Serie A Fantasy top picks for Round 1

Italian League football returns and with that so does the fantasy football game. With that in mind we take a look at the Serie A Fantasy top picks for Round 1 with the help of our expert and regular contributor @FPL_Crisk.

The Twitter community is full of some of the best fantasy managers in the world so catching up with our experts top picks for Round 1 could be crucial. Knowing which players have the most potential could help confirm decisions in our own teams as we head towards the deadline.

Goalkeepers – Vanja Milinkovic-Savic (€5m – 9.1%)

Cagliari at home is, on paper, probably the best fixture for a defensive player, with them being the lowest scoring team of the three promoted from Serie B. Vanja has already proven himself as one of the most reliable goalkeepers last season – if he keeps his great end-of-season form from last year there’s no reason not to believe he can start the new one with a full clean sheet.

Ivan Provedel (€6m – 16.5%)

Provedel was by far the highest scoring goalkeeper in 2022/23, and with a starting fixture against Lecce (one of the worst attacking teams from the previous season), his inclusion in this list is pretty much self-explanatory.

Lazio haven’t made any changes to their backline during the transfer window, so he will count on a solid group of players in front of him that he is already comfortable with and which have already performed to a high standard.

Defenders – Giovanni Di Lorenzo (€7.4m – 15.4%)

My first Napoli pick is their reliable right-back Di Lorenzo. Facing a newly promoted club so early on is always very beneficial for clean sheets, and I don’t think Frosinone have made the necessary transfers to improve their attack to a Serie A level.

Despite being a fullback, the Napoli captain is extremely nailed and most importantly doesn’t have an obvious player to come in for him during the second half. So, expect him to get a chance at clean sheet points in both halves. He is also a captaincy option if you tend to back defenders with that honour. He is an easy inlclusion into the top picks for Round 1.

Federico Dimarco – (€6m – 29.9%)

The main problem with the Inter left wing-back is that his chances at a second half clean sheet are always at risk. This is due to coach Inzaghi usually subbing off both wing-backs midway through the second half. If it wasn’t for this, Dimarco would easily be a top scorer due to his high return rate (four goals and three assists last season in 2000 minutes). However, this Round could be the one he stays on the pitch for a full game – his backup Gosens has left for Union Berlin already, while by the time the game comes on Saturday his replacement Carlos Augusto will have only trained with the team for barely half a week.

Midfielders – Mattia Zaccagni (€8m – 15.3%)

Lazio are a well oiled machine, and with the signing of Daichi Kamada (who has already scored in a friendly), I don’t think they will feel the departure of Milinkovic-Savic that much. There are good reasons for going for and/or captaining each of the Lazio attacking players (Felipe Anderson, Kamada, Luis Alberto, Immobile). However I like Zaccagni just a little bit more. I tend to think his expected minutes are a little bit higher and compared to his price he offers slightly more offensive potential than the others.

Christian Pulisic (€8m – 9.2%)

Rafa Leao is the second highest owned player, he doesn’t have any competiton for his place and performed great last season. Suggesting Pulisic instead of him for this game is risky, but let me explain. Chukwueze hasn’t featured in Milan’s main line-up during pre-season. Because of this I think Pulisic will start and gets at least 70 minutes on the pitch.

Pulisic is on most set pieces, mainly corners and penalties (despite missing one against Monza, he took it with Theo and Giroud both being on the pitch). Leao hasn’t returned yet during the friendlies, while Pulisic has managed two goals and a couple of assists as well. Finally, Bologna’s backline is weaker on Pulisic’s side where Lykogiannis will be a much easier opponent to face than Posch (who will try to take care of Leao). Of course, if you own Leao he becomes a great captaincy option, but for this game I tend to prefer the American just a little bit more.

Forwards – Victor Osimhen – (€12m – 65.3%)

Top scorer of last season and facing a newly promoted side. He’s the highest owned player and for a good reason, probably even the best captaincy option for Round 1. Forwards tend to score less, but I tend to prefer him to Kvaratskhelia as he just scored in the latest friendly, suggesting he can keep his form from last season, while the Georgian ended his last campaign with no returns in the last 10 games.

Lautaro Martinez – (€11m – 35.3%)

Expect to see Lautaro and Osimhen a lot in these kind of lists. The gap between the two and the rest of the strikers seems really large. While the Napoli striker is surely the player with the higher ceiling, Lautaro has proven to be an incredibly consistent asset scoring 21 goals in both of his last two seasons. He scored a penalty in his last friendly game and with Inter’ reserves being of lower quality this season I expect him to get more gametime and to be rotated less often.