Fantasy Premier League 2021 – Final (ish) Draft before opening day
Goalkeepers
McCarthy (Southampton, 4.5m) / Ryan (Brighton, 4.5m)
The perfect pair of rotating goalkeepers to start the season. They are both cheap, play for a team that has some defensive solidity (I know my fixture ranking puts Southampton quite low but since McCarthy’s introduction there have been definite improvements) and the rotation is very good.
For the opening 10 games the duo plays Crystal Palace, Newcastle, Burnley, West Brom, Crystal Palace, West Brom, Villa, Newcastle, Villa and Man United.
Obviously, the last one will be tough but who knows where we’ll be in 10 weeks! In fact, this run continues throughout the season with Man United the only top team you have to play against (the alternative that week is Liverpool).
Defence
Andrew Robertson (Liverpool, 7.0m) / Matt Doherty (Spurs, 6.0m) / James Justin (Leicester, 4.5m) / Stuart Dallas (Leeds, 4.5m) / Ben Johnson (West Ham, 4.0m)
I’ve had to drop TAA down to Robertson for the extra 0.5m saving, but having a Liverpool defender is simply a must. I’m hoping Robertson will continue the fine form he showed after lockdown and justify my decision!
Doherty doesn’t need much discussion. He was an FPL monster for Wolves and now he’s at Spurs I’m expecting even more clean sheets to go with his attacking returns. This really is a no-brainer for me!
With Justin and Dallas, I’ve gone for some 4.5m defenders who are likely to play and rotate well in the early weeks. If any better options pop up at that price range (ie a Burnley fullback) then I’ll switch over, but these two can hopefully serve me well in the short term.
Johnson is 4.0m bench fodder. Nine times out of 10 he will be my 3rd bench player, even if he’s playing every game because West Ham’s defence is so bad. But he is likely to play and he’s 4.0m. Straight in!
Midfield
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (Arsenal, 12.0m) / Mohamed Salah (Liverpool, 12.0m) / Heung-Min Son (Spurs, 9.0m) / Grady Diangana (West Brom, 5.5m) / Tomas Soucek (West Ham, 5.0m)
Auba and Salah are my big hitters for the first couple of weeks. They are also top price bracket, so if I need to move to Sterling/KDB/Bruno quickly I can. This season more than any we’ve had in a while we’ll be awash with premium options and you simply cannot own them all. We all need to make peace with that and pick our favourites.
Son is in because of Spurs’ good fixtures. I was on Harry Kane for a long time but got scared off by England’s terrible performances in the Nations’ League. Son is still a great option with potential for goals and assists, if he gets a full season he could even get to 200 points.
Diangana and Soucek are cheap options that allow me to spend big and I like the look of both of them. Diangana is a tricky winger with something to prove and decent fixtures. Soucek is very cheap and likes the odd goal, not bad for 5.0m! He was also given the COVID all clear this week, so should be good to go against Newcastle.
Forwards
Timo Werner (Chelsea, 9.5m) / Che Adams (Southampton, 6.0m) / Aleksandar Mitrovic (Fulham, 6.0m)
I’ve gone for Werner out of Chelsea’s plethora of attacking talent. He’s a top striker with bags of potential and an eye for goal, in a team crying out for a good finisher. Surely this is a marriage made in heaven!
Adams and Mitrovic are cheaper options, but Mitrovic is the definition of a talisman and Adams is a rising star. There are quite a few options at this price bracket so I can hop between them as and when necessary.