Who are the best Chelsea players to buy in FPL?

With Chelsea second in our Fixtures for the next five Matchweeks, we thought we’d get a fan’s view 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 season started, FPL managers had long allocated Gameweek 9 as a time to invest in Chelsea players.

However, given Nottingham Forest’s poor form under Ange Postecoglou, it is fair to classify Gameweek 8’s trip to the City Ground as an interesting fixture.

Between now and matchday 16, when the Blues host Everton at Stamford Bridge, Enzo Maresca’s side will face just one of last season’s top four sides and will face all three newly promoted clubs, as well as Wolverhampton Wanderers, who are 20th in the table.

But which combination of ‘assets’ should be chosen?

Here, we look at Chelsea in more detail.

WHO IS CHELSEA’S MOST OWNED PLAYER IN FPL?

Player	Position	% ownership (top 10k)	% ownership (overall)
Joao Pedro	FWD	62.5	61.6
Enzo	MID	20.0	14.9
Caicedo	MID	19.8	13.9
Worm	DEF	4.6	21.9
Sanchez	NO	2.8	14.8
Palm	MID	1.6	11.6
Chalobah	DEF	1.0	7.4
Marc Guiu	FWD	0.1	7.7

Joao Pedro (£7.7m) is the most popular Chelsea player among FPL’s top 10k players ahead of the Gameweek 7 deadline, according to Live FPL.

Enzo Fernandez (£6.7m) ranks second in ownership in this group (20.0%), followed by Moises Caicedo (£5.8m) at 19.8%, Marc Cucurella (£6.1m) at 4.6% and Robert Sanchez (£4.9m) and 2.8%.

Trevor Chalobah (£5.1 million) and Marc Guiu (£4.3m) is minimally owned in the top 10K, but is present in around 7.0% of the team.

LATEST CHELSEA INJURY NEWS

FPL Notes: Palmer injury latest + why Sanchez is unmarked

First, the good news.

Chalobah returned from suspension in Gameweek 8 after serving a one-match ban against Liverpool, meanwhile Wesley Fofana (£4.4m) has completed concussion protocol and returned to training this week.

Besides, this has been widely reported Benoit Badiashile (£4.4 million) and Josh Acheampong (£4.0m) withdrawn against Liverpool as a precaution. The latter has not even withdrawn from England U21 duty.

If Maresca’s initial diagnosis is to be believed, then… Of course AdarabiYO (£4.4 million) and Andrey Santos (£4.5 million) could return in time for Gameweek 8. Despite withdrawing from the England squad, Reece James’ (£5.4m) injuries are not considered a concern.

Most significantly, according to reports on Wednesday Cole Palmer (£10.3m) will be out until at least Gameweek 10, although it appears the club have decided against surgery.

Liam Delap (£6.2 million) and Dario Essugo (£4.4m) won’t return until at least the next international break Levi Colwill (£4.8m) continues to recover from his long-term ACL injury.

DEFENSIVE ASSET

A combination of injuries, suspensions and rotations has seen nine different defenders start at least once for the Blues in the first seven games.

At the moment, it is very difficult to recommend a Chelsea centre-back in FPL.

Badiashile and Acheampong performed very well against Liverpool, despite all other options being unavailable. The former in particular has impressed since returning from injury and is the most senior, naturally left-footed option in the squad.

From a Fantasy standpoint, Chalobah has the most upside, provided he gets his spot back. The Englishman has recorded defensive contribution points (DefCon) in three of his six starts, the most of any Chelsea defender. He is also the biggest attacking threat, having scored two goals and bagged one assist.

However, no Chelsea fan will be surprised if two of Badiashile’s Fofana and Tosin start against Nottingham Forest in Gameweek 8.

“If you can play with the same two players, or change them after four or five games, that’s much better. The more you play together, the better your relationship will be.” –Enzo Maresca

However, don’t be surprised if an established partnership emerges in future Match Weeks. As in the quote above, Maresca spoke about the importance of consistency in the central defender position. However, at the time of writing, this may be something to monitor rather than invest now.

Among the wing defenders, Malo likes it (£4.9m) and James have been too unreliable in terms of playing time, having started three and four games respectively so far. With Romeo Lavia (£4.9m) fit again, we could even see Caicedo emerge at right-back.

Cucurella was the club’s most successful defender, starting six of seven matches, keeping two clean sheets and two assists. However, he has not yet reached the DefCon points threshold and has been beaten by 23 defensive players in Fantasy. In reality, winning Euro 2024 may not be worth the premium outlay.

With minutes played at the back, all roads lead to Sanchez if you want Chelsea’s defensive assets. The Spaniard’s price dropped after his red card at Old Trafford and now costs just £4.9m in FPL, that’s £0.8m cheaper than the more popular. David Raya (£5.7 million).

Yes, Maresca has promised Filip Jorgensen (£4.4m) has played in the Premier League several times, but the Dane did not impress against Lincoln City in the League Cup. Most managers will experience this Martin Dubravka (£4.0m) on the bench, ready to replace the rested Sanchez.

OFFENSIVE ASSETS

Enzo Fernandez, who was bought by more than 140,000 FPL managers this week, tops the rankings in terms of expected goal involvement (xGI), big chances and goalscoring attempts among Chelsea’s forwards. The Argentinian has started every game for the Blues in all competitions, and has been the number 10 in recent weeks. He also took a penalty in Palmer’s absence in Gameweek 3.

Caicedo was also heavily bought ahead of Gameweek 8 after his 10-point haul against the champions. No player has recorded more than 96 DefCons in the 2025/26 season. But keep in mind, Caicedo’s three goals came from a tally of just 0.5 xG. While there is no doubt that the Ecuadorian has incredible potential to earn DefCon points, don’t be surprised if he doesn’t score again this season!

In contrast, Joao Pedro is being widely sold after failing in three consecutive matches, despite being the second highest scoring striker in the game. Admittedly, the Brazilian looks calm, registering just two shots in four Matchweeks.

However, according to his own admission and that of Maresca, Pedro is still playing through injury. Omitted from the Brazil squad, the week off comes at the right time ahead of Chelsea’s fixture list. Another boost to Pedro’s Fantasy prospects was his Champions League suspension, which saw him start Gameweek 9 against Sunderland.

As for wingers, Pedro Neto (£7.0m) is the only player to have started every Premier League game Estevao (£6.5m) almost doubled the Portuguese’s xGI tally in two fewer starts. While the underlying data is impressive, don’t be surprised if Maresca continues to make the 18-year-old a regular Chelsea player. In fact, there is no winger who can match Fernandez as a midfielder of choice.

CONCLUSION

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Overall, in my opinion, the best Chelsea players in FPL at the moment are (in order) – Enzo Fernandez, Joao Pedro, Robert Sanchez and Marc Cucurella.

In my own team, I am interested in buying Fernandez Idiman Ndima (£6.5m), provided he returns from international duty unscathed. He faces a tough turnaround for next week’s trip to Nottingham Forest after Argentina’s friendly against Puerto Rico was rescheduled.

If I were to go Wildcard in Gameweek 8, I’d pick Fernandez and Pedro while keeping third free in case Palmer returns to fitness sooner than expected, or a reliable, cheap center back emerges, as I suspect there will be one or two.