fantasy premier league new players profiled – Part 1

Fantasy Premier League, New player profiles

Here’s our fantasy premier league new players profiled article where we give some basic stats and prospects to players new to FPL. This looks at players coming in alphabetically from Arsenal to Liverpool except for the promoted sides which I’ll deal with separately

fantasy premier league new players profiled – Arsenal to Liverpool

This article only looks at transfers of players who haven’t played in the premier league previously.  I go through the teams alphabetically from Arsenal to Liverpool.  If a team hasn’t had such a transfer in then there will be no heading for them.

I’m also copying and pasting the format so the information is given in a consistent manner so excuse me if I make the occasional mistake!

I think all the information is self explanatory so there’s no key.

If you can’t be bothered reading the whole article there’s a “who are the key players” heading at the end.  Also after the stats of each player there’s a couple of lines on prospects

You might also find our World Cup returners for GW1 article and our fixture ease article interesting

Arsenal





Leno GK £5.0m

26 year old German GK  Leno joined Arsenal from  Leverkusen for a fee of £17m.  He played 33 games in 17/18 for them.  He has played 233 games in the Bundesliga and 6 for the National team.  His whoscored.com rating is 6.56

Personally I think Cech will hold his place for GW1 but pre-season will tell.

Lichtsteiner Def £5.0m

The 34 year old Swiss RB Lichtsteiner  joined Arsenal from  Juventus on a free transfer.  He played 23 (4) games in 17/18 for them for 0 goals and 4 assists at a goal or assist every 856 minutes.  He has played 301 games in Serie A and 103 for the Swiss national team.  His whoscored rating is 6.59.

I can’t see him displacing Bellerin for GW1 but he will certainly keep Bellerin on his toes.

Sokratis Def £5.5m

The 30 year old Greek CB Sokratis  joined Arsenal from  Dortmund for £17.7m.  He played 26 (4) games in 17/18 for them for 2 goals and 0 assists at a goal or assist every 1187 minutes.  He has played 189 games in the Bundesliga and 79 for the Greek national team.  His whoscored rating is a healthy 6.92.

With Koscielny injured and seemingly out long term I would be shocked if Sokratis doesn’t start.  He has no price advantage over Bellerin or Monreal unfortunately.  Kolasinac is the hope at £5.0m but hard to see Monreal not playing if it’s an expected back 4

Torreira (not in FPL)

The 22 year old Uruguayan  DM Torreira  joined Arsenal from  Sampdoria for £26.5m.  He played 36 (0) games in 17/18 for them for 4 goals and 1 assist at a goal or assist every 637 minutes.  He has played 71 games in Serie A and 8 for the Uruguay national team.  His whoscored rating is an impressive 7.17.

World Cup exertions for Uruguay will surely be the only thing preventing him starting but not an FPL player.

Bournemouth

David Brooks Mid £5.0m 

The 21 year old Welsh  AM Brooks  joined Bournemouth from  Sheffield Utd for £11.5m.  He played 9 (21) games in 17/18 for them for 3 goals and 5 assists at a goal or assist every 143 minutes.  He has played 30 games in the Championship and 3 for the Welsh national team.  His whoscored rating is an ordinary 6.54 especially for the Championship.

Looks one for the future and difficult to see starting in GW1

Brighton

Balogun Def £4.5m

The 30 year old Nigerian  CB Balogun  joined Brighton from Mainz on a free transfer.  He played 14 (0) games in 17/18 for them for 0 goals and 0 assists with no goal or assist in 1175 minutes.  He has played 75 games in the Bundesliga and 22 for the Nigerian national team.  His whoscored rating is a ok 6.76.

Hard to say what the prospects are but he has the pedigree to seriously push Dunk and Duffy.  Whether he will straight away after playing for Nigeria in the World Cup is questionable.  It will be an interesting watch in pre-season.

Bernardo  Def £4.5m

The 23 year old Brazilian  LB Bernardo  joined Brighton from Leipzig for £9m.  He played 16 (3) games in 17/18 for them for 1 goal and 1 assist with a goal or assist every 674 minutes.  He has played 40 games in the Bundesliga and has no experience for the Brazil national team.  His whoscored rating is a healthy 6.9.

LB is a problem position for Brighton even if they do have Bong and Suttner who shared minutes.  Has to be in the mix and again pre-season is the one to look out for this

Jason Steele GK £4.0m

The 27 year old English  GK Steele  joined Brighton from Sunderland for an undisclosed fee.  He played 15 (0) games in 17/18 for them.  He has played 259 games in the Championship and 7 games for the England U21 team.  His whoscored rating is a ok at 6.72.

Will be a back up to Matt Ryan

Andone Fwd £5.0m

The 25 year old Romanian  CF Andone  joined Brighton from Deportivo La Coruna for £5.3m.  He played 16 (13) games in 17/18 for them for 6 goals and 3 assists with a goal or assist every 180 minutes.  He has played 86 games in La Liga and 21 games for the Romanian national team.  His whoscored rating is a poor 6.35.

There’s nothing very convincing about Brighton’s forwards with Glenn Murray another year older and adding this guy to it doesn’t change that.  Anything could happen but Brighton need to score more goals

NEW:  Bissouma (not in FPL)

The 24 year old Mali international  CDM Bissouma  joined Brighton from Lille for £17m.  He played 17 (7) games in 17/18 for them for 2 goals and 1 assist with a goal or assist every 518 minutes.  He has played 13 games for the Mali national team.  His whoscored rating is a good 6.97.

The Brighton formation is generally 4-2-3-1 with Stephens and Propper in the 2.  I expect Bissouma to compete with Stephens as Propper is more box to box.  Given the fee which is a decent amount of money it has to put Stephens on the monitor list especially as he is a popular benchwarming £4.5m mid.

Chelsea

NEW:  Jorginho mid £5.0m

The 26 year old Italian international  DM/DM Jorginho  joined Chelsea from Napoli for £57m.  He played 32 (1) games in 17/18 for them for 2 goals and 4 assist with a goal or assist every 444 minutes.  He has played 151 games in Serie A and 8 games for the Italian national team.  His whoscored rating is a good 7.02.

Will surely start and command a regular place but hard to see as an FPL player given his stats above.  Could make Fabregas a risk?

Huddersfield  

Bacuna Mid £4.5m

The 20 year old Dutch  CM Bacuna  joined Huddersfield from Gronigen for an undisclosed fee.  He played 29 (4) games in 17/18 for them for 1 goal and 5 assists with a goal or assist every 432 minutes.  He has played 83 games in the Eredivise and 3 games for the Dutch U21 team.  His whoscored rating is a good 6.89.

Not an FPL player with those returns.  Even as a bench £4.5m there’s little point as Huddersfield have Hogg, Williams and Billing who can also fill the role.

NEW:  Durm Def £4.5m

The 26 year old German  RB/RM Durm  joined Huddersfield from Dortmund for an undisclosed fee.  He played 10 (3) games in 16/17 for them (as he was injured the whole of 17/18) for 0 goal and 2 assists with a goal or assist every 487 minutes.  He has played 64 games in the Bundesliga and 7 games for the German National team although he didn’t go to the World Cup.  He has no whoscored rating.

A versatile player who could play in a more advanced role than he has been classified for in FPL.  It makes little sense for Huddersfield to have 3 RBs with Smith and Hadergjonaj so perhaps he could play further up.  Could be worth monitoring

Leicester

Maddison Mid £6.5m 

The 21 year old English  AM Maddison  joined Leicester from Norwich for £24m.  He played 41 (3) games in 17/18 for them for 14 goals and 8 assists with a goal or assist every 166 minutes.  He has played 47 games in the Championship and 3 games for the England U21 team.  His whoscored rating is a very impressive 7.43.

Currently has a Knee injury with no return date which may make the analysis redundant anyway.  However looks talented and for Leicester £24m is a decent sum.  They system that Leicester plays is 4-4-1-1 with a striker playing behind Vardy.  So unless Maddison plays on the flanks then it’s hard to see a position for him.  The flanks already look like they are the place of Gray and Albrighton though.  Maddison seems to play more centrally as a general rule.

Pereira Def £5.0m 

The 24 year old Portuguese  RB Pereira  joined Leicester from Porto for £17.5m.  He played 25 (2) games in 17/18 for them for 2 goals and 5 assists with a goal or assist every 342 minutes.  He has played 76 games in the Portuguese League and 50 games in Ligue plus 5 games for Portugal.  His whoscored rating is an exceptional very impressive 7.59.

Pereira was in the Portugal World Cup squad although Cedric played the RB position.  Depending on the amount of friendlies he plays I think he will get the nod over Simpson for GW1.

My preference for Leicester who had 9 clean sheets is a £4.5m defender but that maybe difficult as I think the defence long term will be Maguire Evans Chilwell and Pereira none of which are under £5.5m.  Maguire will be late back from the World Cup so Morgan should get the short term nod at £4.5m but only that.  If you’re willing to shell out £5.0m for a Leicester defender then as long as he looks like he will be recovered enough he could be a good pick even if Chilwell and Evans are safer picks.

Liverpool




Fabinho Mid £6.0m

The 24 year old Brazilian  CDM Fabinho  joined Liverpool from Monaco for £40m.  He played 34 (0) games in 17/18 for them for 7 goals and 4 assists with a goal or assist every 278 minutes.  He has played 167 games in Ligue 1 and 4 games for the Brazil National team but didn’t go to the World Cup.  His whoscored rating is a very impressive 7.51.

I have no doubt he will start especially as Henderson will likely miss the start of the season. The Ox is also injured.  His goal and an assist output for a CDM is reasonable and the price appropriate.  If you compare him to Henderson and Wijnaldum his numbers are far superior.  Other Mids at that price have similar rates of return..  Can he replicate it for Liverpool and will he suffer rotation that someone like Gudmundsson for instance won’t

Keita Mid £7.5m  

The 23 year old from Guinea  CM Keita  joined Liverpool from Leipzig for £52.8m.  He played 22 (5) games in 17/18 for them for 6 goals and 5 assists with a goal or assist every 179 minutes.  He has played 59 games in the Bundesliga and 29 games for the Guinea National team.  His whoscored rating is an good 6.85.

Again I think it’s likely he will start in GW1 in a midfield 3.  Seems expensive compared to Fabinho but his numbers are superior.  His G/A output is well behind say Ramsey and Willian but consistent with say Gross.  I’m a little sceptical given the price, position and the transition from the Bundesliga.

Who are the key players?

Probably the most obvious one is Sokratis for Arsenal although his price at £5.5m would be a negative if Kolasinac starts at LB for £5.0m although you have to think Monreal will start there.  There’s also Bellerin at the same price.

Otherwise there are no real FPL options in this list.  Balogun could push the previously uncompeted pair of Dunk and Duffy.  Fabinho is a maybe but it maybe easier to look to the likes of Gudmundsson than a Liverpool CM.  Maddison has promise but I would be very surprised if he starts GW1

That’s it I will now do Man City to West Ham and then the promoted teams in a separate article (s)

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