With Fantasy Premier League (FPL) live for 2023/24, we’re welcoming back our team of Hall of Famers and guest writers for the new campaign.
Here, FPL Focal presents the case of a dozen FPL picks with ownership of less than 20%.
Focal and our other writers will be providing regular articles and team reveals throughout the new season, with only Premium Members able to access every single one.
You can sign up here for the new campaign – once you’re aboard, you’ve locked in the price of your Premium Membership for good, so long as you don’t cancel.
PHIL FODEN (£7.5M)
Whisper it quietly but Foden (owned by 11.6%) delivered more returns than Bruno Fernandes (£8.5m) last season.
The question with the Man City midfielders is always their ‘expected minutes’ but in Foden’s case, it helps that he can play left wing, right wing or in behind Erling Haaland (£14.0m).
Kevin De Bruyne (£10.5m) is currently out injured, so there’s a decent chance we see Foden starting the season centrally – and getting plenty of minutes.
Riyad Mahrez (£7.5m) could be on his way, too, lessening the competition on the right flank.
And although Jack Grealish (£7.5m) made the left-wing spot his own towards the end of the 2022/23 season, there’s no guaranteeing that that’s the case this time around. Pep loves to keep his players on their feet.
SON HEUNG-MIN (£9.0M)
Son (5.7%) comes in at his lowest price since 2018/19.
A total of 10 goals and six assists last season was a poor tally by his standards but we have since learned that he carried an injury for around eight months.
There are also some positives to be had given that new Spurs coach Ange Postecoglou is renowned for attacking football.
In fact, last season at Celtic, his side scored 114 goals. While the calibre of opposition has to be taken into account, it was still the Hoops’ highest single-season tally since before World War II.
2022/23 could well be just an anomaly for Son, so backing him from Gameweek 1 could give you an explosive start to the season.
LUIS DIAZ (£7.5M)
Luis Diaz (6.3%) did fairly well at the start of last season, registering five returns in the opening eight Gameweeks before picking up the injury that ruled him out most of the season.
The season before that, he had joined Liverpool in January and made an immediate impact.
There’s some understandable hesitation because Diogo Jota (£8.0m) and Darwin Nunez (£7.5m) are likely competition for that spot, though there’s every chance Diaz is the first choice heading into the season – and £7.5m will be a bargain if that is the case.
We’ll be monitoring pre-season line-ups and results here in the Pre-Season Guide so make sure you’re subscribing for those regular updates.
MARK FLEKKEN (£4.5M)
Flekken (3.7%) signed from Freiburg for £11m, amidst rumours that David Raya (£5.0m) was on his way out.
As a reminder, Raya finished as the top-scoring goalkeeper in the game last season with 166 points.
Raya said a couple of weeks ago that he’s ready for the next step in his career and to challenge for silverware, so if he finds the move he desires, Flekken could be a cheat code of sorts as FPL clearly wanted to charge £5.0m for Brentford’s #1.
OLLIE WATKINS (£8.0M)
Watkins (14.1%) is being harshly overlooked given how good he was last season following the arrival of Unai Emery. After the change in manager, Watkins went on a run of 18 attacking returns in 17 appearances before the goals dried up.
Aston Villa are clearly an improving side and making great signings, which points towards them only getting better.
One of the best things about Watkins is his reliability: he’s never injured and his average minutes per season for Villa since signing is 3,100.
He took 81 shots in the box last season, the fourth-highest in the league, and racked up 19 expected goal involvements.
RAHEEM STERLING (£7.0M)
Sterling (4.0%) is a debatable pick.
Again, one bad season doesn’t define a player and he’s in a similar light to Son in that respect. He’s scored over 200 points on three occasions, has proven quality and now has his lowest price tag in 10 years.
If Mauricio Pochettino can get Chelsea back to winning ways and playing quality attacking football then Sterling will be an unbelievable differential at 4.0% ownership.
YOANE WISSA (£6.0M)
As you’re probably aware, Ivan Toney (£8.0m) is suspended for the first half of this season.
The question is who deputises as a striker in his absence. It’s unlikely to be Bryan Mbeumo (£6.5m), who will probably continue playing down the wing whenever Thomas Frank plays a 4-3-3.
Wissa (3.4%) is the potential man to step in.
The forward has scored seven goals in each of his last two seasons despite very limited minutes.
A price of only £6.0m makes him a perfect second or third forward for any team.
If he’s the first-choice striker, he’s locked in for me.
It’s an awkward position for Brentford as it’s not worth signing a striker for half a season and it’s unlikely anyone of quality would be willing to join, knowing that.
JULIO ENCISO (£5.5M)
With Alexis Mac Allister (£6.0m) gone, the question is who plays the number 10 role at Brighton.
There are multiple contenders in Enciso (11.9%), the injury-prone Adam Lallana (£5.0m), Joao Pedro (£5.5m) and Pascal Gross (£6.5m), although in the latter’s case, he is probably likelier to be a sitting midfielder.
So there’s a strong chance that £5.5m-rated Enciso is Roberto De Zerbi’s man, at least initially.
Mac Allister put up elite numbers while playing that role last season, and when Enciso was given the chance, he impressed too.
The young midfielder has an unbelievable strike on him, and can score from anywhere.
ALEXANDER ISAK (£7.5M)
It’s no secret that Newcastle’s opening fixtures aren’t great, though this is more of a reason to avoid a defender like Kieran Trippier (£6.5m) than an attacker like Isak (12.9%).
In fact, in some cases, it can work in the attacker’s favour, with more space in behind to counter.
We saw Newcastle punish Manchester City in that fashion last season, putting three goals past them on Tyneside.
It was an impressive debut season from Isak, with a return every 126 minutes.
He should only get better and £7.5m could be a bargain, with the obvious caveat being the presence of Callum Wilson (£8.0m) – but it does appear that Eddie Howe favours Isak in general, other than during Wilson’s purple patch. Even in Gameweek 38, it was Wilson who dropped to the bench.
HARRY KANE (£12.5M)
Ok, so Kane (16.1%) is certainly no hidden gem. We’re barely in differential territory with this one, but he comes in at £12.5m, £1.5m less than Haaland, and he only scored nine fewer points.
This is no suggestion that you skip Haaland and get Kane only – that’s obviously very, very risky given Haaland’s ownership.
But given the massive spread of midfielders and lack of forwards, then running with two premium strikers could be the way to go. Certainly, that was the case last season, but most of us started with Haaland and Mohamed Salah (£12.5m) to keep the team flexible.
This one obviously depends on his future given the links with Bayern Munich.
DESTINY UDOGIE (£4.5M)
Another Spurs player next, in the form of defender Udogie (0.4%).
The 20-year-old had a successful loan at Udinese last season, supplying three goals and four assists in the league.
Both Ryan Sessegnon (£4.5m) and Ivan Perisic (£5.0m) are being linked with a move away, with the former also injured.
A £4.5m-rated attacking Spurs defender really is a bargain and he’s a huge differential at this point.
Tottenham Hotspur’s pre-season kicks off on 18 July, when we’ll know more.
Pedro Porro (£5.0m) is another one to monitor on the opposite flank for £5.0m.
MORGAN GIBBS-WHITE (£6.0M)
Lastly, Gibbs-White (4.3%), who quietly had a great season and also put up more returns than Fernandes.
Five goals and 12 assists for a side who were battling relegation is very impressive and he’s just £6m and 4.3% owned.
He’s cheap enough that you can get away with benching him away to Arsenal in Gameweek 1.
A repeat of the total of 145 points last season would be a more-than-respectable score for £6.0m.
