GOALKEEPERS
Berno Leno (£4.5m) and Jordan Pickford (£4.5m)
These two give a nice rotation, apart from when they play each other in Gameweek 1!
Leno was second for saves last season, with 144 – only David Raya (£5.0m) made more. The German racked up 37 additional points from saves, making a stop every 22.5 minutes
Pickford himself accrued 28 save points, as well as one assist and one penalty save. Under Sean Dyche, we should hopefully see the Toffees become a more solid defensively.
DEFENDERS
Reece James (£5.5m)
Chelsea are top of the Season Ticker for the opening eight Gameweeks, while James comes in half a million cheaper than he was last season.
Three attacking returns in 14 starts in an injury-plagued season was the reason for his reduction in price but we only need to look back to 2021/22 to see what he’s capable of.
Mauricio Pochettino’s system should also work really well for both James and Ben Chilwell (£5.5m).
Trent Alexander-Arnold (£8.0m)
The most expensive defender in the game.
Only John Arne-Riise and John Terry have been pricier in the past, in the 2003/04 and 2004/05 seasons respectively.
Last season’s tally of 13 attacking returns and 10 clean sheets was actually below par by Alexander-Arnold’s high standards but we saw what he was capable of in the final nine Gameweeks when moved to a central midfield role.
William Saliba (£5.0m)
Saliba was having an outstanding season and was set to be the top-scoring Arsenal defender until injury struck.
Two goals, one assist and 12 clean sheets in just 27 starts suggest he’s underpriced at £5.0m.
Conor Roberts (£4.5m) and Amari’i Bell (£4.0m)
Roberts is an attacking right-back who scored four goals and supplied six assists for Championship winners Burnley last season.
The Clarets kept 21 clean sheets in the Championship, the most in the regular season (ie excluding play-offs).
Bell meanwhile is a versatile defender who started 46 matches for Luton in the Championship and play-offs in 2022/23, more than any other outfield player on the Hatters’ books.
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MIDFIELDERS
James Maddison (£7.5m)
A slight drop from his £8.0m starting price last season.
He should be on at least a share of set pieces, hopefully with Harry Kane (£12.5m) to fire them at.
I like the £7.5m bracket as we have the Manchester City midfielders at this price rung, too, so I can easily make the sideways shift to Phil Foden, Jack Grealish etc.
Bukayo Saka (£8.5m)
I could save £0.5m by going for Gabriel Martinelli (£8.0m) instead but there is always that element of rotation risk with the Brazilian.
Saka bagged 26 attacking returns last season and should still be on penalties, with Mikel Arteta adamant he would remain on spot-kicks despite his costly miss last season.
Bruno Fernandes (£8.5m)
It was a poor season by Fernandes’ standards, with 176 points comprised of just eight goals and nine assists.
But he was second in the game for expected assists (xA) overall, some costly finishing from his team-mates meaning that he never capitalised on his underlying numbers.
He’s another midfielder who should be on penalties in 2023/24.
Bryan Mbeumo (£6.5m)
A position change makes him great prospect.
He could also have penalty-taking responsibility with Ivan Toney (£8.0m) out suspended.
Mbeumo ended 2022/23 on a ridiculous run, while Spurs, Fulham, Palace and Bournemouth is a decent start to the season.
Morgan Gibbs-White (£6.0m)
Completing the quartet of midfielders who we think should be on penalties for their respective clubs.
Gibbs-White claimed a dozen assists last season; only three Premier League players assisted more.
He also registered the same number of attacking returns as Bruno Fernandes.
FORWARDS
Erling Haaland (£14.0m)
The joint-most expensive player in the game’s history, alongside Robin van Persie, Cristiano Ronaldo and Thierry Henry.
A total of 36 goals in as many starts last season took him to 272 points, although that was still less than what Mohamed Salah returned (303 points) in 2017/18.
Joao Pedro (£5.5m)
Brighton’s record signing, who scored 11 goals in 35 games for Watford this season.
There are other options at the Seagulls so he might not be the most secure of minutes, so I’ll be on a pre-season scouting mission.
It’s an easy move to Carlton Morris (£5.5m) and Iliman Ndiaye (£5.5m) at the same price if Pedro looks like too much of a risk.
Darwin Nunez (£7.5m)
He’s back there again!
This slot is essentially for whichever of Darwin and Cody Gakpo (£7.5m) looks likeliest to start come Gameweek 1, another thing that pre-season should tell us.
As wasteful as he was in 2022/23, Darwin’s tally of nine goals and five assists last season isn’t too dreadful considering that he only made 19 starts.
In his second season with Benfica, he scored 26 goals in 28 league games and was the top scorer in the Primeira Liga.
SAM’S FIRST DRAFT TEAM
