Can Salah do it again? Avoid Mbeumo & Cunha? Five key FPL questions
- BBC News
With a new point-scoring system, price rises and new clubs for some of last seasons stars, theres plenty to think about before Fantasy Premier League returns a week today.
Here, BBC Sports team of FPL experts - Pras, Holly Shand, Gianni Buttice and FPL Heisenberg - along with Statman Dave from BBC Sports FPL Podcast, debate some of the big talking points to help you before the deadline of Friday, 15 August.
You can join the BBC Sport League on the official Fantasy Premier League game using the code bbcfpl - or by clicking this link, external.
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Mohamed Salah smashed the all-time FPL points record last season, with his 28 goals and 19 assists earning 344 FPL points.
Hes now priced at £14.5m though, £2m more than last season, which makes him the most expensive midfielder of all time in FPL.
Gianni: Salah is the talisman for the best attack in the league and I have no doubt hes worth the high price tag. Captaincy is a huge part of this game, and more often than not Salah will be the best option for the armband.
Holly: Im not wholly convinced that Salah can produce as outstanding a season as 2024-25 but I still expect him to have a fast start and justify his price tag in the early stages of the campaign.
He has never blanked in gameweek one, scoring on average 12.25 points per game and Liverpool have strengthened their attack in this transfer window. His momentum may slow, though, with a truncated season for the Africa Cup of Nations.
Pras: Liverpool have brought in some world-class reinforcements already in Florian Wirtz and Hugo Ekitike. This can only further improve their attacking output this year.
Even though there could be merits in spreading your cash, captaincy is such an important part of playing FPL.
And that means it may still be essential to own Salah. In the first five gameweeks, I can see Salah being the top choice for captaincy in GW1 (Bournemouth at home), GW4 (Burnley away) and GW5 (Everton home).
Id advise starting off with Salah, and if the landscape changes then it is easy to distribute that money around the team later instead of scrambling to fit him in later.
Heisenberg: I still expect him to have a stellar season and he doesnt need to replicate what he did last year to make him an excellent FPL asset. I wouldnt be surprised to see him in and around the top point scorer again.
I do think hes worth the money, especially when you factor in captaincy.
Bryan Mbeumo, left, and Matheus Cunha are both £8m midfielders in FPL this season
Matheus Cunha (178 points) and Bryan Mbeumo (236) were talismen for Wolves and Brentford respectively last season. But do they have any chance of repeating those numbers among Manchester Uniteds crowded FPL attacking options?
Holly: Cunha and Mbeumo (both £8m) are unsurprisingly popular picks in the game, with Manchester Uniteds global fanbase, but Im a little sceptical of their FPL output in the early stages of the season as they fit into Ruben Amorims system for their tricky opening games.
I think Bruno Fernandes (£9m) remains the optimal midfield pick, with his set-piece responsibilities.
Pras: Both players were involved in a significant percentage of goals last season for their clubs, as penalty and set-piece takers. This dynamic is unlikely to be replicated at United.
Pre-season observations indicate that Fernandes will retain responsibility for penalties and continue to serve as the clubs principal chance creator. Consequently, their FPL value may decline relative to their prior roles, rendering them potentially riskier selections at their current price points.
Heisenberg: Both a wait and see for me - the fixtures are mixed for United to start the season and there are plenty of other great options to start the season with.
If I do have a United midfielder itll be Fernandes - penalties, assist threat, minutes guarantee and added bonus of being decent on the defensive contribution points.
Statman: I wouldnt touch them with a barge pole for the first eight games. This could be a crazy season - this could be either United sitting top after eight games or could be Ruben Amorim getting sacked after eight games.
Gianni: Both will lose penalties which lessens their appeal, but if and when United click in to gear both players will no doubt be good FPL assets. With tough fixtures to start the season and too many unknowns, its a wait and see for me.
Holly The two picks I do like from United are Fernandes and Patrick Dorgu (£4.5m). Fernandes will probably have to play a bit deeper next season, but his potential for defensive contribution points could be key. He would have claimed 22 extra points last season, the most of any midfielder priced above £5.5m.
Wing-back Dorgu was a regular threat down Uniteds flanks last season, racking up 10 shots and 12 key passes across 12 Premier League appearances. He is already developing a strong chemistry with Cunha on the left.
Pras: Manchester City have made a lot of key signings this summer to add to the returning Rodri and Oscar Bobb. In fact, most of those were made before the Club World Cup, giving us an early look at how Pep Guardiola might set up.
A total of 24 players started at least one game in that tournament, suggesting Pep Roulette could be in full swing.
Gianni: Erling Haaland (£14m) is arguably the only Manchester City attacker you can guarantee starts every week (when fit). I would however consider Omar Marmoush (£8.5m) who is now reclassified as a midfielder.
Since his arrival in Manchester the Egyptian started 14 from 16 league games and only Josko Gvardiol had more league minutes than the versatile attacker. Tijjani Reijnders at £5.5m is also worth consideration.
Heisenberg: I dont think Ill start the season with any City attackers, but I do like the prospect of Marmoush. Should Haaland pick up an injury then you could get an £8.5m midfielder playing centre-forward.
But, with potential rotation and minutes-sharing for the Citys midfielders, its possibly best to wait and see how they all fit in.
Holly: This is one of my biggest dilemmas going into gameweek one. Guardiola is famous for rotating his squad, with further attacking options arriving in this window, making the likes of Marmoush and Phil Foden riskier picks.
Haaland is in less than a fifth of teams and shouldnt be ignored as an option, netting over seven goal involvements in the opening four gameweeks of the season on average. He makes my latest draft alongside Salah.
Pras: One could make a case for Marmoush, who played 90 minutes 13 times last season since arriving in January, but a lot of those starts came at a time when Haaland was injured, or Foden was out of favour. I just dont trust it - I am keen to avoid all City attackers.
Chelsea won the Club World Cup on 13 July, little over a month before the Premier League season starts on 15 August
Holly: This is another tricky one to call. Chelsea have had the shortest pre-season of any side, with the demands of the football schedule increasing season on season.
Its difficult to ignore their assets with two home games in their first three against Crystal Palace and Fulham. Im backing goalkeeper Robert Sanchez (£5m) to avoid fatigue, and talisman Cole Palmer (£10.5m) to ride the wave of being player of the tournament when Chelsea won the Club World Cup.
Gianni: A lack of pre-season isnt a huge concern for me, and the momentum from the Club World Cup could see a fast start for Enzo Marescas men who were quick out the blocks last time out. Palmer, Pedro Neto, Joao Pedro and Enzo Fernandez are all attackers to consider.
Pras: Chelsea have a clear run of good fixtures over the medium term - a rarity among the top-six teams. Despite the fatigue from the Club World Cup, it is a team very much on the up.
Maresca seems to have finally figured out how to unlock Palmers potential by getting him into the central areas where he thrived in the tournament. He is very likely to make my team in week one. Striker Joao Pedro (£7.5m) too seems to be first choice, but I am more wary with him given the competition from another new signing in Liam Delap (£6.5m).
Between gameweeks 27-38 of last season, no team conceded fewer expected goals (xGC) or kept more clean sheets. I would be very tempted therefore to pick one defensive player from the team. It could be Marc Cucurella (£6m) or Sanchez in goal.
Heisenberg: Ill judge this nearer the start of the season, Ill be paying close attention to any updates from Maresca about the condition of his team and any other relevant news.
The key change this season is that outfield players can now earn two bonus points based on the number of defensive actions they make in one match.
FPL managers now also get double the amount of chips - two Free Hits, two Wildcards, two Bench Boosts and two Triple Captains.
And managers will have their free transfer pool boosted to five transfers before the Africa Cup of Nations in January.
Pras: A two-point return is almost as good as a three-point assist, so picking reliable players with good minutes, mainly centre-backs and defensive midfielders, has become much more viable.
We will also need to think about our bench players differently. Players are more likely to accumulate these two-pointers in tougher matches. So is Evertons James Tarkowski (£5.5m) away to Chelsea as bad a fixture as before? Perhaps not.
Holly: Defensive contribution points give extra utility to centre-backs and we could see a rise in managers opting to play 4-4-2 or 4-3-3.
When it comes to midfielders, FPL managers should embrace the value provided by defensive midfielders such as Chelseas Moises Caicedo (£5.5m) and Brightons Carlos Baleba (£5m) for their fourth or fifth midfielder spots.
Statman: Youve got to remember that these defensive contribution numbers are only there if youve picked that player every single game through the season.
For example, with Tarkowski, youve got to go through those games against Liverpool and Manchester City, those games where Everton are not favourites, to get those points - so youre really going to have to balance it out in terms of opposition and whether you think theyre going to make defensive actions.
One team Im really excited about for defensive contributions is Tottenham under Thomas Frank, because the numbers should shoot up for a number of their players and theyve got a lot of £4.5m defenders.
In midfield, one player who really stands out is Bruno Fernandes. He would have got 22 extra points last season.
The start of the season is rubbish for Manchester United but hes someone that does make a lot of ball recoveries, makes a lot of tackles for his position.
Heisenberg: The FPL rule changes shift gameplay significantly.
Two sets of chips is an interesting change. Well see greater variety in chip usage in the first half of the season, with no double gameweeks around.
Five free transfers for Afcon is a rule change I am not a fan of. Properly planning used to lead to an advantage, now everyone gets bailed out for free. However, I plan to maximise these free transfers by effectively having close to an extra wildcard and I wont use it to simply firefight absences from my squad.
