FPL Promoted Teams 26/27: Coventry, Ipswich & Hull Picks

Every single defender at Coventry, Ipswich and Hull is priced at exactly £4.0m — and between them, the three promoted clubs supply 26 of the 46 £4.0m defenders in the entire game. That flattens the usual price signal completely: with every option costing the same, the thing separating a shrewd budget pick from a wasted squad slot is role and minutes, not price. Here's how to read all three squads club by club, and which of their £4.0m and £5.0–5.5m players are actually worth a place.

Coventry City: back up as champions

Coventry won the Championship title outright to seal automatic promotion — their first season in the Premier League in over two decades. The opening fixture is tough on paper: Arsenal away on the Friday-night curtain-raiser (20:00, Gameweek 1), and Coventry also run into Manchester City early in the campaign. That context matters for every Coventry pick below — this is a squad to own for the medium term, not necessarily to start in Gameweek 1.

Player	Pos	Price	Verdict
Van Ewijk	DEF (RB)	£4.0m	Nailed right-back with eight-plus Championship assists and direct free-kicks — the standout of the three clubs on output
Bobby Thomas	DEF (CB)	£4.0m	Genuine set-piece threat (3 goals, 4 assists last season) on top of the usual defensive-contribution route
Rudoni	MID	£5.0m	Flagged doubtful in the game at the time of writing — check fitness before you commit
Sakamoto	MID	£5.0m	Squad option; no standout early role confirmed yet
Haji Wright	FWD	£5.5m	Coventry's most credible forward, but the tough run makes him a watch rather than a buy for now

Pick Van Ewijk and Thomas for the squad; treat Rudoni as a fitness check first. Actively avoid Dasilva (£4.0m) at left-back — his starting spot looks under threat, and a £4.0m defender who isn't playing is worth nothing.

Ipswich Town: back up as runners-up, and the softest fixtures of the three

Ipswich secured an immediate return by finishing as Championship runners-up. Of the three promoted sides, they've drawn the kindest schedule — including Sunderland at home in Gameweek 1 — so if you're fielding a promoted-club player from the opening weekend, an Ipswich one is the safer bet.

Player	Pos	Price	Verdict
Leif Davis	DEF (LB)	£4.0m	18 assists in the promotion season — the standout creator of any £4.0m defender in the game
Issa Diop	DEF (CB)	£4.0m	A defensive-contribution lottery ticket if Ipswich sit deep and defend in numbers
Fatawu	MID	£5.5m	Watch for a settled wide role once the season starts
Philogene	MID	£5.5m	Squad option; competing for the same attacking minutes as Fatawu and Emersonn
Emersonn	FWD	£5.5m	A bench-price forward rather than a starting XI lock right now

Davis is the headline pick: a genuine set-piece and crossing threat at the cheapest price in the game. Right-back Harry Clarke is being chased by other Championship clubs and a permanent exit looks likely — if he goes, the corners revert to Davis outright. Diop is a squad gamble, not a certainty; the front three stay watches until a starting XI settles.

Hull City: up via the play-offs, straight into the fire

Hull won promotion through the play-offs, and the fixture list hasn't been kind. Manchester United visit in Gameweek 1, then Aston Villa, Chelsea and Newcastle all follow inside the first five matches — the toughest early run of any promoted side this season. That should shape how much of your squad and bench you commit to Hull players before Gameweek 5 or 6.

Player	Pos	Price	Verdict
Charlie Hughes	DEF (CB)	£4.0m	Posted the highest defensive-actions rate of any promoted-club defender last season (11.8 per 90) — the clearest defensive-contribution punt of the three clubs
Ryan Giles	DEF (LB)	£4.0m	On corners, but there's a fitness caveat worth checking before you buy
Butland	GK	£4.5m	Priced the same as the other budget number-ones — a like-for-like swap if you'd rather have Hull's fixtures
McBurnie	FWD	£5.5m	Bench-price forward cover; check the run before you start him

Pick Hughes for defensive-contribution points; Giles is a corner-taking upside pick if his fitness holds up; Butland is a straightforward keeper route; McBurnie is bench cover for now, not a starting striker.

The picks, ranked

Strip out price — everyone here costs £4.0m or a touch more — and a short list separates itself from the field:

1. Leif Davis (Ipswich, £4.0m) — the best single buy of the three clubs. Already an elite creator at this level, the softest fixtures of the promoted sides, and more set-piece upside if Clarke's exit goes through.
2. Van Ewijk (Coventry, £4.0m) — the standout on raw output, but his fixtures say hold, not start. Coventry open away at Arsenal and face Manchester City early, so bank him for the squad and bring him in once the run softens.
3. Charlie Hughes (Hull, £4.0m) — the defensive-contribution specialist. Hughes' defensive-action rate was the best of any promoted player last season.
4. Bobby Thomas (Coventry, £4.0m) — the set-piece angle. Goals and assists from a centre-back are rare at this price.

Two to leave out for now: Dasilva (Coventry), whose starting spot is in doubt, and Rudoni (Coventry), flagged doubtful in the game. For the goalkeeper slot, Butland (Hull, £4.5m) is a straightforward alternative to the usual budget picks. For forward-line cover on the bench rather than the starting XI, Haji Wright, McBurnie and Emersonn (all £5.5m) are the most credible options — cheap enough to park, not yet nailed enough to start.

Fixture context: why the run matters more than the price tag

Because every promoted defender costs the same £4.0m, fixtures do the differentiating that price can't:

• Ipswich have the softest opening run of the three, including Sunderland at home in Gameweek 1 — the safest promoted club to field from the start.
• Coventry open away at Arsenal on the Friday-night curtain-raiser and face Manchester City early too — hold Van Ewijk and Bobby Thomas for your squad, but don't expect to start them in Gameweek 1.
• Hull's first five is the roughest of any promoted side, with Manchester United, Aston Villa, Chelsea and Newcastle all inside it — treat Hughes and Giles as squad depth until the schedule turns.

Check the fixtures page for the full run, and our best fixtures guide for how the promoted clubs compare with the rest of the league gameweek by gameweek.

None of this is guesswork you have to do from scratch. Every promoted-club player sits in the same price list as the rest of the league, so you can compare a £4.0m Leif Davis against a £4.0m enabler from an established club side by side — see our budget enablers guide for the framework. One honest caveat: our expected points model treats every promoted-club player as a cold start, with no top-flight history to draw on yet — so this guide leans on Championship output and confirmed roles, not model numbers. Build your squad around it in the planner, where you can test a Davis-and-Hughes budget base against paying up for an established defender instead.