This article is brought to you by Fantasy Football Hub the home of Fantasy Premier League that has everything you need to dominate your mini-leagues this season. WhoScored readers can use this link to get 25% off membership (limited time offer).
The new football season always brings an air of excitement to football fans and especially us fantasy football managers. Picking the new signings and creating our brand new squad is one of the most enjoyable times of the season.
However at the end of the day the main aim is to win our mini-leagues, finish with a high rank and get the all-important bragging right amongst friends and colleagues.
Therefore a good start to the season is important to lay down the marker and put pressure on rivals but also to cement the foundations for a overall high rank. The secret to a good start is to keep it simple as possible and pick the safest and proven players.
It’s easy to get attracted to the new ‘shiny toys’ but there is always a risk associated with new players coming from different leagues no matter how good they are. For every Bruno Fernandes there is also a Timo Werner.
Any risks or punts should be saved for later in the season and pre Gamweek 1 is best played with caution. Simply because it’s the time of the season where we have the least information.
A bad start in FPL can have a knock on effect to the mind-set and lead to knee-jerk decisions which ultimately can lead to a negative domino effect.
This article will look at the top five must own players for FPL in the 2021/22 season. The selections will be based on stats, price and overall value.
We won’t just be simply picking the best five assets as realistically you will not be able to fit them in your team without seriously sacrificing the rest of your squad.
Mohammed Salah (£12.5 m) - Liverpool
The first name on my team sheet for the past few seasons has been the Egyptian. Since joining Liverpool in the 2017/18 season he has scored a mightily impressive 95 goals and 40 assists and has been by far the most consistent FPL player.
Last season was his worst season FPL wise since joining the Reds but he still bagged 22 goals with six assists. His stats were amongst the best in the league as usual with 126 Shots (2nd), 52 Shots on Target (2nd), 98 Shots in the Box (1st) and 33 Big Chances (2nd). He also created 57 Chances (11th) and 12 Big Chances (5th).
I can’t see anything other than another stellar season for the Liverpool star and expect him to be in the top three overall scorers again. He is currently the most owned player in the game (48.6%) and with very good reason. He is just far too risky to go without and not selecting him is surely a recipe for disaster.
Looking at his opening fixtures for the first eight he will be most likely be the best, and most captained player in six of them. Norwich (a), Burnley (H), Leeds United (a), Crystal Palace (H), Brentford (a) and Watford (a) are all fantastic fixtures in which you should at the very least own him.
With him also being on penalties there isn’t much more to say other than get him in your team!
Trent Alexander-Arnold (£7.5m) - Liverpool
Although Trent Alexander Arnold didn’t have his best season last campaign with two goals, eight assists and 10 clean sheets, he still finished as the second highest scoring defender behind teammate Andrew Robertson (£7.0m).
His less than par season was no doubt due to Liverpool’s poor season. They kept 12 clean sheets (5th) and conceded 42 goals (4th) and just managed to scrape a top four finish.
In the 2019/20 season they kept 15 clean sheets (2nd) and conceded only 33 goals (1st) and in 18/19 the Reds kept a mammoth 21 clean sheets (1st) while only conceding 22 goals (1st).
A huge factor in Liverpool’s poor defensive numbers were no doubt due to the injury of Virgil Van Dijk (£6.5m) who suffered a cruciate ligament rupture in Gameweek 5 and missed the remainder of the season.
With the Dutchman now nearing fitness he should be ready to start the season or at least be back early in the season. He played 20 minutes in a friendly in Austria, and manager Jurgen Klopp says he will partake in the upcoming pre-season friendlies.
This of course makes Trent a much better option due to the increased chances of clean sheets. Also filtering our Fixture Ticker to defence Liverpool rank second for chance of clean sheet in the first eight.
Our Points Prediction Tool also ranks Trent to pick up the most points (38.4) from defenders in the first eight games.
Raphinha (£6.5m) – Leeds United
The Brazilian is surely the most under-priced player in the game. He really impressed in his debut season for Leeds United and ended up with six goals and 10 assists in only 26 starts.
His stats were phenomenal and equivalent to a premium midfielder with 66 Shots, 24 Shots on Target, 43 Shots in the Box and five Big Chances while also creating 64 Chances (4th) and 13 Big Chances (2nd).
Raphinha vs Heung Min Son Stats – As you can see Raphinha stats were on par with Heung Min Son last season.
He just seems like too good an option to ignore given his price and with him being on corners and the majority of free kicks he just has so many avenue to points. Furthermore he plays in one of the most attacking teams in the league who can score and create chances against anyone.
With Bielsa at the helm Leeds’s attacking nature wont change and I can see plenty of attacking returns for Raphinha this season. Last season they scored 62 goals (4th) with 353 Shots in the Box (4th) and 76 Big Chances (8th), while also creating 60 Big Chances (6th). That’s some really impressive numbers for a promoted team.
Also their opening fixtures are good from an attacking perspective although I do feel they are fixture proof in this sense anyway.
They open the season with a tough game away to Manchester United but then play Everton (H), Burnley (a), Newcastle United (a), West Ham (H), Watford (H) and Southampton (a) during the next seven.
If we take the United fixture out they actually rank first for expected goals scored for the first eight according to our advanced fixture ticker.
Furthermore his price not only allows us a great FPL asset at a cut price but also gives us a stronger overall team.
Robert Sanchez (£4.5m) – Brighton
The Brighton keeper comes in at a very generous £4.5m. He is currently the third highest owned goalkeeper in FPL (23.6%).
Sanchez kept 10 clean sheets in only 27 games, conceding only 27 goals while also making 66 saves and accumulating eight bonus points. He had the third-best expected goals conceded per game (1.08) and expected clean sheets (0.37) behind only Ederson (£6.0m) and Edouard Mendy (£6.0m).
Brighton’s defensive stats were also among the best in the league last season with 12 clean sheets (5th), and 46 goals conceded (7th).
They conceded only 222 Shots in the Box (3rd), 127 Shots on Target (3rd) and 51 Big Chances (3rd). They were unfortunate to be in the relegation battle and it was ultimately their finishing and some freak results which let them down.
With the current goalkeeper options this season and their pricing Sanchez to me looks by far the best option. When we factor into how good Brighton’s defence are and his price his overall value is great. I think he is under-priced by £0.5m.
The Spaniard is also blessed with some very nice opening fixtures. Graham Potters men play Burnley (a), Watford, (H), Everton (H), Brentford (a), Leicester City (H), Crystal Palace (a), Arsenal (H) and Norwich (a) in their first eight games.
According to our advanced Fixture Ticker they have the best fixtures defensively for the first eight ahead of the likes of Manchester United and West Ham.
Bruno Fernandes (12.0m) – Manchester United
Bruno Fernandes finished as the highest scoring player in FPL last season and his £1.5m price hike was to be expected.
He scored an enormous 18 goals and 14 assists with 121 Shots (2nd), 51 Shots on Target (2nd), 48 Shots in the Box (6th), and 20 Big Chances (4th). He also created 95 Chances (1st) and 20 Big Chances (1st).
From his stats and output last season I believe the Portugeuse has come in at a fairly nice price. If he continues in the same vein this year he will no doubt be more than worth the £12.0m price tag.
Also Manchester United were one of the top attacking teams in the league last season have only added to their arsenal with the signing of Jadon Sancho (£9.5m). They scored 73 goals (2nd) last term with 213 Shots on Target (3rd), 324 Shots in the Box (6th) and 94 Big Chances (3rd).
I can see the Red Devils scoring a similar, if not more goals this season and Bruno will no doubt be in amongst the action.
He was their talisman last season with a 45% Goal Involvement and with him being on penalties, corners and direct-free kicks I don’t see his talisman status changing.
Furthermore United have a good set of opening games playing Leeds United (H), Southamton (a), Newcastle United (H), Aston Villa (H) and Everton (H) during their first eight games.
Also with a 40% ownership at the time of writing he will be a big risk to go without.
Want to dominate your mini-league this season?
Join thousands of FPL managers and dominate your mini-league with fantasy football hub membership – WhoScored readers can use this link to get 25% off membership (limited time offer).
