As the Premier League is set to kick off from 14th august, fantasy managers have already started to plan their first drafts. FPL game for the new season has already launched with the price tags of the players revealed as well, the campaign begins when Brentford hosts Arsenal. Following the release of the game, we look at the 5 players you must-have in your FPL team this season.
#5 Kelechi Iheanacho
The Leicester striker enjoyed a solid 20/21 season which saw him score 12 times and assisting twice in the process, that return is fairly decent in itself. The Nigerian has now fairly established himself as one of the key-figure in Leicester’s attacking build-up alongside his partner, Jamie Vardy. Thanks to Kelechi’s superb end-of-season form in 20/21, he should enjoy a very prolific campaign this time around.
His 12 goals from game week 22 onwards last term were more than any other fantasy forward, his 23 shots on target and 24 chances created all ranked among the top two players in his position during that period. As a result, Iheanacho already has ownership of over 15% going into the first week of the season, and at just 7.5 m, Kelechi Iheanacho could prove to be an absolute steal this time round.
#4 Bruno Fernandes
Last season’s top-scoring FPL player was also the most explosive, hitting 12 double-figure hauls throughout the season, Bruno Fernandes is definitely a player everyone would love to have in their fantasy teams. The Manchester United midfielder combined 18 goals and 14 assists, collecting 36 bonus points, totalling 244 points. Even though Fernandes has seen a hike of 1.5 m from the start of the last term, he will continue to be a popular figure this season as well.
The Portugal international was the top-scoring individual and averaged 6.6 points per match, a figure only bettered by Harry Kane. Bruno being a set-piece specialist is one of the many things Bruno brings to the table, with the Red Devils facing none of the ‘big six’ teams in their first five fixtures, Bruno will be owned heavily in the first few game weeks.
#3 Trent Alexander-Arnold
Simply put, Trent Alexander Arnold is FPL royalty. The offensive full-back assisted 7 times for his club last season, scoring twice and keeping 10 clean sheets. Trent is a complete package, promising both offensive and defensive returns all season long. Even though he is the most expensive defender in the game, he doesn’t fail to live up to his hype and price. Another key factor with Trent is that he is a nailed starter, a name that is always on top of the starting XI.
With Virgil Van Dijk and Joe Gomez fit for the upcoming season, Liverpool will look to keep more clean sheets than they did last season, thus more defensive points for TAA. Liverpool have a good run of opening fixtures, so Trent might just be the perfect defender every team needs.
#2 Harry Kane
Last season’s golden boot winner and Tottenham’s talisman missed out on being the highest point-getter last season by just 2 points, a record that he will be to get this season. Kane found the net 23 times in just 35 games last season, assisting 14 times. With such explosive numbers, he was the most selected and most captained player last season as well. The forward is the joint most expensive player in the game, priced at 12.5 m. The two most expensive players, Salah and Kane, battled out for the golden boot last season with Kane coming on top, making them two of the 5 players you must-have in your FPL team this season.
Ahead of the upcoming season, Manchester City is heavily interested in getting the English captain. If this happens, it will be interesting to see how things work out for Harry Kane.
#1 Mohamed Salah
Salah needs little introduction to FPL players. Only Bruno Fernandes managed to score more points than Mohamed Salah, who in fact is listed as a midfielder in the game but plays on the left wing for Liverpool. Thus, he is rewarded with 1 point when Liverpool keeps a clean sheet and gets 1 point more than the forwards when he scores. Salah is simply a must-have player in every fantasy manager’s team. The Egyptian is exceptionally consistent, and FPL managers around the world will hope he will replicate or even better than his 22 goals and 5 assists last season.
The welcome news for Salah owners is that the Egyptian won’t be a part of his national side’s squad for the Olympics. That means a full pre-season for Salah and, barring injury, availability for the first six-game opening run.
