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, former champion Simon March talks through his Gameweek 1 team draft.
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The last time we had a ‘normal’ football season, Sarri-ball was in full flow, Tottenham Hotspur went 28 matches without a draw, then Manchester City went 30, Ole took the wheel, Shane Long scored a goal within eight seconds and Shane Duffy briefly looked like a legitimate triple captain option. Good times.
By contrast, the past three FPL seasons have often felt like a Kafkaesque exercise in managing chaos, confusion and absurdity. It’s been a tough few years, but we’re all better managers for it, probably.
Finally, though, we can look forward to a season where we can plan normally and approach the game in a way that reflects our individual styles and principles as FPL managers, if we can even remember what those were.
Guiding Principles
Before I get into my team, for my sake as much as yours, here are the guiding principles I usually keep in mind when picking my FPL squad for the start of the season:
- Build for the first six Gameweeks
- Focus first on nailed-on, proven assets
- Include a range of price points
- Avoid going too heavy on any single team (unless the opportunity is big enough)
- Select players who have multiple routes to scoring
Without further ado, here’s my current draft:
Goalkeepers
Manchester United’s Andre Onana (£5.0m) is my starting goalkeeper, with West Ham United’s Alphonse Areola (£4.0m) as back-up – largely in the hope that the latter might unseat Lukasz Fabianski (£4.5m). Manchester United have good fixtures and registered the most clean sheets last season so, while Onana himself is new to the league, he is at least joining a high-performing and relatively settled defence. Onana is known as a good shot-stopper but has been receiving many plaudits for the quality of his distribution, something which could translate into bonus points if he completes enough passes.
READ MORE: FPL new signings: Is Andre Onana the new go-to goalkeeper?
I have to say though, I’m not particularly happy with this set-up. Onana does look good value but I’m wary of him being my only reliable starting ‘keeper, particularly given his record of falling out with past managers (including none other than Erik ten Hag himself back in their Ajax days).
I could be swayed by a £4.5m double-up with Everton’s Jordan Pickford, Brighton’s Jason Steele, Crystal Palace’s Sam Johnstone and Brentford’s Mark Flekken all in my thinking. Although I’ve been a fairly big proponent of rotating £4.5m goalkeepers in the past, I’m likely to just now go with whichever two ‘keepers I think are the best, irrespective of how they rotate, given that goalkeepers’ best results often come in fixtures which look difficult on paper. The additional advantage here is that I avoid a United triple-up from Gameweek 1 or, alternatively, open the door for Luke Shaw (£5.5m) as a defensive option with some attacking upside.
Defenders
Chelsea’s Ben Chilwell (£5.5m) is currently the only defender I am completely settled on. Chelsea were deceptively decent defensively last season but it’s Chilwell’s attacking threat, particularly in Mauricio Pochettino’s new system where he often finds himself the furthest player forward in possession, which is the real appeal. In pre-season, Chilwell has been taking corners from both the left and the right and is in the mix for free-kicks too, all adding to his points-scoring potential.
Arsenal’s Gabriel Magalhaes (£5.0m) is a nice dependable defensive option with good fixtures. He even seems a little underpriced, particularly when you consider he was the fourth-highest-scoring defender last season, tallying just 10 fewer points than Liverpool’s Trent Alexander-Arnold (£8.0m).
Brighton’s Pervis Estupinan (£5.0m) is my third defender although, I have to say, I’m not entirely convinced by Brighton going into this season, particularly from a defensive point of view. I can’t help thinking that their opening match against Luton at home is doing a lot of the heavy lifting in their ostencibly ‘good run’ of opening fixtures, which takes a real turn for the worse as early as Gameweek 4.
A big part of Estupinan’s appeal though is his attacking threat, something I think might become even more of a factor than it was previously among defenders given the new referees’ guidance on adding on more time for delays in play. Logically, the longer the match goes on, the greater the opportunity there is to concede, so at least Estupinan can offer some goal or assist potential. Even then, I can’t help thinking he’s dining out a little on that mega haul against Arsenal towards the end of last season.
Chelsea’s Levi Colwill (£4.5m) is my fourth defender and likely first bench option. With team-mate Benoit Badiashile (£4.5m) injured, Colwill has little competition for the left centre-back role and, I believe is, in isolation, the best value £4.5m defender for the opening six Gameweeks at least. The concern with Colwill is that he pushes me into a Chelsea triple-up, which limits my options if Chelsea start really well or leaves me over-invested if they continue to play like they did last season.
Sheffield United’s George Baldock (£4.0m) is the enabler in my defence, though you really never know with Sheffield Utd defenders…
Midfielders
