Here’s part 1 of our round up of pre-season for the weekend of 1st and 2nd August 2015. This is the crucial last weekend before GW1. We’ve covered 10 teams in this article. We look for each clubs FPL players of interest and also the possible GW1 lineups as well as give you the first 6 fixtures for each club. If you can’t be bothered reading whats quite a long article then the key points are in an short summary which quickly gives you the crucial points
fantasy premier league preseason – what we learnt over the weekend of 1 & 2 August Part 1
Exec summary
- Community shield showed Bellerin and Monreal first choice FBs for Arsenal
- Walcott started as striker but was disappointing. Giroud played well as sub. No resolution to Walcott position
- Ozil started centrally in an advanced position
- The Costa hamstring saga of last year back in full swing
- No certainty over the Villa lineup which is a shame given the good fixtures. £4.0m def Baker looking unlikely.
- Villa £5.0m mid Sinclair gets a hat trick and now firmly on the radar
- Bournemouth £4.5m mid Surman still looks a likely starter
- Chelsea’s £5.5m mid Moses now looking unlikely to start
- £5.5m mid Mahrez started as a CAM but alot of formation and personnel changes make it uncertain
- Benteke played well for Liverpool and scored. Seems likely as a sub for GW1
- £4.5m def Gomez a real possibility to start as LB for Liverpool
- South American contingent including Aguero still unlikely GW1 for City
- Clichy injury seems to give a clear starting place to £5.5m def Kolarov
- Man Utd lineup looking mainly settled including RB Darmian thanks to a transparent LVG
- £8.5m mid continues as a support striker
Arsenal
The Community shield solved a number of problems and created others. We know the first choice fullbacks are Bellerin and Monreal. However after that the helpfulness stops. Walcott started up front but didn’t impress but Giroud as a sub did impress so no clearer there. Ramsey started centrally which was helpful for him.
Players of interest
No value in defence so £6.0m Koscielny looks the best bet for certainty
£8.5m mid Ramsey has been present if not outstanding. Played centrally in the community shield
£8.5m mid Ozil – continued his influental role centrally
£9.0m mid Walcott -was disappointing as the lone striker. The risk with Walcott is he goes back to the right and then loses his spot to Sanchez when he returns
£9.0m fwd Giroud – Was a sub but played well coming on. Still in contention for a GW1 starting position
Possible GW1 lineup
Cech – Bellerin, Mertesacker, Koscielny, Monreal – Coquelin – Ramsey Ozil Walcott/The Ox – Giroud/Walcott
First 6 gameweeks
West Ham (H)
Crystal Palace (A)
Liverpool (H)
Newcastle (A)
Stoke (H)
Chelsea (A)
Aston Villa
The transfers keep coming and a new name enters the fray with a Sinclair hat trick. 9 new transfers makes this a difficult one to figure out the lineup. Also Adebayor could make it 10. The forwards are particularly an issue. Unfortunately good fixtures makes them attractive. Westwood still not clear as a £4.5m mid
FPL players of interest
£4.0m def Baker – The weekend makes him even less likely to start
£4.5m mid Westwood – Looking more likely to start but Veretout may cause issues
£5.5m mid Grealish – hard at this stage to see him starting
Possible GW1 lineup
Guzan – Hutton (Crespo injury) Richards Clark Amavi – Westwood/Veretout Bacuna Gueye Sinclair – Ayew/Agbonlahor/ Kozak/Gestede
First 6 fixtures
Bournemouth (A)
Man Utd (H)
Crystal Palace (A)
Sunderland (H)
Leicester (A)
West Brom (H)
Bournemouth
Still alot of fiddling with the lineup which makes it difficult to predict.
FPL players of interest
£4.5m mid Surman – still looking like he will start
£6.0m mid Ritchie – Strangely hasn’t played as much as you would think but hard to see him not starting
£5.5m fwd Wilson – scored in the first match
Possible GW1 lineup
Boruc – Francis Distin/Elphick/Cook Mings – Surman O’Kane – Atsu ? Ritchie – Wilson
first 6 fixtures
Aston Villa (H)
Liverpool (A)
West Ham (A)
Leicester (H)
Norwich (A)
Sunderland (H)
Chelsea
The community shield showed a predicatable lineup for big games with Fabregas pushed into the number 10 spot
FPL Players of interest
£6.0m def – Azpilicueta looks nailed on even with Baba Rahman looking likely to join
£11.5m mid – Hazard was disappointing in the Community Shield but had one of the 2 best chances for Chelsea.
£9.0m mid- Fabregas has played some time at number 10. Looks likely to play in the 2 of 4-2-3-1 against the lower table sides
£11.0m fwd – Costa the hamstring injury saga bores me already
£5.5m Moses – didn’t start against Arsenal so looks an unlikely gift
Potential GW1 lineup
Courtios – Ivanovic Cahill Terry Azpilicueta – Matic Fabregas – Hazard Oscar Willian – Costa if fit otherwise Remy/Falcao
Swansea (H)
Man City (A)
West Brom (A)
Crystal Palace (H)
Everton (A)
Arsenal (H)
Crystal Palace
Still alot of uncertainty in the lineup as pre-season sees alot of tinkering and more transfers. Luckily the fixtures are terrible so a wait and see policy looks the way to go
FPL players of interest
£6.5m mid Bolasie – has been injured and seems unlikely to start
£6.0m mid Puncheon – Should play in the advanced midfield positions but will probably have less set piece responsibility
£6.5m mid Cabaye – Has played in the 2 of 4-2-3-1 and centrally in the 3 so who knows
£6.0m fwd Murray – seems the favoured forward
Potential GW1 lineup
Hennessey/McCarthy (Speroni injured) – Ward Dann Delaney/Hangeland Souare – Jedinak/Ledley McArthur/Cabaye – Puncheon Cabaye/Zaha Mutch/Gayle – Murray
First 6 fixtures
Norwich (A)
Arsenal (H)
Aston Villa (H)
Chelsea (A)
Man City (H)
Spurs (A)
Everton
The advanced midfield 3 looks impossible to predict but apart from that the lineup is fairly certain
FPL players of interest
£6.5m mid Deulofeu if fit – Has looked dangerous until the final ball but now seems certain not to start GW1
£8.0m fwd Lukaku – Good hat trick against Hearts but needs monitoring over an injury. Will take pens.
Possible GW1 lineup
Howard – Coleman Stones Jagielka Baines – McCarthy Barry – Mirallas/Cleverley/Osman//Barkley – Lukaku
First 6 fixtures
Watford (H)
Southampton (A)
Man City (H)
Spurs (A)
Chelsea (H)
Swansea (A)
Leicester
The tinkerman has made it difficult to predict a lineup with changing personnel and formations
FPL players of interest
£4.0m def Moore – don’t rule him out starting in a back 3 just yet
£4.5m Huth looks likely to play
£5.5m mid Mahrez CAM in the latest formation but nothing can be taken for granted
Possible GW1 lineup
Schmeichel – Wasileweski Moore Huth – Schlupp/Fuchs, Albrighton, Hammond/King/Drinkwater – Mahrez – Vardy/Ulloa/Kramaric Okazaki
First 6 fixtures
Sunderland (H)
West Ham (A)
Spurs (H)
Bournemouth (A)
Aston Villa (H)
Stoke (A)
Liverpool
Benteke starting seems the main point of interest.
FPL players of interest
£4.5m defender Gomez started again and looks a good shout.
£7.0m mid Henderson
£7.0m mid Milner – been in great form
£8.5m mid Firmino – now unlikely to start.
£5.0m mid Ibe – Continued his great form over the weekend and should start. Longevity when Firmino starts is the issue.
£8.5m fwd Benteke – Played well and could start but seems likely to start from the bench
Potential GW1 lineup
Mignolet – Clyne Skrtel Lovren Gomez – Henderson Milner – Coutinho Ibe Lallana – Origi
First 6 fixtures
Stoke (A)
Bournemouth (H)
Arsenal (A)
West Ham (H)
Man Utd (A)
Norwich (H)
Manchester City
Things get worse with a big loss to Stuttgart.
FPL players of interest
£10.0m mid Silva – has played CAM which would make him more attractive
£9.0m mid Sterling – continued his good form
£13.0m fwd Aguero – looks certain not to start GW1
Possible GW1 lineup
Hart – Sagna Kompany Mangala Kolarov – Fernando, YYT – Silva, Sterling Nasri – Bony
First 6 fixtures
West Brom (A)
Chelsea (H)
Everton (A)
Watford (H)
Crystal Palace (A)
West Ham (H)
Manchester Utd
Reasonably predictable lineup and some key players performing
FPL players of interest
£5.5m def Darmian – Looks certain to start after getting the nod for GW1
£8.5m mid Mata – Been playing well but wide on the right
£8.5m mid Depay – Been excellent as a support striker.
£10.5m fwd Rooney – Hasn’t been in that great form but leading the line centrally. Did score against Barca
Potential GW1 lineup
De Gea (if still there) – Darmian Shaw Blind Smalling /Jones – Schweinsteiger/Carrick Schneiderlin Young Mata – Depay – Rooney
First 6 fixtures
Spurs (H)
Aston Villa (A)
Newcastle (H)
Swansea (A)
Liverpool (H)
Southampton (A)
Follow us on twitter @fantasyfoot20 or facebook at www.facebook.com/fantasyfootballgeek
This website is free. If you find it useful please support us via the donate button on the site
fantasy premier league league code: 68300-19117
Sky Sports Fantasy Football: PIN: 8124402
Sun Dream Team: FANTASYFOOTBALLGEEK PIN: 8360910
Telegraph Fantasy Football: FantasyFootballGeek PIN 8000919
