The 2019/20 Fantasy Premier League Guide

Last Update: August 9th, 5:10PM (BST)
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Fantasy Premier League surprisingly launched before we even reached July, but don’t fret, The VideoScope is back with suggestions for how to build your squad. Here are 5 different alternative ways you can set up your GW1 team.

When I did this before last season, none of my five suggested teams really hit the ground running, but sprinkled throughout all of them were players who went ahead and had really good seasons. If you picked Pereira and Salah from my Mo Salah team, Robbo and Wan-Bissaka from the No Salah team, sprinkling in Hazard, Laporte, Digne and Doherty (!) from my gambler team with Mané and Richarlison from my wildcard template to start the season, you’d have a damn good GW1 squad.

So my advice is probably not going with all 15 players from a single suggestion that I give you, but rather pick up bits and pieces from each of them. If you are too lazy to do the work yourself and swear on just picking either one of these teams, then you might want to consider:

The Template Team

If you can’t beat them, copy them

It’s hard to pick a template goalkeeper, as the abundance of £5.0 GKs this year has made options very limited. Several people have gone for either of the Brazilians who cost £6.0, but most seem to prefer using their Liverpool and Man City spots further up the pitch. Ryan is the most consistently picked cheap GK however and with his favorable price and Brighton’s easy fixtures, it’s easy to see why. With his backup Button being the most popular £4.0 fodder option as well, it makes it easier to pick both should anything happen to Ryan.

Not having Alisson in goal opens up two Liverpool slots in the defence. Robertson, commonly known as Robbo, was a mainstay in our FPL defences a year ago. He’s more nailed on than Alexander-Arnold and more offensive than Van Dijk. The latter also gets a spot on this template team for a slightly lower price of £6.5. Digne had an awesome debut season and his £6.0 price tag might still be well worth it and Everton have a soft opening schedule. With Mendy out to start the season, Zinchenko is a great way into Man City’s defence. Kelly seems like the best bet for a £4.0 defender this season, especially to start with Sakho and Tomkins doubtful and Wan-Bissaka on his way to Man Utd.

Salah is as template as it comes, even though it might be tempting to go with his teammate Mané or triple up on their defence. Salah is the template captain. Sterling is also a mighty popular choice after proving himself in two fantastic seasons. Alternating captaincy between him and Salah seems to be what many plan to do early on. Sigurdsson is also a popular option early. Maybe because he made last season’s dream team, maybe because people anticipate he will get more pens from VAR or maybe it’s Everton’s easy start. All appealing reasons. Perez has really impressed in pre-season and with his Newcastle price of £6.5 he is a bargain in Leicester’s second striker role. Dendoncker is the £4.5 midfielder who looks the most likely to play and possibly score. I just wish he was classified as a defender after several games at CB last season.

Bournemouth forwards are very popular this season, not surprising after some magnificent displays a year ago. It can be hard to choose between the more proven Wilson and the cheaper pen taker in King, so why not both? Greenwood fills out the squad as cheap bench fodder with the potential of more playing time after some encouraging comments from manager Ole Gunnar Solskjær, another baby-face assassin.

If you like to stand out and go for differentials, if you wanna get a player hardly anyone has and create your own bandwagons, then the following team’s players might be more suited for you:

The Gambler Team

You think you can beat them? Bet on it!

This team mostly consists of players who might break out and players with something to prove after a disappointing season. De Gea for sure fits into the second category. The guy formerly known as the best goalkeeper in the world had a horrid season last year along with his Man Utd brethren. Man Utd’s defence might still be shaky, but De Gea should be able to bounce back with Wan-Bissaka and Maguire in front of him. What’s more of a gamble than to go away from the traditional GK pair price point. We’ll add a £4.5 backup next to our £5.5 De Gea. Travers has a shot at becoming Bournemouth’s #1 GK, so we will bet on that too.

Alonso had a… confusing year. He somehow made it to the Zombie Team of the season, as you’ll see further down in these squad suggestions, but he also lost his place to Emerson and sort of got found out. But with #SarriOut, Alonso might get a new lease on life and might still be worth his price. Stones was similarly not nailed for Man City, but has his best shot at regular playing time there with Kompany gone and Otamendi soon to be. Gomez, Vinagre, are also young players looking to become sure starters. Gomez is probably Van Dijk’s future partner if Liverpool don’t sign anyone and the 20 year old Vinagre has been impressing Wolves fans in his outings. He might be a new Doherty if he breaks into the XI. Rico might start the season at LB for Bournemouth, but it’s presumed that new signing Kelly will take over once fit. For £4.0 it’s worth a risk with good opening fixtures for Howe’s men.

The midfield is a mix of heavy hitters looking to prove themselves and new exciting signings. Pépé is quality, but his price point of £9.5 scared off most new potential buyers. As the only guy other than Messi to get 20+ goals and 10+ assist last season in Europe’s top leagues, why not try him? Pogba is the definition of a gamble, especially since he might leave. If he stays he’s a candidate for 200+ points. Alli had a low key terrible season and seems to have stagnated a bit. He has been an FPL option forever, but he’s only still 23. He might blossom again. Chelsea new boy Pulisic and Newcastle’s Almirón might blossom too. The pacy wingers have the future ahead of them and might be two of the breakout stars of this season.

At the forward position we have three players who have nice upside, but still some questions about them. Firmino is a safe option with 10+ goals and assists. The risk in picking him is that it takes away a Liverpool spot, so you have to bank on Firmino having a career year. West Ham’s transfer record signing Haller was also deemed a bit pricey at £7.5, but his record and play last season with Frankfurt warrants it. Picking either of Chelsea’s three strikers is a gamble at this point, but Abraham might be the juiciest punt. Lampard likes to play young players and if we’re really lucky, Abraham can take a couple pens too.

Speaking of pens… Will we see a significant increase in pens with the introduction of VAR? The data from the introduction of VAR in the Italian Serie A or the German Bundesliga doesn’t indicate a significant increase. However, with what we’ve seen both the in men’s and women’s World Cup the last two years, might we see an increase in pens? If you believe that, then maybe some of these players could be of interest:

The VAR Team

VAR, what is it good for? Penalties?

José Luis Chilavert doesn’t play in the Premier League sadly, but an increase in penalties wouldn’t just increase penalty goals, but also penalty saves. Why not get the best of bunch when it comes to saving penalties in Lloris and Pickford. The Spurs and Everton stoppers were the only goalkeepers to save more than one penalty last year other than the relegated Etheridge and look like the best shout to save more this season. It should be noted that Kepa saved one out of the two penalties Chelsea conceded last season.

Penalty takers are also barren among the defenders, but luckily Ritchie, Newcastle’s pen taker, has been classified as a defender. With pacy players up front and a new manager, Newcastle might get more than the three penalties they got in 18/19. Other than him, don’t expect anyone to take a penalty from defence. Baines earns the legacy award in this team, for plenty of wonderful penalties through the years. Bertrand and Daniels have taken and scored a penalty each a couple seasons ago. For the last spot… let’s just take a punt at David Luiz who for certain has taken penalties in shootouts before so.. maybe if Willian, Barkley, Abraham and Jorginho don’t play at the same time, Luiz might take it?

As we get higher up the pitch, we progressively get more penalty taker options as well. We get five solid options in midfield, for a reasonable price. The man in the middle is Milivojevic, the most notorious spot kick master in the league. He scored the most pens last season with 10 and chipped in with two more goals for the hell of it. Man Utd received the most pens last season and Pogba is still their penalty taker despite transfer rumours and missed pens. Sigurdsson also missed some pens last year, but should still take them for Everton. Willian is by most accounts Chelsea’s pen taker, but Barkley is also an alternative. Instead of doubling up on Chelsea midfielders however, let’s get a promoted pen taker in Sheff Utd’s Norwood.

One of the safest bets from the penalty spot is Aguero and he gets a spot in this spot kick team. A no brainer really. Sadly, cash restrains hold us back from adding Kane up front or Salah in midfield, but we still have room for two secure pen takers in VARdy and Deeney. There should be plenty of pens to go around in this team should the (Video Assistant) referees allow it.

You have to be patient with penalty takers, as penalties can come from anywhere at anytime, but maybe you are the trigger happy type? Then you might be suited for a team that is designed to only last four weeks before you whip out your wildcard. This is that team:

The Wildcard Team

The key to a good FPL season is a good start. Here it is.

There is an argument to be made for picking Pickford as your starting goalkeeper the first four weeks of this season, but I fell for that trap last season. He was out of my team with no clean sheets before he exploded points wise to end the season. My eventual mainstay as goalkeeper last season, was Alisson and he’s the one you should pick if you aim to wildcard during the international break between GW4 and 5. Arsenal at home is the only difficult-ish obstacle for Liverpool, who open at home to Norwich. On the Norwich bench and this bench is McGovern, who is a standard £4.0 bench option.

With the good fixtures, why not double up on Liverpool defenders too? Alexander-Arnold might be an ever so slight rotation risk throughout the season, but to start I imagine he plays every game. He had the best points per match score among defenders last season. Everton have possibly the kindest run from GW1-4 and Digne will reap the rewards right from the start. One who reaped rewards early last season was Holebas, who once again has kid fixtures and plenty of points potential. West Ham open against Man City, but in the three following games, Diop might get some clean sheets. Rico started in Bournemouth’s final pre-season win against Lyon and was on corners and free kicks (without Fraser), for £4.0 he’s a good punt to start the season.

The Liverpool party continues into the midfield, once again with Salah, he’s pretty much essential to start the season. He’s accompanied by the most talented player in the blue part of Liverpool, Everton’s Richarlison. Lucas Moura will be in and out of the Spurs lineup, but with Son suspended for two games, you can bank on Moura against Villa in the opener. Lanzini has 3 goals in 3 matches in pre-season and West Ham get a great run GW2 onwards, but is still only owned by 1%, this is your chance to join them. Trossard is picked by even less, but is the star signing for Graham Potter’s new look Brighton and might take set-pieces.

Vardy has been having a party ever since Rodgers took over for Leicester and has some enticing matches in the first four gameweeks, perfect for a post GW4 wildcard. Vardy has been on fire in pre-season and so has Wilson. Him and Fraser might link up again early on this season and you should consider both. Wesley is another nice differential pick, spearheading a very exciting Aston Villa attack. Decent matches and penalty kick duties help too.

If it all fails, you wildcard away this squad after GW4 anyway. Low risk, high reward, but you’d have to actively keep up with FPL to start the season. If you don’t like to keep up with FPL as much and tend to forget deadlines and possibly FPL entirely, then this next team might be what you seek:

The Whole Season Team (Zombie Team)

If you’re gonna forget about FPL early on, you best come prepared

Do you typically forget about Fantasy Premier League a couple of weeks into the season? Then this might be the squad and tactic for you. You can actually win your mini-league in Fantasy Premier League without doing a damn thing. Does that sound appealing to you?

“#TheyAreUs” won Fantasy Premier League last season, with 2659 points, but if you had picked out this team at the start of the season, you’d end up only just behind him with 2632 points without doing a single change!

Total Cost (Start of season): £100m

2347 points from the starters, 255 points coming off the bench and 30 sweet Vice Captain points from Van Dijk in the six gameweeks Sterling didn’t play. No Triple Captain, no Bench Boost, no Wildcards, no nothing. It would still be more than enough to win every mini-league you’re in and almost enough to beat Adam Levy for the top spot.

Before we dive in to the team, we gotta set up some ground rules. Setting up a team for the whole season, a set and forget team, a zombie team, comes with different rules about what to look out for. There is no planning for bench boost, captain changes or getting in players for an easy run of fixtures. Instead, there are some precautions you need to take:

1. Avoid too many injury prone/January Transfer players

2. Have a strong bench with explosive players

3. fixture proof your blank gameweeks

You lose the advantage of being able to sell players who get injured or get sold in January, which means that injury prone players like Mendy, de Bruyne and Coleman are less enticing options, while a popular transfer target like Zaha or someone like Arnautovic might not be the best bets either.

Injuries and strange omissions will happen though, so you can’t go with the cheapest possible bench and hope it works out. The bench for last season’s team accounted for a total of 40 appearances, which is the equivalent of almost four gameweeks! Those 40 appearances netted 255 extra points, which is a whole lot.

Preparing for which gameweeks Alexander-Arnold will get rested or when Aguero will miss out for some odd reason is impossible to do before the season, but what you can do is prepare for the likely blank gameweeks. These will come in GWs 28, 31 and 34, with a possible blank for West Ham and Liverpool in GW18 because of the Club World Cup. Getting bench players who have enticing fixtures in these gameweeks is therefore imperative. If you avoid fixtures against top 6 sides, you have a bigger chance of a haul and less of a chance of a blank gameweek. Last season, the blank gameweeks meant that Deulofeu’s 23 points against Cardiff along with King’s 13 points and Milivojevic’ 10 points against Newcastle came from the bench.

With that out of the way let’s see if we can learn from the zombie teams of the season from both 17/18 and 18/19 and see if we can replicate it and win everything there is to win in FPL without doing a single transfer:

Goalkeepers

17/18 GKs: Pope (Elliott)
18/19 GKs: Ederson (Pickford)

If you change around your team before each gameweek, you have the option of either having a cheap rotating GK pair or a more expensive set and forget shot stopper. Seeing as this is a set and forget team, the decision is already made.

You could always go for a cheap set and forget goalkeeper like the reliable Mat Ryan as your starting GK, but you’d be looking at less than 10 clean sheets. The mid-price options are more tempting, with Lloris, Kepa and possibly a resurgent De Gea as decent candidates. Looking back at last year though, the gap between the Brazilian goalkeepers at Liverpool and City and the rest was monstrous.

Alisson got more points than De Gea did when his price hiked to £6.5 before last season, but Alisson still only costs £6.0 heading into this one. That’s enough to convince me of an easy way into a doubling up on Liverpool defenders, more on that later.

Last season’s backup GK was Pickford for the three gameweeks Ederson and Man City had a blank gameweek. Liverpool could finally get some blank gameweeks this year themselves. Brighton have SHU (GW18), CRY (GW28), lei (GW31) and LIV (GW34) and considering the £4.5 gk options this year, that’s the best backup you’ll get, so Ryan becomes our pick. If the game against Liverpool in GW34 goes ahead as planned, that would mean Alisson plays that match at home against Brighton for us anyway.

19/20 GKs: Alisson (Ryan)

Defenders

17/18 Defenders: Azpilicueta, Otamendi, Davies, (Lascelles, Mariappa)
18/19 Defenders: Robertson, Van Dijk, Alexander-Arnold, Laporte, Alonso

Last year was somewhat of an anomaly with previously suspect defences in Man City and Liverpool now boosted by the full season arrival of Laporte and van Dijk and subsequently got underpriced. Their prices have been adjusted and last season will be hard to live up to. Van Dijk keeps his place however, as he’s still “only” £6.5 as opposed to his more offensive full-back partners. He has the least rotation risk among them as well and will be the rock of both Liverpool and this team’s defence. Champions League winners Liverpool will likely focus on winning the Premier League, while the defending PL champions City will be focused on winning the Champions League. Funny how that works.

There is so much uncertainty when it comes to the rest of the top 6 defenders. Man Utd and Arsenal’s defenders can’t be trusted, Robertson and Alexander-Arnold are too expensive and Mendy is sadly not gonna stay fit and out of trouble for the whole year. Chelsea defenders seem slightly too expensive considering they lost their best player and might drop out of the top 6. One of the top 6 contenders is Everton and they have the best FPL defender outside the top 6 in Digne. His underlying offensive stats have always been amazing and Everton started getting a lot of clean sheets to end last season. Expect both to continue and for Digne to keep shining.

Both seasons have featured a Man City defender who surprisingly kept his place in Pep Guardiola’s ever rotating XI. We’re hoping Zinchenko can be that guy this season. The Ukrainian might have his future as a midfielder, but he has been doing well as a left-back in the absence of Mendy. Not only does it feel like Pep is tired of Mendy’s antics, but he is always an injury risk as well. While Zinchenko might be dropped here and there, it won’t be much of a problem with decent bench players in our team.

Speaking of the bench, we will go back to a three man backline again for this year’s team. As discussed, the bench should consist of players with decent enough fixtures in the blank gameweeks, be fairly cheap, play for a team outside the top 6 and have the potential for explosive hauls as well. Fredericks for £4.5 from West Ham seems to fit that mould.

His blank fixtures: SOU (GW28), tot (GW31), BUR (GW34).

The home matches against defensive minded Southampton and Burnley look particularly tasty. West Ham have also proven they can get a result in their own personal “cup final” against Spurs as well. They got a clean sheet and the first win ever at the new Tottenham Stadium last season. At home against Southampton last season, Fredericks got his first goal for West Ham, a clean sheet and 2 bonus points, giving him a haul of 14 points. There could be more of those this coming season.

Lastly, we go for a £4.0 defender and Kelly is the obvious option. He can fill in for Sakho and Tomkins when they miss time and could otherwise be the starting right-back now that last season’s £4.0 hero Aaron Wan-Bissaka is going to Man Utd.

19/20 Defenders: Van Dijk, Digne, Zinchenko, (Fredericks, Kelly)

Midfielders

17/18 Midfielders: Salah, Sterling, Mahrez, Groß, (Milivojevic)
18/19 Midfielders: Sterling, Hazard, Pogba, (Deulofeu, Milivojevic)

Sterling and surprisingly Milivojevic are the only players who made this team in both of the last two seasons, but we’ll leave them both out this time around. Their success has come at a price and that price is too high. Sterling barely misses out however, as he was close to nabbing the most expensive midfield spot, but we’re backing Salah. We have a feeling he’ll get closer to his record breaking 303 points rather than his 259 he got last season. He looked sharp in the Community Shield and his goalscoring will come. We also expect more pens and less playing time for Milner. Salah is a no brainer.

Milivojevic will sadly have to be left out, not only because he’s more expensive once again, but also because Zaha might leave Crystal Palace. Zaha is the biggest reason Mili has been banging in pens the last two seasons. One penalty taker who might benefit from playing with Zaha is Sigurdsson. Everton have been rumoured to get Zaha, which would boost Gylfi’s appeal. He finished with the 4th highest point total of all midfielders last season and it still felt like he could have had more, especially scoring only two of his five penalty attempts. He should still be on spot kick duty and we’ll hope for some extra penalties from VAR and Zaha, hopefully at the same time.

Perez was a Newcastle player when FPL launched, which meant he was only priced at £6.5. Now that he’s with Leicester under Brendan Rodgers, in a supporting striker role next to Vardy, we believe in great things for a player who has looked close to really breaking out for a while. He has been on fire in pre-season and Leicester are perhaps the strongest contender to break into the top 6. Maybe not 1st like they did in 15/16, but we’re gonna need some Leicester representation regardless.

Graham Potter is building something exciting with Brighton, and playing a part in that is his star signing Trossard. The tricky left winger has struggled with injuries through his young career, but when he plays he delivers. He can also deliver from set pieces, as we have seen in the pre-season. He was also a pen taker with Genk, so one can dream that he takes pens whenever old man Murray needs a rest.

Our last pick in midfield is also a breakout candidate at only £6.0 and it is Hudson-Odoi. Yes, he’ll be out for a while to start the season, still nursing his achilles injury, but the bench can easily fill in for him while he’s gone. He’ll be back in time for all the blank gameweeks anyway. With Hazard now in La Liga and Sarri gone, Hudson-Odoi might finally get the chance to break out should he recover well from his injury.

19/20 Midfielders: Salah, Sigurdsson, Perez, Trossard, Hudson-Odoi

Forwards

17/18 Forwards: Kane, Firmino, Vardy
18/19 Forwards: Jimenez, Wilson, (King)

The first forward spot isn’t all that difficult to choose. Kane made this team priced at £12.5 two seasons ago and this year he only costs £11.0. A near guaranteed 200 points at that price is a bargain any way you look at it. Sure, he was injury prone last season, but he has played pretty consistently in all the seasons prior to that. A no brainer if you ask me.

Jimenez was part of this team last season and even though we here at The VideoScope have grown very fond of Jimenez, we’re gonna choose Jota for this year’s Zombie Team. Jota got better and better in his first ever Premier League campaign, is a 22 year old who will improve immensely and he costs £1.0 less than his striking partner. Bold prediction: Next season it will be Jota who is worth £1.0 more than Jimenez. The fact that Jota will sometimes get benched for new boy Cutrone won’t be such an issue considering the strength of our bench.

Our last forward will also be the first guy off our bench and he is a survivor from last season’s team. No, not King, but Deulofeu. The Watford man is now listed as a striker and makes for the perfect guy to come off the bench like he did in 18/19. Like any good full season bench player should, Deulofeu can explode for a double digit haul at any time. The La Masia graduate is also a breakout candidate in his own right after showing lots of promise the last few seasons. He’ll get ample time to shine for this team at the start of the season, with Hudson-Odoi out injured.

19/20 Forwards: Kane, Jota, (Deulofeu)

Full Team:

When Should You Use Your Chips?

Contents

First Wildcard
Second Wildcard
Free Hit
Triple Captain
Bench Boost

If you do plan on staying active on FPL throughout the season, then you need to figure out when to use the extra tools at your disposal. If it’s your first time playing FPL you’ll also need to know what your extra tools – chips – can do for you.

Along with the standard 1 free transfer per gameweek, you’ll get five more helpful ways to either change or enhance your squad. Two wildcards, a free hit, triple captain and bench boost. Here’s the quick rundown on what all of those chips do:

The Wildcard allows you to make unlimited transfers for the week you’re using it to permanently change your squad. Free Hit does the same thing, except the squad you pick out using the Free Hit only lasts the gameweek you use it for before it reverts to your old squad the gameweek after. Triple Captain does what it says; it triples the amount of points your captain gets instead of just doubling them. Bench Boost allows you to get points for your whole 15 man squad the gameweek you use it. PS: You cannot use two chips in the same gameweek, regardless of how tempting it is to use a Wildcard/Free Hit and Bench Boost at the same time.

Now that you know what each of the chips do, you need to figure out when to use them for maximum effect:

First Wildcard:

The most popular option for when to use your first wildcard is during the first international break of the season, which is scheduled between Gameweek 4 and 5 this year. Before it changed last season, the transfer window used to close around this time and you’d get the upper hand in selecting the hottest new PL signings. With the transfer deadline in the Premier League set before the start of the season however, you don’t get that advantage anymore.

The advantage wildcarding during the international break still gives you is using the extra information collected from the first four gameweeks to get a full squad of sure starters and in-form players. It’s always hard to predict how the new season will pan out, so this extra intel is extremely helpful.

Personally, I’ve a lot of success by waiting an extra couple of weeks until around Gameweek 9 before I used my first wildcard. Last season, coming out of the international break, I already had the essential RAM (Robertson, Alonso, Mendy) defense along with the £4.0 priced Wan Bissaka, a dirt cheap Doherty and the most important in-form players in Hazard and Aguero.

It didn’t make sense for me to use the wildcard early, so I stuck with my squad. I probably should have kept it even longer than Gameweek 9, but the anger of bringing in Kane for Aubameyang, resulting in Kane blanking against Cardiff at home and Aubameyang scoring twice off the bench against Fulham, made me mad enough to pull the plug. Don’t play FPL with your emotions guys and gals.

Anyway, the point is, don’t just use the wildcard at the first opportunity just for the hell of it. If you do, then at least plan accordingly and follow “The Wildcard Team” template I suggested above. If you plan on using your first wildcard in gameweek 4, you might as well make the most of it. Sometimes, good things come for those who wait however and holding out on using your first wildcard will make the wait for the second one less agonizing.

An extra little wrinkle added this year is Liverpool winning the Champions League last season and qualifying for the Club World Cup, which looks set to be played in December, right before the deadline for your first wildcard. Their game against West Ham in GW18 might be in doubt, giving us an early blank and possibly double gameweek. It will be very tempting to use the first wildcard before then though, but if you don’t have to, you don’t have to.

Second Wildcard:

While it’s tempting to use your first wildcard early on, your second wildcard might be best saved for the last couple of gameweeks, where both blank gameweeks and double gameweeks are more common. Sure, you can use it right after the January transfer window and get some big new stars in like the disappointing Higuain or the standout Tielemans last season, but it will leave you very vulnerable towards the end of the season.

Using it in conjunction with your other remaining chips like Free Hit, Triple Captain and Bench Boost at the end is optimal, but of course, the wildcard is a safety option, so use it if you are ever in a pinch. Saving it for around Gameweek 31-35 however, is the most popular and probably smartest option.

Free Hit:

Last year most experienced FPL managers used their Free Hit in Gameweek 32. It was a double gameweek in between two blank gameweeks, giving you the chance at having 11 players with a double gameweek without sacrificing much in the blank gameweeks. For now, it looks like Gameweek 34 is the gameweek of choice this year, as it could possibly be a blank gameweek for the teams in the FA Cup Semis and double gameweeks for other teams. In other words, perfect for a Free Hit limiting blanks and maximizing doubles.

Personally I did really well with my Free Hit getting 120 points behind the in-form Hazard, a clean sheet getting and goal scoring Azpilicueta and double gameweek God, Laporte. Towing the line and using the free hit at the same time as most managers served me very well. It for sure did much better than my unconventional Triple Captain and Bench Boost choices…

Triple Captain:

The only prerequisite for using your Triple Captain chip, is using it in a double gameweek. Now granted, the last two seasons, the highest scorer in a lone gameweek has been players without a double gameweek. Salah got the highest score in a mostly blank gameweek 31 in 17/18. Last season, Gerard Deulofeu’s 3 goals and 1 assist performance against Cardiff came out of the blue in Gameweek 30. These high scores are anomalies however and putting the Triple Captain on Laporte in any of the double gameweeks would have netted you almost the same with much lower risk. Some FPL managers wasted it on Sané in his double gameweek in GW25 however, similarly to how people wasted it on Kane in DGW22 a year prior.

I managed to waste it in a double gameweek too, on FPL 18/19 hero Raul Jimenez in his double Gameweek 35. I figured he would be a differential and playing at home against the leaky defences of Brighton and Arsenal, I figured he could get a good amount of points. His Wolverhampton dominated the play in both matches, but Jimenez blanked in both, with 0-0 against Brighton and not getting on the score-sheet in their 3-1 win against Arsenal. Shit happens, but at least he got 9 more points than Sané did.

Look for double gameweeks from the best FPL options likely towards the end of the season and burn your Triple Captain chip then. You will almost certainly at the very least get a goal, or you might get lucky and choose the right option, like the managers who got 20, 18 or 15 points from either one of Laporte’s 3 double gameweeks last season.

Bench Boost:

Yet again a chip you should reserve for a tasty double gameweek, we’re you can hopefully have close to 15 players with 2 matches each. You’ll more likely get that if you use your second wildcard the gameweek prior, providing you yet another reason to save your wildcard.

I always flirt with the option of using my bench boost in GW1 to start the season on a high however. If I had used this tactic last season, my benched Wan-Bissaka alone would have gotten 12 points, which was more than my GW30 bench boost squad. I didn’t follow my own advice, used it in a single gameweek so I could use Triple Captain in a double and I had to pay for it.

In the end, I should have prepared more for my chip use back in GW25. I didn’t use Triple Captain on Sané because I didn’t trust him to play both games, but I should have brought in Aguero for Aubameyang and used my Triple Captain on him. TC Aguero GW25, Free Hit GW32 and Bench Boost GW35 is what I should’ve done last season. Sometimes going for the safe option is the best option.

José Ignacio Peleteiro Ramallo aka Jota has shown to be quite the clever signing in pre-season since his arrival from rivals Birmingham City. Has shown several flashes of brilliance throughout the pre-season getting several goals and assists, including an assist against their hardest opponents in the pre-season, RB Leipzig, winning a free kick for Hourihane to convert. He might have been brought in for the rotation, but Jota clearly has other things in mind, as he’s shown qualities that might get him a starting spot. Villa manager Dean Smith will have lots of questions heading into the season, but maybe Jota is the answer!

FPL Position: Midfielder
Projected games started: 25
Goal projections: 3-9
Assist projections: 2-7
Bonus potential: High
Injury risk: Low
Set Pieces: None

Price: £5.5

Frédéric Guilbert – Aston Villa

Guilbert has impressed Villa fans in pre-season and looks set to take over at right-back for old-school FPL option El-Mohamady. Guilbert is much more defensive minded than Elmo however, so while it might help stabilize their shaky defence and help out someone like Heaton get more clean sheets, don’t expect Guilbert to add much offensively.

FPL Position: Defender
Projected games started: 27
Goal projections: 0-1
Assist projections: 1-3
Bonus potential: Low
Injury risk: Low
Set Pieces: None

Price: £4.5

Frank Lampard – Chelsea

Crazy to say it, but Frank Lampard is the manager of Chelsea FC. The Chelsea legend will be returning to Stamford Bridge and hoping to emulate the success of others who took over a club they made their name at, like Pep Guardiola did with Barcelona. Chelsea might not win the treble in his debut year, but there is a lot to be excited about with Frank Lampard as a manager.

Formation(s):

4-3-3 (4-2-3-1)
In 77% of Derby’s matches they used a variation of a 4-3-3, which is good considering that is the back up formation Chelsea use to their standard 4-2-3-1, which Lampard also used at Derby and could employ with Chelsea. It shows that there was a tactical reason for the hiring of Lampard, as a good fit for the current Chelsea squad. It also helps the natural fluidity of the team by playing a formation or two that the team is used to, considering the constant changes of managers in west London. Lampard could be the one to break the mould.

Style of Play

It is very clear that Lampard wants to adapt three main things with his team: ball progression, a narrow forward line, shoot on sight (a popular style in Football Manager here at The VideoScope). Let’s break it down.

Ball Progression
Even though it was clear that Lampard wanted to play out from the back, Derby players were extremely passive and didn’t move the ball forward into advanced positions like instructed by Lampard. This will change at Chelsea as they have several extremely talented players who can pass from the back like David Luiz, Antonio Rudiger and Anders Christiansen. Thanks to their capabilities, it will leave more space for the advanced players (largely being the wingers) and also the pivot which will most likely be Jorginho this season. This will create a lot more space for them and also allow the ball to go more centrally, rather than always forcing the balls into the wings.

Narrow Forward Line
This essentially just means that Chelsea will be deploying two wide forwards who drop narrow to get possession of the ball, which is nothing new as we have seen Hazard and Willian do that for several seasons. This often means getting everyone else into dangerous positions, which won’t change with Lampard at the helm. This is usually how Lampard’s Derby operated, thanks to a narrow forward line. The ball could be passed around the forward line and find space for a Lampard-esque run at the edge of the box looking for a shot. Just like in FIFA, expect the ball to keep swapping flanks to create attacks, especially now with their main point of attack in Hazard not there anymore. Chelsea will have to spread the love to cover for the production lost with the sale of their Belgian wizard.

Shoot on Sight
This is a very literal style of play, but essentially, it just means to shoot whenever you get a reasonable opportunity to do so, whether it be from range or from a clear goalscoring opportunity. Unlike their rivals at Arsenal under Wenger, Lampard’s Chelsea won’t be accused of trying to walk the ball into the net. Derby shot from a lot of positions where they shouldn’t be scoring from (but still did). This could be interesting when doing it with Chelsea as they have several players who can shoot from long range, benefiting the likes of Willian, Ross Barkley and Mason Mount who did it for Lampard with Derby. Chelsea have more quality to get the ball into better scoring positions than Derby however, so expect slightly better shot selection for the Blues.

Rotation

Out of the 46 matches Derby played in the Championship only five players played 78% or more of Derby’s matches, the equivalent of 30 matches in the Premier League’s 38 match schedule. Lampard had his core of trusted players, Richard Keogh, Fikayo Tomori, Jaden Bogle, Harry Wilson, and Chelsea’s own Mason Mount who were nailed, but then had a lot of rotation among the other six in his starting XI (you can see a projected Chelsea XI below).

Goalkeeper:
At Derby, Lampard made a goalkeeper switch from Scott Carson to Kelle Roos two thirds of the way through the season, but with the talent disparity between the world’s most expensive goalkeeper in Kepa to eternal backup Willy Caballero, don’t expect the same with Chelsea.

Defenders:
Derby’s defence stayed pretty consistent, but apart from Azpilicueta, Chelsea have a lot of defenders fighting for their place in the starting XI. Rudiger might be nailed on when he returns from injury, but David Luiz and Kurt Zouma could impress enough while he’s gone to force their way into the starting XI. The situation at left back is anything but settled, but Alonso likely gets the nod. It has always been his spot to lose.

Midfielders:
Kanté should be a mainstay at defensive midfield and you can expect Jorginho to flank him most matches. Lampard seems to be a big fan of both. For the third spot it will depend on whether they play 4-3-3 or 4-2-3-1 from game to game. Kovacic and a healthy Loftus Cheek more likely in the former, Barkley or Mount in the latter. Pulisic could take the nailed on role similar to Harry Wilson in Derby, while Willian and Hudson-Odoi once fit, likely rotate a bit. Pedro will get a game here and there and serve as a super sub.

Forwards:
Expect heavy rotation with the lone striker position. Lampard likes to use young players, so Abraham could have a shot as the main striker, while Giroud is the most proven. Batshuayi is somewhere in the middle. With all of them priced at £7.0, it’s possible that one becomes a bargain, one is a flop and the last option somewhere in the middle in terms of FPL value.

Conclusion

Fun fact: 5 of Lampard’s players at Derby had over 10 goals combined (goals + assists) which included positions from midfield all the way to the strikers as there was a very even distribution in terms of goalscorers. There are plenty of talented Chelsea players who could benefit. However, Derby over-performed. A lot of their players scored more goals than their expected goals and their table finish was higher than most predicted. Was it luck or good coaching from Lampard? Probably a little of both, but Frank Lampard can show why he’s in the Premier League and will hope to prove that not only was he a brilliant player, but a brilliant coach too.

Graham Potter – Brighton

Graham Potter will always be an Östersunds legend for what he achieved in 7 years at the club. It’s nothing short of a fairy tale. That Potter was able to add silverware and an epic away win against Arsenal in the Europa League (despite losing 0-3 at home) just adds to the mysticism that surrounds this manager. I don’t know what else there is to say about a manager who made his players do a production of Swan Lake and other hilarious team bonding exercises, but this progressive coach is ready to make a statement in the Premier League too.

Formation(s): 4-2-3-1 (3-4-3)

This is going to be an hilarious stat. Graham Potter used 10 (!) different formations in 46 matches when Swansea finished 10th in the Championship last season. He did however use the formation of 4-2-3-1 24 times in the Championship last season and it wouldn’t be surprising if he used the same with Brighton as they have several players who fit the mould. But Potter is versatile and has been experimenting with playing 3 at the back as well. He will likely make use of the 3-4-3 formation he used with Östersunds, with the left winger (Locadia/Maupay) often serving as another striker.

Style of Play

Potter is known for his possession football, so expect to see more out of midfield generals like Davy Pröpper and Pascal Groß who can get the ball rolling and into more attacking positions. His style tends to get everyone involved and chipping in with assists and goals, a real team effort. Hitting teams on the counter attack with his rotation of wingers make them an enticing prospect too.

Fluid style and movement
The structure of the team can change on a whim as explained before when he used 10 different formations in 46 outings. What this means is that Brighton could see a lot of change week in and week out as Potter will make sure that the right players play under the right formation. Expect a lot of rotation and fluidity in attacking movements.

Possession football
Freedom of play is something encouraged by the former Swansea boss which is oddly familiar for Swansea fans who got to see both Roberto Martinez and Brendan Rodgers do similar things during their time at the club. A crazy stat about Swansea is that they were actually the team with the most passes/short passes and attempted the fewest long balls in the Championship.

Attack, Attack, Attack, Attack!
The one thing Brighton fans should be looking forward to is more attacking football, which is something that former Brighton boss Chris Houghton sorely lacked (which apparently the board wasn’t happy with). Rather than roll over and just be a defensive powerhouse, Graham Potter will try his best to get his squad to play his their brand of football, no matter the consequences or the opponents!

Rotation

Potter rotates quite a lot actually, but he usually let’s his main 3-4 players stay in the starting lineup. For Swansea that was Mike van der Hoorn (CB), Connor Roberts (RB/RW), Matt Grimes(CM), Oliver McBurnie(CF). His final years at Östersund, his most trusted players were Brwa Nouri (DM), Curtis Edwards (CM), Sam Ghoddos (RW) and Watford’s Ken Sema (LW).

Goalkeeper:
Graham Potter doesn’t stick with the same GK through the season usually. Aly Keita starting in 20 out of 30 matches for Östersunds in 2017 is the most his main GK has played the last 3 seasons. This means that Button could possibly win the spot from Matthew Ryan if the Austrailian goalkeeper slips up. Keep an eye out, because Button is a fantastic choice at £4.0!

Defenders:
The new Brighton boss does not rotate his centre-backs that regularly. If you are one of his darlings, you will play every single match as seen with Mike Van der Hoorn who played all 46 matches in last year’s Championship season. Starting fullbacks Bernardo and Martin Montoya are more under pressure to perform and Solly March might very well deputize as a wing-back in a 3-4-3 system.

Midfielders:
Like previously mentioned, if you are one of his darlings, expect to play as many minutes as you can play as long as you are fit. Matt Grimes featured in all 46 matches in the Championship last season and whoever catches Potter’s eye should play most of the matches, with Davy Pröpper the likely candidate. He does however love to rotate wingers and with Trossard, March, Jahanbakhsh, Izquierdo, Locadia and Maupay to choose from, he’ll make sure to utilize them. As seen with Ghoddos and Sema in Östersunds however, you can nail a spot there as well.

Forwards:
The now Sheffield United man, Oli McBurnie, played 43 matches out of 46 for Swansea last season, but compared to Potter’s choice of strikers with Östersunds, that seems like an anamoly. Looking at Brighton’s many striker options, you’d expect rotation among them, but new signing Neal Maupay should be their main striker when he’s not played on the wing. A little bit of an unknown commodity, but that’s how Graham Potter likes to operate!

Conclusion

Graham Potter might end up becoming one of those failed experiments with a short lived tenure (As seen with every Chelsea manager ever, Frank De Boer, David Moyes etc.) but there is no doubt that Potter’s record is nothing short of spectacular!

Potter brings a more modern take at football, with new tactics and styles of playing the game, though that is not say that he is completely flawless as he conceded the most goals from set-pieces in the Championship (22 freaking goals!)

The fans at the AMEX Stadium should be looking forward to a manager with a do or die mentality which should see a whole new philosophy that will breed a fun and attacking approach, something which the fans have not seen for quite some time.

The new Brighton boss will be looking to take the Seagulls to the next level, as he loves a magical cup run!

Starting Lineups:

NB:

These are not GW1 lineups, but predicted XI’s for the whole season.
The number on the kit is predicted starts/nailed-on-ness on a scale from 0-38.
This will be updated until the FPL deadline arrives.
Any tips/help welcome. Take a look at your favorite team and tweet me @Maefteda if you find any errors.

Arsenal:

XI Contenders (Starts): Guendouzi (23), Xhaka (23) and Mkhitaryan (18)

Other Potential Starters: Holding

Last Season XI Nailed-on-ness: 25.45 out of 38 matches

Additional Notes:

With Xhaka, Guendouzi and Özil fighting for CM spots, except Emery to rotate a lot as usual.
David Luiz comes in as a centre back, but Rob Holding can make a case for starting.
Ceballos can fill in as the #10, but likely in a #8 role or in a midfield 3 if Emery goes 4-3-3.

Aston Villa:

XI Contenders (Starts): Hourihane (25), Trézéguet (24), and Konsa (15)

Other Potential Starters: El-Mohamady, Douglas Luiz

Last Season XI Nailed-on-ness: 31.63 out of 46 matches

Additional Notes:

Grealish and McGinn essential as long as they stay with Aston Villa in good health.
Winger rotation very fluid, one of Jota, Trézéguet or El-Ghazi could break out.
Once Nakamba/Luiz settle into the team, Hourihane will rotate all midfield positions.

Bournemouth:

XI Contenders (Starts): Wilson (20), L. Cook (20) and Danjuma (16)

Other Potential Starters: Gosling

Last Season XI Nailed-on-ness: 28.27 out of 38 matches

Additional Notes:

Goalkeeper position still a mess. Boruc starts season, but Travers wins it once Boruc fails.
Brooks unfortunate injury keeps him out some months, Wilson fills in. Nailed when fit.
New signing Kelly will take over at LB once he’s back fit. Rico will want to prove himself.

Brighton

XI Contenders (Starts): March (22), Locadia (21) and Bissouma (20)

Other Potential Starters: Groß, Jahanbakhsh, Andone

Last Season XI Nailed-on-ness (Hughton): 28.27 out of 38 matches

Last Season XI Nailed-on-ness (Potter, Swansea): 31.72 out of 46 matches

Additional Notes:

Potter will fluidly switch between a 3-5-2 and 4-2-3-1 system. Expect a lot of rotation.
Maupay/Locadia will act as a 2nd striker, either together or next to Murray/Andone at CF.
Jahanbakhsh hoping to strike back from a disappointing first season, is very talented.

Burnley:

XI Contenders (Starts): Barnes (24), Cork (22) and Hendrick (21)

Other Potential Starters: Defour

Last Season XI Nailed-on-ness: 28.45 out of 38 matches

Additional Notes:

The returning Jay Rodriguez gets the nod next to Wood up front. In a rotation with Barnes.
McNeil broke into the starting XI last season and is a nailed key player this season.
Hendrick can fit in on the wing for JBG, behind the striker or in CM, important rotation piece.

Chelsea:

XI Contenders (Starts): Hudson-Odoi (24), Kovacic (20) and Loftus-Cheek (18)

Other Potential Starters: Alonso, Zouma, Pedro, Mount

Last Season XI Nailed-on-ness (Sarri): 31.81 out of 38 matches

Last Season XI Nailed-on-ness (Lampard, Derby): 34.46 out of 49 matches

Additional Notes:

A lot of potential starters under new manager Lampard. Rotates a bit apart from his core.
Will also play 4-3-3 with Kovacic or Loftus-Cheek in as a 3rd centre midfielder.
Only Rudiger nailed when he returns, Zouma and Christensen battle it out together first.

Crystal Palace:

XI Contenders (Starts): McArthur (22), Schlupp (21) and Kouyaté (17)

Other Potential Starters: None

Last Season XI Nailed-on-ness: 29.90 out of 38 matches

Additional Notes:

Zaha is kept, but at what price? Will he be motivated? Will he last all season? Not likely.
Meyer should be acclimated to the league now and has a decent chance of starting.
Ward likely to come back in at RB for Wan Bissaka, but Kelly can feature there as well as CB.

Everton:

XI Contenders (Starts): Bernard (23), Delph (21) and Calvert-Lewin (20)

Other Potential Starters: None

Last Season XI Nailed-on-ness: 30.09 out of 38 matches

Additional Notes:

Moise Kean’s first season as a starter. Remains to see if he has the stamina for it.
Interest in Doucouré could mean Gbamin might feature at CB.
Could this be Yerry Mina’s season to make an impact? No Zouma gives him a chance.

Leicester:

XI Contenders (Starts): Praet (21), Albrighton (19) and Gray (17)

Other Potential Starters: None

Last Season XI Nailed-on-ness: 29.81 out of 38 matches

Additional Notes:

Maguire to Man Utd and no replacement means that last summer signing Söyüncü starts.
Ayoze Perez will operate close to Vardy, should be a nice combo and plenty of FPL points.
With Praet coming in, don’t be surprised to see Maddison shifted out wide quite a bit.

Liverpool:

XI Contenders (Starts): Henderson (22), Milner (17) Shaqiri (16)

Other Potential Starters: Matip

Last Season XI Nailed-on-ness: 30.27 out of 38 matches

Additional Notes:

Klopp barely rotated key players last season, with more cup luck that might change a bit.
Joe Gomez is ready to be the main man next to van Dijk, but can he stay healthy?
Midfield biggest point of contention, no one nailed, but Keita the most talented.

Man City:

XI Contenders (Starts): Walker (18), Mendy (17), Mahrez (16)

Other Potential Starters: Fernandinho

Last Season XI Nailed-on-ness: 27.90 out of 38 matches

Additional Notes:

Zinchenko can make the left back position his by starting the season strong.
No Kompany = more Stones starts, but Fernandinho/Walker can fill CB role.
Bilva can go central for Dilva with Mahrez on the wing, before Foden eases into Dilva’s role.

Man Utd:

XI Contenders (Starts): Lingard (22), Matic (20) and Fred (18),

Other Potential Starters: None

Last Season XI Nailed-on-ness: 26.45 out of 38 matches

Additional Notes:

Only point of contention are the 3 behind Rashford. Too many options to list.
Solskjær likes playing young talents, that bodes well for McTominay, James and Greenwood.
Finally get a proper right back in Wan-Bissaka, will be nailed and push Dalot higher up.

Newcastle:

XI Contenders (Starts): Shelvey (21), Willems (20) and Lejeune (17)

Other Potential Starters: None

Last Season XI Nailed-on-ness (Benitez): 27.27 out of 38 matches

Last Season XI Nailed-on-ness (Bruce, Sheffield Wednesday): 14.09 out of 18 matches

Additional Notes:

Bruce might have to slightly adjust from his 3-5-2 formation with Saint-Maximin signed.
Way less rotation from Bruce than Benitez. Played a pretty consistent XI with Wednesday.
When Lejeune returns, their backline should be a lot stronger. Longstaff helps a lot too.

Norwich:

XI Contenders (Starts): Herandez (23), Drmic (20) and McClean (16)

Other Potential Starters: Leitner, Vrancic

Last Season XI Nailed-on-ness: 35.00 out of 46 matches

Additional Notes:

Patrick Roberts could have a breakout season and take over a winger spot.
Pukki still the undisputed #9 in this team, but might play next to Drmic a couple matches.
Hanley (£4.0) might feature for Zimmermann to start the season. Fährmann a huge boost.

Sheffield United:

XI Contenders (Starts): Sharp (22), McGoldrick (19) and Lundstram (15)

Other Potential Starters: None

Last Season XI Nailed-on-ness: 39.18 out of 46 matches

Additional Notes:

Robinson potential OOP after impressing a lot at striker during pre-season.
Sharp and and McGoldrick still a big part of this team, chance they start the season.
Fleck and especially Norwood are solid at CM, but Lundstram (£4.0) might play a bit as CDM.

Southampton:

XI Contenders (Starts): Romeu (22), Djenepo (21) and Armstrong (19)

Other Potential Starters: Yoshida

Last Season XI Nailed-on-ness: 24.63 out of 38 matches

Additional Notes:

Nailed-on-ness affected by the manager change mid-season. Hasenhuttl has his favorites.
Boufal is so so talented and has looked engaged in pre-season. Potential bargain.
Loads of strikers, but Che Adams is the newest toy and he has looked great in pre-season.

Tottenham:

XI Contenders (Starts): Moura (23), Winks (22) and Sissoko (21)

Other Potential Starters: Sessegnon, Sanchez, Walker-Peters, Foyth

Last Season XI Nailed-on-ness: 25.81 out of 38 matches

Additional Notes:

Dele Alli has a lot to prove and several midfielders to fend off for a place in the XI.
The right back competition is wide open and Poch might rotate it throughout the season.
Sanchez also features in a 3-4-3 formation, with plenty of wingers after Sessegnon joined.

Watford:

XI Contenders (Starts): Pereyra (25), Hughes (23) and Quina (16)

Other Potential Starters: None

Last Season XI Nailed-on-ness: 29.72 out of 38 matches

Additional Notes:

Gray will play a lot, sometimes with Deulofeu out wide. Welbeck.. also an option.
Dawson should go straight into the team next to Cathcart. Kabasele/Mariappa backups.
Keep an eye on Domingos Quina, loads of potential to break into the starting XI.

West Ham:

XI Contenders (Starts): Yarmolenko (23), Antonio (20), Noble (19)

Other Potential Starters: None

Last Season XI Nailed-on-ness: 27.90 out of 38 matches

Additional Notes:

Right wing is highly contested. Yarmo and Antonio could easily win a starting spot.
Fornals also plays centrally. Rice is nailed, but Wilshere/Noble/Fornals rotate next to him.
Masuaku signed a new contract and Pellegrini is a fan, Fredericks is the future at right back.

Wolves:

XI Contenders (Starts): Vinagre (19), Cutrone (18) and Gibbs-White (17)

Other Potential Starters: None

Last Season XI Nailed-on-ness: 33.00 out of 38 matches

Additional Notes:

Vinagre will take over for either Doherty or Jonny by the end of the season.
Espirito Santo rarely rotates, but might have to do it more, playing in the Europa League.
Cutrone will need time to get into the XI. Could start in a 3-4-1-2 formation eventually.

Follow @OfficialFPL

The first and most obvious place to start when finding FPL accounts to follow is FPL’s own official account. Whenever new players are added or a fixture is officially re-scheduled to a different Gameweek, this account is the first one that will let you know.

Follow @FFScout

Going hand in hand with FPL, is the fantastic Fantasy Football Scout. It’s the FPL site everyone checks out for FPL articles, pre-season updates and weekly picks. If you want a place to start when it comes to helpful FPL tips and dialogue, this is the place to start:

Follow @BenDinnery

Staying up to date on injuries is vital when keeping up your FPL squad. Injury info used to be hard to come by and often you’ll need people who can figure out what “indefinitely” possibly means. Ben Dinnery is the man to do it. An expert on injuries and injury data who will be more helpful than you can imagine, trust me.

Follow @https://twitter.com/physioroom

If Ben Dinnery isn’t enough and you want a 2nd opinion on an injury or illness, then follow physioroom as well. Breaking down injuries, recovery time and match availability, they are always on top of things.

Edit: It has come to my attention (after Ben Dinnery tweeted me himself) that Ben is in charge of physioroom as well. Make sure to follow him twice!

Follow @FPLStatus

Do you wanna know the latest FPL status updates? Match updates, bonus points, statistics and availability, then this account should help keep you up to date:

Follow @BenCrellin

Yet another helpful Ben, this time by the name Crellin. When everyone were confused about where we’d get double or blank gameweeks, Ben Crellin and his spreadsheets got us all on top of things. He has already looked at potential gameweeks late in the season that you have to look out for.

Follow @FPLPriceChanges

FPL player prices are stagnant now before the season, but once it starts on August 10th, the prices will fluctuate. FPLPriceChanges keeps you up to date on all the prices that have gone either up or down. To keep up with potential price changes in real time, make sure to visit fplstatistics.co.uk as well and stay on top of things.

Follow @_FPLtips

FPL isn’t quite the same without this man’s voice and background music. FPLTips is a helpful and user friendly YouTuber who goes through his thought process before every gameweek. I guarantee the background music will be stuck on your mind.

Follow @FFPundits

If you prefer his FPL tips and more in written form however, FFPundits is the way to go. As well as collaborating with FPLTips himself, FFPundits create interesting articles on all things FPL. It’s worth checking out.

Follow @LetsTalk_FPL

He might not be an FPL champion, but he is the champion of FPL content. Let’s Talk FPL, or Andy as he is known among his loyal viewers, consistently puts out great FPL content with live streams and update videos each week throughout the season. He has a good eye for FPL with just the right balance between a measured approach and taking risks. Just don’t captain Shane Duffy again…

—

Lastly, why not follow the fine folks who made and will continue to update this FPL guide? As well as providing thoughts and analysis for FPL throughout the season, we will be posting more FPL articles leading up to launch, in addition to our usual batch of football, gaming, basketball, wrestling and other articles on this very site.

Follow @Maefteda

Follow @KevNissanka

Last Update: August 9th, 5:10PM (BST)
New Players Review: João Cancelo, Giovani Lo Celso, Kieran Tierney, Ismaïla Sarr
Starting XI: All Deadline Day Signings Added!

The Template Team

If you can’t beat them, copy them

The Gambler Team

You think you can beat them? Bet on it!

The VAR Team

VAR, what is it good for? Penalties?

The Wildcard Team

The key to a good FPL season is a good start. Here it is.

The Whole Season Team (Zombie Team)

If you’re gonna forget about FPL early on, you best come prepared

1. Avoid too many injury prone/January Transfer players

2. Have a strong bench with explosive players

3. fixture proof your blank gameweeks

Goalkeepers

Defenders

Midfielders

Forwards

Full Team:

When Should You Use Your Chips?

First Wildcard:

Second Wildcard:

Free Hit:

Triple Captain:

Bench Boost:

João Cancelo – Manchester City

Angeliño – Manchester City

Christian Pulisic – Chelsea

Mason Mount – Chelsea

Giovani Lo Celso – Tottenham

Tanguy Ndombele – Tottenham

Nicolas Pépé – Arsenal

Dani Ceballos – Arsenal

Kieran Tierney – Arsenal

Daniel James – Manchester United

Patrick Cutrone – Wolverhampton

Moise Kean – Everton

Sébastien Haller – West Ham

Pablo Fornals – West Ham

Ismaïla Sarr

Joelinton – Newcastle

Allan Saint-Maximin – Newcastle

Harry Wilson – Bournemouth

Arnaut Danjuma – Bournemouth

Lloyd Kelly – Bournemouth

Moussa Djenepo – Southampton

Leandro Trossard – Brighton

Neal Maupay – Brighton

Teemu Pukki – Norwich

Josip Drmić – Norwich

Patrick Roberts – Norwich

Emiliano Buendía – Norwich

Max Aarons – Norwich

Billy Sharp – Sheffield United

Luke Freeman – Sheffield United

Ravel Morrison – Sheffield United

Enda Stevens – Sheffield United

Wesley Moraes – Aston Villa

Jack Grealish – Aston Villa

John McGinn – Aston Villa

Conor Hourihane – Aston Villa

Trézéguet – Aston Villa

Anwar El Ghazi – Aston Villa

Jota – Aston Villa

Frédéric Guilbert – Aston Villa

Frank Lampard – Chelsea

Formation(s):

Style of Play

Rotation

Conclusion

Graham Potter – Brighton

Formation(s): 4-2-3-1 (3-4-3)

Style of Play

Rotation

Conclusion

Starting Lineups:

These are not GW1 lineups, but predicted XI’s for the whole season.

The number on the kit is predicted starts/nailed-on-ness on a scale from 0-38.

This will be updated until the FPL deadline arrives.

Any tips/help welcome. Take a look at your favorite team and tweet me @Maefteda if you find any errors.

Arsenal: