If you are missing football a bit too much this summer, then fantasy football is the perfect way to get into the spirit. If you are like me then you made your team almost as soon as it was made available, but many of you may not have even thought about it yet.But don’t worry there’s still plenty of time before the season gets underway.
With the winter break for the World Cup meaning unlimited transfers, You’ll probably be looking at using your first wildcard around GW8 around the international break. This means that a lot of emphasis should be put on a players first 8 fixtures when building your draft.
So this is how I feel is best to approach building your initial team for the 22/23 season. Although I will note, I am not liable for any poor decision made as a result of my opinions.
Firstly, the stalwarts. The first player in most people’s team this season has got to be Trent Alexander-Arnold (Liv). With an average of 191 points in his last four seasons, TAA has shown his value consistently. Providing assists from crosses, goals from set pieces, takes corners, and is part of debatably the best defence in the league. At £7.5m he is the most expensive defender in the game but it is easy to see why. When considering price points his measly £7.5 compared to Salah and Son, who were the other two top points scorers last season, TAA is significantly cheaper (£5.5 less than Salah). So personally, for me, he is a must in the squad.
The second guaranteed place in my squad goes to Salah. The Egyptian King is FPL royalty. He holds the title for most points scored ever in a season for his performance in 17/18, was last year’s top points scorer, and averages 258 points over the last 5 seasons. For those motives alone he gets into my squad, but I have a feeling that he will have more influence on this Liverpool attack now Mane has left and may have one of his best seasons yet. The only reason why these two will be taken out of my team is if they take a significant injury during the season.
Goalkeepers
For my main goalkeeper, I have gone for Eduard Mendy (CHE). At £5m. Being one of the best shot-stoppers in the league and playing for one of leading teams, he is likely to get a high amount of clean sheet points. Chelsea have also just signed Kalidou Kouilbaly who is a great replacement for Rudiger and will sure things up ahead of Mendy. The alternatives in this position are Alison or Ederson at half a million more expensive, but they use up one of your important Liverpool and City player spots. Or going for someone like Raya who is half a million cheaper, but players for a less successful team. So I think Mendy is just a good compromise and the difference in points between him and the top two keepers will be minimal. The other spot I temporarily gave to Tom Heaton as De Gea had a minor injury. This spot can pretty much go to any other £4m keeper. Though it would be a good idea to choose a keeper from a team that only has two keepers so there is a higher likelihood of them getting game time.
Defence
For my first draft, I have gone big at the back as tshere seems to be so many well-valued defenders this year. I believe that if Chilwell had managed to stay injury free the entirety of last season he would be priced the same as Cancelo and Robertson. So £6.0m for a player that averaged around 9 points per game before his injury is an absolute steal. The obvious other option here is Reece James who is the same price but has higher ownership. So purely for the small differential and the average points, I have gone Chilwell over James.
My next pick was Perisic. We know that Conte brought him to Spurs because of how well he played under him as a wing-back at Inter. A winger who plays an attacking role at the back for a manager who favours defensively solidity is always going to be FPL gold.. Neco Williams’ move to Forest is also one that interests me as someone who could be used instead of Perisic. The extra £1.5m that this move would free up could then be put into the midfield.
Cancelo is my next pick and this was a fairly easy one. He was pretty close to being considered in the stalwart category for me based on his last season’s performance. The only factors that influenced this were his price and the potential transfer of Cucurella to City. We all know how much Pep likes to rotate and Cancelo was one of the few players that seemingly avoided this last season. Bringing in a backup left-back may not be a good sign for FPL managers, as Pep may be wanting to save Cancelo for bigger games in the Champions League. But with 201 points last season, and being in last season’s best defence he has to be considered.
The last spot for my five-at-the-back defence goes to Trippier. Another full-back who is on set pieces and one of the best freekick takers in the league. Newcastle have also recruited well this summer, signing Sven Botman and Nick Pope. Who are likely to help solidify an already good defence, with Eddie Howe leading Newcastle to one of the top defensive records in the league in the second half of the season. To top things off Newcastle also have all three recently promoted sides in their first ten games. All things considered, I see Trippier as a good asset who will get goals and clean sheets. Although it should also be noted that Newcastle play City in GW3 and Liverpool in GW5 so having someone to rotate with would be good.
Midfield
Since I went so heavy at the back, I have had to consider a few budget options in midfield to go alongside Salah. I have gone for Neto (£5.5m), Elanga (£5.0), and Pereira (£4.5). It seems that both Neto and Pereira have both received a bit of cult following in most people’s first FPL drafts having been priced so low. With both of them having around 20% ownership it is easy to why you might think they are good options to free up some more funds for different areas of the squad. Pereira because of his move to Fulham coming after FPL prices were announced, is probably someone who you aren’t looking to score you a tonne of points. Although, he will most likely be a starting player for Fulham and will be on your bench to come on, in the occasion that one of your other players doesn’t play. Neto on the other hand has a few good fixtures and plays for a strong Wolves side and might bag a goal here and there.
Elanga is one that I included in my squad also with the intention of a bench player. There were very few midfielders priced at £5m that I thought had as much potential as him. With Ronaldo possibly on his way out it is reasonable to imagine that Elanga might get some minutes, either coming off the bench or starting when Rashford or Sancho need to be rested. But, as I mentioned before, if I do decide to swap Perisic for someone cheaper then I would most likely upgrade Elanga to Rashford. He seems to be playing a key role on the wing Under Ten Haag in preseason. This could alternatively mean an upgrade from Neto to Sancho.
Gimmie, Gimmie, Gimmie a ginger from Sweden. Kulusevski is my final pick for my midfield. He has had an incredible impact for Tottenham since joining in the winter and was one of my favourite FPL assets, having fallen just shy of 100 points in the second half of the season. Spurs have Southhampton as their first game of the season who are notoriously shaky at the back. I have also taken Kulusevski because of Spurs’ fixtures and to not have any Spurs attacking assets I feel would risk missing big points. Saka, Foden, and Diaz are all also good options. So it is useful to have a player that fills this slot to allow for horizontal moves, if one hits a good vein of form.
Forwards
My main forward this season is Erling Haaland, the man everyone is talking about. His ownership is 62% (the current highest). Probably as there are only two premium forwards this year, with one being Haaland. The other being Kane. With Ronaldo seemingly on his way out it leaves the choice between those two. I have gone for Haaland maily because of his more favourable fixtures. The only other player apart from Haaland that I see avoiding Pep roulette is KDB but he is more expensive and of course, a midfielder.
My second striker is Gabriel Jesus. Could he be my FPL messiah? No, but he does have really good fixtures and will most likely give you good returns up until you decide to wildcard. He is the same price as Saka so you could invest in either and replace the other with a more affordable option. But in this case, I prefer Jesus and Neto in midfield. Jesus is almost guaranteed to be a starter now that Lacazette has left and is a proven Premier League goalscorer. I would imagine he would also be put on penalties. Other good options are Havertz, Antonio, or Wilson. You could also go with Vardy who is known for starting seasons quickly and will not have any European football this season. But he is £1.5m more expensive.
Ultimately, as I mentioned before, this is the first draft and most people’s teams will change dramatically before the first ball is even kicked. There are just under three weeks now till the season starts and anything could happen from injuries to players being sold. But one of the main things I would look at is fixtures. As this season is pretty much set up into quarters with unlimited transfers coming during the winter break. You only really have to look a maximum of ten weeks into the future before you can start from scratch again. You also need to consider the new rules on substitutes in the league this year. With five subs being allowed this could mean players getting taken off early. Or crucially missing out on clean sheet points if they get taken off before the 60th minute.
When making your FPL team you should also consider that just copying what everyone else is doing is not going to win you your mini-league. You need a few differentials to get ahead of the curve and planning for upcoming fixtures is one way to do that. Players such as Perisic and Haaland usually will have high ownership at the start of the season. But there is usually a settling-in period for new players or even a ‘tax’ that affects a player’s stats when moving from foreign leagues.
Hopefully this can guide you when you make your first team this year, good luck!