Quick thoughts on the 30 players that make up my shortlist, with under 5 days to go. I'll whittle this down during the week as I finalise my team to begin the 21/22 #FPL season.
Players with a ⭐️ are my current top picks. OK let's go! 🧠
GKs
⭐️Bachmann (4.5m) - Watford have a great cleansheet record under Xisco, fixtures are good and likely to make a more saves than Sanchez
⭐️Sanchez (4.5) - Great record since getting the shirt, v nice fixtures. Lack of saves (& bonus?) and some defs injured / departed the cons
DEFs
⭐️ Trent(7.5) - Nothing needs to be said - assist machine, cleansheets, set piece master, fixtures are great, the full package
Chilwell (6.0) - Some tough early fixtures are putting me off, but he offers cleansheet, assist and even goal potential, with little competition
Stones (5.5) - Think he remains in the first XI and 5.5m for a City CB with a little bit of goal threat is nice
⭐️Shaw(5.5) - Lovely combo of open play and SP assist potential, cleans, fixtures
Digne (5.5) - As above except... it's Everton. Don't love the early vibes with Rafa
Ritchie (5.0) - Could be playing OOP, with assist & set piece potential to offset Newcastle being Newcastle
⭐️Dunk (5.0) Remains a serious threat at set pieces plus BHA nice defence and fixtures
⭐️Ayling (4.5) - Unlucky not to deliver some attacking returns last season based on eye test
Veltman (4.5) - xLively Lamptey would've been more fun but Veltmania might do in a pinch
White (4.5) - Very boring but a starting (probably, given price tag) Arsenal CB for 4.5 is solid
MIDs
⭐️Mo (12.5) - Remains the best FPL asset - striker classed as a mid with pens, always puts up huge xGI
⭐️Bruno (12.0) - Expectations of fewer pens is a slight dampener but should still remain an FPL points machine
These 2 leave you v well covered in terms of captaincy 👑
⭐️Son (10.0) - Rough opening fixture (altho City are depleted) but incredible finisher, will be up front or therabouts, 200 pts achieveable again
Mahrez (9.0) - Not the most auspicious outing in the Community Shield but should start given absentees and Norwich in GW2 is enticing
Havertz (8.5) - I don't think Lukaku will ruin him. Too good and will still be one of Chelsea's main threats. 200 pt potential at 8.5m
Grealish (8.0) - Would expect him to play a lot, especially with Foden's foot-knack. On a better team but less of a talisman, roughly evens out
⭐️Jota (7.5) - He gets a lot of stick but keeps forcing his way into starting lineups and has a lot of goal threat on a top team for a 7.5m mid
Torres (7.0) - Probably too many question marks here for me, but there's a blue sky case where he's the main striker for City for 7m
⭐️Raphinha(6.5) - One of the most underpriced players in the game - brilliant player, nailed on, good team, multi-return potential in almost any fixture
Saka(6.5) - World class player in the making I think, expect him to be nailed on and one of Arsenal's main attacking threats
Alli (6.5) - Could be Spurs' number 10 / support striker for 6.5m. It's really not that long since he was a premium option
⭐️Sarr (6.0) - Likely Watford's talisman, maybe their penalty taker too. Fixtures are pretty good and think the floor & ceiling are really nice here for 6m
Smith-Rowe (5.5) - Could be Arsenal's primary creator for just 5.5m. Tough fixtures in GWs 2 & 3 and possible arrival of Maddo / Odegaard the issues
FWDs
Ings (8.0) - If he can avoid injury and is the tip of the Villa spear, it's conceivable he could go close to 200 pts
⭐️Antonio (7.5) - Whenever he's healthy he basically plays like a premium player (stats & eye test), expect a great season if he can stay on the pitch
⭐️Wilson (7.5) - Similar case to Antonio - both have decent fixtures too - but a touch less explosive on a somewhat weaker team
Jimenez (7.5) - Great Prem and FPL pedigree, very much Wolves' talisman, pen taker, and everything sounding very positive about his recovery
⭐️Toney (6.5) - Has the potential to match the 7.5-8m fwds given Brentford's attacking style and as a superb pen taker. Fixtures good too
Round of applause for anyone who noticed that was 31 not 30! I missed out Honest Raul the first time. Bonus blurb!
I hope this has been a useful thread as the #GW1 deadline draws near. I'll post some updates as I narrow this down towards the final 15!
Likes & RTs appreciated ❤️
Forgot to mention… enablers / filler of choice currently looking like:
DEFs - Tsimikas, Amartey
MID - Brownhill
FWD - Obafemi
The latter is easily the least appealing which will be a factor when it comes to starting formation, but not necessarily decisive
2nd addendum… meant to mention that Lukaku, Kane and Lautaro Martinez will obviously shake things up if/when they move. But Kane situation is uncertain and he’ll miss at least 1 GW, I’m not starting with him. Lukaku I’d be v interested in at 11m or less but fixtures aren’t great
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Okay here goes nothing - I'm going to turn my full (37 page) Complete Guide to #FPL into an epic twitter thread!
It begins with basics for beginners, then gets into strategies for returning managers to improve their skills
Let's do this! 👇
INTRO
I've played FPL seriously for 4 yrs (224k, 28k, 16k, 19k) and had 2 top 500 finishes in Telegraph Fantasy prior. My background is in financial research, quant analysis and portfolio mngt, and I've played & watched footie for > 30 years
That's me!
Okay onto THE BASICS :-
We pick a squad of 15 players. You want 2-3 big hitters for captaincy (score double), plenty of nailed on players on good teams, other teams' talismen, mix of upside and value picks, and at least 1 decent player on the bench in case needed. Mids get 5 pts for a goal, fwds get 4
Just a quick update thread off the top of my head, as plenty has happened over the last 24 hours (🗣 TSIMIKAS!) and I also left a few lads off yesterday’s shortlist. Okay let’s start with a few omissions and then I’m gonna make some cuts ✂️
Greenwood (7.5) - I’m probably going with Bruno as I want that strong 2nd captaincy option and love the fixtures, but MG definitely appeals as either cheap ‘cover’ or as a 2nd Utd attacker. Hhmmm
⭐️ Barvey Harnes (7.0) - Sorry that makes me laugh and I’m sticking with it! Was…
.. lucky enough to get a huge haul from Harnes in the 19/20 season and I remain a fan. Looked lively in the Shield and super +ve quotes from Brodge. I’m tempted
Benrahma (6.0) - Has looked great in pre season after a strong finish to last, with a fair price. Would be very…
I think a lot of us are in the same #FPL boat at the moment, wondering who to replace KDB with, thinking about adding another city def or perhaps with a Vardy issue. Just going to thread my transfer / planning thoughts here in case that’s useful
👇🏻
Okay first let’s think about Kev, who’s gone from Mr Popular TC option to crashing down to earth. So there are 2 main approaches to replacement I think - premium, or cheap + funds for Kane. So let’s look and think through each of those routes, starting with the cheap enablers...
These are the players I think of if going this route, and who they facilitate in terms of a forward upgrade (I’ve still got a cold Brewster on my bench personally):