Fantasy Premier League 19-20 Preview – The Big Questions

With the new season of Fantasy Premier League 19-20 getting underway soon, and the many fans across the world working on their 2019-20 FPL teams, we look into every team for the 2019-20 EPL season and ask what the big question is in relation to Fantasy Premier League.

Some of the questions and answers may be obvious, some may lead to some more thinking before the season starts.

Hopefully we can give you something to think about, and plenty of time to do it with our Fantasy Premier League 19-20 Preview – The Big Questions.

This is only the first of a series of pre-season 2019-20 FPL articles coming your way. And a regular weekly preview, so stay tuned for much more throughout the season.

MORE FPL STUFF? Follow the links below for more.

FPL DIFFERENTIALS – Top 10 Teams

FPL DIFFERENTIALS – NExt 10 Teams

 

MANCHESTER CITY – Decisonsssss Decisionsssss

The first question is brought to you by the letter S.

Much like Pep Guardiola every week, an FPL manager will struggle to fit all the goodness that Man City offers into their team. 

With a budget problem for FPL Players (that doesn’t quite apply to City themselves if you believe the FFP naysayers), you can really only choose two from the midfield/forward group, or maybe just one if you intend to double up on defence. We’re concentrating on the attacking players for now.

Sergio Aguero is the most expensive striker again, and by 1M on the next highest – Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang who actually got Aguero for points in 18-19. But Aguero is a proven performer, and Man City have a very easy early season run. And there isn’t many other top shelf strikers.

As for the midfield, it is a choice between Raheem Sterling, Bernardo Silva, David Silva and Leroy Sane. And of course despite having no S at all – Kevin de Bruyne.

The trouble is which of the midfielders will always play? After a brilliant late season run, and injuries to other players, Bernardo Silva looked to be one the players that would be first player named each week, and he scored a lot of points. His points for time spent came in at just 12 minutes, one of the great strike rates for team owners.

Raheem Sterling scored more points last season, but he tends to rotated more. David Silva gets less and less game time it seems, and Kevin de Bruyne is great when fit, but rarely is.

We say: Sergio Aguero is expensive but he does have an exceptional record, and Bernado Silva’s form late last season and the difference in value (8M v Sterling’s 12M and de Bruyne’s 9.5M leads the tight arse in ourselves to pick Bernardo.

LIVERPOOL – Mane Meal or Side Salah?

Questions about 2019-20 FPL Fantasy Premier League still loom for the Liverpool FPL fans. One is which defender of the triumvirate of treasure to take, the other is Mane v Salah, because surely one can’t have them both.

Salah and Mane battled each other all last season to be top of the Kop, with Mane leading early, and Salah at times looking like he was trying too hard.

The big question is whether you take either to start the season, due their involvements in the Champions League and AFCON, they’ll barely get a month off.

We have an interesting chart below based on goal involvements (from Opta – goals scored and assisted). Salah was always going to go backwards after his stellar first season with Liverpool, but Man’s dip looks sustained over 5 seasons,.

We say: It could be a risk, but perhaps thinking of leaving out both at the start of the season to allow them to rest after a long season. Although a tired Salah or Mane might still be worth it.

 

SPURS – Kane and able?

One of the big questions for Spurs every season revolves around Harry Kane, whether to take him at the price (11M), and how long until he gets the first long injury lay off for the season. You could also ask if Spurs are better without him, but we don’t have enough space for that right now.

He is 1M less than Aguero, and is a reasonable comparison of quality, value, and importance to their team. So we have a small comparisons below.

We Say: We’d take Aguero over Kane more often than not. Man City have the easier start to the season, with the match at home to Spurs their toughest in the first 10 games. Spurs have the same fixture of course, plus Arsenal away, Liverpool and the dangerous Leicester away. Aguero could be a fair way ahead by then.

 

CHELSEA – Frank and the Kids

Chelsea have nothing to lose by hiring Frank Lampard for their season which won’t see any transfer ins, which is great for FPL as there might be some real value at Chelsea for a change, But you’re taking it on faith.

Particularly Callum Hudson-Odoi and Rubens Loftus-Cheek. Both showed signs of real points scoring talent last season when given the chance, and with no Hazard this season Chelsea will really need it.

Of course you could still look to Chelsea’s established stars like Alonso, Willian, and Luiz, but are they comparable to similar payers from other team at the same price?

We say: There will be some hyphenated bargains throughout the season, but getting the timing will be right. We’ll all have to wait on the injuries. And wait to see if Tammy Abraham lands at Chelsea this season. 

 

ARSENAL – Can lightning strike twice?

Arsenal haven’t offered much to their fans or FPL followers in the past few seasons, but their two forwards Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Alexandre Lacazette did provide some cheer, and plenty of points. One could say they were their teams only real stars.

Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang had the upper hand last season, but one wonders if the occasional swirl of transfer news doesn’t unsettle him a bit.

We say: Having earlier used the Aguero v Kane comparison, you could do that for these two players as well. The big worry for these two is what the team will be like around them given recent declines. The same can’t be said of the overall quality of the Man City or Spurs squads

 

MAN UTD – Pogba In or Out

The long drawn out saga of Paul Pogba remains, and so one the big questions for FPL around Man Utd is Paul Pogba, and if he stays is he worth another try.

After Mourinho left in a whirlwind of hate last season, Paul Pogba was transformed into a points scoring machine. For a while that is.

One wonders though, after seeing his behaviour at time during the 2018-19 season, that if a move doesn’t go through for Real Madrid or Juventus, whether he will drop the bottom lip for most of the season.

He ended up one of the highest points scorers from last season, and taking penalties did help, something which will only be enhanced in the new VAR era of the EPL.

We Say:  At 8.5M he may be worth the risk for the most positive of FPL players or Man Utd fans. For the cynics, we can’t forget some of poor performances.

 

WOLVES – Second season syndrome?

The last time a promoted side did so well in their first season back into the top flight was Ipswich Town in 2010-11. They were third at Christmas and ended up fifth. Not quite a Leicester, but an effort that will probably never be matched again. Wolves came close last season, but didn’t reach the same heights in 7th. Hopefully they can avoid the next season depths too, as Ipswich were relegated in their second season and haven’t yet returned.

You could argue, with all justification, that the Wolves side from last season is a far more professional outfit, and better supported club than Ipswich. But there is still a worry.

Wolves best games came against the top six sides last season, and they struggled to beat the lower ranked side. So what happens if the top six teams work out how to handle Wolves,and they don’t improve against the lower ranked teams. Their win over Man City in the pre season friendly tournament proves they are ready to fight, and win.

We Say: There is a little worry about Wolves lack of transfer activity, and the dreaded second season syndrome, but there should be still plenty of talent to pick from. For our money, given the real pick up in form of Diogo Jota, it might be a cheaper alternative Raul Jiminez, and a much less popular one. Jota actually outscored Jiminez from the last Cardiff game onwards (4 Goals 3 Assists v 3  Goals 2 Assists)

 

LEICESTER – Tea for the Tielemans?

Safe to say that Youri Tielemans was one of the captures of the mid season transfer window last season, and that Leicester have done very well to sign him for the 2019-20 EPL season.

His numbers and contribution to Leicester’s second half of the season were very good. He was only beaten for minutes per point by Jamie Vardy for the season. Vardy 18 Goals and 5 Assist headlining a return of 15.6 minutes played per point. Youri Tielemans return was 17.2. A direct comparison to James Maddison puts him ahead despite the youngster’s good first season (20.7 minutes per point).

We say: At 6.5M Youri Tielemans is a bargain and well worth the risk. He’ll play every game, you would think, and given the clubs he could have gone to, he must have a reason for staying with Leicester.

 

EVERTON – Fire v Ice

Everton look stronger this season, and one of the big questions is which midfielder to take out of Gylfi Sigurdsson or Richarlison.

Both players start the season on 8M, and by the end of last season, Sigurdsson has the advantage points-wise by 182-153.

Richarlison featured in the Copa America win for Brazil, scoring in the final, while Sigurdsson had less commitments. So a factor is whether the Icelandic midfielder will be fresher starting the season.

We say: Given Richarlison has historically played and scored more points in the early part of the season, he might be the choice for the first part of the season. Everton do have an easy-ish run to start the season, so having one of these midfielders is probably a good idea.

 

WATFORD – Early bird hornets?

Watford surprised many last season by overachieving in the first part of the season, but going back through their starts, it is a trend that is growing each year.

They do have a reasonably difficult start to the 2019-20 season, but they also did last season too.

WATFORD RECENT STARTS TO THE SEASON – August + September

18-19 – 6th – 13 points – 7 Games – 4W 1D 2L

17-18 – 5th – 12 points – 7 games – 3W 3D 1L

16-17 – 11th – 7 points – 6 games – 2W 1D 3L

15-16 – 13th – 9 points – 7 games – 2W 3D 2L

We say: With so many differential players to choose from, and a traditionally strong start to the season, there is surely enough room for at least one Watford player to start your Fantasy Premier League 19-20 season.

 

BOURNEMOUTH – Will lightning strike twice three times?

Bournemouth saw some great breakout seasons in 2018-19 with Callum Wilson, Ryan Fraser and David Brooks all regular FPL point scorers, Ryan Fraser in particular being a must-have or a thorn in any FPL side in which he wasn’t included last season.

But will all three, or any of the three continue that great form into the 2019-20 season?

Referring to the graph below for a few key stats, David Brooks is ahead of Ryan Fraser when comparing first seasons in the EPL, and you’ll also see just how much better Fraser was in 18-19 compared to previous seasons. So one would think Brooks will improve, so might match Fraser’s second season numbers. It looks hard for Fraser to take a similar jump forward that he took last season. If he does he’ll be off to a big six club before too long.

Callum Wilson’s 24 goals/assists in 2018-19 was more than double his previous season’s output, and like Fraser those stats are so good it looks like tough going to increase those again.

We say: Bournemouth start their season by playing two of the three relegated sides, and only Man City as a hard fixture in the first 9 games, so it could be good insurance to have at least one of the above.

 

WEST HAM – More overpriced dross or untapped gold?

West Ham are an enigma in the transfer world, but you can rarely call their transfer seasons boring.

Some work out. Felipe Anderson ended up as a decent FPL asset last season, but even then it was hot and cold, and one to be held onto rather than moved in or out and trying to get lucky.

Others do for a while like Marko Arnautović, who has finally got his dream China move. Other simply don’t like Andy Carroll.

So you look at two of West Ham’s bigger arrivals for the upcoming season – Pablo Fornals from Villareal and Sébastien Haller from Eintracht Frankfurt.

Pablo Fornals played lots of minutes in La Liga last season (35 matches) but had just 2 goals and 3 assists. Well down on the 3/12 from 17-18. Haller though, offers a little more having scored 15 with 9 assists in the Bundesliga last season, and another 5 and 3 in the Europa League.

We say: At 7.5 Haller could be a risk worth taking, or a mildly expensive flop. West Ham’s season doesn’t get too hard until November, so one to think about.

 

CRYSTAL PALACE – Za-VAR-Ha

Given how badly Wilfried Zaha is fouled in the Premier League, and how many penalties he wins, the looming introduction of VAR looks like it could benefit Zaha and Crystal Palace like few others.

Perhaps VAR will reward Zaha for taking the fouls every game, or alternatively with VAR monitoring all activities on field, defenders will give him more space than ever before for fear of being penalised.

Either way, Crystal Palace might well be happy with VAR next season. Especially with the dead eye accuracy of penalty taker 

If Zaha stays that is. Or chases his Champions League dreams with Arsenal. Or maybe that is just a general European dream.

We say: If Zaha stays at Crystal Palace he must be seriously considered for a midfield spot. He would probably be a must have if he was classed as a forward this season.

 

SOUTHAMPTON – Can the Alpine Klopp help Southampton up the hill

No team, Man Utd aside, looked in more dire need of a new manager last season, and replacing the perennial sadsack Mark Hughes with Ralph Hassenhuttl worked out nicely in the end.

Southampton’s form from March 1 onwards saw them 11th in the league table for that period, so the team is building OK.

But will Ralph Hassenhuttl continue to get the most out of players like Nathan Redmond and James Ward-Prowse, who were 18-19 late bloomers. Given the transfer activity so far he’s going to need to extract what he can out of the current squad. Although we must add that one of their only captures – Che Adams is one to keep an eye.

We say: In general Southampton are probably worth avoiding, but Che Adams is just the forward they have needed. He scores goals and stays fit.

 

BURNLEY – Surely a better start than last year.

Burnley’s entry into the Europa League really did cost them last season, with a poor start, but they recovered nicely, and for a while there had some great FPL point scorers. Especially up front with Wood and Barnes. Which sounds a little like a cockney comedy duo.

The Clarets have been a source of value over history, with Wood and Barnes doing the job regularly up front, and a parade of lesser-knowns further back regularly rewarding those with a keen eye for Burnley players.

Aside from the awful start to last season Burnley are reasonably consistent, and have stability with the same manager, and will go under the radar again.

We Say: We like the addition of Jay Rodriguez (6.0M) to an already excellent front line. He did score 22 goals last season. Perhaps Burnley will go berserk this season and play all their big three attackers at once. So pick your favourite one as the bench warmer or floater.

 

NEWCASTLE – Do you even bother?

Does anyone think that Newcastle would have stayed up with basically a Championship squad for two seasons in the Premier League without Rafa Benítez?

Not many, if any.

The appointment of Steve Bruce is a feelgood story for him as a Newcastle fan, but it will hardly inspire hoardes of FPL fans to look for any Newcastle players to add to their squad.

Last season you could say Perez or Rondon were FPL differential gold, but with their departures, their next best scorer is defender Schar. Who in fairness scored some wonderful goals. But would you take him over a defender from the big six. Or a cheaper option at a newly promoted club? Probably not.

With no Rafael Benítez, there’s not much hope that anything ground breaking for FPL, or sadly Newcastle’s season for that matter will happen.

We say: We still really like Miguel Almiron, but what can he do with even less this season.

 

NORWICH CITY – Surely Pukki can’t score that many goals again.

The Championship is often referred to as the toughest, most competitive league in Europe, so imagine a player scoring 29 goals and providing 10 assists at their first crack at English football.

That’s what Teemu Pukki did last season in Norwich’s Championship winning season, coincidentally being Finnish, as he was a finisher of the highest quality.

But goals at Championship level rarely translate into Premier League goals the next season. But sometimes they do. Danny Ings scored 21 goals for Burnley’s promotion year, and backed it up with 11 goals the following season. Looking back to the 17-18 Championship season, Wolves’ Jota, Ryan Sessegnon and James Maddison were the highest scoring EPL graduates of that season. You could ague that only James Maddison was a real success last season, and even then. 

It’s hit and miss, but you can’t argue about the hits from Temmu Pukki in the Championship last season.

We say: 6.5M may well be a little high for a Championship striker. Or it may just well be the best piece of business you could do this season. Perhaps wait until after Gameweek 5 when they have played three of the big six teams.

 

SHEFFIELD UNITED – Forget the forgotten promoted team?

Most seasons sees the second team that were automatically promoted from the Championship usually go under the radar, and more often than not offer very little in terms of FPL. 

Look at the last three teams that were the second promoted side – Cardiff, Brighton, Middlesbrough – and try and think of anyone who stood out.

Pascal Gross and Mat Ryan for Brighton were decent FPL fillers in 17-18, maybe Neil Etheridge for Cardiff last season, and we challenge anyone to remember anything memorable about Middlesbrough’s EPL side in 16-17.

One thing for Boro is that they conceded the 10th fewest amount of goals that season despite finishing 19th. Throw in that goalkeepers seemed to feature highly for Brighton and Cardiff. So maybe one position you could consider for Sheffield United this season is the goalkeeper. As it happens, they actually have a good one. But more in our differential FPL article coming soon.

We say: Consider the goalkeeper as your second string. Interestingly, Sheffield United conceded the equal fewest goals in the Championship last season (41 in 46 matches) along with previous EPL tight-arses Middlesbrough.

 

ASTON VILLA – Are Villa the new Fulham?

It’s hard to think of a team that stuffed themselves as badly as Fulham did in last season’s transfer window. The team with the best form of the second half of the Championship turned into a rabble come EPL time, due to a 100M spend on signing that were mostly underwhelming to put it politely. 

Aston Villa have been very busy this transfer window, and it is always hard as the Championship playoff winner. Currently they have eight new players coming in, with more being linked.

Problem is, too many may spoil a side that topped the form table from March onwards last season in the Championship.

Some makes sense like making loanee Tyrone Mings from Bournemouth a permanent. In fact, none of their signings look too ridiculous, so far.

So we answer our own question for now.

We say: There are probably between four to six quality Aston Villa players that could be selected to balance out your side. Jack Grealish v John McGinn. Tyorne Mings v Matt Targett in defence. Or Anwar El Ghazi, or another player called Jota, or Wesley up front. Spoiled for choice like Fulham last season. Let’s see the end result. Jack Grealish is a great player though. If they can get Tammy Abraham he is another great choice.