When Tom Dollimore speaks, the FPL community listens. Ranked number 1 in several Hall of Fame leaderboards, he’s earned his place as the most consistent and forward-thinking Fantasy Premier League managers in the world.
Tom’s FPL journey began in the 2018/19 season when he joined a work mini-league — and since then, his data-driven, model-based approach has propelled him to the top of the global rankings.
He focuses on value, flexibility, and long-term thinking, avoiding emotional knee-jerk reactions and staying grounded in the numbers.
Now, as the 2025/26 season approaches, Tom has shared his first draft as part of the Elite XI: Team Reveal series.
Tom is the first to admit that this year’s pre-season is like no other:
“There’s a lot of new information to digest this year with the rule changes, so this first draft is mainly based on gut instinct using the 'old' rules and what feels right rather than deep analysis.”
It’s a refreshing admission from a manager known for his analytical style — but also a clear signal that he’s waiting for more information and to carry out more research before locking anything in.
Known for his sharp chip usage, Tom is already thinking ahead:
“I usually wildcard early — by GW5 you have far more data than pre-season — but this year, it may be worth pre-planning an early wildcard in tandem with another chip. Especially when transfers are topped up in GW16.”
It’s a subtle but vital point — FPL managers may need to think beyond the classic patterns, with early chip combinations becoming a powerful play in 2025/26 as manager now have double the chips they used to.
In his first draft, Tom has opted for a premium defence, including two big hitters: Gabriel and Gvardiol (both priced at £6.0m).
Gvardiol stood out last season, scoring 5 goals — the joint-most by any defender alongside Cucurella and Milenković. Gabriel, despite missing part of the season through injury and featuring in only 28 games, still averaged an impressive 4.2 points per game as shown in the Opta Heatmaps tool.
That was the second-highest average among all defenders — behind only Alexander-Arnold (4.4), who has since left for Real Madrid.
Coming in third? Gvardiol, with 4.1 points per game.
With attacking threat and clean sheet potential, both defenders could offer excellent value early in the season.
Most of the picks in Tom’s draft are currently based on instinct — except one:
“The exception to this is the inclusion of Rice, who just felt like a player who would benefit from the defensive contributions points and also may be in a more advanced role this year at £6.5m.”
With the new defensive contributions rule in play, Rice could offer excellent value — especially if he takes on a more attacking role.
According to the Opta Stats Sandbox, the England international registered 7 assists last season — the fourth most at Arsenal. He also finished as the club’s joint fourth-highest FPL points scorer with 127 points, behind only Saliba (130), Raya (142), and Trossard (152).
Now with even more routes to points, could Rice be on course for a breakout FPL season?
Morgan Rogers (£7.0m) is quickly emerging as a template favourite among the Elite XI managers — and Tom is on board.
According to the Elite Manager Ownership Table (featuring managers with over 75 top 10k finishes), the Aston Villa midfielder is currently in 46.2% of their teams.
It’s no surprise why. As shown in the Predicted Points & Stats tool, Rogers ranks fourth for projected points among midfielders over the first three Gameweeks.
Just ahead of him in third is Eberechi Eze, who also features in Tom’s draft — further evidence of his data-led decision-making.
At the top of those projections? Mohamed Salah — and yes, he’s firmly in Tom’s team too.
Like all first drafts, Tom’s team is far from final. He’ll be keeping a close eye on transfer activity, and pre-season form and carrying out more research before locking in his Gameweek 1 squad.
Want to see his full team right now?
Head over to the Elite XI: Team Reveal tool to check out Tom’s draft in detail — and don’t forget to sign up for push notifications or email updates so you never miss a team change.
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