Harry's FPL Tips: Gameweek 1
This new concept on LET’S TALK BALL will be a weekly column where I will be giving out some suggestions of players to consider bringing into your Premier League Fantasy Football team.
I am no expert, if you are looking for expert advice then The Scout on Fantasy Football’s website is the place to go.
The reason for this series to highlight players who I’ve been impressed with in recent weeks and who I think could well go on a good run of form.
Having finished in the top 25,000 players in the world last season, I am not a complete novice of the game and hopefully I can give some useful advice regarding transfers and when to use your chips.
Each week I will suggest three dos and don’ts to help you, our audience, the best chance of success in your respective leagues (although if you do badly, don’t blame me).
My first piece of advice is don’t take anything I say in brackets seriously.
The three do’s for Gameweek 1:
1. Arsenal players are a strong shout for the start of the season and for good reason.
Via Arsenal FC/Getty Images
This is a side just starting to come together under Arteta after they ended last season with an FA Cup final victory over Chelsea and started this season with a Community Shield triumph over Premier League Champions Liverpool.
They also start the season with two games where you’d expect them to score and potentially keep clean sheets.
An opening day trip to newly promoted Fulham is a particularly promising game, so my recommendation would be to captain Aubameyang (£12m) who is now a midfielder on the game.
For a natural goal scorer like Aubameyang who is now a regular contender for the golden boot, it is a no brainer to bring him into your midfield.
As a midfielder, he will get extra points for clean sheets which he didn’t get as a striker, so don’t be surprised to see him finish with more points this season than any previous campaign.
It also looks like he is staying at the club as he believes in Arteta’s project which is already bringing him and the club silverware.
Although there are plenty of good options from Arsenal, my other suggestion would be to bring in Tierney who at just £5.5m could prove to be a steal.
He spent most of last season out injured so he might seem like a risky option but from what I’ve seen of him, I have little doubt about selecting him.
He is a versatile full-back who can even play left wing if needed as he is as good going forward as he is defensively.
He was starting to make a strong claim for a starting place post-lockdown after some impressive performances on his return from a long-term injury.
He got a goal and two assists in just 15 Premier League appearances, as well as an 80% tackle rate.
What this shows is that he has qualities in both sides of his game, which is essential for a modern day full-back.
He could well be part of an Arsenal defence that is more solid at the back this season, with the summer signing of highly talented centre half Gabriel from Lille, accompanied with Saliba’s return from loan.
Therefore, picking him could well be a long-term option for you, if he is providing goals, assists and clean sheets.
2. Back Alexander-Arnold despite Liverpool’s challenging start to the season.
Via LiverpoolFC/Getty Images
This one takes less explaining, Arnold has been a fantasy football favourite for a while now, with his impressively high number of assists and goals whilst playing in a Liverpool defence that keeps a lot of clean sheets.
He’s not cheap but a must buy.
3. Take a risk on Moise Kean as a back-up striker.
Via Alex Livesey/Getty Images
This is my most left-field option and I’m sure most people won’t even be considering him.
Maybe that is for good reason, but I just have a feeling this season will be a turning point in Kean’s Everton career.
He has got over the first season hurdle, a hurdle in which many foreign players new to English football and it’s greater intensity experience.
It’s not always a Bruno Fernandes type transition, it can take time and particularly so for a young lad with very little experience at senior level.
Despite struggling all season, I think Kean had enough glimpses of quality to show Ancelotti he can still have a bright future at the club.
He had some better performances in the back end of the season despite still getting very limited minutes and he scored a poacher like goal on the final day of the Premier league campaign in Everton’s defeat to relegated Bournemouth.
He looked like a steal at first glance, as he had greatly impressed in Juventus’ first team before joining the Merseyside club last summer.
Whether he will get lots of game time this season remains to be seen but Ancelotti has already made it clear that Kean will be seeing more minutes this campaign.
He’s a relatively cheap option at £6m and if my gut feeling proves to be right, then he could just prove to be your wildcard gem of the season, as his price will surely skyrocket if he finds the form that was expected on his arrival to the club.
The three don’ts for gameweek 1
1. Don’t put Manchester United or Manchester City players in yet.
By Simon Stacpoole/Offside via Getty Images
Due to both Manchester clubs going far in Europe, they have both been given an extra week off before kicking off their Premier League campaigns.
Therefore, hold off on De Bruyne, Sterling, Fernandes and co for the time being and instead look to similar alternatives who can be easily replaced.
2. Don’t bring in too many new signings, if any at all to start with.
Via Peter Powell/NMC Pool
It can often take new signings, particularly ones from abroad, some time to adjust to the style of play, culture and intensity of the Premier League.
It is also rare for there to be much chemistry between new players and their teammates from the off.
So, I would suggest to leave it for at least the first week and just monitor the performances of the new signings before taking a gamble on them.
The only summer transfer I would consider taking a bit of a gamble on (though I don’t it’s much of one) is Timo Werner who took just 4 minutes to score in a pre-season friendly for his new club Chelsea.
He had a prolific record in the Bundesliga and is already an essential player to Germany’s national side.
3. Don’t put faith in promoted clubs just yet, it’s too hard to predict how they will fare in the big time.
Via Leeds United/Getty Images
On the whole I stand by this, there could prove to be some cheap options from Championship clubs that take to the Premier League by storm, as we saw with Pukki at the start of last season.
However, there are also plenty of risks with putting faith in newly promoted players playing for clubs that could well be losing the majority of their games.
The only exception I’m going to make to this rule is West Brom’s Matheus Pereira (£6m) who managed 16 assists in the Championship last season, the highest in the division.
He has something special about him though which makes me sure he will excel in the Premier League too.
He is a skilful Brazilian who has incredible vision to find the gaps in defences and to execute the killer pass.
He also recorded 8 goals, some of them absolutely stunning as he helped West Brom towards promotion.
He is the star player at the club and so he will be the man the club will be looking to get the goals and assists to keep them up.