Sponsored by Fantasy5
It’s the start of a new Premier League season and the chance to try a new Fantasy game if you’re not already one of the many players who have given Fantasy5 a go.
The game is free to play and various prizes are given out every week – including a £10,000 jackpot.
You can even set up a mini-league and compete with colleagues, friends and family for bragging rights.
We’ve selected our own picks for Gameweek 1 in the article below, with FPL Family’s Sam following suit.
TRY FANTASY5 HERE
HOW DOES FANTASY5 WORK?
Fantasy5 is easy to play as it follows the exact same scoring system as FPL, just without the bonus points.
It’s also the fastest media outlet for live Fantasy points, displaying all player points from the five games in question, as well as the live score and time.
For the more detailed lowdown, head here.
The competition is limited to one entry per person per round and selections must be submitted before kick-off of the first eligible match.
If two or more entrants correctly select five players who all score more than their points target, then the prize pot is split among all winners.
For a full list of the terms and conditions, click here.
As it’s the first Gameweek of a new season it’s worth mentioning that, now Gameweek 1 has gone live, no newly transferred players will be added to the game until next week, so managers keen to select Romelu Lukaku will have to wait just a little longer.
GAMEWEEK 1 FIXTURES
The five matches in this round of fixtures are:
- Chelsea v Crystal Palace
- Leicester City v Wolverhampton Wanderers
- Norwich City v Liverpool
- Newcastle United v West Ham United
- Tottenham Hotspur v Manchester City
The deadline is at 15:00 GMT on Saturday, August 14.
SCOUT’S GAMEWEEK 1 PICKS
Wilfried Zaha (6.5) – Crystal Palace’s new head coach Patrick Vieira spoke earlier in the summer about getting the ball to Zaha and so far he has been as good as his word.
A penalty and a deflected shot in a friendly against promoted Watford at the weekend were the latest of the Ivory Coast international’s four pre-season goals and, with defences rarely as solid as expected in the early going, we back Zaha to provide a surprise or two for the Champions League winners on opening day.
Jamie Vardy (6.5) – Wolverhampton Wanderers look primed under their own new manager, Bruno Lage, to abandon their typically cautious approach which could mean plenty of goals at the King Power Stadium, home of the FA Cup and Community Shield holders Leicester City.
Harvey Barnes (8.5) has been a pre-season star, but his top price for this match means we will look elsewhere. Attacking full-backs like Nelson Semedo (6.5) and Timothy Castagne (6.5) could easily provide returns, but at the same price, it’s hard to look beyond the Foxes’ talismanic striker who has made a flying start to both of the previous two seasons.
Trent Alexander-Arnold (9.5) – It’s good to see Teemu Pukki (6.5) and Norwich City back in the top flight, but a starting home fixture against Liverpool doesn’t seem the place to be anticipating big attacking returns. As you might expect, there are a few double-figure prices floating around the Liverpool squad which leads us to plump for Alexander-Arnold. While the Reds’ attackers need multiple goals to overtake their points targets, he is likely to be on set-pieces and involved around the box as well as being very much in line to get an extra boost from a clean sheet.
Callum Wilson (6.5) – If you believe goals will be at a premium at St James’ Park then West Ham United defenders Aaron Cresswell (6.5) and Vladimir Coufal (6.5) are value choices to supplement a clean sheet with a potentially match-winning assist. With Wilson and Michail Antonio (6.5) likely to feature up front at the same target price, however, we believe both attacks will make at least one breakthrough and choose Wilson in front of his home crowd to be the most likely to go on to be involved in two more strikes.
Son Heung-min (8.5) – We may not see Harry Kane (6.5) with a target price as low as this again all season. If there were a strong indication that he will play for Spurs amidst the turmoil surrounding a potential move to Sunday’s visitors Manchester City we would snap him up without hesitation.
Given the likelihood of a ‘slight strain’ ruling the England captain out, though, we turn our attention instead to his partner in the Tottenham Hotspur strikeforce who, among the many attacking options at the same price for this game, has the most to prove from a big early-season performance. It doesn’t hurt his chances that City have several key assets struggling for full fitness after gruelling international summers.
SAM’S GAMEWEEK 1 PICKS
Mason Mount (7.5) is such an important part of the Chelsea team. His attacking threat, even with the Super Cup on Wednesday, means I think he’ll return well against Palace.
Harvey Barnes (8.5) looked great in the Community Shield, returning from injury. Against a Wolves side who may still be adapting to a new style of play under their new manager, I can see him returning to goalscoring quickly.
Mohamed Salah (12.5) has never failed to score in an opening game for Liverpool; surely that continues against Norwich this time around.
Son Heung-min (8.5) has scored in the last two games against City at the Tottenham Stadium. In Kane’s absence, he is likely to play up top.
Callum Wilson (6.5) has a great record against West Ham, putting eight past them; I can see him spoiling the Hammers fans’ return to the stands.
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