Scout Notes

Aubameyang outperforms Salah in early audition for Gameweek 1 FPL captaincy

Arsenal 1-1 Liverpool

Arsenal won on penalties

  • Goals: Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (£12.0m) | Takumi Minamino (£6.5m)
  • Assists: Bukayo Saka (£5.5m)

Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (£12.0m) furthered his case for a Blank Gameweek 1 captaincy as he starred in Arsenal’s Community Shield final win.

The recently converted Fantasy Premier League midfielder scored an excellent first-half goal as his movement and pace caused all sorts of problems for Liverpool in the opening period at Wembley.

Stationed on the left-hand side of the front-three in Mikel Arteta’s 3-4-3 formation, Aubameyang exploited the space behind right-back Neco Williams (£4.0m) in the 12th minute to get his goal. With the defender standing off him too much, he was able to cut inside on his right foot and curl an effort behind Alisson (£6.0m).

“Big games, big moments, big players. (Aubameyang) responded really well to that kind of pressure. We are close (to a new contract for him).” – Mikel Arteta

The £12.0m man faces Fulham on the opening weekend of the Premier League season and Saturday’s performance is sure to only further increase the interest in handing him the FPL captain’s armband.

Such a decision could arguably be made easier by what Fantasy managers saw of Liverpool attackers in the Community Shield final.

With Leeds coming to Anfield in Gameweek 1, Jurgen Klopp’s men had also been the subject of armband attention, especially Mohamed Salah (£12.0m) – but he was certainly not at the races at Wembley Stadium.

The Egyptian put in a rather anonymous display, certainly a far cry from the shot-heavy shifts we saw at the back-end of Project Restart.

Meanwhile, Sadio Mané (£12.0m) spurned one of Liverpool’s best chances of the game, a poor touch giving him the wrong angle to beat Emiliano Martínez (£4.5m) from close range.

What makes Arsenal’s performance more encouraging, and Liverpool’s less so, is the disparity between the two clubs when it came to preparation.

It was the Gunners who came into the Community Shield final with less pre-season game-time under their belt, with some players managing just one training session before the game. Despite that fact, they shot out of the traps and, for the majority of the first hour, were the most alert in both boxes.

By contrast, Liverpool have already played two pre-season matches but took until the introduction of Takumi Minamino (£6.5m) to offer any real insight going forward.

“David (Luiz) had only trained one day just before the final. He was able to play 90 minutes. Thank you to the players.” – Mikel Arteta

A key factor in Liverpool’s struggles at Wembley was the increasingly organised shape and discipline on offer at Arteta’s Arsenal.

Although Minamino did find a way through in the second half, for the most part, the Gunners’ back-three did an excellent job of containing Liverpool and dealing with Andrew Robertson‘s (£7.0m) relentless crossing.

Staffed by Kieran Tierney (£5.5m), David Luiz (£5.5m) and Rob Holding (£4.5m), the Arsenal backline did an excellent job of crowding out Salah and Mané, beating them to virtually every ball. That certainly bodes well for their defensive prospects in 2020/21, especially with Fulham and West Ham up first.

“A lot of teams play in this formation and in the final third you want to be fresh. You want to force it sometimes. We didn’t have our rhythm so we couldn’t create the chances we wanted.” – Jurgen Klopp

“(I was pleased with) the courage of the team. How aggressive we were without the ball, how well we made the decisions to break the pressure of Liverpool and cause them some issues in the backline.” – Mikel Arteta

However, there is still some uncertainty on how exactly to cover Arsenal’s defence this season with none of the £4.5m options particularly nailed-on just yet.

Holding was a key man against Liverpool but William Saliba (£4.5m), a player from whom much is expected, was on the bench at Wembley.

As for the goalkeeper situation, Arteta stopped short of declaring Martínez the first-choice during his pre-match media commitments.

The Spaniard missed Arsenal’s first pre-season friendly due to quarantine from recent travelling, which is why Bernd Leno (£5.0m) and Matt Macey shared minutes at Stadium MK.

However, Arteta seemed to suggest that the main reason Martínez came straight back into the side was that he helped Arsenal qualify for the Community Shield in the first place, having played in the FA Cup final earlier in the summer. Fantasy managers will have to hope one more pre-season friendly can be squeezed in between now and Blank Gameweek 1 to give us more information on the subject.

“I have two fantastic keepers. I think Emi (Martínez) finished the season really strong. He was our goalkeeper in the FA Cup and he deserves to play this final.” – Mikel Arteta

The stock of Liverpool defenders appears to be travelling in the opposite direction. As already mentioned, in the first half especially, Arsenal looked much more dangerous when pressing forward, exploiting space behind the Reds’ backline.

It was not far from a first-choice defence either, only Trent Alexander-Arnold (£7.5m) missing from the usual suspects, but Liverpool still gave up plenty of chances early on. 

Williams offered Aubameyang too much room in the first half, Joe Gomez (£5.5m) gave the ball away a little too often and even Virgil van Dijk (£6.5m) struggled to keep up with some of the mistakes going on around him.

While this Liverpool defence has not become porous overnight, there are still enough troubling signs that Fantasy managers may think twice about investing in a double-up, especially with Alexander-Arnold left out of the Community Shield as a fitness precaution (although he is due to report for England duty on Monday).

Those on the lookout for cheaper attacking options in the Arsenal ranks will have seen more to like about Bukayo Saka (£5.5m) than Eddie Nketiah (£6.0m). The versatile midfielder was a key man for getting Arsenal moving in their counter-attacks during the first half, playing an excellent cross-field assist for Aubameyang’s goal and twice setting up Nketiah.

The former Leeds loanee has been exploiting the absence of Alexandre Lacazette (£8.5m) this week starting both of Arsenal’s pre-season games so far. With the Frenchman heavily rumoured with an exit, there is a chance that Nketiah could lock in the centre-forward’s role but his performance on Saturday was not quite at the level that will entice Fantasy managers.

Nketiah’s approach play was nice and he was certainly willing to receive the ball but the chances that came his way were not executed well enough.

Arsenal XI (3-4-3): Martínez; Tierney (Kolasinac 83′), Holding, D Luiz; Maitland-Niles, Xhaka, Elneny, Bellerín (Cédric 58′); Aubameyang, Nketiah (Nelson 82′), Saka (Willock 82′).

Liverpool XI (4-3-3): Alisson; Robertson, van Dijk, Gomez, N Williams (Minamino 59′); Wijnaldum (Brewster 90+2′), Milner (Keïta 59′), Fabinho; Mané, Firmino (C Jones 83′), Salah.

Best players by position:

936 Comments Post a Comment
  1. balint84
    • 7 Years
    3 years, 7 months ago

    A) Werner + Soucek Or B) Jimenez + St-Maxi

    1. Shark Team
      • 6 Years
      3 years, 7 months ago

      A if you have bench cover.

    2. Coys96
      • 6 Years
      3 years, 7 months ago

      A

    3. Effe
      • 13 Years
      3 years, 7 months ago

      B

  2. Shark Team
    • 6 Years
    3 years, 7 months ago

    Salah not essential! TAA is essential!

    1. Coys96
      • 6 Years
      3 years, 7 months ago

      Agreed, but not if injured!

      1. FPL Daniel
        • 14 Years
        3 years, 7 months ago

        not if injured.

        1. Hy liverpool
          • 10 Years
          3 years, 7 months ago

          not if injured.

  3. sunzip14
    • 7 Years
    3 years, 7 months ago

    Messi situation looks to be getting Messy by the day. If he goes for PCR tests, that's basically him saying I am still a Barca player, which would obviously contradict the clause he exercised by sending the burofax.

    Seems like the Barca board is determined to put all the blame on Messi and push him to force a move out, to not look bad themselves. However, this is badly going to damage the reputation of the club. Expect a lot of Barca jersey to be donated by the Red Cross in underdeveloped regions of the world 😀

    1. Siva Mohan
      • 11 Years
      3 years, 7 months ago

      he should learn from Bale 🙂

      1. g40steve
        • 6 Years
        3 years, 7 months ago

        Correct, four years paid holiday, £650k a week playing golf in Spain - fancy playing Stoke on a wet Dec Mon night?

        1. Hotdogs for Tea
          • 8 Years
          3 years, 7 months ago

          doubt he will sign for a Championship team though ? 🙂

  4. Siva Mohan
    • 11 Years
    3 years, 7 months ago

    Wolves' Conor Coady and Arsenal's Ainsley Maitland-Niles have received their first England call-ups ahead of the Nations League double-header next week.

    1. CaTriEm
      • 10 Years
      3 years, 7 months ago

      Madness that its taken this long for Coady to get a call-up.

    2. lugs
      • 6 Years
      3 years, 7 months ago

      well that's 10mil at least added on to the price of AMN 🙂

  5. Karan14
    • 7 Years
    3 years, 7 months ago

    Have second thoughts about Mitrovic
    I think Fulham's first 5 fixtures (ARS, lee, AVL, shu, wol) aren't easy as they look on paper maybe.

    Considering shifting to either Adams or a 5th mid like Pereira/JWP/Saka.

    1. WVA
      • 7 Years
      3 years, 7 months ago

      Can't have two 4.5 strikers though as none play

      1. Sanchit
        • 8 Years
        3 years, 7 months ago

        What's the harm?
        The 2 points once or twice a season from a sub aren't really making a huge difference

    2. Jay Jay Okocha
      • 10 Years
      3 years, 7 months ago

      Mitrovic isn't even in the country at the moment.

    3. Cok3y5murf
      • 7 Years
      3 years, 7 months ago

      Had the same feeling today. Think he's a massive trap. Can see Fulham losing/struggling against all those teams. I feel like I auto-picked him at first because I had 6m to spare and couldn't see any other obvious option. But I've removed him now.

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

        Same. I now have everybody's favourite post-lockdown underperformer, Mr DCL himself!

  6. Siva Mohan
    • 11 Years
    3 years, 7 months ago

    According to the Telegraph, Fulham have joined the race for the signature of Bournemouth striker Callum Wilson.

    --

    According to Leicestershire Live, Leicester City have secured the future of highly-rated academy prospect Luke Thomas with a new long-term contract.

    Brendan Rodgers has expressed his delight over the youngster’s new deal, hailing the academy graduate as a ‘fantastic young player’.

    1. g40steve
      • 6 Years
      3 years, 7 months ago

      Thomas news is old my work mate drinks with Thomas dad.

  7. DA Minnion (Former great)
    • 11 Years
    3 years, 7 months ago

    Kock signs for Leeds. Has been a big day.

  8. Dreaming of glory
    • 8 Years
    3 years, 7 months ago

    McCarthy

    Taa - Egan - vinagre

    KDB - Messi (14m) - Greenwood - Pulisic - Soucek

    Werner - Mitrovic

    Steer, Johnson, Mitchel/Ferguson, Brewster

    Messi locked in perma captain

    1. DA Minnion (Former great)
      • 11 Years
      3 years, 7 months ago

      Nice dream.

      1. Reeceviljoen
        • 10 Years
        3 years, 7 months ago

        Hehehe

  9. el polako
    • 6 Years
    3 years, 7 months ago

    From FPL perspective I dont want Messi to join english club, this would squeze the game to 9 a side considering that every man and his dog would own Leo & Trent.

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

      Yeah but how much I'd like to see Messi play in the Prem outweighs how much I think it'll be bad for FPL.

    2. A.T
      • 13 Years
      3 years, 7 months ago

      He's too old to hack it in the Prem now. His massive price tag would lure the foolish in leaving the door open for the minority to make an unassailable lead in the pursuit of FPL glory

      1. Tomerick
        • 9 Years
        3 years, 7 months ago

        Whilst I’m not as confident as you, I certainly don’t think it would be a cakewalk for him and I don’t think he would be essential, particularly if he was priced over 13m.

        1. A.T
          • 13 Years
          3 years, 7 months ago

          He be 15m minimum imo

          1. Reeceviljoen
            • 10 Years
            3 years, 7 months ago

            Can never get 14mil no experience in the PL

            1. A.T
              • 13 Years
              3 years, 7 months ago

              Good point

      2. el polako
        • 6 Years
        3 years, 7 months ago

        Involved in over 50 (struggling) Barca goals last season playing for most potent attack in PL - dont think his age would matter much.

      3. Jay Jay Okocha
        • 10 Years
        3 years, 7 months ago

        He's 6 months younger than the reigning golden boot winner.

        1. A.T
          • 13 Years
          3 years, 7 months ago

          Don't spoil it

  10. Tomerick
    • 9 Years
    3 years, 7 months ago

    Saka over Armstrong for the first two?

    1. Karan14
      • 7 Years
      3 years, 7 months ago

      Yes think he's a decent punt

    2. Coys96
      • 6 Years
      3 years, 7 months ago

      No, Still not nailed

      1. Tomerick
        • 9 Years
        3 years, 7 months ago

        Is Armstrong though?

        1. Coys96
          • 6 Years
          3 years, 7 months ago

          Yes

          1. Tomerick
            • 9 Years
            3 years, 7 months ago

            Thanks

    3. Qaiss
      • 8 Years
      3 years, 7 months ago

      He isn't nailed. Willian, Aubameyang, Pepe can all play in his position.

      1. Tomerick
        • 9 Years
        3 years, 7 months ago

        That’s me convinced thanks.

  11. Coys96
    • 6 Years
    3 years, 7 months ago

    Finding it hard to ditch one of Martial, Kane & Werner...

    If you had to drop one who would it be and why?

    1. sunzip14
      • 7 Years
      3 years, 7 months ago

      Martial, doesn’t have a game on GW 1.

      1. Coys96
        • 6 Years
        3 years, 7 months ago

        But I want him from GW2

    2. Karan14
      • 7 Years
      3 years, 7 months ago

      Kane

    3. nolard
      • 9 Years
      3 years, 7 months ago

      Kane - most pricey, and you can invest in the array of good midfielders instead.

    4. Tomerick
      • 9 Years
      3 years, 7 months ago

      Drop Martial from the start and move Kane on to him if he has his typical slow start.

      1. Coys96
        • 6 Years
        3 years, 7 months ago

        Like that idea tbh. Fixtures great from GW5 though

    5. DA Minnion (Former great)
      • 11 Years
      3 years, 7 months ago

      Martial

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

    Didn't get to see the game. What's the story with Willian?

    1. A.T
      • 13 Years
      3 years, 7 months ago

      It was really nothing

    2. Tomerick
      • 9 Years
      3 years, 7 months ago

      He’s always been a liability FPL wise. I don’t know why a move to a lesser club would change that.

      1. deathcabofdevil
        • 10 Years
        3 years, 7 months ago

        Didn't know he signed for Spurs already.

  13. Heavy Data
    • 7 Years
    3 years, 7 months ago

    Week one bench boost team??

    McCarthy//Martinez
    Aurier//Doherty//Trent//Mitchell//Douglas
    Salah//Aubu(c)//Son//Stephens//Soucek
    Mitrovic//Nketiah//Werner(vc)

    1. Qaiss
      • 8 Years
      3 years, 7 months ago

      Bench boosting Nketiah, Mitchell, Stephens, Mitrovic ew

      1. Bank$y
        • 5 Years
        3 years, 7 months ago

        At least he has a bench to boost. Most don’t.

    2. Christina.
      • 14 Years
      3 years, 7 months ago

      GL
      not for me

    3. Netley Lucas
      • 8 Years
      3 years, 7 months ago

      Worst BB ever? Sheesh, BB is good for 25pts, not 5pts!

    4. dunas_dog
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 8 Years
      3 years, 7 months ago

      Good but looks like Martinez may go to Villa, Aurier probably leaving with Doherty coming in to Spurs, Johnson more likely to start than Douglas. Bissouma or Anguissa over Stephens

    5. Amey
      • 5 Years
      3 years, 7 months ago

      You'd do well to play 14

    6. Z
      • 6 Years
      3 years, 7 months ago

      Justo DON'T do that 🙂

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

      Bench boosting in the week where you're least likely to know who starts sounds like a recipe for disaster to me. 4 non starters = 0

    8. SackWenger
      • 14 Years
      3 years, 7 months ago

      Sell Nketiah and press the autoselect button and it will be an improvement. That's one useless turd.

  14. FOO FIGHTER
    • 4 Years
    3 years, 7 months ago

    LFC went onto lose the Charity Shield on penalties after drawing 1-1 with City last season.

    Neither Mane or Salah scored that day.

    I would not read much into this friendly game.

    1. Gudjohnsen
      • 7 Years
      3 years, 7 months ago

      That was City under Pep but this is Arsenal.

  15. KujaliaFC
    • 11 Years
    3 years, 7 months ago

    If Brewster doesn't move soon, I'll need to replace him in my squad.

    I have Haller in mind, but nobody else seems to fancy him.

    Is there something I've missed?

    1. Z
      • 6 Years
      3 years, 7 months ago

      He is the best 4.5 striker for the bench

    2. Bank$y
      • 5 Years
      3 years, 7 months ago

      Goals, for one.

    3. Arn De Gothia
      • 13 Years
      3 years, 7 months ago

      Hams fixturen gw 2-7 isnt that sexy?

      1. KujaliaFC
        • 11 Years
        3 years, 7 months ago

        Sure, but people have piled into Antonio, and Haller has less than 1% ownership.

  16. Eleven Hag
    • 6 Years
    3 years, 7 months ago

    Gonna try this one 451

    Ryan
    Taa Tierny Digne Vinagre KWP
    Auba Salah Greenwood Son Zyech
    mitrovic // Davies Brewster

    Salah to Bruno GW2 and upgrade son to KDB in GW3/GW4

    1. Z
      • 6 Years
      3 years, 7 months ago

      It is different, balanced and very good.
      Few small tips
      1. I think Doherty is better then Digne
      2. Try to make transfers at GW3 (then make 2 free transfers), give your sqaud a chance untill then

      1. Jay Jay Okocha
        • 10 Years
        3 years, 7 months ago

        Balanced you say?

        1. Z
          • 6 Years
          3 years, 7 months ago

          Yes it is. You gonna say that he is weak upfront, but if u calculate points that his squad can bring- he has balance.
          He has different strategy then mosz of us, and it could work

          1. Jay Jay Okocha
            • 10 Years
            3 years, 7 months ago

            That's not what balance means.

            1. Z
              • 6 Years
              3 years, 7 months ago

              Balance is sujective thing. I think that this guy is trying something different, he has nice squad, players from every team etc

              1. Eleven Hag
                • 6 Years
                3 years, 7 months ago

                Yes that's what I meant to go for, as the only other striker I wud have wanted is werner and zyech looked good to cover him

                Also it gives all the MF players I want like son, auba, salah, Bruno, KDB, etc

      2. Eleven Hag
        • 6 Years
        3 years, 7 months ago

        Thanks mate

        Reason for Bruno IN for Salah in GW2 is that Liverpool are going to play good defensive sides after Leeds and Bruno has palace at home to start with

    2. TheSteel
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 11 Years
      3 years, 7 months ago

      Front line too weak IMO

    3. DA Minnion (Former great)
      • 11 Years
      3 years, 7 months ago

      Don't like 4 5 1

    4. The Wise Owl
      • 8 Years
      3 years, 7 months ago

      Greenwood doesn't play GW1

      1. Z
        • 6 Years
        3 years, 7 months ago

        He will benc him

      2. Eleven Hag
        • 6 Years
        3 years, 7 months ago

        Bench

  17. TheSteel
    • Fantasy Football Scout Member
    • 11 Years
    3 years, 7 months ago

    How do i update my team link?

    1. g40steve
      • 6 Years
      3 years, 7 months ago

      Get the new number of team from GWH link & just change numbers from last year.
      Or cut & paste complete new link

  18. Freund88
    • Fantasy Football Scout Member
    • 7 Years
    3 years, 7 months ago

    Anyone interested in Zaha? As I build a team, a price point between 6 and 7.5 for a third midfielder seems to work well.

    Maybe he turns to Foden or Greenwood eventually, but hopefully place have more goals in them with Eze signing.

    Thoughts?

    1. The Wise Owl
      • 8 Years
      3 years, 7 months ago

      No, Zaha never has, and never will be a good FPL asset

    2. Z
      • 6 Years
      3 years, 7 months ago

      Simply there is not space for Zaha....Eze with 6m is interesting

  19. ThisPostsOnFire
    • 7 Years
    3 years, 7 months ago

    I'm almost 100% convinced to go with a GW3 wildcard moving from this squad:

    McCarthy (Nyland)

    TAA, Justin, Thomas, Vinagre, (Mitchell)

    Auba, Salah, Son, Saka, (Stephens)

    Kane, Ings, (Brewster)

    To This:

    McCarthy (Nyland)

    TAA, Justin, Taylor, Vinagre, (Mitchell)

    KDB, Fernandes, Pulisic, (Stephens, Anguissa)

    Martial, Ings, Werner

    1. TheSteel
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 11 Years
      3 years, 7 months ago

      100%!? I haven't even made a first draft yet 😀

    2. Z
      • 6 Years
      3 years, 7 months ago

      Justin is nailed only for fee weeks, and Saka is 100% not the choice

    1. Z
      • 6 Years
      3 years, 7 months ago

      He is great player, but he is 100% not for the FPL

      1. The 12th Man
        • 10 Years
        3 years, 7 months ago

        Nope. Will be good for Richarlison and DCL though.

        1. Z
          • 6 Years
          3 years, 7 months ago

          i have watched so many Napoli games (some live too) he is GREAT player. He can cover whole feild, but he will not bring many pts

  20. Flynny
    • 9 Years
    3 years, 7 months ago

    If messi moves to city all this planning out of the window!

    I guess most people would ditch both salah and auba to afford him....

    1. Isco Disco
      • 6 Years
      3 years, 7 months ago

      Messi has yet to prove that he can play well in different leagues, unlike CR7!
      I wouldn't rush to get him in even if City signed him. Would rather have KDB and Kun in my team.

      1. Flaming Flamingo
        • 7 Years
        3 years, 7 months ago

        You just called him a cry baby for wanting to leave, yet when Ronaldo moves to a different club you choose to take it as a positive. A bit contradictory don't you think?

    2. Z
      • 6 Years
      3 years, 7 months ago

      Nope....i dont give a F about Messi to be honest 🙂

    3. Karan14
      • 7 Years
      3 years, 7 months ago

      Bruno & Messi is enough then I reckon

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

      KDB to Messi and Martial down to whoever it has to be

    5. Reeceviljoen
      • 10 Years
      3 years, 7 months ago

      Messi is not coming guys come now

      1. Isco Disco
        • 6 Years
        3 years, 7 months ago

        He's a cry baby. He wants to leave Barca after that humiliating loss in the CL and trophyless season. Only way he stays is if their President resigns

    6. SackWenger
      • 14 Years
      3 years, 7 months ago

      From purely an fpl perspective it would be perfect. Take out that randomness of captaincy choice.

  21. pmletch
    • 8 Years
    3 years, 7 months ago

    Any advice?

    Ryan
    TAA, Vinagre, KWP
    Salah, Auba, Son, Pereira, Armstrong
    Werner, Jimenez

    Auba or Salah for KDB in gw2/3

  22. Z
    • 6 Years
    3 years, 7 months ago

    Why ppl insist on Pereira so much???

    1. The Wise Owl
      • 8 Years
      3 years, 7 months ago

      Good stats in the Championship

      1. Z
        • 6 Years
        3 years, 7 months ago

        Why not Eze then? Best dribler, 14 goals 8ass.

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

      Buendia effect

  23. Gudjohnsen
    • 7 Years
    3 years, 7 months ago

    Salah ownership to 5% if Messi joins City?

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

      Doubt it

      1. Flynny
        • 9 Years
        3 years, 7 months ago

        Mccarthy
        Taa 4.5 4.5 4.5 4
        Messi son greenwood Armstrong soucek
        Martial werner mitro

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

          Something like that though I would want Bruno in it personally

  24. Reeceviljoen
    • 10 Years
    3 years, 7 months ago

    Messi

    Messi messi Messi Messi
    Messi Messi messi messi messi
    Messi Messi

    1. The Wise Owl
      • 8 Years
      3 years, 7 months ago

      Looks Messi

      1. Z
        • 6 Years
        3 years, 7 months ago

        So many kids and fanboys here.....just forget about it 🙂

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

    Soucek again on the scoresheet today. Fixtures sure, but he's such a good enabler and frankly an odd player. A dcm with a Frank Lampard meets Andy Carroll late arrival into the box habit.

    1. Z
      • 6 Years
      3 years, 7 months ago

      For that money he can be a good investment! But its risky so far

    2. WVA
      • 7 Years
      3 years, 7 months ago

      He will crush that 5m price tag and like you say enables a fantastic team.

    3. Bada Bing
      • 7 Years
      3 years, 7 months ago

      He looks to have an eye for goal for sure. He's definitely my 4th or 5th mid and will start the easier games.

  26. Bouncebackability
    • Fantasy Football Scout Member
    • 14 Years
    3 years, 7 months ago

    Arteta comments just makes you think Leno is going in goal right? Does me.

    1. Z
      • 6 Years
      3 years, 7 months ago

      Yeap and thats killing me!

    2. Bada Bing
      • 7 Years
      3 years, 7 months ago

      Martinez starting was just a reward for him as he played in the FA cup last season. So I expect him to be the cup/backup keeper next season unless Leno plays badly.

  27. skooldaze
    • 13 Years
    3 years, 7 months ago

    FPL Vets League:

    https://fantasy.premierleague.com/leagues/join
    League code*: x77gau
    Deadline: 11:00 UK time – 12 September 2020

    Skooldaze's FPL Vets mini-league is open to all those old hands who started playing FPL before or at the start of the 2006/07 league*

    If you have an entry on your history page with a score from that first season, then you can join.

    A real virtuoso experience when you played with just pure experience, skill and luck. None of your fancy stats, season tickers, and twitter leaks thank you very much.

    If you remember when the league took 2 weeks to update, your most expensive player became your vice-captain and chips were only at tea-time, then you'll be old...experienced enough for this league!

    Also, a charity donation of £50 will be made to the ultimate winner's charity of choice!

    https://fantasy.premierleague.com/leagues/join
    League code*: x77gau

    *we know the game starter earlier than this but FPL Towers didn't keep the scores!

  28. gooberman
    • Fantasy Football Scout Member
    • 12 Years
    3 years, 7 months ago

    I guess there will be a lot of folks interested in Martinez after him starting tonight. Even if he does get the nod over Leno, for me, the other 2 4.5m keepers Ryan and McCarthy are still better options.

    Looking at last season's stats, Arsenal conceded a total of 553 shots which was the 5th worst, 193 of which were on target which was the 3rd worst.

    Southampton and Brighton conceded a total of 452 and 498 respectively with 168 on target for both.

    These stats suggest that both Southampton and Brighton had better defences than Arsenal last year. Arsenals defence is pretty poor especially with that clown David Luiz still there.

    1. Z
      • 6 Years
      3 years, 7 months ago

      This is not the same Arsenal, and Martinez is not nailed- that is the ONLY problem

      1. gooberman
        • Fantasy Football Scout Member
        • 12 Years
        3 years, 7 months ago

        Looks the same Arsenal to me. What's different? What defenders have they signed?

        1. deathcabofdevil
          • 10 Years
          3 years, 7 months ago

          Saliba. Gabriel. Tightened up at the back.

    2. Bring back Rafa
      • 4 Years
      3 years, 7 months ago

      If Arsenal conceded more shots on target, but fewer goals that would mean their GK is a much better option.

      I agree, Ryan & McCarthy are better options than Martinez but only because there is so much uncertainty with Arsenal's GK.....If Martinez played 38 games he will beat the other 2 no question

      1. gooberman
        • Fantasy Football Scout Member
        • 12 Years
        3 years, 7 months ago

        My point and argument is that even if Martinez is the chosen number one and played every game, Ryan and McCarthy are still better options.

  29. WVA
    • 7 Years
    3 years, 7 months ago

    Advice most welcome, 1.5 ITB for Son to Bruno GW2.

    McCarthy
    TAA Dier Egan
    Salah Auba Son ASM Soucek
    Werner Mitrovic
    Steer Brewster Vinagre Taylor