Opinion

Which premium options should we leave out ahead of Gameweek 1?

Fantasy Premier League managers are making final adjustments to their squads ahead of the Gameweek 1 deadline and we’re here to help.

With the price structure making it increasingly harder to shoe-horn in premium options each year, we’ve asked our panel of Fantasy managers what their plan is.

We also wanted to get their thoughts on Everton, budget defensive options and other pre-season strategies…

Who’s on the panel this week?

FPL General – Contributor to the Scout site who has three finishes inside the top 400 in the last five seasons and who has a huge following on Twitter. General – aka Mark – also appeared on the official FPL Show last season.

Who Got the Assist? – Tom and Nick run one of Twitter’s most active Fantasy accounts and run their very own blog, also producing an excellent regular podcast.

FPL Family – Lee and Sam run the popular Fantasy podcast and Twitter account. They were guests on the FPL Show last season.

Ted / Rotation’s Alter Ego – Moderator and the site’s recently appointed Assistant Community Manager. Ted finished 633rd in the world last season.

James / HamezMace  – A long-term member of and frequent poster to the Fantasy Football Scout site.

Tom / avfc82 – A long-term member of and frequent poster to the Fantasy Football Scout site. Tom has a remarkable five top 1,000 finishes to his name in ten years of playing FPL.

Michael: Which premium attackers are you going without and why?

Ted / Rotation: “Right now I’m fairly confident I’ll start with Salah and Sterling, but I’ll have to see if KDB also joins in as well.

“I don’t like the structure or balance of my team when I try fitting in three top-end premiums but two and KDB might work. 

“Kane has had a very tempting price drop, but I won’t be buying him until I see him on the form of the “Old Kane” from seasons like 2016/17.

“On too many occasions last season I saw him sat far too deep for my liking.

“I really, really want Aubameyang – his pre-season form has been scintillating – but I can’t warrant dropping Salah or Sterling from my team.

“Aguero was up against Sterling in my thinking and Sterling won out due to a variety of reasons, including Aguero’s late return from the Copa America and Jesus’ presence.

“Mané won’t be included due to his late return from international duty and I prefer Salah for £1.0m more regardless.

“The £9.5m midfielder bracket has some serious potential with Pépé, Son and KDB in it, but right now I’m only looking at De Bruyne.

“Son is obviously suspended, and I tend to avoid new premium signings as it’s best to see how they settle into the league instead of taking the risk and jumping on immediately – hence no Pépé.

“In reality, it’s less to do with who I don’t with and more to do with who I do.

“Between Salah’s FPL history and his fixtures, he’s pretty nailed in my team.

“It feels like I’m asking for trouble if I go without a Man City attacker, and I much prefer the Sterling/Salah captaincy rotation to the Aubameyang/Salah captaincy rotation.”

HamezMace: “This has been the issue I have wrestled with the most since the game came out.

“Can you fit Kane, Sterling, and Salah into the same team, whilst maintaining some important balance/exit plans for the fringe players?

“I have ruled out Aguero, mostly due to his late return from the Copa America, and rumours he won’t start Gameweek 1.

“I have also ruled out Aubameyang, although this wasn’t easy to do, because I prefer Kane at the same price point.

“I debated the plan to start with Aubameyang and switch to Kane in Gameweek 3, but planned transfers never seem to work out how you plan them – or at least how I plan them!

“So I’m down to Salah, Sterling and Kane.

“Currently, I have all three in my team, and I think if I were to lose one of them it would probably be Sterling.

“I could probably justify it with the following points:

“1. I could have KdB as an alternative to Sterling. Firmino, and Moura don’t have the same appeal as cheaper respective alternatives.

“2. Captaincy, if I had all three of them, I probably wouldn’t captain Sterling ahead of either of the other two in the first few game weeks.

“That’s just me though. I think all of the premium options will do well this season, and I’ll probably have had all of them at some point by Gameweek 38.

“My advice to start the season is to have at least two to rotate the captaincy with and go with your gut feeling.”

Tom from WGTA: “Sterling and Salah are my premium picks, meaning Harry Kane and Pierre Emerick Aubameyang miss out.

“This is by no means a case of being comfortable without them. I’m particularly worried about not owning Kane against Villa.

“However, as the manager of my team, my judgement is that the City and Liverpool midfielders are two who will end up being the highest-scoring players that I ideally will own all season, with the all-important captaincy armband passing between them.

“You can’t have them all and have a balanced side.

“Good luck with who you pick, it’ll be a case of adjusting to how the situation develops.”

Sam from Family: “It’s impossible to fit all the premium assets into your fantasy team – I’ve tried!

“From the forwards, going without Aubameyang and Aguero worries me.

“Arsenal have great fixtures in the early part of the season, in fact there are only three that flash up as red on the Fixture Difficulty ranking between Gameweeks 1 and 16.

“Aubameyang shared last season’s Golden Boot award and was top for expected goals in the Premier League last season, so not to have him feels a little wrong.

“He scored 22 goals in total, but also missed 23 ‘big chances’, the most in the league, so with a bit of composure, would’ve blown Salah and Mané out the water.

“The additions of Pépé and Ceballos to the Arsenal squad makes the Gunner’s attack – including Aubameyang – look even more attractive in FPL.

“I will also be lacking FPL royalty, in Sergio Aguero – often considered a cardinal sin in seasons past.

“This is in part thanks to his busy summer at the Copa América and subsequent late return to Manchester City.

“It also, however, feels very much that in terms of budget, it’s hard to pick Aguero AND one of the City midfielders without making major premium option sacrifices from the other major clubs.

“So, in midfield, I’m stuck choosing between Kevin De Bruyne or Raheem Sterling.

“De Bruyne’s 18/19 season was injury-ravaged, but he, of course, has pedigree.

“KDB was in the FFScout team of the season in 17/18 scoring 209 points and making him the third-highest scoring midfielder that season.

“Budget-balancing will mean that either KDB or Sterling will miss out in my FPL squad and right now it looks like it’s Sterling, so I’m keeping that early Wildcard very much front of mind, should the Englishman find early, explosive form.”

Siddhant: For the General, to KDB or not to KDB? At £9.5m he could be great value…

General: “This is one of the biggest dilemmas I’m having myself this week.

“De Bruyne broke my heart towards the end of last season when I brought him in and gave him the armband only for him to go down clutching his leg in the first half.

“But it is a new season and a clean slate for all players and the £9.5m price tag is too hard to ignore.

“He’s in my latest draft and there’s a good chance he’ll still be there at 7.00pm on Friday.

“f he can avoid injury this season, he will make a mockery of that price tag.

Doderlein: How many premium defenders is it advisable to own? And if you go for 3 or 4 premium defenders, should you go for a cheaper goalkeeper who saves a lot instead?

HamezMace: “For me, the value in premium defenders is potentially greater than ever, if Liverpool and Manchester City can replicate their solid defensive returns from last season.

“Coupled with the attacking returns their formations allow, with the full-backs bombing forward then their respective defensive assets could again prove to be golden in FPL. 

“Although personally, I don’t see the same value in the premium goalkeepers, as they don’t offer the attacking returns the defenders can, and rarely get bonus or save points, compared to the budget keepers at least.

“As always it’s about balance. Having four premium defenders will impact your squad elsewhere.

“The best FPL advice I was ever given was to ensure your Gameweek 1 squad has flexibility, so you can move on any bandwagons or premium players who come flying out the blocks.

“Going so heavy in one area of the team could cause you problems in another department, try and spread the funds around going into GW1 as best as possible.

“In short, I would want at least two premium defenders, but I don’t think more than three are required (unless you’re going five at the back).

General: “I would say three is advisable but I could end up with four £6.0m+ defenders.

“I considered going with five premium defenders but I feel it’s quite restrictive for future transfers so it will be a maximum of four for me. 

“Investing heavily in the premium defenders almost forces you to opt for a cheaper goalkeeper.

“The likes of Pope, Heaton and Ryan are all viable options who should rack up the save points.”

caboose: Who would form the best 4.5m keeper rotation in your opinion?

Ted / Rotation: For me, it’s Heaton and Pope.

When I’m picking my goalkeepers, I tend to look long-term because there’s nothing more that I hate than wasting free transfers sorting out this position.

However, at this early stage, you can look a lot shorter term because you will likely Wildcard early anyways.

If I’m looking for a pairing that will rotate well, all I look at is the fixture difficulty.

A recent community article by “A Fat Spanish Waiter” highlighted how mathematically, if you do decide to rotate keepers, there are likely more points in rotating via fixture difficulty than looking at a Home / Away rotation.

From my experience, that’s certainly the case too.

Looking at the fixture swings, I’d guess I’m most likely to Wildcard around Gameweek 7, 8 or 9 so I’m looking for a pairing that will last me at least nine weeks.

However, I would also like at least one of my goalkeepers to develop into the kind of option that will become a set and forget type, so I can start building value now and not worry about paying extra for them when I Wildcard.

Of the 4.5m options, three stand out as having the save and clean sheet potential to do this – Heaton, Pope and Sheffield United’s Dean Henderson.

Of those, one of Heaton or Pope is my favourite – both excellent FPL pedigree, playing in a team that should allow them to pick up saves but won’t place so much pressure on them to produce that they’ll occasionally concede buckets (See Pickford at Sunderland).

Using the members Season Ticker over Gameweeks 1 to 9 with just teams with nailed 4.5m options included, which will find me a rotation based on fixture difficulty, Heaton best rotates with Pope, Henderson best rotates with Heaton and Pope best rotates with Heaton.

Nothing but Heaton, so he comes in, as does his best rotating partner, Pope, who just so happens to my other preferred 4.5 goalkeeper. Perfect.

The only slight caveat that I’ll include is that I quite like the look of right-back Frederic Guilbert but wouldn’t want to double up.

However, if this did move my favourite from Heaton, it would drop straight to Pope who’s the other keeper already.

Oli Fitz: Who’s worth having from Everton at the start of the season with their sweet fixtures?

HamezMace: “Unfortunately, we’ve not seen Richarlison in pre-season as he was someone I initially had my eye on after the price release.

“He always seems to start the season with a bang, but he might be too much of a risk now.

“I’ve also noticed Sigurdsson slowly disappearing from the RMT requests over the last couple of weeks.

“I assume this is because Everton haven’t really caught the eye during their summer friendlies, but I think if you’re looking for an attacker he is still the man to have from Everton.

“Personally, I can’t look past Lucas Digne as my Everton pick. His potential for attacking returns is frightening.”

Lee: “My thoughts on Everton have been really up and down this pre-season.

“Initially, I saw the fixtures and immediately drafted in Digne and Sigurdsson.

“Then, I saw a couple of their pre-season results and the sale of Idrissa Gueye, at which point I switched Digne to a 4.5 defender and used the extra money to upgrade Sigurdsson to Kevin De Bruyne.

“And there I stayed, with no Everton in my team – until the announcement of Moise Kean.

“The addition of a quality striker at Everton has once again changed my thoughts about including their FPL assets.

“The chances that Sigurdsson and in particular, Digne created last season, largely went to waste, as Marco Silva’s Blues lacked that cutting edge in front of goal.

“Experiments with Tosun, Calvert-Lewin and an out-of-position Richarlison all largely failed, so it’s no wonder Everton’s owners have put their hands in their pockets for one of Europe’s hottest talents.

“At 19-years old and at a reasonably budget-friendly 7.0m in FPL, he’s worthy of consideration in our Gameweek 1 drafts.

“Despite Everton’s less-than-inspiring pre-season form this summer, the Premier League opening fixtures mean the Toffees have a good chance of hitting the ground running.

“A gamble on Kean is certainly something I wouldn’t sniff at – and the ‘safer’ selections of the proven Digne or Sigurdsson are now back in my thoughts.

“Honourable mentions should also go to Seamus Coleman if you want to save 0.5m in defence and Richarlison, who in season’s past, has shown that he is capable of making a good start to a campaign.”

Declan Rynne: Who is the best £4.5m defender for Gameweeks 1 to 4?

avfc82: “Despite looking at Frédéric Guilbert (Aston Villa) and Jack O’Connell (Sheffield United) in recent weeks, La Masia graduate Martín Montoya is my pick of the £4.5m options, and currently in my squad.

“Pre-season suggests Brighton will set up in an adventurous 3-4-3 system, with Montoya utilised on the right flank as a wing-back.

“His attacking threat is key to his appeal – consistently one of the most accurate crossers in the league, he also hit the bar in the recent 4-0 friendly win over Birmingham City.

“There isn’t currently any real competition for his place in the team either, with Bruno retiring. 

“Whilst I understand concerns around Brighton’s defensive resolve, and the fact a more attack-minded manager in Graham Potter has been appointed, having more of the ball and not sitting back quite so much may actually be a good thing and result in fewer goals conceded. 

“With Watford, West Ham United and Southampton in the opening three Gameweeks, Montoya could be a good early season differential, whilst quickly adding to his 0.3% ownership… and let’s be honest, who doesn’t love an attacking wing-back?”

Andy: Hi panel, how many of the promoted teams players would you have in your team maximum, if any?

Tom from WGTA: “Assets from promoted teams? Zero.

“Maybe a personal quirk as I’ve had lots of bad experiences through backing the likes of Tom Cairney in the past, but I tend to find watching and waiting for these instances is beneficial.

“The ownership levels tend to be low enough that it won’t hurt you to just exercise caution, so I’d prefer to wait and see how they adapt to the step up.”

FPL Snooper: What is the optimum number of ‘differentials’ for Gameweek 1?

Ted / Rotation: “The optimum depends on so many things, most importantly your playstyle, but for me, I’ll look at two or three differentials in all likelihood.

“If you talk to a top manager that struggled last season, there’s a fair chance that they will mention having a poor start and never really recovering.

“If you want a top 10k finish, don’t leave yourself with a mountain of work after the first five weeks – start slow and gradually improve your overall rank.

“In terms of FPL, that means being dull in the opening weeks and picking tried and tested point scorers, or people that you know will play and have good fixtures.

“Some will say that now is the time to take risks whilst you have the safety of a wildcard to fall back on but I don’t really agree, though I can see the thought process behind it.

“The other side of the coin is, of course, looking for those players that will build you value over a season, which means leaving the safety of TSB %.

“Finding that balance is key, but I wouldn’t worry about looking for an exact number. If you look at your team and count four or five players that are maybe unproven, rotation risks, injury-prone or just punts, consider dropping one for a more proven FPL asset. 

Jack: Who is the best Leicester midfield option?

avfc82: “It’s hard to look past Ayoze Pérez for me.

“Reclassified as a midfielder, Pérez scored 12 Premier League goals whilst at Newcastle last season.

“Now playing in a better team, you’d expect him to profit from Rodgers attacking approach and up that output. 

“In pre-season, we’ve seen glimpses of what’s to come.

“Against Atalanta, he looked sharp, created the best chance of the game for Jamie Vardy, scored a goal himself and should have added a second. 

“He works for the team, is able to press and force opponents into mistakes and is versatile enough to fit in anywhere across Leicester’s forward line.

“Whether he plays as a second striker in a diamond, or, as I suspect, drifting in from a wider position in a 4-1-4-1 / 4-3-3, I’m backing Pérez to outperform team-mates Youri Tielemans, who’s underlying stats suggest last season’s returns may not be sustainable, and James Maddison.

“I’d also like to mention Harvey Barnes, a player who put up strong numbers last season. He has real goal-scoring potential but with questions marks over his starting spot and accuracy. He’s one for the watchlist.”

MORE TEAM-BY-TEAM ANALYSIS CONTENT

Arsenal | Aston Villa (manager) | Aston Villa (defence) | Aston Villa (attack) | Bournemouth | Brighton | Burnley | Chelsea | Crystal Palace | Everton | Leicester | Liverpool | Man City | Man United | Newcastle | Norwich (manager) | Norwich (defence) | Norwich (attack) | Sheffield United (manager) | Sheffield United (defence) | Sheffield United (attack) | Southampton | Spurs | Watford | West Ham | Wolves

3,334 Comments Post a Comment
  1. caldracula
    • 8 Years
    4 years, 7 months ago

    Comes down to two choices for me, any thoughts appreciated.

    A) Ryan, Sterling + Perez - 4-5-1
    B) Ederson, B.Silva, Vardy - 4-4-2

    Thanks

    1. danlynch13
      • 8 Years
      4 years, 7 months ago

      A!

      1. Swampdonkey
        • 7 Years
        4 years, 7 months ago

        A, with Pope or Heaton?

        1. caldracula
          • 8 Years
          4 years, 7 months ago

          Could go for another 4.5 option, will review that.

    2. KUNingas
      • 8 Years
      4 years, 7 months ago

      A

    3. caldracula
      • 8 Years
      4 years, 7 months ago

      Thanks all.

  2. Liastro ⭐️
    • 12 Years
    4 years, 7 months ago

    Please RMT! Think I’ve hit the jackpot!!

    Heaton
    Robertson VVD Coleman KWP
    Salah Sterling Perez Barkley
    Kane King

    Button - Dendonker Wickham Lundstrum

    1. danlynch13
      • 8 Years
      4 years, 7 months ago

      Nice

    2. Penguin
      • 10 Years
      4 years, 7 months ago

      Barkley may not play

    3. FC Hakkebøf
      • 7 Years
      4 years, 7 months ago

      Heaton, VVD, KWP, Coleman, Sterling -> Lloris, TAA, Digne, Zinchenko, KDB

      Lots of upgrades for one downgrade you won't captain in the first three gameweeks anyway

      1. FC Hakkebøf
        • 7 Years
        4 years, 7 months ago

        Also gives the team better balance

      2. FPL.team
        • Fantasy Football Scout Member
        • 7 Years
        4 years, 7 months ago

        I think I prefer the original

    4. Jealous Viper
      • 5 Years
      4 years, 7 months ago

      One of the best SSK teams I've seen. Looks great. Kwp is a rotation risk though. I might downgrade Barkley to McGinn and upgrade him to a 5.5

    5. allthewine
      • 10 Years
      4 years, 7 months ago

      This is a great team. Very similar to my own.

      My only worry is doubling up on Pool defenders but it seems to be the done thing now.

    6. enrico.palazzo
      • 11 Years
      4 years, 7 months ago

      Near identical to my second draft

    7. I Member
      • 8 Years
      4 years, 7 months ago

      Lovely. As good as it gets for a SSK team.

    8. FPL.team
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 7 Years
      4 years, 7 months ago

      Decent, same mid and forwards as me except I have Jota alongside the front 2 in a 4-3-3. KWP and Barkley would be the only real worries there.

      1. FPL.team
        • Fantasy Football Scout Member
        • 7 Years
        4 years, 7 months ago

        3-4-3*

  3. danlynch13
    • 8 Years
    4 years, 7 months ago

    What are you guys thoughts on this 3-4-3?

    Pope/4.0
    VVD/Robbo/Digne
    Salah/Perez/Sterling/Fraser
    Adams/Wilson/Jota

    Dunk/Dendoncker/Lundstrom

    Thanks!

    1. caldracula
      • 8 Years
      4 years, 7 months ago

      Adams is an unknown quantity and Jota has Europa to deal with but apart from that, looks decent.

      1. danlynch13
        • 8 Years
        4 years, 7 months ago

        Do you think Jota will be that affected with Europa league?

        1. SADIO SANÉ
          • 8 Years
          4 years, 7 months ago

          Find out on Thursday, probably not exactly a plus if he does play

        2. i am jose mourinho
          • 5 Years
          4 years, 7 months ago

          Nope. Cutrone likes uel so..

        3. caldracula
          • 8 Years
          4 years, 7 months ago

          From what I can remember in past seasons, teams that have to qualify for the Europa league tend to struggle. I believe each qualifying round is two legs so it's a fair few extra games and quite a lot of travelling too. I would avoid for now.

    2. allthewine
      • 10 Years
      4 years, 7 months ago

      I like it.

  4. UnitednationsXI
    • Fantasy Football Scout Member
    • 12 Years
    4 years, 7 months ago

    Couple of quick questions:

    1) Heaton set and forget or spend 0.5m to find a rotating combo? Villa have two tough top 6 fixtures plus the two home games in gw2/3 are against Bournemouth and Everton so not easy home games

    2) Barkley with Guilbert 1st sub or VVD with Dendoncker 1st sub. I expect most will say VVD route but a 4.5m def 1st sub is much better imo

    3) Zinchenko or Maguire

    1. I Member
      • 8 Years
      4 years, 7 months ago

      1. Set and forget. Not a fan of goalkeeper rotations as they often do well in the fixtures you bench them for.

      2. VvD over Barkley quite easily. Hopefully you won't need your bench too often and even if you do there shouldn't be much in it.

      3. Don't really like either to start with to be honest.

    2. Jealous Viper
      • 5 Years
      4 years, 7 months ago

      1. Going for the extra 0.5

      2. VVD

      3. Shaw

    3. marrog
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 14 Years
      4 years, 7 months ago

      I like to be able to rotate all my players personally. Yes I know that is not fashionable. So...

      1) Heaton and Pope (see the article)
      2) I agree in principle and like Barkley. Surely there are better def subs than Guilbert, though. ATM I'm Diop and Cathcart but not sure about either. Particularly given the point made above about Montoya.
      3) Zinchenko

  5. Jealous Viper
    • 5 Years
    4 years, 7 months ago

    Getting closer and closer to the end.
    Pope
    TAA Shaw Digne
    Salah Sterling Siggurdson Perez
    Wilson Deulofeu Wesley

    Heaton Dedoncker Dunk Lundstram

    1. SADIO SANÉ
      • 8 Years
      4 years, 7 months ago

      Deulo feels up in the air (Gray) but decent

      1. Jealous Viper
        • 5 Years
        4 years, 7 months ago

        Yeah. Keeping an eye on the situation. I think he'll be fit to start

  6. Penguin
    • 10 Years
    4 years, 7 months ago

    Is this Haller fella any good predictions for his overall tally??

    1. Ask Yourself
      • 7 Years
      4 years, 7 months ago

      Dreadful team

    2. Penguin
      • 10 Years
      4 years, 7 months ago

      He’s dreadful?, ok thanks I’ll remove him.

      1. Ask Yourself
        • 7 Years
        4 years, 7 months ago

        May aswell play for Sheffield

        1. THE SHEEP HUNTERS
          • 6 Years
          4 years, 7 months ago

          Steady

    3. Camzy
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 13 Years
      4 years, 7 months ago

      He's good. But I'm gonna wait and see especially with MCY first game.

    4. Fpl Richie
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 8 Years
      4 years, 7 months ago

      Ask is winding you up I assume. Haller is the boss and don't let anyone tell you otherwise.

      1. Ask Yourself
        • 7 Years
        4 years, 7 months ago

        He’s a troll man he’s only trying to help now as he wants some himself. Check his comment history

        1. Penguin
          • 10 Years
          4 years, 7 months ago

          Defo wouldn’t be asking you for any help, ask yourself, you clearly don’t know your football

          1. Maximus Bonimus Pointimus
            • 14 Years
            4 years, 7 months ago

            Just don't say there's a chance Pepe might need time to adapt

            Poor Ask Yourself tends to get very emotional when this point is raised 😉

            1. Penguin
              • 10 Years
              4 years, 7 months ago

              Lol

        2. Pep Pig
          • 7 Years
          4 years, 7 months ago

          Just checked. Wow this guy is a real asset to the site....

          1. Maximus Bonimus Pointimus
            • 14 Years
            4 years, 7 months ago

            Bless his cotton socks

            1. THE SHEEP HUNTERS
              • 6 Years
              4 years, 7 months ago

              I bloody love that expression.

              1. Maximus Bonimus Pointimus
                • 14 Years
                4 years, 7 months ago

                It's an oldie but a goodie 🙂

                The ironic thing is that most socks these days are not actually made of cotton

                Whilst Cotton socks are inexpensive, they can unfortunately lose shape quickly. Moreover, the fabric can absorb a disproportionate amount of water. This is bad for sports, since sweat from your foot will collect in your cotton socks. Your feet will also be emitting heat. The combination of water and heat creates the perfect environment for blisters and fungus, so athletes should avoid 100% cotton socks.

                Materials such as merino wool, acrylic, nylon, and even Elastane, Spandex, or Lycra have become much more popular for modern day socks

                So it looks like the expression is a bit inaccurate and the joke's on me really 🙂

  7. danlynch13
    • 8 Years
    4 years, 7 months ago

    Is Rose an option at 5.5 or just a bad choice?

    1. FC Hakkebøf
      • 7 Years
      4 years, 7 months ago

      Rotation with Davies... Bad choice

    2. Turns
      • 7 Years
      4 years, 7 months ago

      Wait until the end of the window. Also rotation risk with Davies about (like last season)

  8. ooooo
    • 6 Years
    4 years, 7 months ago

    Best max 5.0mil defender?

    1. Ask Yourself
      • 7 Years
      4 years, 7 months ago

      Rotate 2 4.5s. 5m defender is a big flop this year

      1. SADIO SANÉ
        • 8 Years
        4 years, 7 months ago

        Woah woah don't bad mouth Holebas like that 😀

    2. MosF94
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 5 Years
      4 years, 7 months ago

      Boly when Wolves fixtures clear up

  9. twisterteo
    • 9 Years
    4 years, 7 months ago

    A. VVD + KWP + KING
    B. ZINCH + DUNK + WILSON

    Already have TAA

  10. King Lallana
    • 4 Years
    4 years, 7 months ago

    GTG!? 0.0 ITB

    Ederson
    TAA Zinch Digne
    Perez Salah Sterling Tielemans Siggy
    King Jota

    Button/Greenwood/Targett/Rico

    Thanks!

    1. Turns
      • 7 Years
      4 years, 7 months ago

      Perez and Tielemans not Lei overkill?

      1. King Lallana
        • 4 Years
        4 years, 7 months ago

        Iv'e got a good feeling about Tielemans... cant think of a better 6.5 option? also cant go without Perez! ahhhhh

        1. Turns
          • 7 Years
          4 years, 7 months ago

          Ederson, Zinch, Tielemans -> Heaton/Pope/Ryan, Walker, Moura?

          1. King Lallana
            • 4 Years
            4 years, 7 months ago

            Thanks! You've given me something to think about there! much appreicated

    2. GE
      • 7 Years
      4 years, 7 months ago

      Almost same team as me:

      Ederson -> Pope
      Zinch -> Robbie

      1. King Lallana
        • 4 Years
        4 years, 7 months ago

        Haha it seems like a premium GK is not the way to go?

  11. FPL Blow-In
    • 11 Years
    4 years, 7 months ago

    These are my last struggles...

    TAA or Robertson
    Best 5.5 def.

    1. Camzy
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 13 Years
      4 years, 7 months ago

      TAA.
      Zinchenko.

    2. Miguel Sanchez
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 7 Years
      4 years, 7 months ago

      TAA & AWB

    3. FPL Blow-In
      • 11 Years
      4 years, 7 months ago

      Is TAA not likely to get the odd rotation.

      1. aapoman
        • 10 Years
        4 years, 7 months ago

        He is. That's why I prefer Robbo

    4. A19
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 6 Years
      4 years, 7 months ago

      Robbo and Vertonghen or WanB

  12. Ian Davis
    • 14 Years
    4 years, 7 months ago

    King or Jota?

    1. Jealous Viper
      • 5 Years
      4 years, 7 months ago

      King

    2. A19
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 6 Years
      4 years, 7 months ago

      King

  13. JELLYFISH
    • 11 Years
    4 years, 7 months ago

    Montoya welcome to my team

    1. Ask Yourself
      • 7 Years
      4 years, 7 months ago

      Good pick glad to have you with us

    2. El-Kloppico
      • 8 Years
      4 years, 7 months ago

      Why not Dunk?

    3. Penguin
      • 10 Years
      4 years, 7 months ago

      Don’t do it

  14. jm9481
    • 8 Years
    4 years, 7 months ago

    Thoughts on this?

    Lloris / Heaton
    VVD / AWB / Maitland Niles / Kelly / Dunk
    Sterling / Mane / Anderson / Perez / Dendonker
    Wilson / Jimenez / Abraham

    1. Turns
      • 7 Years
      4 years, 7 months ago

      Too much money on GK - benching nightmare. Downgrade Lloris and upgrade defence

    2. datamunkey
      • 9 Years
      4 years, 7 months ago

      That is the puniest team i have seen on here in a while, bit cumbersome GK wise, go 1 large or 1 small, not in between and the fact you are risky in at least 4 is ballsy:)

  15. Athletic Nasherbo
    • 7 Years
    4 years, 7 months ago

    Reckon Cahill starts? Decent fixtures and a goal threat...

    1. enrico.palazzo
      • 11 Years
      4 years, 7 months ago

      No - but he wouldn’t be in my radar if he did

      1. Athletic Nasherbo
        • 7 Years
        4 years, 7 months ago

        That’s fair.

        1. enrico.palazzo
          • 11 Years
          4 years, 7 months ago

          Can’t find any 4.5 options that I’m interested in either. Even 5.0’s

          1. Athletic Nasherbo
            • 7 Years
            4 years, 7 months ago

            Guilbert/Targett, Montoya/Dunk, Kiko, Cahill/Ward are what I’m thinking...

    2. Penguin
      • 10 Years
      4 years, 7 months ago

      For someone on them wages he’s defo starting

      1. Athletic Nasherbo
        • 7 Years
        4 years, 7 months ago

        Interesting

  16. enrico.palazzo
    • 11 Years
    4 years, 7 months ago

    3rd Draft

    Heaton (4.0)
    Zinchenko -VVD - Coleman (Lundrstram/Rico, Gibson)
    Sterling - Barkley - Salah - Tossard - Martial
    Kane - King (Greenwood)

    1. The Ejiptian King
      • 5 Years
      4 years, 7 months ago

      Not worried about your bench?

      1. enrico.palazzo
        • 11 Years
        4 years, 7 months ago

        Hugely - this was a rash change to my team

        1. The Ejiptian King
          • 5 Years
          4 years, 7 months ago

          I really wanna go 5 in midfield as I quite like the options at 6.0, Barkley/Trossard, but I feel like I need Donck as my only nailed bench player, it's a tough one.

          1. enrico.palazzo
            • 11 Years
            4 years, 7 months ago

            Yep. Completely agree with that and it’s exactly my dilemma

  17. rodog
    • 7 Years
    4 years, 7 months ago

    If you had to choose one - Maguire or Wan-Bissaka and why?

    1. enrico.palazzo
      • 11 Years
      4 years, 7 months ago

      Maguire for set piece threat but neither

    2. Jealous Viper
      • 5 Years
      4 years, 7 months ago

      Wan B, though I like Shaw the most

    3. FPL Blow-In
      • 11 Years
      4 years, 7 months ago

      I had WB and changed to Maguire. Set piece threat was my reasoning but WB more likely for Baps according to others.

    4. A19
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 6 Years
      4 years, 7 months ago

      WanB bonus magnet

    5. El-Kloppico
      • 8 Years
      4 years, 7 months ago

      Shaw

  18. Turns
    • 7 Years
    4 years, 7 months ago

    Any thoughts fellas?

    Pope
    Robbo, VVD, Walker, Coleman
    Salah, KDB, Moura, Perez
    Kane, King

    Button, Dendonker, Lundstram, Wickham

  19. goriuanx
    • 13 Years
    4 years, 7 months ago

    Trossard or Perez?

    1. enrico.palazzo
      • 11 Years
      4 years, 7 months ago

      I’m on trossard

    2. Lingard’s Shin Guards
      • 5 Years
      4 years, 7 months ago

      Perez

    3. A19
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 6 Years
      4 years, 7 months ago

      Perez

    4. Obi Wan Elokobi
      • 12 Years
      4 years, 7 months ago

      Perez

    5. Athletic Nasherbo
      • 7 Years
      4 years, 7 months ago

      Buendia

    6. THE SHEEP HUNTERS
      • 6 Years
      4 years, 7 months ago

      Perez not being in the starting 11 will shake a few feathers.
      Trossard, I haven't got a Billy clue.

  20. A19
    • Fantasy Football Scout Member
    • 6 Years
    4 years, 7 months ago

    Really boring but as my 11th player for GW1 play:
    A) Montoya (wat) 442
    B) McGinn (tot) 352

    1. Miguel Sanchez
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 7 Years
      4 years, 7 months ago

      B

    2. JELLYFISH
      • 11 Years
      4 years, 7 months ago

      I own both and I’m going with A

    3. MosF94
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 5 Years
      4 years, 7 months ago

      A

  21. Andrew
    • 12 Years
    4 years, 7 months ago

    Team locked in, thoughts please?

    Ryan (Button)
    Robbo VVD KWP Zinchenko (Lundstram)
    Salah Perez Sterling Barkley (Dendonker)
    Kane (c) King (Greenwood)

    1. THE SHEEP HUNTERS
      • 6 Years
      4 years, 7 months ago

      Upgrade King > Wilson
      Downgrade Bark > Someone better.

      Should be easy

      1. THE SHEEP HUNTERS
        • 6 Years
        4 years, 7 months ago

        imo

  22. mike09
    • 5 Years
    4 years, 7 months ago

    Pope
    Robbo - VVD - Coleman - Montoya
    Salah - Sterling - KDB - Perez
    Wilson - Wood

    4.0 - Dendo - Lundstram - Greenwood

    The questions comes down to:

    a) Montoya, KDB

    b) Laporte, Fraser

  23. Giorgi89
    • 7 Years
    4 years, 7 months ago

    Hi guys,
    little help to finalise my team:

    A. Ederson - Stones - Murray (all playing) + Lundstram - current situation
    B. Heaton - Laporte - Murray + Lundstram
    C. Heaton - Stones - Wood - Coleman

    Other keeper is mcGovern, have TAA VVD Rico in defense (Wilson / Nkethia fwd)

    Thanks a lot!

  24. JELLYFISH
    • 11 Years
    4 years, 7 months ago

    Noticing a lot of teams dropping the double pool defenders strategy. Is that down to their poor preseason form?

    1. Camzy
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 13 Years
      4 years, 7 months ago

      What teams are you looking at?

      Almost all the ones I've seen have double Pool defense.

      1. JELLYFISH
        • 11 Years
        4 years, 7 months ago

        Scroll up

        1. FC Hakkebøf
          • 7 Years
          4 years, 7 months ago

          4/4

    2. I Member
      • 8 Years
      4 years, 7 months ago

      Only one of the Scouts had double Pool defence on the Scoutcast last night so the sheep are falling in line.

      1. JELLYFISH
        • 11 Years
        4 years, 7 months ago

        Ah ok noted

    3. CarrollsPonytail
      • 7 Years
      4 years, 7 months ago

      I just think doubling up on a defense/attack on GW1 is a massive gamble for any side - you just don't know how quikly they will come out of the blocks. Same goes for doubling up on City attackers on Bournemouth attackers. Rather spread the risk and make changes later if needed.

      1. marrog
        • Fantasy Football Scout Member
        • 14 Years
        4 years, 7 months ago

        Yes. At the beginning of the season, I generally restrict myself to two players from any one team.

  25. OBAMA
    • 9 Years
    4 years, 7 months ago

    Jota or Deeney?

    Was set on Jota but now im thinking Troy because of opening 4 fixtures.. hmm

    1. Miguel Sanchez
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 7 Years
      4 years, 7 months ago

      Jota - much better player

    2. danlynch13
      • 8 Years
      4 years, 7 months ago

      Tough one Jota had a decent pre season but then there eul how did deemed do preseason?

    3. OldBenKenobi
      • 7 Years
      4 years, 7 months ago

      Probably Jota

    4. Maddi Son
      • 6 Years
      4 years, 7 months ago

      Jota will out perform Deeney over the whole season, but I expect Deeney to do better in the first 4.

  26. FC Hakkebøf
    • 7 Years
    4 years, 7 months ago

    A) Lloris, Robertson, Digne, KDB
    B) Pope, VVD, KWP, Sterling

    1. OldBenKenobi
      • 7 Years
      4 years, 7 months ago

      B

      1. FC Hakkebøf
        • 7 Years
        4 years, 7 months ago

        Got Kane + Salah. Does that change your mind?

        1. OldBenKenobi
          • 7 Years
          4 years, 7 months ago

          Yes it does

  27. OldBenKenobi
    • 7 Years
    4 years, 7 months ago

    Someone want to talk me out of this team?

    Pope
    TAA Robbo Zinchenko Emerson
    Salah Sterling KDB Barkley
    Abraham King

    Stekelenburg Dendoncker Gibson Greenwood

    1. OBAMA
      • 9 Years
      4 years, 7 months ago

      Is Abraham gonna get the minutes?

      Apart from that I really like

      1. OldBenKenobi
        • 7 Years
        4 years, 7 months ago

        Think Abraham is first choice personally

  28. Ian Davis
    • 14 Years
    4 years, 7 months ago

    A) Barkley & Wesley

    B) McGinn & Jota/King

    1. OldBenKenobi
      • 7 Years
      4 years, 7 months ago

      B

  29. JackG55
    • 9 Years
    4 years, 7 months ago

    A) Ryan + Wilson
    OR
    B) Ederson + King

    1. OBAMA
      • 9 Years
      4 years, 7 months ago

      A

  30. marcus2704
    • 13 Years
    4 years, 7 months ago

    I dont see too many teams with both Kane and Aubameyang.

    I have Sterling, but it would mean going without Salah.

    How does it look in a 3-5-2?

    Ryan (Button)
    Zinch - VVD - Cathcart - (Dunk, Lundstram)
    Fraser - Barkley - Siggy - Sterling - Perez
    Aubameyang - Kane - (Greenwood)

    1. DV8R
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 12 Years
      4 years, 7 months ago

      No Salah? Madness