Pro Pundits

FPL General’s Gameweek 1 team: No Salah or Haaland, triple Forest defence!

14 August 2025 298 comments
@FPLGeneral @FPLGeneral
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With Gameweek 1 of Fantasy Premier League (FPL) nearing, our pundits are starting to get closer to finalising their teams ahead of Friday’s deadline.

FPL General – who has three top 500 finishes to his name – is fully committed to going without Mohamed Salah (£14.5m) and Erling Haaland (£14.0m) this season. He shares his latest team thoughts here…

Make sure you sign up for the new season – get an extra 5% off with code TEAMSCOUT5 – to get all the Member-only articles, tools and features to make 2025/26 your best FPL campaign yet!

General no Salah Haaland

The calm before the storm… 

As I sit down to write this piece, there are just over 24 hours to go until the Gameweek 1 deadline. The research is done, the Fixture Ticker has been studied to death and DEFCON analysis from previous seasons is complete. Is my team settled? Absolutely not! 

VAN DIJK + MUNOZ DOUBTS

FPL Gameweek 26 round-up: Saturday’s goals, assists, bonus points + stats 7

The same thing happens every year. I have a few players in every draft during the summer, then, when the deadline approaches, they make way for the first time as I enter the overthinking phase of Gameweek 1 planning.

Two such players are Virgil van Dijk (£6.0m) and Daniel Munoz (£5.5m). I like both picks as potential season-keepers but Liverpool’s first three games are tricky and Crystal Palace play European qualifiers on August 21 and 28, which gives me pause on selecting any of their assets to begin with. I’m now asking myself, can I go without these two and pick them up later?

TRIPLE FOREST DEFENCE

Sels Haaland

I’m keen to go against the grain at times this season. Something I’ve been strongly considering is triple Nottingham Forest defence for the first six Gameweeks (at least). I don’t think too many managers will do that. No Mohamed Salah (£14.5m), no Erling Haaland (£14.0m) and a triple-up in defence, what could possibly go wrong?!?

PORRO COMES IN

pro-pundit-article 2

Tottenham Hotspur full-back Pedro Porro (£5.5m) has made his first draft appearance. Seeing Spurs set up with wing-backs (this won’t happen all the time) and Porro taking set pieces against PSG on Wednesday night reminded me how much I love the guy as a Fantasy pick.

Spurs have got good fixtures, he’s got various routes to points and I trust Thomas Frank to make them more solid defensively this season. I think he’s going to make it in. I haven’t ruled out starting with a 4-4-2 setup, which could see one of Virgil or Munoz come back in. 

GAKPO OR GAK-NO?

FPL pre-season: Malen + Watkins again, Xhaka debut, secretive Man City 2
298 Comments Login to Post a Comment
  1. Gudjohnsen
    • 8 Years
    4 months, 9 hours ago

    None of the content creators going with Rejinders.

    Is he a valid pick?

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    1. SomeoneKnows
      • 9 Years
      4 months, 9 hours ago

      The official app's scout went with him 🙂

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  2. SomeoneKnows
    • 9 Years
    4 months, 9 hours ago

    My current backline is:

    Virgil, Murillo, Munoz, VDV, Esteve

    If I downgrade Virgil to Pedro Porro, who should I replace VDV with that rotates well with the rest and is 5.5 max?

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  3. Better Call Raul
    • 6 Years
    4 months, 9 hours ago

    Has the fixture ticker disappeared?

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    1. Jordan.
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 15 Years
      4 months, 8 hours ago

      behind a paywall,members only can see it

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    2. RedJaro
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 7 Years
      4 months, 8 hours ago

      You can find it under "Tools". "Members Area".

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  4. PartyTime
    • 4 Years
    4 months, 9 hours ago

    RP
    For GW 1 ONLY. Which combination will produce more pts?

    1. Wood + Bowen
    2. Watkins + Anderson

    Thank you

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    1. Pep's Money Laundry
      • 10 Years
      4 months, 9 hours ago

      1

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    2. Bobby Digital
      • 8 Years
      4 months, 9 hours ago

      1

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  5. FDMS All Starz
    • 10 Years
    4 months, 9 hours ago

    Couple of dilemmas left on my final draft:

    1)
    Wirtz & Bruno
    or
    Gakpo & Saka (will move Saka to Bruno gw3) ?

    2)
    Reijnders or Anderson ?

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    1. g40steve
      • 7 Years
      4 months, 9 hours ago

      1 W&B
      2 Rudolf

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    2. Bobby Digital
      • 8 Years
      4 months, 9 hours ago

      WB
      R

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  6. J to the T
    • 8 Years
    4 months, 9 hours ago

    Keen to canvas opinion please

    A. Rice Bruno Watkins
    B. Saka bruno Joao Pedro
    C. Saka kudos Watkins

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    1. sminkypinky
      • 14 Years
      4 months, 9 hours ago

      B

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      1. J to the T
        • 8 Years
        4 months, 8 hours ago

        Thanks. I don’t like the minutes threat from Delap and the double attack with Palmer but maybe J-P is worth the punt. His ownership is big too

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  7. sminkypinky
    • 14 Years
    4 months, 9 hours ago

    1) start and stick with Murillo, stick with Wirtz
    2) downgrade Murillo now to Williams so as to switch Wirtz to Bruno gw2 (sadly can’t afford otherwise)

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    1. sminkypinky
      • 14 Years
      4 months, 8 hours ago

      I guess this is toi hard when full team not shown.

      Let’s simplify: is Murillo worth 0,5 more than Neco?

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  8. Camzy
    • Fantasy Football Scout Member
    • 15 Years
    4 months, 9 hours ago

    There are quite a few players that in GW2 can have a very different outlook depending on how GW1 goes.

    If Salah blanks in GW1, and Newcastle get a result against Villa, suddenly Salah is looking at new ARS as his next two and a lot of the drafts with double Pool start to look pretty poor.

    Similarly, if Arsenal beat United and Saka/Gyokeres get double digits, the bandwagon is gonna be crazy with LEE in GW2.

    Spurs meanwhile, if they do a Spurs and do poorly against Burnley, suddenly Kudus and Van de Ven who are hugely popular are staring at City away and the mass exodus and price drops could happen with Kudus and VdV's 25% ownership.

    Price drops are way more volatile at the start too because everyone is still active. It's gonna be an interesting start to the season. I want to make sure my team is kneejerk proof so I don't do something stupid in GW2 because the narratives are gonna change really fast.

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    1. sminkypinky
      • 14 Years
      4 months, 9 hours ago

      Decent thought process

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    2. Snoopydog
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 1 Year
      4 months, 8 hours ago

      Agree. One reason why have Salah and Palmer (one could become Saka for GW2). Would still have Wirtz - who is "downgradable" to Cunha/Boomo. Like Bowen in part because can sell for any 7.5 and deal with a price rise there. Watkins could also become Gyokeres.

      Feeling price points matter.

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      1. Snoopydog
        • Fantasy Football Scout Member
        • 1 Year
        4 months, 8 hours ago

        Might not make it knee jerk proof but think it means can adapt if needed in first few GWs.

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    3. Hairy Potter
      • 10 Years
      4 months, 8 hours ago

      Given everything else that's changed in the game, god knows how price changes will work behind the scenes this season.

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    4. BUZZBOMB ♡
      • 10 Years
      4 months, 8 hours ago

      This is brilliant Camzy. Of course there are ifs and buts but highlights just how quickly thoughts could shift.

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      1. Camzy
        • Fantasy Football Scout Member
        • 15 Years
        4 months, 8 hours ago

        I think United are also very much in this camp. That first fixture puts a lot of people off but a good performance in the first game of the season vs Arsenal maybe an unlikely clean sheet and their players shoot up in price really fast because the fanbase is so huge.

        I can see the likes of Dorgu or Yoro being 4.7m pretty quickly and whoever of Mbeumo, Cunha, Bruno who scores also getting bumped up. The fixtures are nicer after GW1 too so by GW3 for Burnley at home those guys are going to be the big bandwagons.

        Something to think about getting ahead of the curve.

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  9. theshazly
    • 2 Years
    4 months, 9 hours ago

    Almost locked !
    Comments on this ?

    Sels (Dub)
    RAN Porro Diouf ( DeCuyper / Gudmnssn )
    Salah Palmer Wirtz Reijnders KDH
    Watkins Gyokeres ( Guiu )

    0 ITB

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  10. FPL Mentor
    • Fantasy Football Scout Member
    • 10 Years
    4 months, 9 hours ago

    How we looking on BBC GW1?

    Sels Kelleher
    Frimpong Porro VDV Cucurella Dalot
    Salah(C) Palmer Gakpo P.Sarr Reijnders
    J.Pedro Bowen Bebe

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    1. AIRMILES
      • 14 Years
      4 months, 8 hours ago

      Hello fellow Frimpong owner.

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  11. S.Kuqi
    • 13 Years
    4 months, 9 hours ago

    Who is yoir main differential? Need some ideas

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    1. S.Kuqi
      • 13 Years
      4 months, 9 hours ago

      Your*

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    2. Snoopydog
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 1 Year
      4 months, 9 hours ago

      Reijnders

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    3. Zoostation
      • 11 Years
      4 months, 8 hours ago

      I Sarr

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      1. g40steve
        • 7 Years
        4 months, 8 hours ago

        & Rudolf

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    4. ⭐ Bemba_Da ⭐
      • 15 Years
      4 months, 8 hours ago

      Dewsbury Hall, rice/zubimendi for my cheap mids (better than Bruno), Mitoma, Cunha have all been in my team. Will pick 2 of these.

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      1. space mercenary
        • 6 Years
        4 months, 6 hours ago

        Why better than Bruno?

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    5. AIRMILES
      • 14 Years
      4 months, 8 hours ago

      Malen is my only sub-5% player. I don't need him in order to field a front 7, just in case his minutes are restricted.

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    6. Camzy
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 15 Years
      4 months, 8 hours ago

      Haaland.

      Genuinely think among the top players he's going to be very low owned.

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      1. Athletic Nasherbo
        • 8 Years
        4 months, 8 hours ago

        The perfect differential. Tempted to own Salah, and have Haaland (C) because most won’t have him at all.

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    7. tsm
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 14 Years
      4 months, 8 hours ago

      Tavernier

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    8. Sharkytect
      • 11 Years
      4 months, 8 hours ago

      Sarr (P.M)

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  12. Deboer078
    • 2 Years
    4 months, 9 hours ago

    J. Murphy or Ndiaye?

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    1. marcos11
      • 5 Years
      4 months, 8 hours ago

      Ndiaye

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  13. Snoopydog
    • Fantasy Football Scout Member
    • 1 Year
    4 months, 9 hours ago

    Assuming Rogers fit, GTG for GW1 (no BB)?

    Sels
    Neco VdV Diouf
    Salah Palmer Wirtz Rogers Reijnders
    Watkins Bowen

    Dubravka Munoz Guiu Esteve

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    1. Zoostation
      • 11 Years
      4 months, 8 hours ago

      G2G

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      1. Snoopydog
        • Fantasy Football Scout Member
        • 1 Year
        4 months, 8 hours ago

        Thanks!

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  14. Jinswick
    • Fantasy Football Scout Member
    • 15 Years
    4 months, 9 hours ago

    Thoughts on this 4-4-2?

    Sels
    Milenkovic, Porro, Tarkowski, Neco
    Salah, Palmer, Wirtz, P Sarr
    Watkins, Gyokeres

    Dubravka, Guiu, Esteve, Ramsey
    Bank 0.0m

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    1. sumatera
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 15 Years
      4 months, 8 hours ago

      Solid but I'm not keen on 442

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  15. Philosopher's Stones
    • 5 Years
    4 months, 8 hours ago

    FFS app not working??

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  16. andnyd
    • 2 Years
    4 months, 8 hours ago

    A: Salah, King
    B: Saka, Wirtz
    ?

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    1. sumatera
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 15 Years
      4 months, 8 hours ago

      A if you're benching King
      Bit of a weird poll tbh

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  17. Whats the Mata?
    • Fantasy Football Scout Member
    • 11 Years
    4 months, 8 hours ago

    Set on without Salah! Have Wirtz though.

    Which one of the below looks better? Both combinations cost the same for flexibility.

    A. Saka + Ekitike + 8.5m mid (can move Saka and Etikike on in gw3 IF and when needed)
    or
    B. Haaland + Gakpo + Reijnders (will rotate with Dewsbury-Hall as my 4th-5th midfielder)

    Cheers

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    1. Camzy
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 15 Years
      4 months, 8 hours ago

      B for me. Saka can wait until the difficult fixtures clear.

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    2. Snoopydog
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 1 Year
      4 months, 8 hours ago

      B. If not Salah, hard not to go Haaland.

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  18. x.jim.x
    • 11 Years
    4 months, 8 hours ago

    Doesn't bode well that the site's struggling already and it's only Thursday

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  19. sumatera
    • Fantasy Football Scout Member
    • 15 Years
    4 months, 8 hours ago

    A) Larsen & Pedro Porri
    Or
    B) Fullkrug & Cucurella

    Appreciate your vote

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  20. PartyTime
    • 4 Years
    4 months, 8 hours ago

    Rank this forwards in order of GW 1 points ONLY?
    1. Bowen vs Sun
    2. Watkins vs New
    3. Pedro vs Cry
    4. Wood vs Bre

    Thank you

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    1. Snoopydog
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 1 Year
      4 months, 8 hours ago

      As you've done it

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    2. Scotty Dog
      • 6 Years
      4 months, 8 hours ago

      My thoughts exactly

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  21. Scotty Dog
    • 6 Years
    4 months, 8 hours ago

    Final couple of decisions I hope?

    1)Murillo
    2)Milenkovic
    3)Nico (0.5 banked)

    Best 4.5 defender? Currently on Konsa.

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    1. Snoopydog
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 1 Year
      4 months, 8 hours ago

      Diouf for early GWs.

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    2. PartyTime
      • 4 Years
      4 months, 8 hours ago

      2/3 imo

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  22. Grand Thibauto
    • 10 Years
    4 months, 8 hours ago

    Posting here after a billion years, how does this team look?

    BBGW1

    Verbruggen vicario

    Frimpong Cucu Cuyper Milenkovic Porto

    Saka Palmer Gakpo Rutter Kudus

    Gyok Fullkrug João Pedro

    WC GW4. Too maverick? Any injuries / issues / or change of pecking order I'm not aware of?

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    1. LangerznMash
      • 9 Years
      4 months, 8 hours ago

      You are gonna have a lot of budget on the bench for GW2

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      1. Grand Thibauto
        • 10 Years
        4 months, 8 hours ago

        Seems so, maybe should give BBGW2 a rethought

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  23. TanN
    • 4 Years
    4 months, 8 hours ago

    Cherki handed the number 10 jersey, position in the team confirmed?

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    1. Snoopydog
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 1 Year
      4 months, 8 hours ago

      No

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  24. AB1792
    • 3 Years
    4 months, 8 hours ago

    Throwing the kitchen sink at it from the beginning:

    Verbruggen(Kelleher not certain to start) - Dubravka

    Def:De Kuyper, AWB, VdV, Rodon, Hartman
    Mid:Salah, Palmer, PM Sarr, Reijnders, H.Wilson
    Att: Haaland, Watkins, Füllkrug

    Double Brighton backline is not ideal, but looking for another interesting 4,5m starting choice.

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  25. OneDennisBergkamp
    • Fantasy Football Scout Member
    • 10 Years
    4 months, 8 hours ago

    Thoughts on my team.........?

    Sels
    Dúbravka

    Gabriel
    Estève
    Andersen
    Van de Ven
    Wan-Bissaka

    A. Ramsey
    Palmer
    Salah
    Wirtz
    Reijnders

    João Pedro
    Wood
    Gyökeres

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    1. AIRMILES
      • 14 Years
      4 months, 8 hours ago

      I had Wood, but then I looked at Forest's severe lack of goals in pre season, and took him out. I also had Pedro, but then, like you, I too have Palmer, and figured double Chelsea attack was excessive. I even had Gyokeres, but then I wanted to make a couple of upgrades to my team to play a BB GW1, and Gyokeres had to be sacrificed. Now I have Watkins, Bowen and Strand Larsen, and I'm content with that.

      I share 4/5 in midfield, so I like it.

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  26. Athletic Nasherbo
    • 8 Years
    4 months, 8 hours ago

    Can’t help but think Van de Ven is a trap vs Porro, but the 1.0m goes a long way…

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    1. Camzy
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 15 Years
      4 months, 8 hours ago

      I'm going Porro and holding for the first 6 weeks. I saw enough from that game vs PSG. He's going to be creating a ton and he's gonna be in amongst the attacking returns.

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      1. Athletic Nasherbo
        • 8 Years
        4 months, 8 hours ago

        Yeah agreed. I can either go,

        A) Porro, Rodon/Hartman, 4.0 (bench)

        B) Van De Ven, Diouf, Konsa

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    2. Scotty Dog
      • 6 Years
      4 months, 8 hours ago

      Porro should be a points magnet with defcon & VDV seems a good option for the price. Already have both.

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      1. Athletic Nasherbo
        • 8 Years
        4 months, 8 hours ago

        Agreed, it’s just whether he can outperform Porro by 1.0m.

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  27. Zoostation
    • 11 Years
    4 months, 8 hours ago

    Thoughts on how much more you would want Bowen over Fullkrug?

    Bowen obviously has the pedigree but if Fullkrug is 100% nailed as he seems to be is there going to be much between them?

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    1. Snoopydog
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 1 Year
      4 months, 8 hours ago

      Don't know. Had thought about it. But Bowen, as you say, has the track record. Also set piece threat. And, for me at least, works with team structure.

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    2. AIRMILES
      • 14 Years
      4 months, 8 hours ago

      Is it the price difference that is driving your hopes?

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      1. Snoopydog
        • Fantasy Football Scout Member
        • 1 Year
        4 months, 8 hours ago

        Just liked look of him. He's the kind of playmaker - and scorer - City need since KDB's departure. Not a replacement for KDB but he's worth a punt at 5.5m, yes, to my mind at least. And no big deal if it doesn't work out.

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        1. Snoopydog
          • Fantasy Football Scout Member
          • 1 Year
          4 months, 8 hours ago

          Sorry. Wrong thread.

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          1. Snoopydog
            • Fantasy Football Scout Member
            • 1 Year
            4 months, 8 hours ago

            On Bowen, was put off initially by rebadging as forward, but the points difference isn't that much. The first few matches - especially GW1 - are good, and versus 7.5 strikers, think he'll get more mins than Pedro, has a nicer start than Mateta, while Wood isn't scoring.
            Thinking may move to Mateta after GW3 and the Bowen price point makes that easy - likewise to Pedro or Wood - while enabling me to keep Watkins (and possible move to Gyok).

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  28. Boz
    • 13 Years
    4 months, 8 hours ago

    Frimpong or VVD? Or a better 6M (Cucu?) to go alongside Porro and Neco?

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  29. ⭐ Bemba_Da ⭐
    • 15 Years
    4 months, 8 hours ago

    Is reijnders a trap? Got him in but rodri not fully fit could he be playing deeper. Don't want a defensive mid if that's where he's going to play

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    1. Boz
      • 13 Years
      4 months, 8 hours ago

      No one really knows with Pep. I'm being boring with Anderson for now

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    2. Camzy
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 15 Years
      4 months, 8 hours ago

      He's cheap enough I don't mind taking the punt.

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    3. Snoopydog
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 1 Year
      4 months, 8 hours ago

      Looks like Nico/Gundo filled in for Rodri last time out. Yes, Reijnders could do it too, but for what Pep's said, looks like he'll be getting into the box.

      That said, he's probably a trap. I've got him, so definitely!

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  30. Atimis
    • 9 Years
    4 months, 8 hours ago

    Cash or Maatsen are no go??

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