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We’re one week into the new Fantasy Premier League this season but after the opening round only featured 16 teams, we’ll have all 20 participate in Gameweek 2.
Owing to Manchester United and Manchester City’s European commitments, they were granted a delayed start to the Premier League campaign. But now that their appealing assets are in play, it raises a few questions about the composition of our FPL teams.
Here are the popular and differential picks from three of this season’s late comes.
MANCHESTER CITY
Popular pick: Kevin De Bruyne
Price: 11.5m
Ownership: 28.8%
With an incredible 23 FPL assists last season, you can’t go wrong with Kevin De Bruyne in your team. The playmaker also scored 13 goals and is certain to deliver big hauls again.
The Belgian should be on penalties from the start after taking the responsibility off Sergio Aguero last season. City boast several attacking assets to choose from but De Bruyne is as close to a guarantee you’re going to get in FPL.
Differential pick: Phil Foden
Price: 6.5m
Ownership: 4.1%
Perhaps not as reliable as De Bruyne, yet, and there is some risk of rotation as well but Phil Foden is an increasingly appealing midfield option for the new season.
He is set to enjoy a breakout campaign following David Silva’s departure and is a real bargain at 6.5m. A strong finish to last season saw him bag five goals and two assists in the final nine games. With so many premium midfielders around, Foden could be the key to finding the right balance.
MANCHESTER UNITED
Popular Pick: Bruno Fernandes
Price: 10.5m
Ownership: 20.1%
If we could engineer the make-up of the perfect FPL player, we’d end up with something pretty close to Bruno Fernandes. The playmaker’s relentless desire to score or create goals has him ranked highly for all the underlying stats an FPL manager should pay attention to.
He only arrived towards the business end of last season but managed to rack up eight goals and eight assists in just 14 games. His points total over the course of an entire campaign could be very impressive indeed.
Differential pick: Marcus Rashford
Price: 9.5m
Ownership: 5.5%
Marcus Rashford is a more appealing option than people seem to think. He’s fresh from his best season where he scored 17 times in the league and has been reclassified as a midfielder.
With FPL managers flocking to the likes of Fernandes and Anthony Martial, Rashford could be a key differential. His underlying stats last season were super and if he can be just a little more efficient in front of goal, he’ll be a big-hitter in fantasy.
BURNLEY
Popular Pick: Nick Pope
Price: 5.5m
Ownership: 17.0%
Nick Pope has made the step up to the elite bracket of Premier League goalkeepers and so has his price tag in FPL. He kept 15 clean sheets and even made 120 saves last season.
For a keeper outside of the ‘big six’, his price is a little steep but his clean sheet reliability and shot-stopping has seen the Englishman remain well-owned.
Differential pick: Chris Wood
Price: 6.5m
Ownership: 2.3%
Chris Wood really should be in a lot more teams given that value in the forwards position is hard to come by this season. He hit double figures in each of the last three campaigns, scoring 14 last term.
The New Zealand international remains the focal point of Burnley’s attack and can be counted on for a steady stream of points throughout the campaign.
