Fantasy Premier League: Our expert picks a squad for Gameweek 1 and beyond
By
Mark McGettigan Aug 11, 2021
91
With just a few days to go until the first FPL deadline of the season (Friday, 6.30pm BST), I’ve put together a Gameweek 1 squad. It’s very similar to how my team will look for the weekend barring any big transfer news or injuries between.
There are no major surprises in this squad as I always aim to play it safe in the early gameweeks of the season. Overall, it’s a well-balanced team that is flexible for future transfers.
See what you think, let me know your thoughts in the comments and be sure to join
The Athletic’s mini-league for this season to go head to head with me and plenty of our writers. The details for that are provided later in the piece.
Goalkeeper
Robert Sanchez (£4.5 million)
Brighton are top of the fixture ticker for the first four gameweeks, they had good underlying defensive statistics last season and their goalkeeper is cheap. I’m not going to overthink this one. Brighton ranked third for lowest xGC (expected goals conceded) in 2020-21 behind Chelsea and Manchester City. Sanchez should offer good value this season.
Defenders
Trent Alexander-Arnold (£7.5 million)
The first name on the FPL team sheet. Alexander-Arnold needs no explanation, he’s already an FPL legend. Liverpool will kick off their campaign with a trip to Carrow Road to face newly promoted Norwich before welcoming Burnley to Anfield in Gameweek 2, it doesn’t get much better than that in terms of opening fixtures.
Virgil van Dijk (£6.5 million) returning from injury is good news for Alexander-Arnold’s FPL prospects, not just defensively, but to get on the end of his corners and set pieces. The Liverpool right-back ranked fifth for chances created (77) across all positions in the league last season.
Konstantinos Tsimikas (£4 million)
When the game throws you a bone, you grab it. Andrew Robertson’s unfortunate injury may have presented us with a gift from the FPL gods that is simply too good to turn down. Greek left-back Tsimikas is expected to fill Robertson’s boots for at least the first three matches. With the fixtures being so good for Liverpool, he’s an easy pick, which unlocks funds for other positions. At the time of writing, his ownership is just over 10 per cent but it’s going to be much higher come Friday night. Let’s hope he can write himself into FPL folklore.
Luke Shaw (£5.5 million)
The third spot in defence goes to Manchester United’s marauding left-back.
Shaw might be undervalued this season, he could easily have been priced at £6 million. He was second behind Alexander-Arnold last year for chances created (72). Shaw is currently the player with the highest ownership in the game (53.8 per cent), which highlights the fact that many feel he’s underpriced.
Midfielders
Mohamed Salah (£12.5 million)
Like Alexander-Arnold, Salah is another easy pick for Gameweek 1. The Egyptian is a very strong captaincy candidate for four of the opening six gameweeks, which includes fixtures against Norwich (away), Burnley (home), Crystal Palace (home) and Brentford (away). He’s going to be the runaway leader of the captain polls for Gameweek 1, which makes going without him very dangerous. Don’t overthink this one.
Bruno Fernandes (£12 million)
If you could build a player in a factory to be perfectly suited to the FPL game, it would be a clone of Bruno Fernandes. He’s one of those players who can have the worst game of his career but still come away with 10+ points. He’s not essential for Gameweek 1 but I like the Salah/Fernandes captaincy rotation for the first six. Manchester United play Wolves (away) and Newcastle (home) in Gameweeks 3 and 4 when Salah has trickier fixtures.
Raphinha (£6.5 million)
The Leeds United winger is another undervalued option going into Gameweek 1. He was excellent last season and should have scored a lot more FPL points than he did. I’m backing him to hit 20+ attacking returns this time around. If he can achieve that for just £6.5m, he’ll be the bargain of the season. The first four fixtures for Leeds are not the most favourable but I feel it’s better to go with the Brazilian from the start rather than having to use a precious transfer later to bring him in. Hopefully, he’s a season-keeper.
Harvey Barnes (£7 million)
The fourth midfield pick is the one I’m struggling with most this week.
Jack Grealish (£8 million),
Riyad Mahrez (£9 million),
Ilkay Gundogan (£7.5 million),
Mason Greenwood (£7.5 million),
Son Heung-min (£10 million),
Kai Havertz (£8.5 million),
Diogo Jota (£7.5 million) and
Said Benrahma (£6 million) are all under consideration. Significant downgrades elsewhere would be required to squeeze in Son or Mahrez.
I’ve gone for Harvey Barnes here. He looked really sharp in the Community Shield victory over Manchester City. Brendan Rodgers has said he’s not 100 per cent fit, which puts slight doubts in my mind, but I feel he’s a risk worth taking for Gameweek 1. Wolves (home), West Ham (away) and Norwich (away) is a pretty nice start.
Forwards
Danny Ings (£8 million)
Twelve months ago, Ings was coming into the new season off the back of a 22-goal haul for Southampton. Playing for a better side now could see him go close to those numbers again or even match them (fitness permitting). He’s one of the best finishers in the division. Aston Villa have arguably the best opening three fixtures of any team — Watford (away), Newcastle (home) and Brentford (home). Spending £8 million on this position is a nice price point as Ings can be moved out for players like
Dominic Calvert-Lewin (£8 million) or
Patrick Bamford (£8 million) quite easily.
Michail Antonio (£7.5 million)
The West Ham striker is one of the very few players that has been in all of my pre-season drafts. He’s just a rock-solid pick at his price, playing for a very good team. We know that when he’s fit, he racks up the FPL points. Everyone remembers those four goals against Norwich in 2019-20! Europa League could be an issue for West Ham assets this season but Antonio is a safe pick for now before that competition starts.
Callum Wilson (£7.5 million)
The final forward spot goes to Newcastle’s hitman Callum Wilson. Over the past three seasons in the league, the former Bournemouth striker has scored 34 goals and provided 24 assists. Steve Bruce’s charges were rejuvenated towards the end of last season playing a more attacking style of football. If they pick up from where they left off, Wilson could get off to a flyer.
Bench Picks
Angus Gunn (£4 million)
Most managers who are spending just £8.5 million on their two goalkeepers have selected Watford’s
Ben Foster (£4 million) as the back-up. Given that his ownership is very high, Foster is more likely to suffer a price drop than the low-owned £4 million options, which is why I’ve opted for Gunn here.
Joel Veltman (£4.5 million)
As mentioned above, Brighton have excellent fixtures right up to Gameweek 9. With
Tariq Lamptey (£4.5 million) struggling for fitness and
Ben White (£4.5 million) gone, Veltman is expected to be a first-team regular this season. He can play at centre-back or wing-back.
Luke Ayling (£4.5 million)
Veltman and Ayling rotate very nicely in terms of fixture difficulty. They come as a pair in my eyes. I still can’t understand how Ayling got zero attacking returns last year. That’s going to change this season.
Josh Brownhill (£4.5 million)
The fifth midfield pick goes to Burnley’s Brownhill. FPL Twitter went into overdrive a couple of weeks ago when he scored a brace in a pre-season friendly. That’s all we needed to see for him to become the No 1 pick of the £4.5 million midfielders.
