I’m going to change the way I do the fantasy premier league preseason roundup to make it a bit more user friendly and easier to follow. Also the amount of time the other format took wasn’t sustainable. I’ll just concentrate on the key issues with each club on probably a weekly basis
fantasy premier league preseason roundup – week ending Friday 21st July
The focus will be on lineups and gametime. I will look at form although that doesn’t always correlate to performances one the season starts. Despite only 3 weeks to go sides are either in the first couple of games or still putting out mixed lineups.
Arsenal
There’s probably going to be few surprises in how Arsenal lineup. Lacazette will lead the line in a 3-4-2-1 with Sanchez (if he stays) and Ozil behind. Ramsey and Xhaka will play centrally in the 4. The main question will be the wing backs. Kolasinac should play on the left and Bellerin on the right. However were no clearer on that front in preseason so far.
Sanchez is still being rested after the Confed Cup. Lacazette and Ramsey have probably shown the form so far
Bournemouth
Again a side that will probably line up with few surprises. Defoe should lead the line with King behind him in 4-4-1-1. Stanislas on the left and hopefully £5.5m Fraser on the right who has some cheapie potential. The other one to look out for is the only £4.5m defender Simon Francis. However only 1 pre-season game so far so no clues yet
Brighton
Knockaert’s injury has thrown doubt on the player of major interest to us although Hughton has said he hopes he will be fit for GW1. Dunk is the obvious £4.5m defender and should start. It’s worth looking if £4.5m Suttner gets a place at LB as he has good attacking potential. Glen Murray played striker last season and did show some premier league form so he’s worth keeping an eye on as well. Hunemeier and Goldson are the £4.0m defs. Again only 1 game played so little to go on.
Burnley
Not much of interest here. Kevin Long as a £4.0m CB, £5.5m RM Walters gametime and who will be the 2 strikers out of Vokes, Barnes and Gray are the only points of interest. Again only 1 game played so no clues yet
Chelsea
Morata should join soon and Costa leave, I assume, for the striker position. Pedro and Willian should play behind the striker in 3-4-2-1. Bakayoko is out for 6 weeks so that should allow £7.0m mid Fabregas start in the 4 for at least the early weeks as Matic looks set to go. That all needs monitoring. The defence should be settled but it’s a case of checking who, if anyone, new CB Rudiger could displace. Again only 1 game played but a Willian hat trick did no harm to his prospects
Crystal Palace
With a new manager in who has even used the word attack in a press conference it’s a case of starting from scratch. Benteke, Zaha, Van Aanholt, Milivojevic and maybe Ward are probably safe but everyone else will need to earn their GW1 place. Townsend started in a RWB role in a 3-4-3 formation which wasn’t helpful as he was 1 player in my cheap midfielders article. The only hopes of a £4.5m defender are Kelly and Tomkins. No sign of Tomkins but Kelly played in a much changed 2nd half side
Everton
Rooney as a striker rather than a number 10 and a clear steer whether £4.5m defs Holgate, Martina or Kenney will start. £6.5m mid Mirallas is also an attraction as would £7.6m mid Kalaassen be in an advanced role. Unfortunately £7.5m forward Sandro Ramirez and Holgate are being rested which doesn’t help the defender and striker questions. Mirrallas scored against Twente which can’t have done him any harm but it was a pretty mixed team. The Europa League qualifying game coming up soon will help clarify this hopefully
Huddersfield
£6.0m midfielder Ince seems the logical target here. He’s done himself no harm with 3 goals in the 3 preseason games. The defence has a number of £4.5m players. Schindler is probably the safest. We’ll look for the gametime of £4.5m LB Lowe who could have some set piece or even penalty responsibilities. Apart from that it’s only seeing whether the £4.0m defs of Hudson and Cranie can make it into the sides. Despite 3 games though there’s still no clear first team in preseason
Leicester
The gametime of £4.5m defs Simpson and Chilwell are of interest. Iheanacho joining will be interesting to see how he effects the lineup. Otherwise it’s just seeing that £5.5m mid Albrighton is the LM starter with £5.5m mid Gray second choice. Gray rested won’t help clarity. However Huth’s out for 2 months should ensure that Simpson starts the season as RB and Maguire as CB. The first preseason game against WBA saw a team of 2 halves but the 2nd half team involving Simpson seemed the strongest.
Liverpool
Only whether £6.5m defender Milner starts and an outside chance of £4.5m CB Klavan starting over Lovren are the issues. However were still in the heavily changed pre-season lineups despite being 3 games on. Until likely new LB Robertson gets some gametime we won’t know the effect on Milner. Also, until Mane is fit the side will likely pick itself in the attacking areas with a front 3 of Coutinho, Firmino and Salah being the safest bet. Klopp has warned of rotation due to the champions League however.
Man City
City’s first pre-season game was against Man Utd last night with a heavily changed team. Few players can consider themselves guaranteed starters so I’ll leave it until later on. Man City are covered in David Brown’s focus on Man City
Man Utd
The Man Utd situation is a far more clear cut set of questions. Will £5.5m CB Lindelof start? Will £8.0m mid Pogba play as a CM or an attacking midfielder and who will the 3 in the likely 4-2-3-1 be.
The starting 11 against Man City was pretty close to a first choice. Lindelof started. Pogba played as a CM in 4-2-3-1. £8.0m mid Mkhitaryan, £6.0m mid Lingard and £7.5m forward Rashford played as the attacking 3 behind £11.5m fwd Lukaku. £7.0m mid Mata was injured. Still along way to go but Rashford and Mkhitaryan have staked their claims with 3 and 2 goals respectively.
Newcastle
Newcastle is a fairly straightforward with £6.0m mid Ritchie and £6.5m forward Gayle the principle targets. £4.5m RB Yedlin looks the best of the Defs. Only 1 game in at the moment though in pre-season. Yedlin is covered in Joseph Crilleys focus on 3 value players
Southampton
Only 1 game in and a new manager so early days.
The main things to watch will be who out of £6.5m forward Austin and £7.0m Gabbiadini will get the starting striker spot. Also whether £5.5m mid James Ward Prowse can get a starting spot and whether thats in a CM or attacking position
Spurs
The side pretty much picks itself so just form to monitor. Spurs are yet to start their pre-season games. The Son HM and Rose injuries are the only issues bubbling. Spurs are also covered in detail in Joseph Crilleys focus on them
Stoke
A few points of interest here. Making sure £4.5m RB Johnson starts at RB. Can £5.5m Allen become a CAM? Will £6.0m forward Berahino be the starting striker? 3 games in but little good information on them so I’ll wait to the next fixture
Swansea
The main points here are whether £7.5m forward Llorente will be fit to start the season. £4.0m RB Rangel is worth monitoring as well although £4.5m RB Naughton looks the favourite to start. The most recent friendly saw a near first choice team in the 2nd half which had Naughton at RB
Watford
£4.5m Def Prodl starting and £5.5m mid Capoue playing in an advanced position are on the monitor list here. In the 1-0 win over Viktoria Plzen we got both. Deeney has a groin injury with no return date at the moment.
WBA
Quite a few players to monitor here. Will £6.5m forward Rondon or £6.0m forward Rodriguez lead the line? Can £6.0m mid Chadli get into the team. Chadli didn’t make what looked to be the first choice lineup at the start of the latest pre-season game which doesn’t bode well. It appears Rondon lead the line with Rodriguez behind. Rodriguez scored. By all accounts £4.5m CB Hegazi played very well. However with McAuley not due back to GW1 we won’t see if the unlikely happens and Pulis favours him over McAuley.
West Ham
Both forwards in Sakho and Carroll have injuries with no return date which leaves the way open for £4.5m forward Ashley Fletcher to step in if they don’t recover although new signing Hernandez has to be the favourite. The other monitors are the 2 £4.5m Defs in Byram and Masuaku who face likely first choice competition from Zabaleta and Cresswell. West Hams quest to buy every FPL cheap attacking midfielder available continues with £7.0m Arnautovic and with £7.5m mid Antonio injured I’m leaving that area for the moment as too unpredictable.
Buy our 57 page Ebook “a guide to fantasy premier league 17/18” with loads of graphics and detailed stats on 150+ players from last season. Only £3.00
the FFGeek league code is 5379-1967
Follow us on twitter and facebook for article updates and news
Try the new way of playing fantasy premier league football by clicking DraftFantasyFootball.co.uk here or on the banner below. It’s free to play.
