The Fantasy Premier League season begins on Friday 21 August. To help managers as you tinker with your teams before the deadline, we have gone through all 20 teams and analysed some of their assets. Our four experts—Pras, FPL Heisenberg, Gianni Buttice, and Holly Shand—have each selected a talisman, a differential pick, and a player to avoid for their respective teams.
For Arsenal, Pras identifies the Brazilian centre-back as the standout pick for the champions. He finished as the top-scoring defender last season with 209 points and remains the most reliable, albeit expensive, way into the strong Arsenal defence. For a differential, Pras suggests Ben White (£5.5m). The England right-back offers attacking threat and a realistic path to regular minutes while Jurrien Timber remains out. While White might not be a season-keeper, he is a strong pick to start the campaign.
Pras advises managers to avoid Christos Tzolis (£6.5m). The new signing has talent and was involved in several pre-season goals, but manager Mikel Arteta’s rotation among the wide left attackers makes consistent starts far from guaranteed for the Greece international. Furthermore, the club appears to be in the market for another left winger, further clouding his prospects.
FPL Heisenberg’s picks are essential for your FPL team. For Aston Villa, Holly Shand highlights Ollie Watkins (£8m) as the talisman. Watkins has seen a £1m price drop going into this campaign and will likely be Villa’s main man following the departure of Morgan Rogers to Chelsea. He remains incredibly consistent, scoring on average 16 goals in his past four seasons, and is potentially a penalty taker now that Youri Tielemans has moved to Manchester United.
For a differential at Villa, Holly recommends Matty Cash (£4.5m). Villa’s defence remains a consistent source for investment, having kept nine clean sheets last campaign. Cash sits in around 8% of sides and is the first-choice right-back. He produced six goal involvements last season, including three goals and three assists, while recording 30 shots on goal and 30 key passes.
Holly warns against picking Alejandro Garnacho (£6m). Although he arrived on loan from Chelsea this summer, Emi Buendia may be hard to displace in midfield. Garnacho is kindly priced, but he played just 1,261 minutes last season, providing only one goal and four assists. With just seven goals and eight assists in his past two seasons combined, there are more consistent options available at this price point.
Regarding Bournemouth, Gianni notes that since Antoine Semenyo left, one could argue they have no clear standout individual, and some would say that is a strength of the team—the ability of the collective is all important. However, Marcus Tavernier (£6m) remains their chief creator and is responsible for many of their set-pieces. With 11 attacking returns last season, he is likely to be their talisman once again. Justin Kluivert (£6m) is set to be the penalty taker, but expect Tavernier to step up when the Dutchman is not on the pitch.
Gianni’s differential pick for the Cherries is Adrien Truffert (£5.5m). At only 5% owned, the left-back, who scored the second-most FPL points for the club last season with 165, is a strong candidate. The Frenchman ghosts into dangerous advanced positions and carries open-play goal and assist threat, in addition to being reliable for defensive contributions and bonus points.
Finally, Gianni advises avoiding Evanilson (£6m). There are a plethora of £6m forwards in FPL this year, and Dominic Calvert-Lewin, Igor Jesus, and Brian Brobbey stand out as better picks than Evanilson, who only scored six goals in his 32 league games last season.
