Fantasy Premier League 2021 – Promoted Teams Preview

Leeds

Fixtures

Attack 25%
Defence 84%

Leeds arrive back in the top flight with a lot of hope and potential. Their manager, Marcelo Bielsa, is a man who inspires awe and respect across the football community but is not afraid of controversy (if you missed it then look up ‘Spygate’ from 2 years ago).

Their defence could be even better than Sheffield United but is missing a key cog in Ben White (he was on loan from Brighton), and if their new signings upfront performs well we could be looking at a team who can emulate the Blades.

However, it will be a tough start with Liverpool, Man City and Wolves in their opening 5 matches!

Main Pick

Jack Harrison (MID, 5.5m) 

Harrison may not have been their top scorer last year (Bamford scored 16), but he got 6 goals and 8 assists on the road to promotion. He is young at just 23, meaning he can better handle Bielsa’s hard-pressing style and he played the majority of the season, so he’s clearly a favourite.

Bamford might score more, but his previous attempts to play in the Premier League have yielded just one goal, so I’m not hopeful.

Differential and Defensive Pick 

Stuart Dallas (DEF, 4.5m) 

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I think Leeds will become another Sheffield United, where having one of their defenders is a necessity and 2 is a viable option. Dallas played all but 1 match last year for Leeds and managed to notch 5 goals and 3 assists! He’s happy playing anywhere on the right flank (and can switch to the left if needed), so there’s less worry of him being dropped and potential for him to play OOP!

Steer Clear

Strikers

I’ve talked about Bamford above. He is in danger of becoming one of these players who can score goals for fun in the Championship but struggles to make the leap to the Premier League. They have also bought Rodrigo Moreno from Valencia, and I’m not sure why. Bamford works well in Bielsa’s system but lacks goals, Rodrigo could also fill that role and also lacks goals.

He scored 35 in 141 for Valencia, which is nothing to write home about, and he’s nearly 30 so could struggle to adapt his game to the Premier League. Time will tell but I’m not excited by either of these options!