FPL Gameweek 1 First Draft 2021/22

Fantasy Premier League has launched for the 2021/22 season and our FPL Gameweek 1 best first draft is already underway.

There’s plenty of transfers still to happen, but our initial squad is starting to take shape.

FPL Gameweek 1 YouTube

Earlier this pre-season, I provided a preview of my potential FPL Gameweek 1 first draft over on the Fantasy Football Community YouTube channel and any support you can give is welcomed – please subscribe, like, comment and share!

Defence

As ever, I’ll be spending the minimum amount I can in the goalkeeper slots. Scouting the £4.5 million options, Brighton’s Robert Sanchez (£4.5 million) looks to be the best option here: Brighton were ranked within the top three defences in the latter half of the 2020/21 season. We are spoilt with fantastic options in defence this season and some potential underpriced gems. Trent Alexander-Arnold (£7.5 million) should be fit for Gameweek 1, after injury kept him out of Euro 2020. He’s been one of the most consistent fantasy performers over the past three seasons, with potential for goals, assists and clean sheets. Liverpool’s defence should be bolstered by the return of Virgil van Dijk, with more clean sheets on the cards than in last campaign. To afford a stacked attack, savings have been made across the rest of the defence. Our second and third options are Vladimir Coufal (£5.0 million) and Matt Targett (£5.0 million). West Ham and Aston Villa were the surprise packages of last campaign and I’d expect them to continue to produce plenty of shut-outs in this campaign. Both of these players are positioned at full-back and can provide assists for their teams from this position: attacking potential is a useful quality for any fantasy defender.

Attack

Mo Salah (£12.5 million) was the first name on my team sheet: he’s been so consistent at Liverpool over several seasons now and always challenges for the Golden Boot. He’s likely to have plenty of utility as a captain pick over the early gameweeks of the season. Bruno Fernandes (£12.0 million) joins Salah as the other premium midfielder: again he’s going to be an important captain option for this campaign. A big price rise was inevitable following his success last season, but I was expecting worse. I still expect value here and the potential for a 300 point season after some rest this summer. James Ward-Prowse (£6.5 million) comes in as a potential differential, as a key creator for Southampton. He’s also on spot-kicks and could generate another big score this season. He tends to play every single minute for the Saints. The final name in the midfield looks to be a bargain. Raphinha (£6.5 million) is a potential gem, especially if he stays at Leeds United and continues to see regular minutes. If you scale his returns in 2020/21 over a whole campaign, there’s huge potential there.

Michail Antonio (£7.5 million) is the first of our mid-priced strikers, with great value and depth in this position and price point. Antonio scored ten goals last campaign in a much improved Hammers outfit, despite missing almost half of the season through injury. Let’s hope he can stay fit!

Ollie Watkins (£7.5 million) was in my team for most of last season and reliably delivered both goals and assists on multiple occasions. He also found himself on the wrong side of some tight VAR calls, so I’m hopeful he can live up to his increased price here.

Dominic Calvert-Lewin (£8.0 million) completes the set and there’s high hopes that he can start this campaign in the same fashion as the last, consistently scoring goals. Everton have a fantastic run of fixtures to start the season.

Bench

We’ve opted fantasy legend Ben Foster (£4.0 million) as back-up between the sticks: it’s unlikely he will be first choice at Watford, who now have Daniel Bachmann as an option, but there’s a glimmer of hope of some minutes from a top Premier League goalkeeper. Yves Bissouma (£4.5 million) remains our favourite budget option among the cheap midfielders: he tends to start every game, often picks up the one point clean sheet bonus and isn’t afraid of a long range shot every once in a while. Sticking with Brighton, I’m prepared to double up on their defence given the solidity shown at the end of last campaign, with Ben White (£4.5 million) my pick for now. He’s rumoured to be getting a move away from the Amex Stadium, and is a good price in any defence. Wesley Fofana (£4.5 million) is a gem at Leicester City: he’s considerably cheaper than some of their other defensive options, and although he offers very little going forward, could still be a bargain if he gets regular starts.

FPL Gameweek 1 Team

Here’s an early look at how our 2021/22 FPL Gameweek 1 team could lineup. There’s a huge amount that could change between now and 13th August, plus we are never afraid of an early wildcard either! I haven’t ruled out other formations, with an option of a 3-5-2 also on the cards. This draft will be updated in due course, as we head into August!

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Get even more Fantasy Premier League Tips by visiting the Fantasy Football Community Homepage and check out the rest of our content ahead of the 2021/22 FPL season.