Weβve put together an early draft of our Fantasy Premier League (FPL) Scout Picks for Gameweek 1.
As ever, we will finalise our selection much closer to Fridayβs deadline.
Plenty can change between now and then, of course, with Scout Squad nominations and a whole host of press conferences still to come.
If youβre new to this feature, there are certain restrictions for our picks:
- An Β£83.0m budget for our starting XI
- An overall squad limit of Β£100.0m
- No more than three players per team
GAMEWEEK 1 FIXTURES
Above: The Gameweek 1 fixtures sorted by difficulty on ourΒ Season Ticker
THE LIKELY LADS
Weβre targeting all three newly-promoted clubs in our early draft.
Luton Town, Burnley and Sheffield United conceded a whopping 267 goals between them last season, suffering relegation straight back to the Championship.
This yearβs newcomers β Leicester City, Ipswich Town and Southampton β might fare better, but there are legitimate concerns.
The Saints, for example, only managed to keep 12 clean sheets in last seasonβs promotion campaign, conceding 63 goals.
Newcastle Unitedβs Alexander Isak (Β£8.5m) could be the best captain pick in Gameweek 1, then. The Swede was particularly prolific at St Jamesβ Park in 2023/24, averaging a goal every 78.4 minutes.
Could team-mate Anthony Gordon (Β£7.5m) join him? He only got his first pre-season minutes at the weekend but if weβre confident heβll start, heβll surely be in the mix.
: Alexander Isak and Anthony Gordonβs goal threat in 2023/24 compared (home matches only)
As for Liverpool and Tottenham Hotspur, they are set to visit Ipswich and Leicester respectively.
Diogo Jota (Β£7.5m) and Dominic Solanke (Β£7.5m) free up some cash, but Mohamed Salah (Β£12.5m) and Son Heung-min (Β£10.0m) wonβt be far from our thoughts.
However, Jota had the best minutes per goal ratio at Liverpool in 2023/24 (116.9) and has looked sharp in pre-season, while Ange Postecoglou doesnβt see any reason why Solanke βwouldnβt be availableβ in Gameweek 1:
βYeah, I donβt see any reason why he shouldnβt be. Heβs played most of the pre-season. Slight knock in the last game Bournemouth played, but, of course, weβll have a look at him during the week. But I think that considering heβs done most of pre-season, I see no reason why he wouldnβt be available.β β Ange Postecoglou on whether Dominic Solanke will be ready to start against Leicester City
Crucially, the Β£7.5m saved opens up a spot for Bukayo Saka (Β£10.0m).
The England international’s Gameweek 1 prospects look good after a 75-minute run-out against Lyon on Sunday, where he posed a real threat, doing everything but score.
David Raya (Β£5.5m) or one of the Arsenal defenders in front of him are also likely to make the Scout Picks cut.
Further defensive coverage is supplied by Trent Alexander-Arnold (Β£7.0m), Pedro Porro (Β£5.5m) and Lewis Hall (Β£4.5m), who has racked up more pre-season minutes than any other Newcastle player.
All four of our current selections at the back feature right at the top of G-Whizzβs weekly clean sheet odds list.
IN CONTENTION
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