After Mark Mansfield revealed his first draft and boldly went without Salah, it’s time for another of our Elite Team Reveal managers to share their early thoughts.
Enter Walter Randazzo, a seasoned Fantasy Premier League veteran with seven top 10k finishes to his name.
Walter has unveiled his first tentative draft for the 2025/26 season — and unlike Mark, he’s made one thing very clear: Salah is in!
“Salah was the first name in despite his price and this season it's much harder to do Salah-Haaland teams, so I'll likely wait and see how Haaland and City start the season, while Liverpool feel more secure for now.”
While some managers are trying to squeeze in both premiums, Walter is prioritising Liverpool’s talisman early on and holding off on Haaland until City settle.
Using the Fix Comparison Matrix tool to compare their 2024/25 stats per game, Salah comes out on top for FPL points, expected FPL points, goals, assists, and expected assists. Haaland only leads in expected goals.
Viewed this way, the £0.5m price difference between the two looks more than justified.
Walter’s draft currently includes both Cole Palmer and João Pedro, but there’s hesitation.
“At the moment I put Palmer and Pedro in but I'm wary of Chelsea's short pre-season due to the Club World Cup, so I might drop one or maybe both depending on how they look (Palmer might become Saka for example).”
With Chelsea’s disrupted pre-season, Walter is wisely keeping his options open and will assess closer to the deadline.
If he does stick with Palmer, he’ll be hoping for a return to the form we saw in the first half of 2024/25.
According to the Opta Heatmaps Comparison tool, the Chelsea midfielder averaged 7.5 FPL points per game from Gameweek 1 to 19, but that dropped sharply to just 3.9 points per game from Gameweek 20 onwards.
Will the additional fixtures from the Club World Cup affect him further? It’s one to monitor closely in pre-season.
With the transfer market very much active, Walter is keeping tabs on several situations that could reshape his draft.
Viktor Gyökeres to Arsenal, here we go! 👀
— Fantasy Football Fix (@FantasyFootyFix) July 22, 2025
Drop your FPL price predictions for him below 👇 pic.twitter.com/13EshpvtaE
“Transfer speculation will also have an impact on some names, Isak the most prominent, and I'm curious to see the prices for some newcomers like Gyokeres and Ekitike. Trafford another important transfer should he get his Man City move.”
It’s a reminder of how volatile early drafts can be — and why it’s so valuable to follow the Elite XI: Team Reveal managers by signing up for notifications.
Walter also name-drops some of the emerging mid-price and budget options he's keeping an eye on.
“There are also a few more names to consider in midfield in the mid-price range like Rogers, Ndiaye and in attack with Wood, Mateta. As I said though I'll keep an eye on pre-season and transfers, plenty of time to go.”
With plenty of pre-season matches and transfer twists still to come, expect plenty of movement in Walter’s lineup.
This is only Walter’s first draft, and as he’s said — there’s plenty of time to go.
His team will undoubtedly evolve as more information becomes available from pre-season, and the transfer window.
Want to follow every change he makes before Gameweek 1?
Sign up for push notifications or email updates from the Elite XI: Team Reveal tool and get alerts each time Walter updates his draft.
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