Fantasy Premier League is back. In truth, the game's format has gone a tad stale in recent years. The increasing online presence of FPL influencers has seen a rise in "template" teams, with a pack of the most active members of the FPL community all making the same transfers and following the identified optimal strategy.
As a result, you could have players score significant points for your own team, and actually drop in overall rank due to extortionate "effective ownership" of players above you.
The biggest rule changes this season
To mitigate this FPL Towers have decided to implement their biggest alteration in the last decade; this season managers can "bank" up to five transfers instead of two, and these transfers will roll over even when playing chips, such as Wildcards or their Free Hit.
This opens template-shattering opportunities to overhaul your squad, with managers who plan meticulously rewarded for strategic picks. It also benefits "set and forget" managers who may have forgotten to change their teams and missed deadlines, and will come back with five transfers to claw back some points.
The Bonus Points System (BPS) has also been altered to reward attacking players. Extra BPS will now be awarded to players who: win fouls and register shots on target, benefitting the likes of Phil Foden, Bukayo Saka and Eberechi Eze (below).
There is also the new "Mystery Chip", but what this actually could be remains under wraps until the new year.
Haaland or Salah? Or both?
The key decision for the millions of fantasy managers is how to fit Erling Haaland and Mohamed Salah within their teams given their prices of £15 million and £12.5 million respectively.
Salah endured his worst FPL season ever last time out, but with a new playing style, and new hairstyle to match, will The Egyptian King be reinvigorated under Arne Slot? Liverpool's fantastic early fixture run, coupled with Salah's history of starting the season with a bang, only heightens his appeal.
Haaland is a far more straightforward entity to analyse. He scores almost every week, and remains the best FPL asset in the entire game. However, his revised pricing as the most expensive player the game has ever seen has dampened his universal inclusion in squads that was a feature of the past two seasons in FPL.
Those going without the Norwegian could be punished early on, when he faces a Chelsea side in disarray, before newly appointed Ipswich Town travel to The Etihad in Gameweek 2.
Having both assets takes up over a quarter of managers' total budget, and leaves shortages across the entire squad. However, given the late returns of a number of premium midfield options due to their Euro 2024 involvement, the likes of: Foden, Saka and last year's highest-scoring player, Cole Palmer, may not be at their sharpest come the start of the season, and thus having both Haaland and Salah could be a great way to shoot up the ranks early on.
Pre-season stars
Pre-season, while mainly used for fitness, can give a good indication as to which players, formations and styles managers are set to adopt on the opening day.
It is also true that some players can have great pre-seasons and then do not even figure playing on the opening weekend, but sometimes players can carry form from the off-season into Gameweek 1 (Benrahma and Antonio 2021/22 being a prime example).
The pick from pre-season this year is perhaps Valentin Barco (£4m) who can act as an enabler for most teams to fund the game's premium assets.
However, the Argentine has looked fantastic in his own right though, operating as a wing-back with a share of set-pieces for Fabian Hurzeler's new-look Brighton and Hove Albion.
Hurzeler prides himself on a strong defensive unit: in his previous job at St. Pauli, they won the Bundesliga II with the best defence in the entire division. Facing a blunt Everton attack in Gameweek 1, Barco could haul for the managers who trust him to start against The Toffees.
Another budget-friendly player that has caught the eye over the summer is Newcastle's Jacob Murphy (£5.5m). While a peripheral figure at times under Eddie Howe, he started the last ten games of last season.
Going into Gameweek 1, he has more attacking returns than any other player in pre-season (five goals, three assists), and looks set to start the opener, with Miguel Almirón heading for the exit door at St. James' Park, and Anthony Gordon far from peak fitness. Against a Southampton side that conceded 63 goals last season, Murphy could reward trusting managers with a double-digit score.
However, Murphy will face competition from a plethora of potential midfield gems at the £5.5 million price-point.
The likes of Emile Smith-Rowe (pictured), Callum Hudson-Odoi and Ben Brereton Diaz have all found the net in pre-season and begin the season with kind fixtures. Brighton new-boy Yankuba Minteh looks like an explosive pick, passing the eye test with flying colours in pre-season, although a Gameweek three trip to The Emirates could dent the Gambian's appeal.
Differentials to keep an eye on
With difficult price points and uncertainty over some of the game's biggest stars, Friday's deadline is shaping up to give us one of the most open starts to an FPL season.
As a result, differentials (players with under 10% ownership), could sky-rocket managers up the ranks in the opening weeks, before most managers wildcard after the first international break.
Here are some of the best overlooked options to consider:
Jason Steele - GK - (4.5m) - 0.6% owned
With Bart Verbruggen ruled out for the start of the season, Steele could offer fantastic short-term value for managers looking for save and clean sheet points. As aforementioned Hurzeler's Brighton will strive for defensive stability, and the Englishman could even retain his starting spot if he performs well early on.
Leif Davis - DEF - (£4.5m) - 2% owned
Despite facing arguably the two strongest attacks in the opening couple of weeks, a kind run in the following weeks could see Davis emerge as the top-scoring defender by the second international break.
Even if clean sheets are in short supply in Suffolk, Davis' dead-ball delivery, and bombing runs down the flank have seen him return 37 g/a in the last two seasons for The Tractor Boys. At only £4.5 million, Davis could make a mockery of his price.
Noussair Mazraoui - DEF - (£4.5m) - 1.5%
A new addition to FPL, Moroccan international Mazraoui is among the most complete full backs in the world. His versatility to play both right and left-back should see him nailed to start for the opening weeks of the season, with Luke Shaw ruled out at least until Gameweek four.
In Erik ten Hag's first season in charge, Manchester United kept a league-high 17 clean sheets, and despite all their shortcomings both on and off the pitch last year, they still registered nine shutouts.
The arrival of Mazraoui, alongside long-time teammate Matthijs de Ligt, further strengthens United's backline and their defensive assets in FPL.
Kevin Schade - MID - (£5.5M) - 0.1% owned
A club record signing following his arrival from SC Freiburg in January 2023, Kevin Schade has not hit the heights that the Brentford hierarchy had hoped he would, as flashes of quality were swiftly derailed by injury last season. However, in pre-season, the 22-year-old has looked fitter than ever and found the back of the net three times. If he nails a spot in Thomas Frank's attack, the German could be set for a breakthrough season.
Ben Brereton Diaz - MID - (£5.5M) - 0.8% owned
Brereton Diaz returns to the Premier League following a four-month stint at strugglers Sheffield United last season. Despite playing for comfortably the worst team in the league, the Chilean returned an impressive six goals and an assist from only 14 starts.
Likely to be deployed out of position as a striker alongside Adam Armstrong, Brereton Diaz offers strong value for a Southampton side that will look to attack under Russell Martin.
Chris Wood - FWD - (£6.0M) - 4.9% owned
While not the most glamourous name in the game, Chris Wood's ability to score goals must be recognised. The New Zealand captain has hit 10+ goal seasons six times, and last season he bagged 14 from only 20 starts for Nottingham Forest.
With fantastic fixtures in the first three weeks, and Taiwo Awoniyi still working his way back to full fitness, Wood is a fantastic option to start the season with.
