It was a very decent opening week for me on FPL. However, I have also made a few enormous mistakes. Who in his right mind would leave Mendy on the bench? I did... Anyway, I've still finished the week with 93 points and it is way beyond average. Currently, I am in the 4th position on Scorum league. However, nothing less than the 1st position satisfies me.
Let's go through my team's performance and I'll let you know why did I pick every player and what do I expect from them.
Goalkeepers
I have Ederson as my main keeper and I don't plan to change it for the rest of the season. He is the main keeper of the league's favorites and only costs 5.5mln compared to De Gea who is priced at 6mln. My substitute keeper is Hart - he only costs 4.5mln and plays for a decent Burnley team. Of course, I don't expect a lot of clean sheets from Burnley, but Hart is good enough to substitute Ederson when City plays with the top 6 teams. And yes, I expected Arsenal to score in the first GW, so Hart was my main choice. Even though Ederson scored more points, I am still happy with my decision.
Later, I'll consider selling Hart and buying Fabianski, but Hammers have a lot of difficult fixtures in August, so Hart will do for now.
Quick tip: Don't waste your money on buying 2 top-tier goalkeepers. You cannot play them both in the same week anyway.
Quick tip 2: Check every team's fixtures for at least upcoming 5 games to see what you can expect.
Defenders
Robertson is a bargain and I don't intend to sell him any time soon. Of course, Roberston costs 6mln and that is a lot for a defender, but he plays an important role in the offense as well and with Liverpool being one of the top scoring teams, that might bring some extra points. Another good choice might be Alexander-Arnold who is 1mln cheaper than Robertson and has a similar role on the pitch. If I'll need some extra money, I might have to do this swap. Sadly, there is no place for both of them on my team as I need 2 spaces for Liverpool forwards.
Van Aanholt is Crystal Palace defender, but sometimes it seems that he plays as a forward. Van Aanhold loves to help Crystal Palace on the attack, and he even scored a goal in the last game but it was ruled off due to offside. However, I am happy with his assist and 2 extra bonus points. Also, Crystal Palace looks like a very interesting team and I expect that to surprise everyone this season. He is a clear pick in my team, especially for 5.5mln which is not that much.
Daniels is my 4.5mln defender. He plays for Bournemouth, a pretty decent team, but I don't expect much from Daniels. He will probably start most of the games on the bench, but I'll let him play during Bournemouth's home games against the weak opponents. In my opinion, Daniels is a value pick, who saves me money on the attack.
I've clearly made a mistake buying Lindelof instead of Luke Shaw. I've made a second mistake letting Lindelof be my starter. He looked awful in the game against Leicester and I have doubts that Mourinho will let him start the next game. However, he only costs 5mln and plays for MU, which usually means a lot of clean sheets. I am taking the risk for now and expect Lindelof to find his rhythm and clinch a spot in the starting XI for the rest of the season. If that happens, I'll consider Lindelof as a great pick. As for Shaw, well, I still think that Young will soon kick him out of the starting XI.
Mendy. I don't want to talk about it, guys. I have benched my 15 points defender. What the hell was wrong with me believing in Arsenal so much? However, I am happy that Mendy is on my team as I have seen his potential and I won't let myself make that mistake ever again. Mendy will be my starter from now on. Sadly, I could have hit 100 points in the first week if only let Mendy play instead of Daniels or Lindelof. That is my biggest mistake this GW.
Quick tip: Try not to have defenders from the same team unless you are behind in your league and want to take a huge risk.
Quick tip 2: Tottenham defenders are highly overrated at 6mln each so avoid them.
Midfielders
I have paid 9.5mln for Eriksen and even though he only score 2 points this week, I am not planning to let him go any time soon. Kane never scores in August, Dele Alli is just too inconsistent, and other players don't have a big role in this team. Eriksen also takes setpieces which will convert into a lot of assists and goals sooner or later. I wish he took penalties as well, but Tottenham has Kane... Anyway, Eriksen is the best player in a powerful Tottenham team with a lot of potential to score bonus points as well. And he is also 3mln cheaper than Kane. That said, I'll consider adding Kane in September.
Richarlison will be a leader of this Everton team which is strong enough to finish inside of the top 6. I don't understand how he only costs 6.5mln but not having him on the team is a big loss. Sadly, he suffered some minor injury in the first game and might not be able to start next week. However, I don't see a problem leaving him on a bench for one week.
Mkhitaryan costs 7mln and I still think it is one of the best price/quality picks in this year's FPL. Of course, the first two fixtures sucks for Arsenal, but after the second week, I believe that Mkhitaryan will start scoring big. He will also play a more attacking game against weaker opponents so I need him to bring me some assists every once in a while. That said, Arsenal's performance this week was a huge disappointment and it cost me a lot.
Mane costs 9.5mln compared to Salah who is priced at 13mln. Call me an idiot but I don't see a 4.5mln difference between these two. I even believe that Mane will finish this season with more goals than Salah. Also, Mane was a penalty taker for Liverpool in friendlies, which is a huge booster. To be honest, Mane already got me 32 points so even if he is blank for the upcoming 4 matches, I am still happy with this pick. However, I doubt that anyone can stop Liverpool at the moment.
Jorginho only costs 5mln and there is no doubt that he will be a starter and one of the key players in this Chelsea team. However, he is a defensive midfielder which means that we won't see him scoring or assisting a lot. I'm a little sad that Jorginho sat on a bench this week, but who could have guessed that he will take a penalty kick? Sadly, I doubt that Jorginho will get another shot at the penalty spot when Hazard will be back on the pitch. However, he is the best pick for 5mln with a little prospect to score unexpected points.
Quick tip: Try to pick midfielders who play as forwards for their club.
Quick tip 2: Sometimes it is wiser to go with a leader of a weak team rather than a role player of the top club.
Quick tip 3: Avoid Manchester City midfielders. They cost a lot and none of them except De Bruyne has a guaranteed spot on the starting XI.
Forwards
I believe that everyone should have at least 2 attacking players from Liverpool this season as this team will be the highest scoring team in the league. I chose to avoid Salah as he is highly overpriced. That left me with Mane and Firmino, who cost 9.5mln each. Even though Firmino failed to score this week, I have no doubt that he will start bringing those points home. Firmino is one of those safe picks as you can expect him to score points week in, week out.
Aguero is my most expensive player. I have paid 11mln for him and I am very disappointed so far. Aguero missed a 100percent opportunity to score against Arsenal and that might put him on the bench for the next game. If not for Jesus, I wouldn't even think about selling Aguero this season, but with Jesus in the rotation, I am afraid to see Aguero starting the next game from the bench. If that happens to often, I'll have to sell him. After all, you expect a lot of points from a player for 11mln. For now, Aguero will stay on my team as Man City will have some easy fixtures so I expect fireworks.
Kamara is my 4.5mln forward who is on the team only to save some money. I have no idea who Kamara is and I don't care - he won't be playing anyway.
Quick tip: Vardy is one of the most consistent forwards in Premier League for the last couple of years and he only costs 9mln. I did not pick him yet only because he is not fit yet after the World Cup.
Quick tip 2: Playing with 3 forwards is a very risky business so it is always wise to buy one forward for 4.5mln and leave him on a bench.
Quick tip 3: If you are saving money, take a look at Zaha and Tosun. They only cost 7mln each and play at good clubs with big ambitions.
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