Fantasy Premier League 2021 – The Top 4 Preview

Man City

Fixtures

Attack 57%

Defence 41%

WARNING! MAN CITY DO NOT HAVE A FIXTURE IN GW1! Therefore, it is highly recommended not to pick one of them for GW1 unless you have some grand master strategy.

A mixed bag with Wolves and Leicester offering a potential upset but also the sacrificial lambs of Leeds and West Ham (which is at the London Stadium where City ALWAYS score a hatful of goals).

Main Pick

Raheem Sterling (MID, 11.5m)

I will get some raised eyebrows for not picking KDB. Yes he’s amazing, yes he was the highest scorer in the entire game last year, but sometimes I like to be a contrarian (I took forever to buy in Danny Ings last year).

Sterling by all metrics should have been up there with KDB and Salah. He has the same number of shots as KDB but more in the box, he rivals Salah for touches in the box and had more big chances. But he had a slow period in the middle of the season.

Then, after lockdown, he looked revitalised and ready to tear into the season, which is what he did. I said last year that Sterling could be the man with the most points at the end of the season, and if he plays to his potential I stand by that for this year. I will be watching carefully, and he is my first-choice replacement if Salah is looking slow against Leeds.

Differential Pick

Phil Foden (MID, 6.5m)

He’s not quite in differential territory at 7.2% ownership (Sterling is only on 4.7% at the time of writing), but I cannot ignore the potential bargain we have here.

Foden showed a lot of class at the end of last season, justifying his decision to stay at City with Pep when others like Sancho went off to the Bundesliga in search of 1st team football. With David Silva leaving he has a chance to win a spot in this team of world-class superstars, and we have a potential FPL must-own.

After lockdown, no midfielder who costs under 8.5m took more shots, scored more goals or had more touches in the box (Antonio did but has been reclassified as a striker). He may be rotated as he is managed carefully by Pep, but make sure you have an adequate bench player and wait for those massive points hauls to roll in when he does start.

Defensive Pick

Ederson (GK, 6.0m)

I don’t think it’s necessarily worth spending 6.0m on a goalkeeper this year, but if you’re desperate for a City defender then surely Ederson is the only viable option. Laporte has injury issues but is otherwise nailed on to start.

For the rest, you might as well flip a coin or roll a dice every week to figure out who will be in the Man City defence. Ederson is a sure thing, I’m not even sure who their number 2 is with Bravo leaving after his contract expired!

Steer Clear

Riyad Mahrez (MID, 8.5m)

Mahrez is similar to Firmino in that I’m not denying his quality. We should all remember his breakthrough season at Leicester as they won the title and he was an FPL god at just 5.5m!

However, his influence and minutes at City have been inconsistent at best, so why spend the extra 2.0m when you can have the same deal with Foden? Mahrez will obviously score goals and get points when he plays, but if he’s not a guaranteed starter then it’s not worth it with Foden sitting there.