Marc Jobling’s First Draft for FPL
The official Fantasy Premier League game has finally launched and we continue our coverage of the game right here. In this article, Fantasy Football Scout writer Marc Jobling reveals his first FPL draft for 2024/25.
First of all, I’ll address the elephant in the room. Yes, I intended to retire from FPL and start enjoying weekends again, repeatedly saying this on social media. It was a legitimate idea to stop the continual pain and perhaps be a unique full-time writer, one who is completely neutral.
However, I found that creating top-quality content for the Euro 2024 game was much tougher without having an active team. That was only for one month!
So playing FPL needs to happen. And, who knows, maybe this will finally be the year…..
DEFENCE
Starting at the back, one of my key strategies at the start of each season is to aim for a medium-to-long-term defence. That way, precious transfers are saved for attacking spots and the first Wildcard can be delayed for as long as possible.
But last time, I was away from the computer when leaks emerged about Gabriel’s (£6.0m) rotation. Not being able to begin with William Saliba (£6.0m) soon became one of two early regrets and, despite tough opening fixtures, I want to rectify the mistake this time.
Alongside him, I’m not sure about Josko Gvardiol (£6.0m). Sure, he ended 2023/24 with four goals and two assists in the closing seven league games. But surely Nathan Ake (£5.5m) gets game time.
Therefore, I’m on two £4.5m names, which could easily become three. Dan Burn and Vitalii Mykolenko have good fixtures but I’m also looking at Joachim Andersen and Pau Torres. The latter has more attacking threat than team-mate Ezri Konsa.
MIDFIELDERS
The team above has both Mohamed Salah (£12.5m) and Erling Haaland (£15.0m) but, had I woke up on the other side of the bed, it could easily be Haaland-less. I’m constantly going back and forth.
My other regret from last year’s Gameweek 1 squad is that there was no route to bring Salah in. Problems soon accumulated, leading to a Gameweek 8 Wildcard.
By having both, early captaincies and a range of price points are instantly covered. This draft also has room for a third premium – either Cole Palmer (£10.5m) or Bukayo Saka (£10.0m). I’m against Palmer on principle because I think he’s stupidly overpriced, yet those Chelsea fixtures need some love and I’m not as ‘into’ Christopher Nkunku (£6.5m) as the rest of FPL’s community seem to be.
Instead, my favourite £6.5m midfielder is Spurs’ Brennan Johnson. He actually outdid all his team-mates for big chances (22), including Son Heung-min (£10.0m) and Richarlison (£7.0m).
- READ MORE: @FPLReaction’s First Draft for FPL
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Of the rest, I’m not massively high on Eberechi Eze (£7.0m), whilst Anthony Gordon (£7.5m) would mean double Newcastle. I can see myself falling for the potential Morgan Rogers (£5.0m) trap but, for now, have Callum Hudson-Odoi (£5.5m) for Nottingham Forest’s nice-looking start.
Yet there’s plenty of time for another Palmer situation to develop, where a big team’s cheap reserve moves to another Premier League side.
FORWARDS
The other Newcastle attacker is locked in – Alexander Isak (£8.5m). He’s a world-class talent and only Haaland had a better minutes-per-goal rate last season (from those who played over 100 minutes).
A Haaland decision would be much easier were Man City not hosting Ipswich in Gameweek 2. There’d be so much fear without him and I think, as the season edges closer, more managers will succumb to this.
Meanwhile, I’m not usually a huge Joao Pedro (£5.5m) advocate but was genuinely surprised at his price. If Fabian Hurzeler rotates less often than Roberto De Zerbi did, the Brazilian could be a brilliant enabler.
The only other forwards I’m currently considering are Ollie Watkins (£9.0m) – wow, what a price – and Kai Havertz (£8.0m).
Intriguingly, a Haaland-less squad could squeeze in all of Salah, Palmer, Foden, Watkins, Isak and Havertz.
