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It’s only days until FanTeam’s season-long 2021/22 Premier League Fantasy game gets underway, with another guaranteed £1m up for grabs.
And who better to turn to for advice on the big-money FPL-style game than Josh Wooldridge, the winner of last season’s €200k first prize.
Josh is writing for Fantasy Football Scout in the upcoming campaign and, having provided us with some top tips in his first article, he reveals his latest team draft here.
Hi all!
With the Premier League season beginning this coming Friday, it was an easy decision with regards to what to write my FanTeam article on this week.
I am going to do an in-depth analysis on my favourite draft, explaining why I picked each player, and I will even throw in some alternatives on one or two spots that I need a bit more information on.
I hope you enjoy!
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Goalkeepers
Daniel Bachmann (£4.5m)
This was a tough call for me. I started the summer wanting to pick Dean Henderson (£5.0m), but it looks like he is now going to miss the start of the season. Bachmann has the ability to make lots of saves, in a Watford team that set defensive records in the Championship last season. At such a budget price, I think he has two avenues to points- and will make enough saves, and hopefully keep enough clean sheets, to justify this inclusion.
Ben Foster (£4.0m)
Foster is the natural understudy to Bachmann. I love pairing goalkeepers together from the same team, as long as they cost a combined £8.5m or less. I am confident Foster is second choice at Watford, and trust that he could step in if needed – both for the Hornets and my Fantasy team.
Defenders
Trent Alexander-Arnold (£7.5m)
Alexander-Arnold is such a powerful option on any Fantasy game, providing he is fit and the Liverpool defence looks solid. Whilst last season didn’t show much evidence on the latter, hopefully the return of Virgil van Dijk (£6.0m) can help to rectify last year’s defensive woes. Alexander-Arnold missing out on the Euros could be a blessing for Liverpool, who now have their star defender fully rested.
Lucas Digne (£5.5m)
Everton’s poor pre-season form is a slight worry but I always like Digne in Fantasy games, as he has the threat at both ends of the pitch. I think the £5.5m price tag is more than reasonable, and under Rafael Benitez, you would hope that the Toffees defence becomes even more solid. With Gylfi Sigurdsson (and potentially James Rodriguez) potentially out of the picture, Digne may take a larger proportion of set pieces this year, which can only help his FanTeam output.
Joel Veltman (£4.5m)
With many casualties in the Brighton defence and a few additional doubts, Veltman is one of the last men standing for the Seagulls that I am confident is nailed. £4.5m is a fantastic price for an asset from a team with such strong expected defensive numbers as Albion, and whilst the injuries may set them back, my three £4.5m defender picks are chosen with a more long-term strategy in mind.
Luke Ayling (£4.5m)
Ayling was probably the most attacking player in the league last year not to register an attacking return. He was unlucky on several occasions last time out, and I am confident that he will get several this time around. He also rotates perfectly with Veltman, so it makes sense to pick alongside the Brighton man.
Nelson Semedo (£4.5m)
I was slightly worried when I saw that Semedo wasn’t in the Wolves squad over the weekend but it has since come out that he is merely isolating due to contact tracing and will be available for selection for the opening Premier League fixture. Wolves do not have a good first three matches but Gameweeks 4-7 are particularly strong fixtures. With this in mind, I am happy to pick who I deem to be one of Wolves’ most nailed defenders, with some attacking potential as a bonus.
Midfielders
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2 years, 8 months agoWeak bench, Should I downgrade Benrahma to White and upgrade Toney to Antonio?
Sanchez (4.0)
TAA Shaw Tsimikas (Ayling) (Amartey)
Salah Bruno Son Raphinha Benrahma
Ings Toney (4.5)