The new Premier League season is up and running again. We’ve seen hat-tricks, new managers and questionable refereeing decisions. It’s safe to say the greatest league in the world is back!
Are you on of the 10 million managers on Fantasy Football? Do you ‘fantasy’ your chances? We take a look back at the first three game-weeks of fantasy football, and peer into what will be in store for fantasy managers in September.
Top Performers
We’ll start with the elephant in the room. Mo Salah (3 goals and 3 assists) and Erling Haaland (7 goals) are both on a record 41 points after the first three game-weeks.
Salah isn’t the only Liverpool player in top form right now. The Reds’ are enjoying an unbeaten start to life under Arne Slot. With Liverpool yet to concede, Alisson currently leads the points for goalkeepers with 21 points whilst Trent Alexander-Arnold, Andy Robertson and Virgil Van Dijk are the top scoring defenders with 20, 18 and 18 points respectively. Luis Diaz has become a revelation under Slot with 3 goals and 1 assist in three matches so far.
Arsenal’s David Raya and Newcastle’s Nick Pope have enjoyed steady starts to the new season in goal whilst Tottenham’s Cristian Romero and Pedro Porro have performed well at both ends of the pitch. Brentford’s Mbuemohas demonstrated that the Bees’ can do fine without Ivan Toney whilst veteran strikers Danny Welbeck and Chris Wood have performed well.
Deadline Day Signings
The summer transfer window slammed shut on 30th August with several marquee signings awaiting their debuts following the first international break. Aaron Ramsdale moved to Southampton and whilst the South Coast team will struggle, the England International at £4.4m will face lots of shots so you could easily enjoy some cheap points because of his points gained from saves.
Eddie Nketiah moved across London from Arsenal to Crystal Palace. With Olise making his big money move away from The Eagles, could Nketiah fill the gap? He was a solid squad player for The Gunners’ with 25 goals scored in the past few seasons. Could he become a star player for Palace? At £5.9m it could be worth the gamble?
It remains to be seen how loan signings Jadon Sancho and Raheem Sterling perform at their new temporary homes of Chelsea and Arsenal.
On Tight Budget?
If you’ve gone all out to buy both Salah and Haaland you might find yourself scrambling for cheap options to sit on the bench. But don’t worry, there are some sensible options from the newly promoted sides that could be a useful substitute to have on your team.
Ipswich have made some strong additions to their front line this season. Championship top goal scorer from last season Sammie Szmodics has recorded 9 points this season at a relative cheap price of £6m whilst Liam Delap has 11 points and costs half a million cheaper. Southampton also have some good options in midfield and up front. Academy graduate had a stellar pre-season for the Saints and is pipped to breakthrough this season; so for £4.5m he is worth a try. Russell Martin also bought in midfielder Mateo Fernandes and striker Cameron Archer who both put in good performances in cup games recently. Priced both at £5m, they are also good squad options to have.
Who To Buy/Sell in September?
The transfer merry-go-round is now over – well until January at least. We now know the preferred line-ups of most teams besides Chelsea and perhaps Man City a.k.a Pep roulette.
Looking at the fixtures in each game-week is the best way to know who to keep hold of, who to sell and who to buy. For instance, Arsenal face London rivals Tottenham and top of the league Man City so perhaps its’ time to temporarily replace Saka and Havertz until the end of the month when they face Leicester.
You might be tempted to sell Villa’s Ollie Watkins after a poor start to the season with only one assist in three games. But be patient; Villa’s fixtures for September include Everton, Wolves and Ipswich who all have leaky defences.
You could join other managers in buying Brighton’s Joao Pedro whose started the season strongly and will look to add to his goal tally with games against Ipswich and Notts Forest to come.
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