Here’s our FPL dilemmas article where Kris O goes through a number of different options that he’s thinking of for his FPL team. Kris has been a consistent FPL manager finishing 44k OR last season, 46k in 17/18 and 23k in 16/17. This may help you through your own FPL dilemmas and the effect on your team.
FPL dilemmas – Kris O ponders a number of different options for his FPL team
Get additional content in the form of Podcasts, an interactive transfer and points prediction tool, 4 £50 prize leagues for the first 160 joiners and a Slack channel for discussion with members and contributors in our Patreon site. There’s also a FFGeek contributors tracker FPL team and Joe’s transfer planner team. The first $3 monthly payment gets you in the prize leagues for the season and Slack channel for the season.
You can also see an interview with Kris where he talks about his FPL strategy
Since sharing my last draft I’ve continued pondering the best mix of Liverpool and Man City assets. The team I shared previously (see below) ‘hedged’ the exclusion of Sterling by having Walker, Zinchenko and De Bruyne.
Previous Draft
However, Sterling’s pre-season performances and the trend of a player continually improving has led me to conclude I need him in my team.
I’ve therefore revisited teams using a third Liverpool defender or Firmino as a hedge for Salah, as well as teams including Salah. My gut tells me Salah won’t fire at the start of the season, but that is a risky strategy given his popularity. I am now in a position of waiting for more information from pre-season (especially Community Shield); injury news; and transfer business to tip me towards my final fifteen.
The core elements of each team
To help illustrate my core options I’ve set out four teams below; each with a short commentary of the key differences. My teams are based around six Liverpool and Man City players; though I could justify two Man City assets given their rotation risk. A few other things that are a constant across the teams are:
· £8.5m Brighton goalkeeper combination.
· Defs (1-3): Two Liverpool defenders; Walker (£6m)
· Def (5): Lundstram (£4m) – hat tip to Geek podcast 5
· Mid (1): Sterling (£12m)
· Mid (5): Dendoncker (£4.5m) – looks settled in Wolves line-up
· Str (2/3): King (£6.5m) – best value Bournemouth attacker
· Str (bench filler): Greenwood (£4.5m) – pre-season continues to suggest he’s worth a punt.
In practice the key choices I’m making are: (i) the combination of Sterling, Salah, Firmino, Kane and De Bruyne; and (ii) the mid-priced defenders, midfielders and strikers to support them.
Team 1: 3 Liverpool Defs.
Team 1 has a third Liverpool defender. Based on last season the extra defender would score around 210 points, 50 points short of Salah but freeing up extra cash to have De Bruyne and Kane. In addition to the risk of the 50 point gap being wider, I give up a great captain option too. Ward-Prowse is a placeholder as a £6m midfielder – I am struggling to find an option I like at that price. I could also risk Gomez for Van Dijk to free up £1m into midfield.
Team 2: The Firmino option
Team 2’s main change (from Team 1) is bringing in Firmino for De Bruyne (9.5m); and Laporte for Van Dijk (6.5m). This team is primarily about taking a punt on Firmino having a strong start to the season.
Team 3: Salah’s in
Team 3 brings in Salah (12.5m) (effectively for Kane); and sees the appearance of Calvert-Lewin (£6m) which depending on Everton’s success in recruiting a striker could be a bargain for a team with good opening fixtures. Holebas is a £5m placeholder – I like his attacking threat. This is close to what appears to be a template team, which is safer but goes against my instinct of doing something different.
Team 4: Emphasis on attack
Finally, Team 4 has Sterling, De Bruyne, Salah and Firmino – I realise this also breaks my earlier comment of two Liverpool defenders in each team!
This team is closer to the balance (ignoring the heavy City/Liv bias) I’ve had in my GW1 teams in the past. In addition to Liverpool and City scoring goals, the success of this team will be determined by how I use my £15.5m budget across two defenders and midfielder (currently Taylor £4.5m; Holebas £5.0m; and Ward-Prowse £6.0m) – I could also upgrade Greenwood into a third striker.
The Poll
Please vote in this poll to help me choose the best option
I hope my ramblings help you think through some of your decisions and that next time I share my team I’ve narrowed down my options!
You can also see an interview with Kris where he talks about his FPL strategy
Get additional content in the form of Podcasts, an interactive transfer and points prediction tool, 4 £50 prize leagues for the first 160 joiners and a Slack channel for discussion with members and contributors in our Patreon site. There’s also a FFGeek contributors tracker FPL team and Joe’s transfer planner team. The first $3 monthly payment gets you in the prize leagues for the season and Slack channel for the season.
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