As another FPL season beckons, the search for the Right Players from the Right Teams at a Right Price is well and truly on. This year around I am once again focusing on Top 30k finish as my season long OR target.

My initial reference for deciding my FPL team for the year is the fixture difficulty and I am looking at the 3 – 8 week range to consider players who can come good in the short to medium term for my FPL team.

Took the data of Fixture Difficulty rating from FPL and based on the same Arsenal and Brighton have the best start to the season with three fixtures of 2 rating each. No wonder players from these 2 teams are extremely popular in the GW1 templates for most FPL managers.

Arsenal have had a decent pre-season with only loss coming against Manchester United (Yay!) and the Community Shield was a good give away in terms of the team we could likely see against Nottingham Forest on Saturday. Saka seems to be good form in the pre-season with 2 goals and 2 assists, but Trossard is someone who really caught my eye with 4 goals (including the late equaliser against Man City in the Community Shield). However, he only came on in the 75th minute so his minutes are uncertain.  Ødegaard and Martinelli will also be as good a pick as any in Arsenal attack. Could Rice be a decent pick playing in the Xhaka role ? Maybe, but not going to use a midfielder spot on him. Many people are considering Havertz, but I am not going anywhere near him right now.

In defense, Gabriel seems like a most logical option to gather points from Arsenal clean sheets, specially because he is 0.5 cheaper than Ben White

Brighton start the season with 3 easy fixtures against Luton, Wolves and West Ham. I am thinking of at least 2 if not 3 players from Brighton, the only off putting fact is the entire speculation around Caicedo’s transfer. That could change the way they play. Their last friendly, Brighton pretty much played a 4 – 4 – 2 with Mitoma and João Pedro getting 71 minutes each and Pedro also scoring the penalty (he was on penalties with Gross on the pitch!) I am definitely getting one of them, Pedro is more of a punt but there might be better value is 6.5M midfielder is somebody like Mbuemo (or Eze).

In defence, I am definetly going for Estupiñán. He is a very attacking LB, playing under a very attacking manager with great first 3 fixtures. He is a long term pick as well.

Next on my list of teams with low fixture difficulty in first 3 game weeks are Everton, Brentford and Manchester United with an average FDR of 2.3 in first 3 GWs.

It seems like Everton have had a great pre-season, not losing any of their 6 preseason games and just conceding twice. Although you can’t read too much into it, but is Sean Dyche back in his true form ? I am interested in any of the attacking players, but might consider Tarkowski or Pickford for a spot in defiance.

Brentford might seem to have a decent fixture difficulty but fixtures against Spurs, Fulham and Crystal Palace may not be so easy. Raya has been a main stay for Brentford for last couple of seasons and with him on his way out, I am considering Flekken for a spot in my FPL team. Further forward it is between Mbuemo and Wissa. I might go with one of them, depending on the team structure.

Up next, I am very optimistic my team Manchester United. United have had a decent transfer window and should be in for a good season. I expect ETHs focus on defiance to continue (Although Onana is sure going to give some scary moments trying to play out from the back!). I am leaning on going with 3 United players, only because Garnacho is a great enabler at 5M price at least in the short term. He is expected to start at least 2 out of the 3 games I would assume. I am sold on Rashford and do not see myself changing to Bruno in order to save 0.5M. In defence, Shaw is a great option with attacking potential as well.

Further down the list with an average FDR of 2.7 in the first 3 GWs are Spurs, Man City, Aston Villa and West Ham. At the start of the season I am not going anywhere near West Ham, that is for sure.

Man City is a great team and Haaland is a great player. He was the first name on the team with the armband for GW1 (very small chance I might tweak that, but let’s see). No second thought’s on him despite a not so great pre-season. In defence I am strongly considering Stones, with him often becoming a part of the mid field and having some attacking potential. I am not really sure about the second attacker spot for now, but Foden could a great choice eventually if he starts consistently. Also I am on the lookout for Alvarez, with Gundo and Mahrez gone and KDB ageing, I am expect him to get more minutes and he seems to have a knack for goals.

Spurs are going to be a very interesting team from an FPL point of view this season. Under Ange, they are expected to play attacking football but I don’t want to jump to conclusions too quickly. With Kane most likely on his way out, it would be interesting to see how they attack. Richarlison could be great value pick or potentially Son could play up-top. Maddison is a pick I might go with right at the start as well. He is a great player, possibly playing no. 10, close to the striker in an attacking team. Decisions, Decisions!

Aston Villa scored 14 goals across 6 pre-season games and Watkins seems to be at the front and center of it with 4 goals. Diaby looks exciting and got 2 goals in pre-season, but too new a player in PL to go for straight away. Buendia could be a cheaper alternative (3 goals and an assist in pre-season).

The other big conundrum in my mind is Liverpool assets. Although they have Chelsea (A) and Newcastle (A) in GW 1 and GW3 respectively, that GW 2 home game against Bournemouth is really tasty. Salah is undoubtedly the best pick but with Jota 4.5M cheaper than him and expected to get decent minutes (at-least in first few GWs), I am keen on latter. TAA will be a great pick as well, but I am wait for the fixtures to then GW4 onwards and then try and get him in, maybe with the Wildcard.

Chelsea is another team I am going to closely evaluate. I am tempted with Reece / Chilwell, but will probably have a go at them GW 3 onwards, after having seen how they perform under Poch and who starts for them in attack (Nicolas Jackson is one I am looking at closely).

After all considerations, here are my FPL team options for GW1. Might still undergo some changes, but seem pretty settled on these two options so far

Option 1

Option 2

Hope all of you have a great FPL season, Green Arrows Every One #GAEO!