FPL team guides: Southampton – Best players, predicted line-up + more

Gameweek 1 of Fantasy Premier League (FPL) is drawing ever nearer and we’re profiling all 20 Premier League teams before the season starts.

We continue our team-by-team guides with Southampton, seeing what their players have to offer.

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LAST SEASON: ATTACK

Southampton’s 15th-placed finish was the fourth time in five seasons that they ended between there and 17th. Whilst never truly in danger of relegation, their shocking late form meant they’d have been in trouble had the season lasted a few more rounds.

Nine defeats arrived in their final 12 appearances, with their first seven registering just four points. Between those was a strong middle 19 that saw the Saints gather 31 points and only four losses.

Highlights included a 3-2 win away to Tottenham and a narrow victory versus Arsenal, as well as being undefeated against champions Manchester City. They even recorded a clean sheet at the Etihad Stadium.

They finished in the top ten for the major shots statistics, as both James Ward-Prowse (£6.5m) and loanee Armando Broja (£5.5m) had strong FPL interest at certain times.

LAST SEASON: DEFENCE

The good news is that Southampton didn’t suffer a 9-0 humiliation this time, unlike the previous two campaigns.

What wasn’t so good was the 6-0 home defeat to Chelsea and 4-0 hammering at Aston Villa that took place in that late-season slump.

Five of their eight clean sheets had already arrived by Gameweek 11, with the FPL community delighted to have found a £4.0m starter in Tino Livramento (now £4.5m). The youngster also scored and assisted once in that spell, with a tally of 48 points after 11 games.

Unfortunately, a serious knee injury will keep him out for numerous months and he won’t be an FPL option for a while.

Meanwhile, 12 attacking returns came from Southampton’s defence, including an impressive four goals by centre-back Jan Bednarek (£4.5m). With goalkeeper Fraser Forster (£4.0m) leaving on a free transfer, in comes 20-year-old Irish international Gavin Bazunu (£4.5m) to compete with Alex McCarthy (£4.5m) for the number one jersey.

OPENING FIXTURES

It’s not just the bad end to last season that’s putting off FPL managers. Matches against Spurs, Chelsea and Manchester United lurk within their first five, which unsurprisingly ranks the Saints low on our Season Ticker.

PREDICTED GAMEWEEK 1 LINE-UP

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