The long wait is over for the return of Fantasy Football and the season started with a high scoring Friday night. New rules bring more players to pick from and a months worth of tinkering came down to Friday where managers hope for 4 solid injury free gameweeks.
Things didn’t go as smoothly as expected with the injury of Alisson costing managers a previous transfer and a second half goal Pukki goal preventing some bumper scores from the Liverpool backline. Most results went as planned as Man City continued their dominance over West Ham. Kane made owners and captainers sweat as he left it late vs Villa. There were no obscure captaincy picks needed this week which is normally ideal.
Goalkeepers
The lower number of saves for this season’s save bonus tier has made an instant impact 4 keepers returning a double digit return in gameweek 1. A total of 7 goalkeepers made save tier 1, while just 1 reached save tier 2. This makes cheaper keeper more valuable than before but it still doesn’t rule out spending big on a keeper for that 7 point clean sheet.
| Saves Tier 1 | Saves Tier 2 |
|---|---|
| Ederson £7.9m | De Gea £7.5m |
| Lloris £7.3m | |
| Fabianski £6.7m | |
| Heaton £6.7m | |
| Pope £6.5m | |
| Ryan £6.5m | |
| Krul £6.4m |
The injury of Allison has meant that a lot of early transfers will be used and if you haven’t already sold him, do it this weekend as he’s likely to be out until after the overhaul. The cheapest starting keeper was Ramsdale at £6.3m and Howe was pleased with his performance after the game. Adrian looks set to play Liverpool’s next 3 games at £6.7m but if you don’t plan another transfer during the overhaul, one of the other top 6 keepers look the best option.
Defenders
There were a few surprise scores at the back this week and with the heavily backed Liverpool defence conceding, the cheaper options topped the charts. The games most expensive defender VVD to save many managers blushes scored along with Mepham. The Dutch centre back surprisingly failed to achieve passing bonus at home to Norwich with only 50 passes. Andy Robertson was the only Liverpool defender to reach Tier 1, while TAA got an assist. Burnely’s Erik Pieters £6.4m topped scored with 2 assists, a clean sheet and Tier 1 tackle bonus. Leicester’s Soyuncu £6.2m looks great value as he looks set to take Maguire’s centre back spot. He was MOTM and hit 71 passes against Wolves. Leicester look good for passing bonus at home under Rodgers with all 4 defenders hitting Tier 1 and 2. The trustworthy Man City centre back Laporte just managed Tier 1 passing while Stones £9m got a start but missed out by a good distance. However, he does look good value if he can keep Otamendi out during before the overhaul.
| Passes Tier 1 | Passes Tier 2 |
|---|---|
| Ake £8m | Alderweireld £9.8m |
| Keane £7.9m | Chilwell £8m |
| Laporte £10.3m | Evans £7.4m |
| Mina £7.8m | Monreal £8.7m |
| Pereira £8.5m | Soyuncu £6.2m |
| Robertson £10.2m | |
| Sokratis £8.4m | |
| Walker-Peters £7.1m |
Newcastle’s Dummett £7.2m made 6 tackles against Arsenal along with Pereira £8.5m and Wan-Bissaka £8.6m who both reach Tier 2. The lower tackling threshold looks should really help defenders and the likes of Wan-Bissaka should be a regular in this column. Ake and Pereira started the season well with bonus in both areas. 8 other defenders made Tier 1 tackling with 3 successful tackles to their name. The cheapest starting defender was Brighton’s Burn £4.6m while the popular Guilbert £4.5m didn’t make the squad against Spurs.
| Tackles Tier 1 | Tackles Tier 2 |
|---|---|
| Aarons £7.1m | Dummett £7.2m |
| Ake £8m | Pereira £8.5m |
| Boly £8m | Wan-Bissaka £8.6m |
| Evans £7.4m | |
| Pieters £6.4m | |
| Rico £6.2m | |
| Stones £9m | |
| Walker-Peters £7.1m |
A mention must go out to Emerson who hit Tier 2 shots bonus at Old Trafford. The left back should’ve scored and had an effort hit the post.
Midfielders
Mahrez was this week’s highest midfield scorer with a hat-trick of assists and surprisingly tackle bonus. Behind him was a potential enabler McGinn £7.4m who scored against Spurs and made 5 tackles for his side. Villa’s fixtures are also much easier over the next 3 games (BOU / EVE / cry). The games most expensive midfielder KDB £11.2m started off with an assist and Tier 2 tackle bonus. The cheapest midfielder in the game that started was Willock £5.3mm but it’s unlikely he’ll be a consistent starter. One of Norwich’s midfielders just under £6m look more likely but none show any signs of bonus points.
Not many midfielders made passing bonus this week but there were some usual suspects. Winks once again looks like a great option for consistent passing bonus as he racked up 79 passes in 64 minutes. Man City’s new signing Rodri looks like he could also pick up consistent passing bonus after making 65 passes in the holding midfielder role but £8.5m looks quite steep considering he didn’t create a single chance. Sheffield United’s Norwood £6.4m could be an enabler, he made 55 passes away to Bournemouth and is on set-pieces and penalties. Tottenham’s new signing Ndombele was tipped to be a potential pass magnet but he only made 47 passes although I’m sure owners will be more impressed by his attacking potential and goal.
| Pass Tier 1 | Pass Tier 2 |
|---|---|
| Kovacic £8.9m | Winks £7.7m |
| Rodri £8.5m | Xhaka £9.6m |
Billing continues to be a tackle magnet after moving to Bournemouth, he achieved Tier 2 in GW1 along with McArthur who are priced similarly at under £8m. Fabinho £8.5m also made Tier 2 tackles bonus against Norwich.
| Tackles Tier 1 | Tackles Tier 2 |
|---|---|
| Grealish £7.9m | Billing £7.5m |
| Hayden £7.7m | De Bruyne £11.2m |
| Lamela £7.8m | Fabinho £8.5m |
| Mahrez £9.9m | McArthur £7.8m |
| McNeil £7.3m | McGinn £7.4m |
| Moutinho £8.2m | |
| Richarlison £10.2m | |
| Stephens £7.6m | |
| Townsend £8.0m |
Strikers
There were plenty of big hauls up front in gameweek 1 and spending big up front definitely paid off so far. The cheapest starting forward was Sheffield Utd’s Robinson £6.8m, who also picked up MOTM. Sterling was this week’s highest scorer with 22 points after he bagged a hat-trick and he’s owned by 35% of managers. With the new SOT bonus, strikers who score a brace are guaranteed tier one and it favours those who are greedy and like to pull the trigger. Kane, Aubameyang, Sterling and Salah all hit double figures this week, so going without more than 1 would’ve hurt. A total of 8 strikers hit that total this week with only Jimenez not scoring. Ashley Barnes £8.9m braced against Southampton for a massive 18 pointer. Going big up top or with 3 strikers is much more viable than previous years.
MOTM was favoured to the strikers this week with 6 going to those leading the line. Defenders cleaned up the other 4 as not one midfielder or keeper got an extra 3 points. Maguire picked up a debut MOTM which could’ve gone either way.
Written by FPL Junior (@FPL_Junior)
