FPL players to avoid at the start of the season

The start of the campaign is just over two weeks away. Because of this it could be time for managers to start their planning. With that in mind we take a look at some of the FPL players to avoid at the start of the season and why.

Using the Fantasy Football Scout fixture ticker, position, price-tag and more dishing out the FPL players to avoid at the start of the season can be very beneficial to fantasy managers. Knowing which players to exclude can bring clarity to multiple decisions within our squads. So, which players may be worth just monitoring for now?

Fixture ticker

Below we can see the fixture ticker which places the teams at the top with the easiest fixtures all the way down to the teams with the toughest fixtures.

Kieran Trippier – £6.5m

Newcastle were excellent last season and Kieran Trippier was one of their leading fantasy players – ranking as the highest scoring defender in the game. So why should managers be looking to avoid Trippier at the start of the season?

Fixtures are a big concern for Newcastle – in their first six matches they face Aston Villa, Manchester City, Liverpool, Brighton, Brentford and Sheffield United – some of whom considered the best offensive sides in the league.

Kieran Trippier’ price-tag is also a huge concern. The full-back is £6.5m in the game this season. This has been enough to put managers off largely because other cheaper defenders with attacking threat have better fixtures to start the season with.

Kai Havertz – £7.5m

Arsenal maintained some of the best offensive stats in the league last season. The also rank first on the fixture ticker which suggests they have the easiest start to the season than any other side in the division. So with that in mind, why should we avoid Kai Havertz?

The German played for Chelsea last season and although he led the frontline he failed to impress – scoring just seven goals in 35 matches. Because of this there has been major question marks over his finishing.

Another massive consideration is the expected positioning of Kai Havertz. Pre-season matches and manager comments both imply that Havertz will play in a central midfield role. This massively dampens his FPL potential for the campaign ahead.

Mason Mount – £7m

Manchester United have a mixed bad of fixtures to start their campaign – they face Wolves, Tottenham, Nottingham Forest, Arsenal, Brighton and Burnley in their first six matches. This indicates that managers should only invest in their most potent attackers.

The signing of Mason Mount has drawn some interest from FPL managers. But should that be the case? In his 22/23 campaign Mount mustered up just three goals and two assists in 24 matches for Chelsea suggesting a low level of attacking output.

Pre-season friendlies and manager comments suggests Mount could take a central midfield role for Manchester United – a position that holds little interest when it comes to FPL. Whilst it could be tempting to start the new season with Mount, it may be avoiding him early on and monitoring his output.

Other assets to avoid early on

Leandro Trossard (£7m) – The Arsenal midfielder is a major rotation risk for the new season – He also started just 26 matches last season.

Brighton attackers – Although some of their assets like Solly March (£6.5m) and Kaoru Mitoma (£6.5m) look set to start every game others like midfielder Julio Enciso (£5.5m) and strikers Joao Pedro (£5.5m) and Evan Ferguson (£6m) could be major rotation risks.

Liverpool attackers – The Reds maintained some of the best offensive data in the league last season. That may be the case but midfielders like Diogo Jota (£8m) and Luis Diaz (£7.5m) and forwards like Darwin Nunez (£7.5m) and Cody Gakpo (£7.5m) also could be worth avoiding due to rotation.

Which teams could be avoided?

There are several teams that could be worth avoiding in terms of investment. This is because they have tough starting fixtures and also lack quality. The teams below that could be mostly avoided include: