This afternoon has brought us all a huge step closer to the opening of the upcoming Fantasy Premier League (FPL) season after the site unexpectedly released the entire player list for the 2012/13 campaign. We will, of course, bring you more on this as the week unfolds but, for now, here’s some of the stand outs at first glance:
Goalkeepers
Joe Hart unsurprisingly leads the way on 7.0 but David De Gea (6.0) looks intriguing if he continues as United’s number one in the season ahead. Tim Krul and Brad Friedel both come in at 5.5, as does Michel Vorm, though the Swansea stopper looks far less appealing than last term, where he started at 4.0. Shay Given and Mark Schwarzer are both priced at 5.0, as are Simon Mignolet and Ben Foster.
Further down, the best nailed cheap keeper arrive in the 4.5 bracket, with Norwich, QPR, Reading Southampton and West Ham all affording us alternatives between the sticks.
Defenders
Vincent Kompany has been bumped up from last season’s 6.0 to 7.5 this time round – the highest priced defender. This makes Joleon Lescott’s 6.5 valuation all the more intriguing, with rotation at centre-half less likely for City. Nemanja Vidic and Leighton Baines are amongst five players just behind Kompany on 7.0.
Ashley Cole comes in at 6.5 and looks strong value at the back for Chelsea; with game time guaranteed, he is surely set for plenty investment, with Gary Cahill, David Luiz and Branislav Ivanovic all similarly priced. Martin Skrtel and Jose Enrique are both available for 6.0 in the Liverpool backline; 0.5 less than Glen Johnson and Daniel Agger. Younes Kaboul could afford us the cheapest route into Spurs’ defence; at 5.5, the centre-half is a full 1.0 less than the his fellow first-team regulars at the back. the same can be said for Rafael, if he manages to nail down the right-back role at United.
Newcastle, Sunderland , West Brom, Fulham and Swansea’s regular defensive assets are come in around the 5.0 mark, forcing us to dig a little deeper this time round for bargains. The 4.5 price bracket is where the main action will be; QPR’s Rafael is a standout here, along with the likes of James Tomkins, Gus Hooiveld and Wigan’s Maynor Figueroa. Arsenal’s Carl Jenkinson may be worth a shout if he can hold onto the right-back slot until Bacary Sagna returns.
Midfielders
The pricing looks a little kinder in midfielder this year – David Silva (10.0) is the only player to be handed a double figure valuation. Chelsea pair Juan Mata and Eden Hazard are both at 9.5, mirroring the price of Clint Dempsey and Gareth Bale – last term’s top scoring midfielders. Frank Lampard suffers a significant drop to 9.0, while Antonio Valencia is 9.0, along with Nani – Shinji Kagawa comes in at 8.5 with Ashley Young for United. Rafael Van der Vaart has been slapped with a 9.0 price tag; the same as Gylfi Sigurdsson, which further enhances our midfield dilemma at the Lane this season.
Stephane Sessegnon remains a midfielder and is handed a 8.0 price tag, the same cost as Yaya Toure, while Victor Moses leaps significantly to 7.0. elsewhere, Charles N’Zogbia looks tempting at 6.5 given Villa’s kind start, as does Steven Pienaar if he can cement his permanent move to Everton. Adel Taarabt comes in at 6.0, the same cost as Kevin Nolan, while Jean Beausejour’s 5.5 price tag looks tempting in light of his performances in the second half of last season. In the budget bracket, Mark Noble’s 5.0 valuation looks a real standout, given his spot-kick and set-piece duties for the Hammers, while Shaun Maloney could prosper at Wigan for the same price.
Forwards
Robin Van Persie leads the pack with Wayne Rooney and Sergio Aguero, predictably, coming in next in the pecking order at 12.0 and 11.5 respectively. Interestingly, Fernando Torres demands a tag of 10.0, which is bound to tempt heavy investment for Chelsea’s opening double Gameweek. His price could soar early on then, and fall just as quickly should he fall flat over that first Gameweek.
Further down the list we find Luis Suarez, Emmanuel Adebayor and Papiss Cisse all sharing the 9.5 price bracket, with Darren Bent, Nikica Jelavic and Lukas Podolski perhaps offering decent punts at 8.5. For real value, we will of course be looking further down in the budget bracket with the likes of Djibril Cisse (6.5), Rickie Lambert (6.0), Ricardo Vaz Te (5.5) and Pavel Pogrebnyak (5.0) likely to tempt interest.
