FPL Best Picks: Writer’s Team of the Week for Gameweek 1 22/23
Mo Salah (13.0) of Liverpool gets the armband for our FPL team of the week.
Salah was the joint leader of the league for both goals and assists last season. The top scorer in terms of FPL points and expected goals and is up against a promoted Fulham team, who are short in numbers and quality at the back. He looked sharp in the Community Shield outing against Manchester City and is also on penalties. Our captain.
Luis Diaz (8.0) of Liverpool
While it’s close between Andy Robertson and Luis Diaz as the third Liverpool option for FPL teams going into the season, we’ve opted to go with the latter from a purely GW1 perspective. Luis Diaz of Liverpool slotted into the team seamlessly after a January move last year. He’s producing at 0.59 xGI per 90 mins, which is excellent.
With Mane leaving and Jota injured, he’s made that left-wing spot his own and he could cause havoc against Fulham’s defense. He has the potential to haul in GW1 in the FPL.
Gabriel Martinelli (6.0) of Arsenal is our 3rd Midfielder pick.
Priced very nicely, boasting plenty of goal threat from the left wing for an Arsenal attack looking invigorated by the arrival of Gabriel Jesus, Martinelli looks well-placed to start away to Crystal Palace on Friday night. Martinelli has taken up positions in and around the penalty box in Arsenal’s pre-season friendlies and provides strong value.
"I feel good about this season and I'm looking forward to it." 🔥 @LeonBailey pic.twitter.com/PVvGTMotQ2
— Aston Villa (@AVFCOfficial) July 30, 2022
Leon Bailey (5.0) of Aston Villa
Again, our fourth pick is a flair punt. We were set on going with Pedro Neto of Wolves but ultimately picked the higher-risk-reward option with Leon Bailey of Aston Villa. Bailey has scored 3 goals and grabbed an assist in as many pre-season appearances. From comments by Steven Gerrard, he sounds likely to start GW1.
He comes up against a Bournemouth team who’ve stuttered in the transfer market and noise coming out from the team doesn’t appear confident heading into the season. Bailey had an 18 G/A season at Leverkusen before he made the move to Villa, so he certainly has an end-product.
He currently has momentum on his side and has the best GW1 fixture of any team, in my opinion, hence I’m willing to punt on him.