Here’s our fantasy premier league forwards GW1 interim article where we rank the FPL forwards . There’s a table of stats to help you make a transfer choice plus some commentary on each’s prospects and their fixtures.
fantasy premier league forwards GW1 – player rankings interim article
This is our 4th player rankings article. You can see defenders and GK rankings here and premium midfielders here and budget midfielders here
Methodology
I’ve started with all the forwards that I think will start GW1 and have some longevity in the team.
Essentially I looked at players returns, fixtures and underlying stats in order to rank them.
Whatever you think of the ranking there’s plenty of info to make your own decision.
Stats definitions
PP90: the FPL points earned per 90 minutes played
G/A mins: The amount of minutes it took to get a goal or assist. The lower the better obviously.
Fixture ease ranking so you can see who has the best fixtures from GW1-4 and GW1-8. See our fixture ease article
U/S rank: The underlying stats ranking is from our underlying stats article where projected goals are turned into raw points. Info from the excellent free site understat.com. See our underlying stats article
The Schedule
Please note that I have not included Lukaku or Rashford for that matter as although I understand that they finished their respective holidays early I still think there’s potential that he starts from the bench.
I’ve also not included Kane, Vardy and Chicharito as I also don’t think they will be ready for GW1. I’ve also not included Morata/Giroud as I’m not sure who is first choice.
Aubameyang
Aubameyangs underlying stats and returns aren’t that dissimilar to Aguero’s except you’d probably bank on him playing more minutes than Aguero. They both have a good run of fixtures after they play each other in GW1 and Arsenal play Chelsea in GW2. As Aubameyang has more gametime certainty you’d say he’s a more reliable alternative captain pick to Salah than Aguero is.
He’s not without gametime and positional issues though. It seems Emery will play a 4-3-3 which will mean 4 players in Mkhitaryan, Ozil, Aubameyang and Lacazette will all need to fit into 3 positions. Aubameyang and Lacazette can both play the CF role but Aubameyang can also play the LW role which isn’t ideal. That may need some time to become totally clear but it’s hard not to see Auabameyang as the favourite to play CF.
Man City (H)
Chelsea (A)
West Ham (H)
Cardiff (A)
Newcastle (A)
Everton (H)
Watford (H)
Fulham (A)
Aguero and Jesus
I’ve included them both as they’ve both returned from the World Cup at similar times so both should be available for GW1 I’m assuming.
Both are two of the top strikers in the league and the issue isn’t returns it’s more about pitch time.
How they lineup in the Community Shield will be the best information we can get for GW1 and the season beyond. If Pep plays 2 strikers that’s a good sign for both strikers in terms of future gametime. If he only plays the 1 striker then that’s a different kettle of fish altogether as I think they are too evenly matched for them to be split by PL/UCL and FACup/EFL Cup.
The Community shield as a pointer though won’t be perfect as neither Sterling or De Bruyne look as though they will play which may end up with both Jesus and Aguero on the pitch through lack of numbers. That could be a mirage for the season ahead rather than a pointer.
The reality is that you’ve just got to roll the dice and hope for the best which is a similar position on every City attacking asset.
NOTE; Immediately after I wrote this Pep has said he will use 3-5-2 alot this season which is excellent news for Aguero and Jesus as the most obvious pair
Arsenal (A)
Huddersfield (H)
Wolves (A)
Newcastle (H)
Fulham (H)
Cardiff (A)
Brighton (H)
Liverpool (A)
Firmino
How involved Firmino will be GW1 is questionable although Klopp is talking positively. His returns could be better to be honest but his underlying stats are ok as are the fixtures at least initially
West Ham (H)
Crystal Palace (A)
Brighton (H)
Leicester (A)
Spurs (A)
Southampton (H)
Chelsea (A)
Man City (H)
Wood
Was subbed at half time in the Europa League last night as took a knock which doesn’t sound serious but will need monitoring. This is mainly about very good fixtures apart from the Man Utd game and for the price, reasonable returns and underlying stats. The watch out is Europa League rotation and the fact that Burnley are a team looking to defend as a priority
Southampton (A)
Watford (H)
Fulham (A)
Man Utd (H)
Wolves (A)
Bournemouth (H)
Cardiff (A)
Huddersfield (H)
Austin
If he’s on the pitch he will score. He doesn’t move from the width of the penalty area, runs into no channels and will never pass if he can shoot. That’s all you can ask for in an FPL forward. However modern day managers want players to press, hold the ball up etc etc so you never know whether Austin will get onto the pitch or not.
That’s some statement when you consider that the competition are the goal shy duo of Long and Gabbiadini.
In all seriousness though. Great returns backed up by great underlying stats when on the pitch and some decent very early fixtures. It’s just whether he gets on the pitch
Burnley (H)
Everton (A)
Leicester (H)
Crystal Palace (A)
Brighton (H)
Liverpool (A)
Wolves (A)
Chelsea (H)
Zaha
Zaha in my mind has the underlying stats to be a striker as he was for large part last season but he also adds the ability to get assists to that mix. Add to that some great fixtures apart from the Liverpool game and you could do worse for £7.0m.
Watch the Chelsea interest in him at the moment. At the right had side of a front 3 for £7.0m if he can get in the team above Willian and Pedro he’s a very interesting prospect.
Fulham (A)
Liverpool (H)
Watford (A)
Southampton (H)
Huddersfield (A)
Newcastle (H)
Bournemouth (A)
Wolves (H)
Tosun
This is about fixtures and the ability to improve after the shackles of Big Sam have been lifted off the team and Tosun has had some PL adjustment time last season.
That’s what you have to believe in as the returns and underlying stats were pretty ordinary
Wolves (A)
Southampton (H)
Bournemouth (A)
Huddersfield (H)
West Ham (H)
Arsenal (A)
Fulham (H)
Leicester (A)
Arnautovic
Firstly I think Arnautovic is an excellent striker don’t get me wrong. His returns and underlying stats are excellent. the best in the price range apart from maybe Austin.
This is about terrible fixtures. To pick Arnautovic you’ve got think that he is fixture proof or that the Bournemouth and Wolves home games will compensate for the others.
There is the other untested issue of Chicharito. Will he affect Arnautovic’s position as a CF or will Chicharito be benched. Certainly given his late return a benching for at least GW1 looks likely and probably in the games ahead. It’s just an untested theory with the new manager.
Liverpool (A)
Bournemouth (H)
Arsenal (A)
Wolves (H)
Everton (A)
Chelsea (H)
Man Utd (H)
Brighton (A)
Gray
I must be one of Andre Gray’s few fans. Although judging by the fact that Deeney has looked to be sold and Gray has played a decent part in pre-season so does manager Gracia.
The returns last season are ordinary to say the least but what he does have is good underlying stats and he should have scored more than he did last year. A positive to add to that fact is that he doesn’t have a history of being a poor finisher though so we could see some bounce.
The issue though is that after the first 3 fixtures it all goes horribly wrong
Brighton (H)
Burnley (A)
Crystal Palace (H)
Spurs (H)
Man Utd (H)
Fulham (A)
Arsenal (A)
Bournemouth (H)
Josh King
Josh King has 2 things going for him. His 16/17 season and a good set of fixtures. Make no mistake his returns and underlying stats last season were very poor. You’ve got to be hoping for the 16/17 Josh King and a player who’s more advanced than last season. That could happen with Defoe’s age and Wilson’s lack of form it’s just whether you believe it will.
Cardiff (H)
West Ham (A)
Everton (H)
Chelsea (A)
Leicester (H)
Burnley (A)
Crystal Palace (H)
Watford (A)
Mounie
It’s been a tough learning curve for Mounie after his 2 goal start against Palace in GW1 last season.
Unfortunately the returns aren’t great, the fixtures aren’t great and neither are his underlying stats. You’ve got be hoping for a big 2nd season bounce to be going here
Chelsea (H)
Man City (A)
Cardiff (H)
Everton (A)
Crystal Palace (H)
Leicester (A)
Spurs (H)
Burnley (A)
Perez
Had a real late charge towards the back end of the season but you’ve got a guy here with poor returns, a set of underlying stats that look more like an AM than a striker and a terrible set of fixtures.
Spurs (H)
Cardiff (A)
Chelsea (H)
Man City (A)
Arsenal (H)
Crystal Palace (A)
Leicester (H)
Man Utd (A)
A couple of others
I’ve not tried to rank these 2 as £5.5m Wolves forward Jiminez is new to the league and Fulhams £6.5m Mitrovic only played 89 minutes for Newcastle last season in the PL.
Wolves have signed him on loan from Benfica. He’s a 27 year old Mexican International who went to the World Cup. Last season he started 6 games for Benfica plus 27 as sub. He scored 6 goals plus 7 assists at an astonishing goal or assist every 75 minutes. He went to the World Cup although Mexico went out at the RO16 and he’s now getting gametime in pre-season.
My fixture ease article ranks them 16th from GW1-4 and 14th GW1-8
Everton (H)
Leicester (A)
Man City (H)
West Ham (A)
Burnley (H)
Man Utd (A)
Southampton (H)
Crystal Palace (A)
Aleksandar Mitrovic made a big impact when on loan for Fulham in January from Newcastle. He scored 12 goals and 1 assist in his 18 starts and 2 sub appearances for a return of a goal or assist every 127 minutes. His PL experience is a bit mixed scoring 10 goals and 4 assists in 26 starts and 14 substitute appearances. He’s also played 35 times for Serbia for 13 goals. Time is getting short to be match fit for GW1 though
My fixture ease article ranks them 10th from GW1-4 and 15th GW1-8
Crystal Palace (H)
Spurs (A)
Burnley (H)
Brighton (A)
Man City (A)
Watford (H)
Everton (A)
Arsenal (H)
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