Fantasy Premier League returns on Monday – and thanks to the unlimited transfers granted to us in the break, we all have a golden opportunity to get our squads into tip-top shape for the resumption of the Premier League.
There are certain players who are obvious picks, such as Erling Haaland and Kieran Trippier< who will already be in most managers’ squads – but this is a chance to tinker, to react to World Cup form, to deal with injuries, and to try to tailor your line-up to the frantic few weeks of festive fixtures ahead.
Manchester City start with games against Leeds and Everton and are also scheduled for double gameweeks in weeks 20 and 23.
The safest triple-up looks like Joao Cancelo, Kevin de Bruyne and Haaland but that is going to cost you a lot of money and might preclude you from getting another premium player into yoru squad, such as Mohamed Salah or Harry Kane.
The problem with switching De Bruyne to one of City’s cheaper midfielders is that you’re never quite sure when rotation is going to strike or if a player is suddenly going to get the cold shoulder, as Phil Foden did in the run-up to the World Cup.
There is an argument to go with just Cancelo and Haaland for a couple of weeks, and assess the line-ups before adding a midfielder in for the double gameweeks. Or you could go with goalkeeper Ederson or another defender, such as Kyle Walker or Ruben Dias, if you want those three City assets straight away.
There are so many excellent midfield options that you shouldn’t feel obliged to go for a City player in that position, particularly as you’re likely to be giving the captain’s armband to Haaland anyway.
Mason Mount is definitely one of them despite Chelsea’s iffy form before the break – their season resumes with games against Bournemouth and Nottingham Forest before a double in gameweek 19 at home to Manchester City and away to Fulham.
Marcus Rashford and Miguel Almiron don’t benefit from any double gameweeks. But Manchester United forward Rashford is up against Nottingham Forest, Wolves and Bournemouth in his first three outings and, if Newcastle and Almiron pick up from where they left off, then the Paraguayan represents ridiculously good value.
James Maddison didn’t feature for England at the World Cup but Statman Dave suggested in the Fantasy 606 podcast that he will be worth bringing in from gameweek 19 onwards at the start of a promising run of fixtures for Leicester.
Any of the Arsenal midfield trio of Bukayo Saka, Gabriel Martinelli and Martin Odegaard look like they will remain good investments but we wait to see quite how much the absence of Gabriel Jesus affects the Arsenal team as a whole.
You could go straight for Eddie Nketiah, who would offer great value at just £6.5m but Martinelli might be moved through the middle and Arsenal could also sign a new striker.
Now on to Liverpool and a refreshed Salah, who didn’t play at the World Cup as Egypt didn’t make it. Lots of managers will go for him as their second premium player alongside Erling Haaland and it makes sense.
I also think going for Darwin Nunez as your Liverpool attacker makes sense though, particularly if you’re not planning to captain Salah, and that frees up almost £4m, which could then be spent on Harry Kane.
That’s the line-up my Fantasy 606 colleague Chris Sutton is going with and don’t forget Kane is the only player other than Haaland who’s scored more than 100 points this season, having blanked in just three of his 15 appearances.
Tottenham also have a double gameweek on the way in gameweek 20 – but it’s a tough one with matches against Arsenal and Manchester City.
It is possible to fit Haaland, Salah and Kane into one squad, a so-called “three-mium”, because there are so many good budget options in all areas of the field.
There’s Kepa Arrizabalaga, if he’s fit and starting for Chelsea, and Leicester’s Danny Ward in goal while Ben White (Arsenal), Timothy Castagne (Leicester), Sven Botman (Newcastle), Pervis Estupinan (Brighton), and Manchester United pair Diogo Dalot or Luke Shaw at all great value the back.
Fulham’s Andreas Pereira is the standout candidate in midfield although Leon Bailey at Aston Vila might be worth a look from gameweek 19 onwards, and you might even be able to stretch to Manchester United’s Anthony Martial or Fulham’s Aleksandar Mitrovic as a third striker.
Don’t forget Pereira and Mitrovic also have a double gameweek 19, with matches away to Leicester and at home to Chelsea.
I have tinkered with “three-mium” drafts but am also quite tempted by going for Haaland as my only premium and then being able to select all of Cancelo, Liverpool’s Andy Robertson, Mount, Rashford, Spurs midfielder Dejan Kulusevski, Nunez and Mitrovic, as well as leaving me a strong bench.
Can I really brave going without Salah though? That’s what makes the resumption of FPL so exciting because there are so many different ways we can go with our unlimited transfers and we won’t know who’s got it right until the football kicks off.
Alistair Bruce-Ball presents the Fantasy 606 podcast alongside former Premier League winner Chris Sutton and Statman Dave. The latest episode previewing gameweek 17 is available via the BBC Sounds app, just search for 606.
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