the 26/27 template is the most different from prior seasons in nearly a decade. Owning the wrong template at GW1 is the single biggest avoidable mistake you can make.
The starting XI: Onside model template GW1 26/27
The Onside model's GW1 26/27 template XI: Robin Roefs (Sunderland, £4.5m goalkeeper, 90%+ template ownership at his price point), Gabriel + Marc Guéhi + Antonee Robinson + James Tarkowski (the defensive quad, all sub-£6m, 60%+ ownership each), Bruno Fernandes + Bukayo Saka + Cole Palmer + Morgan Rogers (the midfield quad, including premium-mid anchor and budget-mid enabler), Erling Haaland captain + Ollie Watkins + Igor Thiago (the forward trio).
The £100m budget lands at ~£100.0m on price-reveal day. Every name in this template carries 50%+ top-1k ownership projection — owning fewer than 9 of the 11 leaves you with significant rank risk in GW1.
Captain template: Haaland 56%, Bruno 12%, Saka 18%
The captaincy template for GW1 26/27 is the most-concentrated in five seasons. Erling Haaland captures 56% of projected top-1k captaincy votes — the highest captain concentration since Salah's peak years. Bruno Fernandes (12%) and Bukayo Saka (18%) split the remaining template captaincy bracket. The combined 86% of top-1k captaincy on these three names means any captain pick outside the top-3 is a clear differential bet.
Riding the template captain in GW1 is rarely the wrong play: even when the captain blanks, you blank with 86% of the field. Differential captaincy is only the right call when the model surfaces a +0.4 xP/90 captaincy edge with sub-8% projected ownership.
Why fading the template matters
The reverse is also true: differentiating intelligently away from the template is where mini-leagues get climbed. The 25/26 season saw managers who differentiated from Salah and Palmer climb 30+ percentile points by GW12 once both names collapsed. The 26/27 template carries the same structural risk: if Cole Palmer doesn't bounce under Alonso, you want to be the manager who faded him in GW1.
Onside's differential framework: own 65-80% of the template + 1-2 sub-10% projected ownership picks that the model rates favourably. That balance protects you in the bad-GW scenarios and gives you upside when the template misfires.
How to use this template after fixtures drop
Friday 19 June at 10:00 BST the Premier League releases the 26/27 fixtures. The template above is the pre-fixtures-release baseline. Once fixtures drop, three names typically shift: the budget enabler defender (Robinson → swap if Fulham draw a hostile opener), the budget mid (Rogers → swap to Semenyo if Villa face two top-six in GW1-5), and the third forward (Thiago → swap if Brentford face heavy openers).
The captain bracket (Haaland → Bruno → Saka) typically doesn't shift much from pre-fixtures-release. Onside refreshes this template within 30 minutes of fixtures release on this article.