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Premier League football is less than two weeks away, and what better way to count down the hours before the new season than by perfecting your Fantasy Premier League team!
We’ve been hard at work choosing the Tenner Fantasy team ahead of Gameweek 1 and we reckon we have a pretty good side. Let us know if you think we’ve made any glaring mistakes by tweeting us, messaging us on Facebook, or chatting to us on Instagram.
GK: Mathew Ryan - Brighton - £4.5 million - Chelsea (Home)
There’s a reason that Brighton’s Australian shot stopper has been selected by 24% of FPL players, and he presents very good value for a starting goalkeeper at just £4.5 million.
We have decided to go for budget goalkeepers, to give us money to spend elsewhere and of the goalkeepers priced £4.5 million and under Ryan’s stats from last season stand out. He recorded the most points of that group (135), the most clean sheets (9), the most saves (117), and the most bonus points (14).
Brighton don’t have the best start to the season, hosting Chelsea and Manchester United in the first three weeks, but Ryan is a set-and-forget in our team so he’s very much a long term pick.
DEF: Trent Alexander-Arnold - Liverpool - £7.5 million - Leeds (Home)
TAA is a no-brainer for any FPL manager and he demonstrated last season that he’s one of those players you can’t afford not to have. £7.5 million is undeniably a bonkers price for a defender, but Trent is also a ridiculous fantasy asset. Last season he scored 210 points and he ranks 1st on the FPL’s specially devised Influence, Creativity and Threat (ICT) scale.
He plays in a settled and organised defense, and it seems unlikely that his returns will diminish anytime soon. As well as this, he’s got a solid set of opening fixtures, making him near on impossible to overlook.
DEF: Kyle Walker-Peters - Southampton - £4.5 million - Crystal Palace (Away)
Spending £7.5 million on TAA has meant we have had to be a bit more frugal with the rest of our defense. Luckily, there are plenty of options below the £5 million mark that could easily bring a greater number of points than their more expensive counterparts. Kyle Walker-Peters, who moved from Tottenham to Southampton this summer, is certainly one of them.
He has experience playing in this Saints defence, having impressed while on loan to the south coast club last season. He started six of the last seven Gameweeks, producing at least six points on three occasions. This form coupled with his attacking prowess from full back make him an enticing FPL prospect and one we can’t ignore.
DEF: William Saliba - Arsenal - £4.5 million - Fulham (Away)
There is a lot of hype going round about William Saliba, and Arsenal fans will be weary of their new central defender being labelled a ‘once in a generation talent’. But if this kid is what he’s cracked up to be then he could provide the defensive jigsaw piece the Arsenal puzzle has been missing for the last few years.
In FPL terms he looks criminally underpriced for an Arsenal defender who is likely to start. Last season Arsenal kept 10 clean sheets and that number is only going to increase if Saliba really does turn out to be as good as everyone is saying he is. With the Gunners facing Fulham and West Ham in their opening two fixtures Saliba could prove to be an early season differential with just 4.9% ownership.
DEF: Nathan Ferguson - Crystal Palace - £4.0 million - Southampton (Home)
Every year there is an underpriced FPL defender that is uncovered around four or five Gameweeks into the season. Last campaign it was Lord Lundstram, before that it was Aaron Wan-Bissaka, this year it could well be Nathan Ferguson. At just £4.0 million Ferguson looks set to benefit from a number of injuries in the fullback position and is likely to start in a solid Crystal Palace backline. There’s a reason that Ferguson has been selected by 19% of FPL managers, and we are not about to ignore him as a budget option.
He starts in Gameweek 1 for us because Southampton at home has all the makings of a tasty clean sheet fixture for the Eagles. It looks pretty likely he’ll be sitting on the bench away at Manchester United in Gameweek 2 though.
MID: Heung-Min Son - Tottenham - £9.0 million - Everton (Home)
Heung-Min Son has something of a ‘smiling assassin’ feel to him as a footballer. The Premier League’s resident nice guy has been an incredibly effective operator in recent seasons, all whilst maintaining a likeable and jovial personality on and off the pitch. We reckon he is also a very good FPL asset, especially for the start of this season.
Only one of Tottenham’s first eight fixtures is against a top eight side from last year’s campaign. Of course, it certainly isn’t a given that Spurs will capitalise on these easier matches but it seems fairly likely that most attacking returns will come through Son. The South Korean was involved in 46% of Tottenham’s goals when selected last season, and surely looks a snip at £9.0 million.
MID: Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (captain) - Arsenal - £12.0 million - Fulham (Away)
File ‘Aubameyang in midfield’ under ‘Players you have to have full stop’. Auba is one of the players affected by positional changes ahead of the new season and it makes him an absolute must have for any fantasy team. Aubameyang’s stats from last season speak for themselves: 22 goals, 205 FPL points (for the second season in a row), and the sixth highest total points scorer in the game. With an extra point for a goal from midfield and potential clean sheet points too, Aubameyang is impossible to leave out.
The last time Aubameyang faced a London club was in the FA Cup final where his two goals helped Arsenal to yet another FA Cup win. A delicious opening day fixture at Craven Cottage therefore makes him an ideal candidate for the captain’s armband, we’re sure he won’t disappoint.
MID: Matheus Pereira - West Brom - £6.0 million - Leicester (Home)
He’s a bit of an unknown quantity and barring a Gameweek 1 hat-trick he will be coming straight out of our team for Mason Greenwood in Gameweek 2, but Matheus Pereira could be the Jack Grealish of the FPL 2020/2021 campaign.
Pereira either played as a number 10 or on the wing in the Baggies’ promotion season last year, and created 116 chances, more than any other player in the Championship. He might not be staying in our squad for long, but we definitely won’t rule him coming back in at some stage if he can replicate last year’s form.
MID: Allan Saint-Maximin - Newcastle - £5.5 million - West Ham (Away)
We’re willing to admit that this one could go one of two ways. The Newcastle speedster blew hot and cold for the Magpies last season, but there were little glimpses that have made us think he might just be a valuable asset this time around.
There were signs towards the end of last season that Allan Saint-Maximin was starting to find his feet in the Premier League. He bagged a goal, three assists, and three double figure scores from Gameweek 30 onwards. At £5.5 million there’s not much to lose with Saint-Maximin and an awful lot to gain, especially with an opening game against West Ham and their notably leaky defence.
FWD: Aleksandar Mitrovic - Fulham - £6.0 million - Arsenal (Home)
A return to the Premier League for Aleksandar Mitrovic and he slides straight into the Tenner FPL starting lineup. Mitrovic earned the golden boot in the Championship last season and overpowered many defences with his physical prowess and aerial presence.
Mitrovic is priced up cheaper than he was in 2018/2019 and has been chosen by nearly a third of FPL managers. Fulham’s talisman had more shots in the box (96) than any other player in 2018/2019 which is a pretty staggering statistic and proves his viability as a longer term option. Most of Fulham’s attacking play is likely to go through the big Serbian and that’s why he is front and centre in our eleven.
FWD: Harry Kane - Tottenham - £10.5 million - Everton (Home)
If (and it is a big if) Harry Kane can stay fit throughout the majority of this Premier League campaign, we can see him scoring an awful lot of FPL points. The restart of the 2019/2020 season saw Harry Kane hit a purple patch of form and it seems that Jose Mourinho may now be getting the best out of the striker.
After the June restart Kane scored seven goals in nine games for Spurs and the short gap between seasons means last year’s form can be carried over quite easily. As we’ve mentioned already Tottenham have a superb run of fixtures in the opening few months, so despite his hefty price tag Kane is our main man.
BENCH: Orjan Nyland - Aston Villa - £4.0 million - No Fixture
£4.0 million is as cheap as you can go for a goalkeeper and although it seems unlikely Nyland will start ahead of Tom Heaton, he does seem the most likely to get minutes out of the bargain bucket goalkeepers. Nyland played more minutes last season than any other £4.0 million priced keeper and with Heaton’s injury record he seems a decent back up option.
BENCH: Kevin De Bruyne - Manchester City - £11.5 million - No Fixture
KDB is an absolute artist on the pitch and there are not a lot of players who are as effortlessly effective as the Ginger Belgian. The only thing keeping De Bruyne from our starting eleven is that owing to Manchester City’s European exploits he will be missing the first Gameweek of the season.
BENCH: Luke Ayling - Leeds - £4.5 million - Liverpool (Away)
Luke Ayling played a major role in Leeds getting promoted last year and is a vital cog in Marcelo Bielsa’s mad brand of football (you can read more about that here). He presents a good value option, playing as a full back and regularly getting forward. With four goals and four assists last season he fits nicely into our long term plans, although a tough trip to Anfield in Gameweek 1 means he’ll have to wait for his chance in the starting lineup.
BENCH: Rhian Brewster - Liverpool - £4.5 million - Leeds (Home)
This might be one we need to change, Liverpool may end up shipping this talented youngster back out on loan this year. However, if Liverpool decide to keep Brewster at Anfield then he could well become this year’s Mason Greenwood. £4.5 million is as cheap as it comes for forward players, so any minutes Brewster gets will be a bonus.
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