Liverpool - 26/27 Draft FPL Pre-Season Thoughts
Written 17th July 2026 · Everything here very much subject to change, subscribe to the podcast/YouTube channel for all the latest.
This blog is part of Draft FC's Team-by-Team 2026/27 early pre-season series — see all 20 previews in one place here
Fallen champions, is this now a re-build?
A title defence that never got started, 5th-place on 60 points, Champions League qualification scraped on the final weekend and then the inevitable, Slot sacked, Andoni Iraola in on a 2-year deal - the second new manager in 3 years. Salah leaving as a club legend after all those years, and gone from the Premier League entirely, an FPL legend leaves the board. Konaté to Real Madrid on a free. Robertson to Spurs on a free. Alisson, Jones and Gakpo have also had exit rumours swirling around them; all 3 are still Liverpool players as I write this, but it is hard to know how things will look once the transfer window closes.
What Iraola brings
Potentially a lot. His Bournemouth side pressed man-for-man, non-negotiable, high tempo and vertical - much closer to Klopp's heavy metal than Slot's control-based system. Two obvious consequences for us draft managers. First, defcon output from the midfielders and defenders should rise (think about Scott, Senesi, Truffert, Adams last season), because ball-winners thrive in that system. Secondly, I think this raises the floor for the players heading into their 2nd year at Anfield - Wirtz, Isak, Frimpong and Kerkez (reuniting with Iraola and his coaches once again). All 4 of those guys could go on to have big seasons if Iraola is able to get things going quickly - which he has to do having signed a relatively short contract!
Penalties post-Salah?
Salah's exit vacates the most valuable points-earner at the club and the expected heir to Liverpool's penalties is a coin-toss for me. Szoboszlai: 15 from 16 on career penalties, took them during Salah's AFCON absence and already the owner of the direct free-kicks and a share of corners. Nothing is confirmed under Iraola yet, but if pre-season shows Szoboszlai on pens, he gets cemented into the first round of my draft rankings. He was Liverpool's player of the season for me regardless - 160 points while being asked to play about 4 different positions, 20 defcon points, elite minutes. Penalties + set pieces + defcons plus + minutes is the exact all-rounder profile that wins drafts under this scoring, and for a spell last season we watched Rice prove it. The other option for penalties is Isak who I'm sure would love a boost to his goal-scoring stats this year. 11 out of 12 penalties scored in his Premier League career is also more than decent. It really is a coin-toss for me and does more work lifting Szoboszlai's draft value than it does for Isak. I suspect we'll see the pair of them taking a penalty for Liverpool before the season ends.
Best of the rest
Penalties or not, Isak is the premium forward and a player that will be overlooked by casuals (which of course isn't you, reading your 5th draft blog and it's not even August yet, yeah I see you). Nailed number 9, elite pedigree, with supply the only real variable. Ekitike's injury means there will be little to no competition for that spot, but I do wonder how Liverpool are going to manage him because he's still on the comeback trail. Wirtz didn't quite deliver on the price tag in year 1 - 125 points, though an underlying 11.97 NPxGI that was better than the output - and like a few big-money imports before him, I'd expect meaningfully more in year 2 under a coach who plays more vertically. Gakpo is the awkward one: 131 points, decent underlying numbers, but I've always felt he lacks a bit of killer instinct, his draft value also depends entirely on whether he's still here. A new attacker is already in the building, Víctor Muñoz, from Osasuna for £34.5m. Still very much a 'prospect', and billed as a versatile winger who can play both sides. It seems an odd one for me given the presence of Gakpo and emergence of Ngumoah - the last thing Liverpool want to do is block his route to the first team, but there will be plenty of matches for them all to shine.
Gravenberch is worth a cautionary word. 144 points looks very alright on the surface, but 10 attacking returns from a holding midfielder is exactly the kind of output that doesn't tend to repeat.
The opening run
Mediocre. Newcastle away in the Sunday marquee fixture of GW1, then Forest at home, Ipswich away, Fulham at home, Bournemouth away (xNarrative high) and City at home in GW6. I'd temper expectations for August, and I certainly wouldn't be pulling in any Liverpool fringe players for the opening weeks.
Early verdict
Last season's Liverpool points totals are among the least reliable numbers on the entire board - new manager, departed talisman and a few players with points to prove. Isak, Szoboszlai & Van Dijk are the safe ones, Wirtz will no doubt appeal to some at the right draft price too, the rest we can wait and see.
Stay shook,
Draft FC Mitch
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As I said, these previews are just some of my notes and early thoughts, my complete top 240 rankings live within our members area. The Top 20 reveal stays free so keep your eyes peeled for that episode in early August. The rest though, plus all our other member benefits, sit inside a Draft FC membership and if you want to find out more about that, head here.
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