We’ve devoted plenty of attention to players you should buy for your Fantasy Premier League (FPL) team this season – but now we turn the spotlight on players to avoid!
From injuries to rotation risks, here are nine we’ve picked out…
Alexander Isak (£10.5m)
One of the most obvious players to avoid going into Gameweek 1 is the prolific Swedish striker, Alexander Isak. Of course, he would be a great choice for your forward options going into FPL this coming season if he wasn’t the subject of a chaotic transfer saga.
Isak remains Newcastle’s standout FPL asset—having scored 211 points last season—but manager Eddie Howe has admitted he “can’t involve” the Swedish striker in the squad right now amid speculation linking him with a move to Liverpool.
Until his situation clears up, it would be unwise to include him in your squad.
Omar Marmoush (£8.5m)
The Egyptian forward came in during the January transfer window as a solution to City’s goalscoring problems during.
With Erling Haaland (£14.0m) sidelined by injury and Phil Foden (£8.0m) going through a dip in form, he became a regular in Pep Guardiola’s side, starting 14 of his 16 appearances. During that spell, he registered seven goals and one assist, earning a total of 73 FPL points.
This season could be different, with Haaland back from injury and Foden showing signs of his usual form in the summer’s Club World Cup, Marmoush might struggle to become a regular in a stacked-out forward line.
As well as that, the addition of Rayan Cherki (£6.5m) might impact the minutes Marmoush gets. He’s also sitting on a higher price than any of the other Manchester City midfield options.
We think it would be worth waiting to see if he becomes a regular before adding him to your teams.
Yoane Wissa (£7.5m)
Another more obvious player to leave out your squads for Gameweek 1 is the Brentford man. New Bees manager, Keith Andrews, came out on Thursday saying:
“For Yoane on Sunday, he won’t be involved.” – Thomas Frank on Yoane Wissa
Amid rumours of a potential move away from the West London club, Brentford rejected a bid of £25m plus £5m in add-ons from Newcastle earlier in the window.
Dominik Szoboszlai (£6.5m)
The Hungarian finished last season’s FPL as the second-highest scoring midfielder for Liverpool—143 points—making him a difficult one to include in this list. However, as we approach Liverpool’s first game of the season against Bournemouth, it is worth noting that new-boy, Florian Wirtz (£8.5m), has started every game in Szobozlai’s favoured position during pre-season as the 10 in a 4-2-3-1.
He sould feature in Friday’s game against Bournemouth but alongside Curtis Jones (£5.5m) or Alexis Macallister (£6.5m), playing in the deeper midfield position.
This is because of Ryan Gravenberch’s (£5.5m) suspension due to a red card he received in the final league game of the season last term.
Once the Dutchman returns from his suspension, he will undoubtedly start over Szoboszlai in that position in their next league games against the likes of Newcastle and Arsenal. Seeing as the deeper midfield role isn’t his strongest, it would be a risk including him in your Gameweek 1 squads, and perhaps beyond that, unless Wirtz gets injured.
Beto (£5.5m)
Beto would not seem a bad shout at first glance, given his prolific end to last season—providing 8 goals when stepping in for an injured Dominic Calvert-Lewin— and his low price tag. However, this could be a trick into picking him and ending up having an undesirable player languish on your FPL squad benches for the coming season!
Manager David Moyes has recently called for more from Beto, saying:
“I’ve been a bit disappointed with Beto and I’ve told him. We’re needing a bit more and he can do more and he has done more.”
With Everton bringing in Thierno Barry (£6.0m) as direct competition, it’s best to steer clear of either player despite the tempting price tags – at least until we suss out who is going to start regularly.
Gabriel Magalhaes (£6.0m)
This one might come as a surprise as he was one of the most desirable and highly picked defenders from last season’s FPL. Despite this, he might be one to avoid heading into Gameweek 1.
His quality is clear to see, but if you’re ever going to avoid picking him, it would probably be now. With Arsenal’s opening six games against the likes of Manchester United (A), Liverpool (A), Manchester City (H) and Newcastle (A), it isn’t the most favourable opening fixture list for a defensive option.
He’s managed just one start in pre-season, and while Mikel Arteta has suggested he’ll be ready for the opener against Man United, you wonder just how sharp he’ll be.
Ederson (£5.5m)
The Brazilian keeper is rumoured to be leaving Manchester after eight very successful years at the club. The 31-year-old has been linked with a move to Saudi Arabia in recent weeks as Man City look to bring in the Italian, Gianluigi Donnarumma to replace him.
Ederson may start on Saturday against Wolves, but beyond that is great uncertainty.
Josko Gvardiol (£6.0m)
Gvardiol was omitted from the squad to face Palermo last weekend, with Pep Guardiola not going into the details of why.
Unless the slippery City boss gives an update in Friday’s pre-match presser, there’d have to be some risk about putting Gvardiol in your Gameweek 1 team.
Lewis Hall (£5.5m)
Hall missed most of the back-end of last season due to injury and only started easing his way back into the side toward the end of pre-season.
He might be unlikely to start the Magpies’ season opener against Villa on Saturday, so will probably be one to avoid for Gameweek 1.
But as a left-back choice for your FPL squads after the opening few games, he could be a really good pick.
