Our Gameweek 1 preparations start with the launch of our Captain Poll, canvasing your opinions on the optimum armband option for the opening fixtures.
The poll is now live in the middle column on your homepage on desktop, or via the slide-in menu on mobile and tablet under Recent Comments.
Remember, please vote for the player you think will be most effective as the Gameweek captain, regardless of whether they have earned a place in your current squad.
With a home fixture against West Ham, Manchester United’s new striker Romelu Lukaku (11.5) is a sure-fire contender to contest the top of the poll – with a 48.4% ownership, he’s Fantasy Premier League’s most popular player.
Two goals in pre-season, following 25 successful strikes while at Everton last term, are firmly in his favour, as is his incredible track record against the Hammers.
The Belgian has scored in all but one of his previous eight league encounters with West Ham, with last season’s 0-0 at the London Stadium his only blank.
Man United also have two 8.0-priced midfield options that could garner interest in Paul Pogba and Henrikh Mkhitaryan. Both failed to deliver last season, scoring just five and four goals respectively, but are strongly tipped to do better this time around.
For the 22.8%-owned Pogba there is an expectation he will have greater freedom to bomb forward now that Nemanja Matic has been recruited from Chelsea to take on defensive midfield duties.
Mkhitaryan, who sits in just 6.1% of teams, should also attract interest after impressing during a pre-season campaign in which he has scored three times and assisted twice.
West Ham may struggle in this encounter, having conceded 10 goals in six over a lacklustre pre-season schedule.
Harry Kane (12.5) looks set to be Lukaku’s chief rival, after 29 goals in 2016/17 saw him walk off with the Golden Boot for the second season running.
The 35.8%-owned Spurs striker has had a full pre-season for the first time as a regular starter and also broke his August hoodoo with a goal against Juventus at Wembley Stadium at the weekend.
He travels to a promoted Newcastle United side that has only shipped four goals in their six pre-season friendlies, but failed to make St. James’ Park a fortress in the Championship, where they kept just eight clean sheets and conceded 23 times – a goal a match.
Spurs team-mates Dele Alli and Christian Eriksen (both 9.5) are also expected to find favour in our latest poll after racking up FPL scores of 225 and 218 respectively last term.
During pre-season, the 14.2% owned-Eriksen has been the more impressive, scoring twice compared to Alli’s solitary assist. However, with an ownership of 37.3% – more than any other midfielder – the England international certainly has the backing.
Last season, Liverpool players rarely graced the top of our poll due to their wealth of options sharing points.
This looks likely to continue in 2017/18, particularly with new recruit Mohammed Salah (9.0) added to the squad and excelling during pre-season, scoring four goals.
Ahead of the Reds’ trip to Watford, the 19.8%-owned Egyptian faces competition for votes from fellow winger Sadio Mane (9.5), who has produced a goal and assist over a summer reduced by injury. Nonetheless, the Senegal midfielder goes into this campaign following a fruitful 2016/17 that saw him score 13 times and assist a further seven goals.
Robert Firmino’s (8.5) stock has taken a dent as his reclassification from a midfielder to striker means he’ll miss out on clean sheet points and an extra point for a goal. However, the revelation during pre-season that the 17.7%-owned Brazilian may yet claim penalty duties from James Milner should ensure he remains on the radar.
But interest in Philippe Coutinho (9.0) may be muted as he recovers from a back injury and speculation about his Liverpool future continues.
With four clean sheets out of six pre-season matches, Watford may present a stubborn opponent for Jurgen Klopp’s side. It is also worth noting that the only time new Watford boss Marco Silva has faced Liverpool at home in his career was last February when his Hull City side defeated them 2-0.
Manchester City are another team where the vote is likely to be split ahead of their trip to newly promoted Brighton, who were defeated 3-2 in their pre-season showpiece match against Atletico Madrid yesterday.
In Kevin De Bruyne’s (10.0) favour is a total of 21 assists last season, which was more than any other player. His vision and quality of delivery has also been evident in pre-season, with a further four assists accrued. The Belgian has also been granted a more attacking role with Pep Guardiola fielding a 3-4-2-1 over the summer.
Gabriel Jesus (10.5) and Sergio Aguero (11.5) have a goal apiece over the pre-season friendlies and should also be popular picks, although rotation fears continue to hang over the latter after he managed just 25 starts last season. With ownership of 12.8% and 9.7% respectively, this forward pair are considerably less popular among FPL managers than De Bruyne, who is part of 24.8% of squads.
Sunday’s Community Shield will have persuaded few to push votes the way of either Arsenal or Chelsea assets.
For the Gunners, their key top scorer last season Alexis Sanchez (12.0) failed to even make the teamsheet after returning to training late due to international commitments. Speculation over his future means the Chilean is owned by a mere 9.2% of FPL managers and may not start in Gameweek 1.
New striker Alexandre Lacazette (10.5) also did little for his chances of success in the poll, after failing to find the net and being taken off at the 66th-minute mark.
The Gunners’ potential banana skin home clash against 2015/16 Premier League champions Leicester City is another factor voters are set to consider.
Chelsea appear to have a far easier tie – at home to Burnley – but their key assets also failed to push for inclusion during yesterday’s Wembley clash.
The 2.5%-owned Pedro (8.0) looked the most likely to score, but was dismissed for an ugly lunge on Mohamed Elneny, although he won’t face a ban for that indiscretion.
Meanwhile, Willian (7.0) created three chances, but a booking for a dive was his most memorable contribution, and new striker Alvaro Morata (10.0) was a late substitute and also missed during the match’s penalty shoot-out. This could even see 1.9%-owned squad striker Michy Batshuayi (8.5) earn a start and interest as a differential armband candidate.
Voters may also turn to 14.4%-owned left wing-back Marcos Alonso (7.0), who could earn points at both ends of the pitch given he has already scored in pre-season, notched six times last campaign and faces a Clarets side that conceded 35 goals on the road in 2016/17.
Among strong differential options are Crystal Palace pair midfielder Wilfried Zaha (7.0) and striker Christian Benteke (8.0). The Eagles host a newly-promoted Huddersfield Town outfit that kept just 12 clean sheets in the Championship last season.
With two assists and a goal in pre-season, Zaha may have the edge in the voting over his team-mate, who has only scored once this summer. Zaha also has a far healthier 23.2% ownership to Benteke’s 10%.
We will be back to check in on progress in the poll later ahead of the Gameweek 1 deadline when we deliver our “Captain Sensible” article, offering an analysis of the results and the statistics behind the leading contenders.
