Pre-Season

The best strategies to navigate FPL Blank Gameweek 1 with or without chips

As neither one of Manchester United or Manchester City play in a Blank Gameweek 1 this season, planning for the new campaign is arguably harder than ever for Fantasy Premier league managers.

The awkward nature of the opening round of fixtures is, of course, not the only problem we face.

A short than usual pre-season means we have slightly less data and information regarding starting line-ups, some players are still missing due to coronavirus-related tests, either testing positive or receiving track and trace alerts.

And that’s before we even consider how long the Premier League campaign might last in light of the ongoing pandemic, as well as a new Gameweek deadline and sudden loss of early team news.

Amid all of that uncertainty, Fantasy managers face the challenge of navigating Blank Gameweek 1 without leaving themselves short-handed beyond it.

There are at least four teams that will not feature in Gameweek 1: Manchester United, Manchester City, Burnley and Aston Villa. Their absence from the opening round of fixtures just makes things more complicated for us, considering the two Manchester clubs have plenty of exciting options and Jack Grealish (£7.0m) could, in theory, replicate some of last season’s form.

How should we plan our strategy to navigate the early challenges? In this article, I would like to examine several possible options to solve the problem, added with the analysis of each strategy’s strengths and weaknesses.

Early Wildcard

Activating the Wildcard early has actually been a quite common strategy in the FPL world.

Such tactic has been one of the crowd’s favourite as it gives the flexibility to follow any early season bandwagon that you might have missed out on. Think of the furore surrounding Aaron Wan-Bissaka (£5.5m) in 2018/19 or the John Lundstram (£5.5m) last year.

Going for the Wildcard sooner rather than later also helps you identify the early-season premium template, which in consequence influences the squad value in a very positive way.

The negative side of using the Wildcard so quickly is on the knock-on effect it has one any long-term plans, as the second one feels so far away.

It pushes the managers to the situation where there is no contingency plan outside taking hits should unprecedented events occur between the first and the second Wildcard activation.

For the 2020/21 season, in particular, there are so many factors to consider.

After the Blank Gameweek, the four fixtureless teams have quite promising runs in the near future, at least according to the Fixture Difficulty Rating (FDR) metric from the official FPL site.

Aston Villa will face a Sheffield United outfit without Dean Henderson (£5.5m) and a newly-promoted Fulham side. Burnley host Leicester and Southampton, while Manchester City face Wolves and the Foxes themselves. Admittedly, those fixtures are not the easiest but they improve beyond that.

Fernandes haul raises the bar for top 10k's most popular captain Salah

However, Manchester United go into Gameweek 2 facing Crystal Palace and then Brighton, so making a move to get on Bruno Fernandes (£10.5m), Marcus Rashford (£9.5m), Anthony Martial (£9.0m) or Mason Greenwood (£7.5m) is tempting indeed.

Deploying that early Wildcard in Gameweek 2 or 3 could certainly help steal a march on those around you, with Fernandes and Martial against Palace or Brighton acting as big differentials.

Furthermore, in this strangest of seasons, it might take longer than usual to find out who the budget enablers are too. In a usual campaign, each team would have played maybe four to five friendlies at least, for us to know the starting £4.0m defenders and £4.5m forwards before Gameweek 1.

This time around, much less is certain with Nathan Ferguson (£4.0m) injured at Palace, Ben Johnson (£4.0m) still competing for minutes with Ryan Fredericks (£4.5m) and Rhian Brewster‘s (£4.5m) Liverpool future still hanging in some sort of balance.

There are significant caveats to this strategy, of course. Due to the ongoing pandemic, the transfer window remains open into the first week of October, after the Gameweek 2 or 3 deadline.

Activating the Wildcard before this shuts could be very risky indeed, especially with Lionel Messi rumoured to be on his way to English shores.

Trying to balance emerging bandwagons, injuries, COVID-19 regulations, or even another lockdown, could prove tricky for those who have already used their Wildcard early on.

EARLY MINI-WILDCARD

Aubameyang outperforms Salah in early audition for Gameweek 1 FPL captaincy

The early Mini-Wildcard strategy is pretty similar to the early Wildcard concept. Instead of activating that precious chip, we could save the free transfer on Gameweek 1 to do three transfers for Gameweek 3 with a four-point hit. It might sound uninspiring to take early points hits, but saving that Wildcard could prove crucial.

Obviously, a number set of transfers should be well-planned. Luckily, the fixtures make doing so quite easy at this stage.

For example, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (ful/WHU), Michail Antonio (NEW/ars), and Jamie Vardy (wba/BUR) each have relatively favourable initial fixtures before things get tougher from Gameweek 3 onwards.

This is where the early Mini-Wildcard strategy could take advantage, by replacing the trio with say, for example, Martial (BHA), Timo Werner (wba), and Raúl Jiménez (whu).

The Mini-Wildcard does retain some advantages of the early Wildcard strategy, and leaves the chip intact, but there are still plenty of potential disadvantages.

The pre-planned transfers make our strategy inflexible; should any unprecedented events occur such as injury or transfer / loan out of the players in our starting XI, we are left with no options to navigate the situation, except to (1) change the strategy to the early Wildcard, (2) take hits to transfer out the injured/transferred players, or (3) do nothing and accept the decreased team value.

The early Mini-Wildcard strategy also prevents us from overhauling the majority of our squad at the same time – three players is probably the limit with an acceptable amount of point hits taken.

TRANSFER PLAN TEMPLATE

The template transfer plan might be one of the most popular strategies discussed online. Executed very similarly with the early Mini-Wildcard strategy, this does not involve point hit and uses the free transfer in each Gameweek accordingly.

One of the most fashionable transfer plans mentioned is the switch around the premium players, having Aubameyang and Mohamed Salah (£12.0m) the start, then move the Egyptian for Fernandes in Gameweek 3, and the switch the Arsenal man to Kevin De Bruyne (£11.5m) in Gameweek 3.

The other options are to transfer in Greenwood / Rashford / Martial for Gameweek 2, and Sterling / Werner / Ziyech in for Gameweek 3.

The upside point of the transfer plan template strategy is that the captain selection thinking is going well and inline with the transfer.

By having the aforementioned transfer plan, we could have the captain / vice-captain options of:

  • Gameweek 1: Salah against Leeds or Aubameyang at Fulham
  • Gameweek 2: Aubameyang against West Ham or Bruno Fernandes vs Crystal Palace
  • Gameweek 3: Bruno Fernandes vs Brighton or De Bruyne against Leicester
  • Gameweek 4: De Bruyne against Leeds
  • Gameweek 5: Bruno Fernandes vs Newcastle
  • Gameweek 6: De Bruyne against West Ham

What a set of promising fixture-based captaincy selection that is. However, there is still a certain degree of inflexibility involved in this strategy if other issues arise in that time.

Benching Manchester assets in BGW1

Another popular strategy in the FPL community is to own a Manchester asset in Blank Gameweek 1 and simply bench them.

However, this is likely only effective if you go for one of the cheaper assets, ruling out De Bruyne, Sterling Fernandes.

Rashford, Martial, Greenwood, Riyad Mahrez (£8.5m), or Phil Foden (£6.5m) seem much more appropriate options for this strategy, although you will have to make sure you are confident in your budget enablers elsewhere too.

That’s because you will almost certainly have to start them in Blank Gameweek 1. Tomas Soucek (£5.0m) has already put himself forward for this, while Jarrad Branthwaite (£4.0m), Leander Dendoncker (£4.5m) and perhaps Tyrick Mitchell (£4.0m) are others to consider.

By applying this strategy, the weakness of transfer inflexibility from the previous strategies can be avoided. The managers who go down this route might also end up getting some price rises out of the Manchester asset they hold from the beginning.

However, it goes without saying that this strategy does damage your points ceiling for Blank Gameweek 1 considering you’ll be leaving a heftier than usual chunk on the bench.

CONCLUSION

As tough as the challenge might be, we somehow always have options of escape routes as FPL managers. Obviously, there is no “correct way” to navigate Blank Gameweek 1 as we cannot see the future, but with several medium-term plans and educated estimation, we might optimise our damage control.

Every manager will eventually decide the strategy that suits each of them the most; whether you take the risk of benching expensive assets or activating a Wildcard early.

I, personally, would prefer to bench someone like Greenwood in Gameweek 1 (the cheapest route to the Manchester assets with relatively safe game time).

The uncertainties at this time, such as COVID-19 implications, late transfer window deadline, and even the future of Messi, does not help me to see that taking the risk having no Wildcard could be worth it for higher point ceilings (only) in the first two Gameweeks.

Hopefully you found this article useful but remember to go with the strategy that suits you best.

Best players by position:

1,886 Comments Post a Comment
  1. SHOOTER MCGINN
    • 8 Years
    3 years, 6 months ago

    A Son, Greenwood, Werner
    B Salah, Alli, Mitro

    This is basically why I'm happy going without Salah

    1. Jonnyb40
      • 3 Years
      3 years, 6 months ago

      Salah Werner mitro ??

    2. Leaf
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 14 Years
      3 years, 6 months ago

      B

    3. One Man
      • 7 Years
      3 years, 6 months ago

      A.

  2. Will J 256
    • Fantasy Football Scout Member
    • 3 Years
    3 years, 6 months ago

    Who is a better option/more nailed. Lamptey or Veltman?

    1. DIMITRIS
      • 5 Years
      3 years, 6 months ago

      Coin toss apparently

    2. FPL Theorist
      • 4 Years
      3 years, 6 months ago

      Neither, they seem to be competing for the same spot.

    3. OLDHERMAN
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 6 Years
      3 years, 6 months ago

      Veltman is a far better player but needs time to settle.

  3. Bggz
    • Fantasy Football Scout Member
    • 13 Years
    3 years, 6 months ago

    Who will start in goal for Arsenal?

    1. OLDHERMAN
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 6 Years
      3 years, 6 months ago

      A close call, but there are hints on Emi Martinez.

      1. Dthinger
        • Fantasy Football Scout Member
        • 7 Years
        3 years, 6 months ago

        There are also hints it will be Leno

        1. OLDHERMAN
          • Fantasy Football Scout Member
          • 6 Years
          3 years, 6 months ago

          Headache affair

  4. JJeyy
    • 8 Years
    3 years, 6 months ago

    Are many overlooking the Dele Alli effect on Kane?
    Dele was pushing further forward when fit and starting under mourinho, hurting Kane's attacking potential, or could it just be down to Kane being off-form at the time.

    1. One Man
      • 7 Years
      3 years, 6 months ago

      If I remember right. Kane hit good form just as the fixtures turned green.

  5. Jonnyb40
    • 3 Years
    3 years, 6 months ago

    Half 0.5 left in bank. Possibly looking at upgrading a defender. Should I upgrade my 4 mil, 4.5 mil or 5 mil defender?

    1. Bggz
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 13 Years
      3 years, 6 months ago

      save it if you can it'll be gold GW 2.

      1. Jonnyb40
        • 3 Years
        3 years, 6 months ago

        Thanks, am pretty happy with my defence to be fair

  6. DIMITRIS
    • 5 Years
    3 years, 6 months ago

    Thoughts on this guys:

    McCarthy
    TAA / Doherty / Vinagre / Justin (Mitchell)
    Auba / Son / Soucek / ASM (Bruno benched for GW1)
    Werner / Ings (Brewster)

    0.5 ITB for Ings ---> Martial in GW2

    1. Blueberg
      • 8 Years
      3 years, 6 months ago

      I like it. Kind of what I'm looking at, just too scared going without salah against Leeds.

      1. DIMITRIS
        • 5 Years
        3 years, 6 months ago

        That's the main concern, but it's a calculated risk. There is always a possibility of Auba to Salah in GW3

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

    Nailed it.

    McCarthy
    TAA Doherty Vinagre
    Salah Auba Alli Armstrong
    Jimenez Ings Mitrovic

    (Nyland, Mitchell, Bissouma, Taylor)

    1. DIMITRIS
      • 5 Years
      3 years, 6 months ago

      Do you have plan to get MU players in GW2 ?

      1. Coaly
        • 11 Years
        3 years, 6 months ago

        No, just Auba to KDB for GW3

        1. DIMITRIS
          • 5 Years
          3 years, 6 months ago

          Fair play, but it can hurt you going in without them. Good luck

    2. One Man
      • 7 Years
      3 years, 6 months ago

      No Spurs, with those great fixtures ?

      1. Coaly
        • 11 Years
        3 years, 6 months ago

        What team do Alli and Doherty play for then?

        1. Tempestic
          • 5 Years
          3 years, 6 months ago

          lol

    3. Nightcrawler
      • 4 Years
      3 years, 6 months ago

      Needs more spurs. Cant ignore those fixtures

      1. Coaly
        • 11 Years
        3 years, 6 months ago

        😀

    4. FCSB
      • 8 Years
      3 years, 6 months ago

      best spurs-less team ive seen

  8. PepSala
    • 8 Years
    3 years, 6 months ago

    Thoughts on this lot lads

    Ryan
    TAA KWP Dier Egan
    Salah Auba Ziyech ASM
    Werner Ings

    4.0. Vinagre Taylor 4.5

    1. FCSB
      • 8 Years
      3 years, 6 months ago

      nice team, but only 1 from chelsea, you could do ziyech to greenwood and have a MU player ready for GW2

  9. Old Bull
    • 10 Years
    3 years, 6 months ago

    I like. But..... two from Chelsea is the gamble.

  10. Warby84
    • 8 Years
    3 years, 6 months ago

    4-4-2

    McCarthy
    Trent Tierney Justin Vinagre
    Salah Aubameyang Soucek Son
    Werner Ings

    Steer Bissouma Mitchell Davis

    0.5itb

  11. Jonnyb40
    • 3 Years
    3 years, 6 months ago

    Think I'm getting there.

    McCarthy
    TAA Egan KWP ( Vinagre Ferguson )
    Salah Auba Son ASM Traore
    Mitro Werner ( brewster ) if he goes on loan

    1. Jonnyb40
      • 3 Years
      3 years, 6 months ago

      forgot my 2nd keeper lol. Ryan

  12. Stimps
    • Fantasy Football Scout Member
    • 10 Years
    3 years, 6 months ago

    Think I'm gonna go Ings (+1m itb), straight swap to Werner if he kicks off

    1. Nightcrawler
      • 4 Years
      3 years, 6 months ago

      Hmm im going werner with a view to downgrade to martial if he fails first game. Pool 2nd game will help

  13. Pulisic 4 President
    • Fantasy Football Scout Member
    • 9 Years
    3 years, 6 months ago

    How does everyone feel about this team to start? It's top heavy, but allows for flexibility down:

    McCarthy (Nyland)
    TAA-Dier-Vinagre (Branthwaite, Mitchell)
    Salah-Sane-Auba-Ritchie-Soucek
    Vardy-Adams (Davis)

    Then can move Sane-Auba to Rashford/De Bruyne GW3
    Could move Vardy to Werner.

    Then will upgrade one of Ritche/Soucek to Pulisic/Ziyech/Foden/Greenwood types.

    Cheers and let me know if you would change something!

    1. FPL Brains
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • Has Moderation Rights
      • 12 Years
      3 years, 6 months ago

      Similar to mine so I think its decent. Adams over Ings is a bit of a risk, which is why I picked Ings. I can't see where that extra 2.5mil is reinvested. I think on Mane?

      1. Pulisic 4 President
        • Fantasy Football Scout Member
        • 9 Years
        3 years, 6 months ago

        Yes, on Mane.

        I could theoretically go Ings and Son to start. But for some reason I am liking Adams - and I also like Sane so I can be sure to keep funds for the midfield I want with Rashford and KDB + Pulisic/Ziyech/Grealish or whatever it may be for GW3 onwards.

        Can also move Adams to Mitrovich.

        But Adams for some reason keeps coming back in to my side, given his form during the restart, Soton likely playing 2 forwards, and his continued preseason form.

    2. 3 A
      • 8 Years
      3 years, 6 months ago

      Who is Sane?

      1. Pulisic 4 President
        • Fantasy Football Scout Member
        • 9 Years
        3 years, 6 months ago

        Mane, woops. Thoughts?

    3. DIMITRIS
      • 5 Years
      3 years, 6 months ago

      Sane plays for Bayern Munich

      1. Pulisic 4 President
        • Fantasy Football Scout Member
        • 9 Years
        3 years, 6 months ago

        I meant, Mane- Sadio Mane.

        LOL, totally my bad

    4. 3 A
      • 8 Years
      3 years, 6 months ago

      Overall is good imo. Dont like Ritchie. If I want someone especially in GW2 (Ziyech / G.Wood type) I just bench them. Save transfer

  14. FPL Brains
    • Fantasy Football Scout Member
    • Has Moderation Rights
    • 12 Years
    3 years, 6 months ago

    Think I'm set on this, opinions please?

    McCarthy (Steer)
    Davies, TAA, Justin (KWP, Mitchell)
    Salah, Son, Auba, Soucek, ASM
    Werner, Ings (Davis)

    Going to see if TAA plays for England else I'll drop him out and reinvest elsewhere.

    1. E25
      • 8 Years
      3 years, 6 months ago

      Similar to mine but better balanced, looks good.

  15. The Mighty Hippo
    • 7 Years
    3 years, 6 months ago

    Does anyone know how many points Martial would have scored last season if he was designated as a forward?

    1. FPL Brains
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • Has Moderation Rights
      • 12 Years
      3 years, 6 months ago

      Think theres an article on that here somewhere.

    2. Blunder fc
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 5 Years
      3 years, 6 months ago

      As i remember its about 180 (losing a point for each goal and a point for each cs), but that ignores the fact that forwards get quite a but more bps for goals so he would have taken a decent chunk of rashfords bonus points if their positions were swapped last season.

      1. The Mighty Hippo
        • 7 Years
        3 years, 6 months ago

        Yeah, that adjustment for bonus points is the part that confused me. He still seems like a good option though, despite the change of position.

        1. Blunder fc
          • Fantasy Football Scout Member
          • 5 Years
          3 years, 6 months ago

          His form post fernandes arriving was brilliant and post lockdown he was the best player in the side. Factor in the games he missed with injury and ones he played with all three of fernandes pogba and rashford out and you could have one of the top scoring players this season

  16. huwwilliams_
    • 9 Years
    3 years, 6 months ago

    Any opinions greatly appreciated:

    McCarthy
    TAA Salisu Vinagre Lascelles
    Auba Salah Son Soucek
    Ings Werner

    Steer Mitchell Gordon Brewster

    Will transfer Son to Bruno after GW1.
    Bench an obvious weakness but you get more value by putting all your £ in the starting XI at the start of the season. Would prefer Taylor over Lascelles but lack of bench starter and Burnley blank can't see no other alternative.
    Would like to upgrade Soucek to ASM but dont know where ill be able to find the 0.5m

    1. FPL Brains
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • Has Moderation Rights
      • 12 Years
      3 years, 6 months ago

      You could do better than Lascelles tbh. Save there and you can reinvest the 0.5 you need.

      1. huwwilliams_
        • 9 Years
        3 years, 6 months ago

        Is there a 4.0m defender available that's a starter?

        1. ivantys
          • 3 Years
          3 years, 6 months ago

          Palace's mitchell

          1. huwwilliams_
            • 9 Years
            3 years, 6 months ago

            in my team already

  17. Champions League Varane
    • 5 Years
    3 years, 6 months ago

    Very happy with this team but how do I get United players in??.

    McCarthy Steer
    Trent Lamptey KWP Vinagre Dallas
    Salah Auba ASM Son Soucek
    Ings Werner Brewster.

    1. E25
      • 8 Years
      3 years, 6 months ago

      Auba and Son.
      Not sure on Brewster unless he moves

    2. Blueberg
      • 8 Years
      3 years, 6 months ago

      Auba ings to bruno martial? Maybe downgrade son and upgrade brewster.

  18. E25
    • 8 Years
    3 years, 6 months ago

    Thoughts on doubling up on pool attack? Obviously it restricts the rest of team somewhat, but an obvious place to raise funds for City/Utd from GW3.

    Ryan Button
    TAA KWP Vinagre Taylor Mitchell
    Salah Mane Auba(c) Soucek ASM
    Werner Mitro Davis

  19. FCSB
    • 8 Years
    3 years, 6 months ago

    How’s this guys?

    McCarthy Nyland
    TAA Vinagre KWP Justin Johnson
    Salah Aubameyang Son Greenwood Bissouma
    Werner Mitrovic Adams

    Thanks

    1. SpaceCadet
      • 10 Years
      3 years, 6 months ago

      Looks good. Think Adams is nailed?

      1. FCSB
        • 8 Years
        3 years, 6 months ago

        Not sure, hope so, thoughts?

        1. SpaceCadet
          • 10 Years
          3 years, 6 months ago

          Like it

  20. sully29
    • Fantasy Football Scout Member
    • 9 Years
    3 years, 6 months ago

    What defensive rotations are you guys looking at, if any?

    1. FCSB
      • 8 Years
      3 years, 6 months ago

      wolves leicester villa (2 of 3) rotate very well

    2. Slam
      • 8 Years
      3 years, 6 months ago

      Davies - Vinagre - Justin

    3. ivantys
      • 3 Years
      3 years, 6 months ago

      Sheffield+Leicester is decent

  21. rusev
    • Fantasy Football Scout Member
    • 9 Years
    3 years, 6 months ago

    a) Doherty + Foden
    b) Robertson + Armstrong

    1. ivantys
      • 3 Years
      3 years, 6 months ago

      I would go with a but I'm not certain whether armstrong or foden is starting

    2. thepuntmaster
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 10 Years
      3 years, 6 months ago

      B

  22. Offshore Deserter
    • Fantasy Football Scout Member
    • 5 Years
    3 years, 6 months ago

    First time posting on here, so be gentle lol

    Ryan Steer
    TAA Bertrand Vinagre Justin Mitchell
    Salah Auba ASM Son Soucek
    Werner Mitro Adams

    Total 99m, 1m ITB for GW4, Steer & Mitchell may change, Berty covers McCarthy owners, upgrade from KWP. ASM & Soucek rotate.

    GW2 Salah to Bruno
    GW3 Auba to KdB
    GW4 Son back to Salah or Mitro/Adams to Jimi/Ings with 9m to spend, covers price rises.

    1. Slam
      • 8 Years
      3 years, 6 months ago

      Absolutely awful team mate. Start again

      1. Offshore Deserter
        • Fantasy Football Scout Member
        • 5 Years
        3 years, 6 months ago

        Ha Ha took me 2 weeks of planning, better find another job lol

        1. Blueberg
          • 8 Years
          3 years, 6 months ago

          I think he is being harsh on purpose. Team looks good to me.

          Bertrand seems a good choice and I am contemplating the same.

          1. ivantys
            • 3 Years
            3 years, 6 months ago

            Southampton have one of the worst defences in the league though, would be nice if bertrand could find back some of his form. I'm forever waiting for sigguardsson, zaha and alli to get back on form.

            1. Offshore Deserter
              • Fantasy Football Scout Member
              • 5 Years
              3 years, 6 months ago

              Berty had a really good game against Swansea, guess PL opponents will be harder, remember when he was in everyones team lol

          2. Offshore Deserter
            • Fantasy Football Scout Member
            • 5 Years
            3 years, 6 months ago

            Cheers, I was told it's a bit brutal on the board, but thought I would give it a bash anyway.

        2. Tony Moon
          • Fantasy Football Scout Member
          • 14 Years
          3 years, 6 months ago

          Good team. Like Bertrand too, am trying to fit him in myself. Ignore the other poster, Southampton had good defensive stats post lockdown.

          If you're going for Ryan, I'd just have Button as back up, instead of Steer. Could be Steer or Nyland in goal, but as soon as Heaton is back (Oct), neither will play. You don't want to have to waste a transfer on your second goalie.

    2. The Knights Template
      • 10 Years
      3 years, 6 months ago

      With Ryan in goal you may as well get Button for backup. Justin under threat from new purchase Castagle (cant remember name). Maybe Son to Greenwood and bench him gw1. Good luck.

      1. Offshore Deserter
        • Fantasy Football Scout Member
        • 5 Years
        3 years, 6 months ago

        Cheers for that, didn't realise they bought another keeper

      2. ivantys
        • 3 Years
        3 years, 6 months ago

        Thanks for the heads up, I shall replace Justin with Vinagre or Bardsley

    3. Greek Freak
      • 8 Years
      3 years, 6 months ago

      Team is fine, but I can guarantee you won't make these transfers down the line.

      1. Offshore Deserter
        • Fantasy Football Scout Member
        • 5 Years
        3 years, 6 months ago

        Will let you know if I succeed, gone back to planning ahead like I did for my top 1k finish, now I have time on my hands.

  23. PepSala
    • 8 Years
    3 years, 6 months ago

    Pick one

    A) Ziyech Soucek Egan
    B) Son 4.5 Vinagre

    1. The Knights Template
      • 10 Years
      3 years, 6 months ago

      A

    2. thepuntmaster
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 10 Years
      3 years, 6 months ago

      A

    3. Tony Moon
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 14 Years
      3 years, 6 months ago

      C. Alli, Soucek, Vinagre. And enjoy the 0.5m saving!

  24. The Mighty Hippo
    • 7 Years
    3 years, 6 months ago

    I'm just not convinced by Salah at the moment. I realise he could start off like a steam train and that he's always been a very high points scorer in recent seasons, but he just doesn't pass the eye test for me.

    How does this draft look without any Liverpool attack? I realise it's Spurs-heavy, but I've a feeling they will do well this year, especially with some decent opening fixtures.

    McCarthy
    TAA Tierney Dier
    Auba Son Alli Ziyech Soucek
    Werner Ings

    with £0.5M in the bank to do Ings to Martial in gw2

    1. ivantys
      • 3 Years
      3 years, 6 months ago

      I would highly recommend going for kane especially if you're gonna triple spurs. Salah is quite risky to ignore as 15 of his 19 goals were scored at home. So I just ignore him for away games this season.

    2. Blueberg
      • 8 Years
      3 years, 6 months ago

      thinking the same. Watched so many games lately where he does nothing but run his hands through his hair jumping up and down out of frustration because he either didn't collect a ball correctly, dribbled to much and lost possession, or had a shot that a geriatric could have saved.

      1. ivantys
        • 3 Years
        3 years, 6 months ago

        Mane is def better if only salah doesn't take penalties. He is also more consistent on the home and away goals.

  25. Will J 256
    • Fantasy Football Scout Member
    • 3 Years
    3 years, 6 months ago

    Which combo do you prefer? Lamptey and Soucek Or Mitchell and ASM?

    1. The Knights Template
      • 10 Years
      3 years, 6 months ago

      First one. Are you confident Lady of the Lamptey plays?

    2. thepuntmaster
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 10 Years
      3 years, 6 months ago

      I’d go first one too- Soucek seems a steal

      1. Will J 256
        • Fantasy Football Scout Member
        • 3 Years
        3 years, 6 months ago

        Thanks guys

  26. PepSala
    • 8 Years
    3 years, 6 months ago

    Pick 3 based on fixtures and pecking order: Ryan is my goalie

    A) KWP
    B) Vinagre
    C) Justin
    D)Lamptey
    E) Taylor
    F) Saliba

    1. The Knights Template
      • 10 Years
      3 years, 6 months ago

      B,e and f

      1. thepuntmaster
        • Fantasy Football Scout Member
        • 10 Years
        3 years, 6 months ago

        Saliva far from nailed?

        1. The Knights Template
          • 10 Years
          3 years, 6 months ago

          Yep, def a punt. You should like that!

    2. thepuntmaster
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 10 Years
      3 years, 6 months ago

      A E C

    3. Tony Moon
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 14 Years
      3 years, 6 months ago

      a, b, c

  27. thepuntmaster
    • Fantasy Football Scout Member
    • 10 Years
    3 years, 6 months ago

    No one tempted by Eze? Looks an exciting prospect.

    Picks between these?
    A) Martial - Eze - Bissouma
    B) Brewster - Rashford - ASM

    1. The Knights Template
      • 10 Years
      3 years, 6 months ago

      One to watch for sure but no way in the world would you start off with him, especially when people will punt on untested chelsea assets.

  28. Slam
    • 8 Years
    3 years, 6 months ago

    Straight Shoot

    A) Alli
    B) Ziyech

    1. Tony Moon
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 14 Years
      3 years, 6 months ago

      Alli for me. Playing well in pre-season, will play just behind Kane and got good attacking returns before he got injured last season. Still feel Ziyech is more of a punt - a decent one, but a wait and see for me. Easy swap too.

  29. Bruno Bruno!!
    • 8 Years
    3 years, 6 months ago

    Thoughts on my current draft: going without Salah or Mane.

    McCarthy
    TAA Vinagre Doherty 4.5m
    Aubameyang Son Armstrong Soucek
    Jiminez Werner

    Nylaand Mitchell Brewster Rashford

    1. Tony Moon
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 14 Years
      3 years, 6 months ago

      Lack of reliable captain choices is the issue for me. You have Auba for a couple of weeks, but then what do you do? Presume you're planning some Manchester input after that? Werner could be a decent captain option, but risky from the start.

  30. Will J 256
    • Fantasy Football Scout Member
    • 3 Years
    3 years, 6 months ago

    Thoughts on this draft?
    McCarthy
    Trent, Vinagre, Justin
    Salah, Son, Auba, Ziyech, Soucek
    Werner, Mitrovic

    Steer, Webster, Brewster, C Taylor

    Is this OK guys? Any obvious mistakes?

    1. Bruno Bruno!!
      • 8 Years
      3 years, 6 months ago

      Looks solid not much id change their, justin could be a doubt with players incoming at Leicester but keep an eye out

      1. Will J 256
        • Fantasy Football Scout Member
        • 3 Years
        3 years, 6 months ago

        Thanks. Really appreciate it!!

    2. Tony Moon
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 14 Years
      3 years, 6 months ago

      Very solid. Personally prefer Alli over Ziyech, but both should do well. Worth monitoring Adams in case Mitro is pants.