Fantasy Premier League: Gameweek 1 Preview – Strategy and Captain Picks, plus Leeds United star is One to Watch

This season, the Fantasy Football deadline has been moved to 90 minutes before kick-off, making this week’s deadline 11am.

To begin the season, we’ll discuss the strategy in making your original squad, take a look at some of the new faces in the league and consider the captains ahead of the first gameweek.

Strategy

Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang has been reclassified as a midfielder, making five of last season’s top seven point scorers midfielders. Priced accordingly, Salah, Mane, Aubameyang, De Bruyne and Sterling are this season’s most expensive players so to be able to switch between these big hitters, it makes sense to spend the majority of your budget in this area.

Saying that, we have a strange start to the season as neither Man City, Man United, Burnley nor Aston Villa play this weekend therefore start with a blank. Following this, Man United in particular have a favourable fixture list as they play Crystal Palace, Newcastle and Brighton over their next 4 games so leaving funds in the bank to bring Fernandes, Rashford or Martial in for Gameweek 2 could be a wise move.

Ones to Watch

Timo Werner

Werner bagged 28 goals and 8 assists in the Bundesliga last season, which would have comfortably won him the golden boot had it been in the Premier League.

He joined Chelsea in June as their first signing of the transfer window and sacrificed playing for Leipzig in the Champions League knockout phase to train with his new team, allowing himself to acclimatise to his new surroundings.

For a striker who is captainable and a golden boot contender, £9.5m seems like a bargain.

Aleksandar Mitrovic

Priced at £6m and with a favourable early fixture run, Mitrovic rejoins the Premier League as the Championship’s top goal scorer. On penalties, Mitrovic scored 26 league goals last season and contributed to 15 goals in the season before, the last time he played in the Premier League. After a home game against Arsenal on Saturday, Fulham have an 8 game run where they don’t play against the ‘top 6’. This run will define their season.

Rodrigo Moreno

Rodrigo joins Leeds as their marquee signing but may struggle to cement a starting spot in Bielsa’s starting 11. Loyal to the players who brought them up, Bielsa may choose to stick with Bamford for Leeds’ first few games before switching things up if results don’t go their way. With 18 goal involvements across all competitions including the Champions League last season, I’m sure that £6m will be a tempting price at some point throughout the season.

James Rodriguez

Peaking in 2014/15 with 34 combined goals and assists, James has the potential to average a goal involvement almost every game. If he rediscovers this form, £7.5m will be a bargain but the reality is that this was 6 years ago and Everton are a bottom half team. Saying that, with games against West Brom, Crystal Palace and Brighton in his first four games, James may start the season well.

Captain Picks

Mo Salah or Sadio Mane vs Leeds (Liverpool, £12m)

Hosting a promoted side on the first game of the season should make captaining a Liverpool player a formality. Between them, they scored 37 goals and provided 20 assists last season, so against a team with zero Premier League experience, you’d expect big things from the attacking pair.

Timo Werner vs Brighton (Chelsea, £9.5m)

As mentioned earlier, Werner averaged over a goal involvement per game for Leipzig last season, with the majority of his returns being against lower half teams.

Recapturing this form at Chelsea, Werner may be a captaincy choice every week, but even moreso this week as Chelsea face Brighton who finished 15th last season.

The Explainer

Transfers

After picking your initial squad, you receive 1 free transfer each Gameweek. Each additional transfer you make in the same Gameweek will deduct 4 points from your score.

If you do not use your free transfer, you are able to make an additional free transfer the following Gameweek. If you do not use this saved free transfer in the following Gameweek, it will be carried over until you do. You can never have more than 1 saved transfer.

For example, since you get 1 free transfer per gameweek, if you make no transfers between gameweeks, you will have 2 free transfers in preparation for the next gameweek. You will incur a 4 point hit per transfer over your free transfer allowance.

Point Scoring

During the season, your fantasy football players will be allocated points based on their performance in the Premier League. Remember, every week your captain scores double points, so pick them wisely!

Points Action

1 For playing up to 60 minutes

2 For playing 60 minutes or more (excluding stoppage time)

6 For each goal scored by a goalkeeper or defender

5 For each goal scored by a midfielder

4 For each goal scored by a forward

3 For each goal assist

4 For a clean sheet by a goalkeeper or defender

1 For a clean sheet by a midfielder

1 For every 3 shot saves by a goalkeeper

5 For each penalty save

-2 For each penalty miss

1 to 3 Bonus points for the best players in a match

-1 For every 2 goals conceded by a goalkeeper or defender

-1 For each yellow card

-3 For each red card

-2 For each own goal

For more information on the rules of the game, visit https://fantasy.premierleague.com/help/rules

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James Mitchinson