A Fantasy Football player to consider from every team for 2018-19

Quick Reads

Planet Football
10th August 2018

Liverpool, Manchester City and Tottenham stars will once again be among this season’s most-picked Fantasy Premier League players, but there are also great bargains to be found outside of the big six.

With the Premier League season kicking off on Friday evening when Manchester United host Leicester City, there are just hours left to finalise your Fantasy team.

To help you make your final alterations, we’ve gone through every club’s squad to find at least one player you should consider for your team.

Arsenal

As always, there are several Arsenal players worth considering for your squad.

Hector Bellerin has had a £0.5m price reduction despite racking up the eighth highest score of last season’s defenders, but the signing of Stephan Lichtsteiner could affect his gametime.

Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (£11m) is definitely worth considering at the other end if you can afford him after an impressive half-season acclimatising to the Premier League, while Aaron Ramsey (£7m) is among the best options of the mid-priced midfielders in the game having contributed seven goals and 10 assists in just 24 appearances last season.

READ: 11 young players to watch out for in the Premier League: Foden, Nelson, Jones

Bournemouth

Bournemouth scored a Premier League-high nine goals from corners last season (joint with Arsenal), making both takers and targets of their set-pieces attractive.

Ryan Fraser is a good budget midfield option at £5.5m having scored five and assisted three goals last season, while Nathan Aké would be a good rotational defender as someone who offers both clean sheet and goal bonuses.

Asmir Begovic is also a good option as one of your goalkeepers at just £4.5m, but it’s Josh King (£6.5m) we’ve really got our eye on as a cheap forward to free up funds for elsewhere but someone who’ll start most games and accumulated a very decent 110 points last season.

Brighton

Brighton are another team you should definitely be looking at for rotation options in defence; the Seagulls conceded less goals than any other team who finished in the bottom half of the Premier League last season.

Matt Ryan is our pick, but you won’t go wrong picking any of him, Shane Duffy or Lewis Dunk, all of whom are priced at £4.5m. In fact, you may even want to get two into your squad to avoid relying on five different teams for clean sheet bonuses.

Burnley

Burnley finished with the sixth best defensive record in the Premier League last season, and you can rely on them being strong at the back again following the signings of Joe Hart and Ben Gibson.

It’s hard to know who will emerge as their No.1 goalkeeper once Tom Heaton and Tom Pope are back fit, and you may want to give it a week to see who Sean Dyche starts with at centre-back in the opening game, but we reckon Gibson will establish himself as a regular.

Cardiff City

There is often plenty of value to be found within the squads of the newly-promoted clubs. In Cardiff City’s case, Neil Warnock’s side conceded just 39 goals in their 46 Championship games last season so any one of their goalkeeper, Neil Etheridge, or back four could be worth picking.

The other option is to choose a creative player such as Junior Hoilett, who was brilliant on the Bluebirds’ way to promotion, but we’re going with centre-back Sean Morrison, who could provide goal as well as clean sheet bonuses having bagged seven goals in the Championship last season.

Chelsea

Chelsea’s switch to a back four is likely to see Marcos Alonso’s points suffer this season, but Victor Moses is a player worth keeping an eye on – listed as a defender, he was used as part of a front three during pre-season. He could be a great differential if you’re brave.

There are probably better premium options than Eden Hazard, at least to start the season with, after he helped Belgium to the World Cup final. His future has once again been the source of much speculation, too, which is unlikely to have helped.

We’ve got our eyes on Willian and, surprisingly, N’Golo Kante. He’s likely to have more freedom to get involved in attacks under Maurizio Sarri, and that combined with the likely clean sheet bonuses and the fact he’s more or less a nailed-on starter could make him the best midfielder in the game at £5m.

READ: Eleven things you HAVE to read before picking your Fantasy Football team

Crystal Palace

Luka Milivojević was one of the FPL heroes last season, but as a holding midfielder, his price rise to £6.5m should make you think twice, even despite all those lovely set-piece points.

We’re more tempted by Andros Townsend, a winger, at £0.5m cheaper, but Aaron-Wan Bissaka is quite frankly a must-buy, offering you a guaranteed way into a usually-decent Palace defence at a bargain £4m.

Everton

Everton’s glut of signings means it might be worth waiting a few weeks to see who starts and who settles, but Richarlison should be good value at £6.5m.

Another one of last season’s FPL stars, he didn’t register a single goal or assist after December, but a summer off and a fresh start with a club expected to do well should make a big difference.

Fulham

Ryan Sessegnon’s classification as a midfielder – and his £6.5m price tag – will have come as a disappointment to all FPL fans, but in Tom Cairney there is still great value for money in the Cottagers’ squad.

The club captain contributed six goals and five assists last season, and at £5m could be one of the best enablers in the game. Why pick a £4.5m midfielder who hardly plays when you can get Cairney?

Huddersfield Town

As with most of the clubs likely to be in the bottom half, it’s Huddersfield’s back five which is likely to provide value.

The Terriers have improved their attacking options over the summer, but we still expect David Wagner’s side to focus primarily on being hard to beat.

All priced at £4.5m, any one of goalkeeper Jonas Lössl, Mathias ‘Zanka’ Jørgensen or fellow centre-back Christopher Schindler would be a good pick as a rotation option. Right now, we’re leaning towards Zanka.

Leicester City

Once again priced at £9m, Jamie Vardy is a great way to guarantee starts and goals from your striker without spending mega bucks.

However, the player we really like the look of going into the new season is Demarai Gray. Priced at £5.5m, he’s always impressed during previous runs in the team and is likely to get much more gametime this season following Riyad Mahrez’s move to Manchester City.

Liverpool

There are a few really interesting options in Liverpool’s squad this season. We still expect Roberto Firmino to play most weeks, but Daniel Sturridge has had a good pre-season and at £6m could be an option for some weeks.

Then there’s Xherdan Shaqiri, who outscored all but Firmino and Mohamed Salah playing for Stoke last season. He’s not going to be a player you can rely on to play 60 minutes every week, but coming off the bench to break down stubborn defences and picked against lesser opponents when Jurgen Klopp can afford to rest one or two, we can see Shaqiri racking up a really big score this season.

All that said, you just can’t not pick Salah. His ownership is simply too high, and he’ll be captained by so many people in the early weeks that, even at £13m, it’d be too much of a risk to leave him out and watch your friends pull ahead of you if he hits the ground running again.

READ: Seven players to boost their chances in pre-season: Sturridge, Pereira, Amos…

Manchester City

The arrival of Mahrez will mean more rotation between City’s wingers, leaving us to look at Bernardo Silva.

Used in a more central role during pre-season, Pep Guardiola said “right now, it is Bernardo and 10 players more” after he shone in the Community Shield final. Priced at just £7.5m, we’re expecting some seriously big things from him.

There is also, of course, Kevin De Bruyne who you’ll want to get into your team if you can afford him, and either Sergio Aguero or Gabriel Jesus, who won’t guarantee you starts but will guarantee you plenty of points regardless.

Manchester United

Despite his tough start to life at United, it’s still not hard to be tempted by Alexis Sanchez at £10.5m given the goals we know he’s capable of scoring.

Romelu Lukaku at £11m and Paul Pogba at £8m are the other obvious options, but despite their failure to sign a new centre-back, we still expect United to keep plenty of clean sheets this season.

At £5.5m, fitness permitting, that makes Eric Bailly extremely attractive.

Newcastle United

After another frustrating summer for Rafa Benitez, it’s hard to know exactly what to expect from Newcastle this season.

They have, however, added a proven Premier League targetman to their squad in the shape of Salomon Rondon, and he’s one of the best £6m strike options in the game if you need to create funds for big names.

Matt Ritchie at the same price will get you plenty of points assuming he keeps his place and set-piece duties for this season, while Jamaal Lascelles is one of the best £5m defenders in the game.

Southampton

Southampton are one of the teams you might want to have a look at before rushing in on, but Cédric Soares at £4.5m is certainly a player you’ll want to consider, though he’s a fitness doubt for Saints’ opening game.

If he starts regularly, Danny Ings will suddenly become a wonderful third forward option at just £5.5m, but ‘wait and see’ is the buzz phrase with the Saints.

Tottenham

In Fantasy terms, Spurs having no new signings is a good thing, albeit there is still some uncertainty around who will start the season after the World Cup.

For that reason, we’re going to avoid Harry Kane and Kieran Trippier for now, leaving Son Heung-min (£8.5m) and Christian Eriksen (£9.5m) as the players to look at it.

Even despite the extra million price tag, it’s the latter we’ve got most faith in for FPL points.

READ: Fantasy Football: Nine World Cup stars to avoid in gameweek one

Watford

With Richarlison leaving for Everton, it’s probably Watford’s backline you’ll be looking at for potential rotation options.

Ben Foster is likely to start as No.1 and should guarantee you plenty of save points, while José Holebas and Christian Kabasele offer you cheap ways into the Hornets’ defence.

All are priced at £4.5m and would be solid buys – you’ll need to see how Watford’s fixtures work alongside those of your team’s other defenders if you’re going to rotate – but if forced to pick one we’d go for Holebas for his assists potential.

West Ham

Lukas Fabianski is a bone-fide FPL legend and at £4.5m will once again be starting the season as one of our two goalkeepers.

And we’re also plumping for Marko Arnautovic, who was brilliant after being moved up front by David Moyes last season and will guarantee you minutes, goals and assists. The only issue is his £7m price tag, with several good £6m forward options on the market.

Wolves

Big things are expected of Wolves this season, with several exciting new signings added to a team which walked away with teh Championship title.

And it’s one of last season’s stars rather than a new arrival who we’re looking at. Diogo Jota top-scored for Nuno Espírito Santo’s side last season with 17, plus a further six assists.

He’s priced at £6.5m, which is relatively high for a player with a newly-promoted team, but get this: he’s listed as a midfielder. He could be FPL (Old) Gold.