Our World Cup of FPL is hurtling towards the conclusion of the group stages – and we’ve got another vote for you today.
We’ve already seen some high-profile exits from the tournament and could see some more as we delve into Group G.
The vote is open both in the footer of this article and in the sidebar.
To keep you up-to-date, here are the first-round groups in full, with the current results included.
Group A | Group B | Group C | Group D |
1. Frank Lampard | 1. Thierry Henry | 1. Harry Kane | 1. Cristiano Ronaldo |
2. Robin van Persie | 2. Gareth Bale | 2. Didier Drogba | 2. Trent Alexander-Arnold |
3. | 3. | 3. | 3. |
4. | 4. | 4. | 4. |
Group E | Group F | Group G | Group H |
1. Wayne Rooney | 1. Luis Suarez | 1. Kevin De Bruyne | 1. Sergio Aguero |
2. Marcos Alonso | 2. John Terry | 2. Leighton Baines | 2. Mohamed Salah |
3. | 3. | 3. | 3. |
4. | 4. | 4. | 4. |
As you can see, we’ve got an exceptionally tight call between Cesc Fabregas, Jamie Vardy, Kevin De Bruyne and Leighton Baines to settle.
Take a closer look at each of the candidates before casting your vote below or in the sidebar.
Cesc Fàbregas
Cesc Fàbregas is one of those rare FPL assets to have enjoyed relative success at more than one club, Arsenal and Chelsea in his case.
The Spaniard’s time in north London was arguably more fruitful than his later years, but even at Chelsea, he provided plenty of value.
Fàbregas made a total of three Dream Team appearances while he was an Arsenal player in 2006/07, 2007/08 and 2009/10.
With 182 and 205 points in the first of those two campaigns, Fàbregas became something of a goal-sensation in 2009/10.
That year he found the net 15 times, combining those goals with another 15 assists for a huge 214-point haul.
Assists were a big part of Fàbregas’ game as he consecutively hit double-figures for that statistic from 2007/08 until leaving Arsenal in 2011.
After a three-year spell in La Liga with Barcelona, Fàbregas returned to the Premier League, controversially signing for Arsenal’s city rivals Chelsea ahead of 2014/15.
In his debut campaign for the Blues, Fàbregas finished the season with more assists than any other player in the league (19).
After Chelsea’s blip in Leicester’s title-winning season, Fàbregas was back at it again, finishing up in the top three assisters for the 2016/17 season, notching 15 as a £7.5m midfielder.
Jamie Vardy
The rise of Jamie Vardy has captivated football fans for many years and it was just the same with Fantasy managers.
In his first-ever Premier League campaign, despite starting as a £5.0m forward for a newly-promoted team, the Leicester forward ended up with 12 assists to go with his five goals – only Fabregas set-up more than Vardy that year.
But, of course, it was Leicester’s title-winning season in 2015/16 that etched Vardy into the annals of history. Starting out as a £6.0m forward, the former Fleetwood man scored 24 goals and assisted another eight. A total of 32 attacking returns across the campaign ensured he finished it as a £7.4m option, scoring 211 points, behind only Riyad Mahrez and one goal short of the Golden Boot, which Harry Kane eventually got his hands on.
Not surprisingly, following that up proved difficult. Following a massive hike to £10.0m, Vardy netted just 13 goals and registered eight assists for a 161-point score.
However, 2017/18 saw Vardy earn his second Dream Team appearance in three years. That year, at a discounted price, he registered 22 attacking returns and scored 183 points – only Kane scoring more among forwards.
After another 174 points in 2018/19, the current season could see Vardy complete a hat-trick of Dream Team appearances.
After an incredible start to 2019/20, Leicester’s talismanic striker remains the leader in the Golden Boot race (19) and is behind just three other players in the battle to finish this campaign as the top-scoring FPL asset.
Kevin De Bruyne
One of those is Kevin De Bruyne, who is currently behind only Mohamed Salah (186) with his 178 points so far in 2019/20.
But there is so much more to the Belgian than the most recent campaign.
After an indifferent start at Manchester City, with 131 points as a £10.0m midfielder in 2015/16, De Bruyne earned a place in the 2016/17 Dream Team.
Priced at £10.5m, he scored 199 points from 27 attacking returns and more assists than any other player in the Premier League that year (21).
De Bruyne got back into the Dream Team a year later as his 209 points came from another 26 attacking returns. On top of eight goals, the Belgian assisted 18 times, once again claiming more of those than any other player in the division.
After injury wrecked most of his 2018/19 season, De Bruyne was back to his best in 2019/20.
After 26 appearances so far, De Bruyne has already equalled his best-ever goal-tally for a Premier League campaign (eight) and will surely beat it when 2019/20 is allowed to resume. Furthermore, his total of 18 assists is the most of any player in the Premier League thus far. Surely a third season top of the division for that statistic is on the cards, as well as another Dream Team appearance.
Leighton Baines
Leighton Baines is nothing short of an FPL cult hero. The penalty-taking defender holds a place in many of our hearts for years and years of service to the Fantasy scene.
Down through the years, we will have all benefitted from the Everton stalwart’s ability to pull in points from a number of different avenues.
Debuting in 2006/07, since then, Baines has five campaigns in which he registered double-figures for attacking returns, and three in which he did the same for clean sheets.
2010/11, 2012/13 and 2013/14 were the big ones, as he scored 178, 177 and 169 points respectively across those campaigns and earned a place in the end-of-season Dream Team each time. The first of those huge scores even earned him a starting price-tag of £8.0m for the 2011/12 season.
Goals, assists, clean sheets, bonus, you name it, Baines has accrued it in droves and there are many happy memories associated with this man.
Some will remember a glorious day when the left-back found the net with two direct free-kicks, only to say at full-time he did so because Leon Osman had sold him from his Fantasy team!
4 years, 20 days ago
https://mobile.twitter.com/Simon_Hughes__/status/1247109195008180224?s=19
Moment silence for the null and void gang. Liverpool 19/20 PL Champions.