Gameweek 1 was won by defenders nobody owned
Brighton full backs, Hull centre halves, and 19 double-digit hauls that mostly came from the cheap seats.
The opening weekend is meant to be the one you get right. You had six weeks to plan it. You watched the friendlies. You had a spreadsheet.
And then 
De Cuyper, a 4.5m left back at
Brighton, scored the most points in the game.
17Top scoreDe Cuyper, a 4.5m defender
21Most actionsEgan, tackling everythingFPL scoring data, gameweek 1 of 2026-27, all 310 players with a minute or more.
The top of the table is not where you expected
Here are the ten biggest scores. Look at the prices before you look at the names.
Highlighted bars cost 4.5m or less. Five of the top ten were defenders. Prices are the gameweek 1 price, before any rises.
Four of the top five cost 5.5m or less. The most expensive player in the top ten
is Palmer, and he came sixth.
Defensive contributions did the damage
This is the bit that actually explains the list. Defenders get two points for ten clearances, blocks, interceptions and tackles. Midfielders and forwards need twelve. It is a low bar and a lot of players cleared it.
Clearances, blocks, interceptions and tackles combined. The threshold for two points is 10 for defenders and 12 for everyone else. Egan is highlighted because nobody else got near him.
Nineteen of the 108 defenders who played hit their threshold. Twelve of the 182 midfielders and forwards hit theirs. So roughly one defender in six banked the bonus two points, against one midfielder in fifteen.
The cheap ones are not all the same
Three of the weekend's bargains, side by side.
De CuyperMendyEganGameweek 1 only. De Cuyper scored his points going forward, the other two by defending.
That is the whole argument for cheap defenders in one chart. There are two different ways to get there, and only one of them needs a goal.
What to actually do about it
Not much, yet. One gameweek is one gameweek, and Egan is not
going to make 21 defensive actions a week for the rest of his life.
But the shape of it is worth keeping. A 4.0m defender who plays 90 minutes and
puts in a shift is now a genuinely useful thing to own, rather than a hole in
your squad you fill so you can afford a striker. Hull had two of them
in the top fifteen.
Check who started, check who lasted the 90, and be a bit suspicious of anyone whose 15 points came entirely from one lucky header.