Best Forwards to Start the Season with in FPL
In this article we take a look at the best forwards to start the season with in FPL. With the help of the Fantasy Football Scout members area we take a look at the early fixtures and take into account the stats to pick out the best up front.
Highlighting the best forwards to start the season with in FPL could be as crucial as looking at any other position. As the 24/25 season approaches it’s important that we shortlist the best up front so we are ready for the campaign.
Ollie Watkins
It has been an exceptional several years from Aston Villa, earning promotion from the Championship in 18/19 to claiming fourth place in the Premier League last season.
A lot of the above is due to manager Unai Emery who seems to be building something special at Aston Villa. It isn’t going to be easy balancing Premier League with Champions League football this season, but if anyone can it’s Emery.
Other than a fixture against Arsenal they have a great starting schedule. As well as facing West Ham, Everton and Wolves Aston Villa also face two of the three promoted sides.
Ollie Watkins (£9m) is likely going into the season raring to go after failing to feature much for England in EURO 2024. It could be worth highlighting that he hasn’t lost his edge either, this was telling when he scored a dramatic winning goal to help his country progress into the final.
Watkins had an excellent season last time out – producing a mammoth 19 goals and 13 assists. That tally saw him become the highest scoring forward in the entire game with 228 points.
Alexander Isak
Newcastle were hit and miss last season and their poor mid-season form was mostly to blame in their failure to reach a European football spot.
One part of their game that did impress, especially towards the latter stage of the season, was their ability to score goals – racking up a huge 26 goals, and scoring 4+ goals in five of their final 10 matches.
The Magpies are likely to continue their free-scoring efforts at the beginning of the 24/25 campaign. Their season ahead starts with a lovely looking clash against Southampton, followed by Bournemouth, Tottenham, Wolves and Fulham.
Spearheading the Newcastle frontline is Alexander Isak (£8.5m). The Swedish international collected a huge 21 goals and two assists in just 30 Premier League matches last season. Nine of those goals and two of those assists came in his last 10 matches of the season.
Unlike Ollie Watkins penalty duty is assured with Isak, which is another huge factor backing him to do well.
Erling Haaland
Manchester City claimed another Premier League title last season after another wonderful campaign. Offensively they weren’t as dominant as they were in previous seasons but they still ranked top for goals scored, second best for total attempts on goal, third best for big chances total and top for total shots on target.
The Premier League winners also finished their 23/24 campaign extremely strong. In fact as well as winning nine out of their final 10 games they also netted a mammoth 33 goals. That total averages out at 3.3 goals per game.
Fixture difficulty is rarely an issue for Manchester City usually an although the image below suggests Newcastle and Chelsea are tough fixtures defensively, they were hugely inconsistent at the back throughout the 23/24 season.
The matches against Ipswich, West Ham and Brentford are also fantastic opportunities to captain a Manchester City player.
The standout forward at Manchester City, and one that can take advantage of the above, is Erling Haaland (£15m). The Norwegian has produced back-to-back 200+ point seasons now which has played a part in the fact he has been given the highest ever price-tag in FPL history this season.
Statistically not many came close to Haaland last time out. In fact, compared to every other attacker Haaland ranked top for goals scored, the best for total attempts on goal, first for total shots in the box and the best for total big chances.
Jean-Philippe Mateta
Crystal Palace caught the eye towards the end of their 23/24 season. Oliver Glasner joined the Eagles as their new manager in mid-February and since then they haven’t looked back.
A lot of the above was down to their end of season form. In fact, Crystal Palace won six of their final seven matches last season. They also scored a huge 21 goals in that period – beating Manchester United 4-0, West Ham 5-2 and dismantling fourth place Aston Villa on the final day of the season 5-0.
The Crystal Palace attackers seems to be gaining some traction ahead of the new season and that may come as no surprise based on their starting fixtures shown above. Other than a questionable clash against Chelsea the Eagles face West Ham, newly promoted Leicester, Brentford and a Manchester United side who shipped the second worst amount of attempts conceded on goal last season.
Seemingly going under the radar amongst the best forwards to start the season with in FPL is Jean-Philippe Mateta (£7.5m). Mateta was brilliant last season and although scoring 16 goals and creating five assists may not seem a lot compared to other forwards, it was his explosiveness that really gave him his appeal. In fact in three of his last six league matches last season Mateta hit between 2-4 returns.
He continued that same explosiveness in a France U23 match recently in which he netted twice. Form, fixtures, explosiveness are three reasons Mateta makes the top five ahead of the season.
Adam Armstrong
Question marks around Rodrigo Muniz’ gametime for Fulham and injury rumours surrounding Brighton’ Joao Pedro is a concern for those looking for a budget striker. But, Southampton have a player with qualities held by both.
Southampton are a newly promoted side and it’s always difficult to predict what to expect from them. However, one thing we can expect from the Saints is effort, and that effort could well translate into goals when taking into account their first six opponents.
Southampton face some of the worst defensive sides in the league in their first six fixtures, including matches against Nottingham Forest, Bournemouth, newly promoted Ipswich and Brentford.
Another expectation is that most of their attacking play will end up at the feet of star striker and penalty taker Adam Armstrong (£5.5m). Armstrong notched up a huge 21 goals and 13 assists, showing a good balance of both creativity and goal threat.
Managers in search of a budget striker who takes penalties and will play most minutes of every match can look to Adam Armstrong.
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