Top picks in Serie A Fantasy
The new season isn’t far away now which means the fantasy game isn’t either. Because of this, with the help of the our expert contributor @FPL_Crisk we provide you with the top picks in Serie A Fantasy for the new campaign.
Selecting the top picks in Serie A Fantasy is absolutely vital for fantasy managers. Knowing which players to include in our squads is detrimental for many factors including game plan, captaincy, transfers and ultimately rank and mini-league position.
Goalkeepers – Ivan Provedel
Ivan Provedel (€6m) is the first name on the list and the best performing goalkeeper from last year (291 points), outscoring all other candidates by at least 35 points. For this reason, he’s the only one from this list coming at the maximum price of €6m. Since Lazio don’t tend to undergo great changes in their backline, I would classify Provedel as a safe bet for the start of the season.
Vanja Milinkovic-Savic
Torino have consistently been one of the most defensively solid teams, especially around mid-table. Vanja (€5m) was the third best goalkeeper for points (239 points) last season, with Torino also managing to be the team with the least amount of xGC (expected goals conceded) since the last international break in March. He’s also very valuable because he doesn’t waste a slot from a top-side team, allowing double-ups on outfield players.
Rui Patricio
There was a large part of the season when Roma defenders were the best players in the game. We all know that Mourinho is capable of parking the bus, and the scoring system (with points awarded for each half with a clean sheet) rewards this style. However, Roma defenders tend to cost more than Rui Patricio (Smalling is valued at €6m, Mancini at €5.6m while Ibanez might have his future far from the capital if rumours are to be believed), making the Portuguese shot stopper an interesting choice at only €5m.
Honourable mention
Wojciech Szczesny (€5m) – Juventus also boast a very solid defence, and the Polish GK is a good way to double up on their defensive players alongside a Brazilian defender we’ll talk about later. However he’s occasionally subject to rotation (played only three quarters of the available games).
Defenders – Danilo
Danilo (€6.4m) was the best performing player last season, and the only one to surpass 300 points. He always plays, gets plenty of points from recoveries and, from time to time, gets on the scoresheet. This year he has even more appeal due to Juventus not playing in European competition, thus leading to even less need for rotation.
Theo Hernandez
The Milan left back (€7m) is one of the most nailed on players in the whole competition, but last year his impact fantasy wise was reduced by an injury and Milan conceding a lot of goals (especially during January). After Thiaw (€5m) rose through the ranks at CB, Milan’s defence returned to peak form. They only conceded seven goals in the last 10 games. If they can keep it up, there is no doubt Theo can become essential in our teams.
Giovanni Di Lorenzo
The Napoli RB (€7.4m) was exactly what Theo Hernandez was supposed to be – nailed, always playing and receiving all the clean sheet points his partners at CB gained for him. Napoli are yet to replace Kim, but they remain one of the strongest sides in the league, so expect Di Lorenzo to continue on this path.
Nicolò Casale
One might argue that Romagnoli (€6m) is the best pick from Lazio, but the downside with Casale (€4.6m) is minimal and he costs almost €1.5m less. The price difference can become crucial in a year where every single viable pick is valued at a high price. Casale started seven less games than his teammate, leading to him scoring 46 less than Romagnoli (187 vs 233 points), but those games were mainly at the start of the season, when he still was new to the team. Now expect the two to have very similar gametime, making Casale a lot more appealing.
Midfielders – Paulo Dybala
The “Joya” (€11m) ranked 25th between all midfielders last season, which would not make him appealing. This was mainly due to him missing a lot of games through injury, and ended up playing less than 2000 minutes. If he kept up that rate without missing any games, he would have easily topped the chart. Fortunately for us, we don’t need to keep him all season long, and we can easily transfer him out if he gets injured.
Rafael Leao
Milan seem to be upgrading their attack with the signings of Pulisic, Chukwueze and Okafor. If the Rossoneri get more attacking, Leao (€11m) could be even more of a threat. Despite Milan not being able to defend the Scudetto last year, the Portuguese winger managed to prove himself by scoring 15 goals (four more than the MVP winning season), playing even less minutes than before. He’s shown that he can keep his numbers up, and it’s a no brainer when it comes to Milan attackers.
Khvicha Kvaratskhelia
If you played last season I don’t need to tell you how good Kvaradona (€12m) is. And if you didn’t he is the Serie A MVP who banked 22 goal contributions in 34 games in his debut season. This led to Napoli securing a Scudetto they had been waiting for for over 30 years. And yes, he hasn’t contributed to a single goal since mid-March, but one could argue that Napoli by that point had the title in the bag and didn’t need to put much effort into the games. Either way, Khvicha is an amazing asset, and it will be interesting to see whether players will prefer him, Osimhen, or a very expensive double-up..
Teun Koopmeiners
I always feel like Koopmeiners (€7m) is a terribly underrated player, on the field and in Serie A Fantasy. He scored 10 goals playing at CM, and while it is true that penalties help a lot in padding the stats, most of his scoring comes from open play situations. This makes him an incredibly versatile and reliable player especially if he ends up sharing penalty duty with Lookman (€8.6m). He is probably the best mid-price midfielder, barely better than Zaccagni (€8m) and Rabiot (€6.6m).
Forwards – Victor Osimhen
Last year forwards disappointed, with only Osimhen (€12m) and Martinez managing over 200 points. For this reason I can see players shifting to a formation that tend to rely less and less on strikers. The former top scorer is probably the most reliable option, with Napoli not making any changes in their attacking side of the formation. I would expect 20+ goals again from him.
Lautaro Martinez
Lautaro (€11m) is often labeled as incosistent by the media, especially after the last World Cup campaign. One thing is undeniable, though, when it comes to Serie A, he guarantees to be a top goalscorer. Second season in a row managing 21 goals, third one with over 15 goals. The absence of Lukaku will lower his assist potential, but not his goalscoring one. He also managed more xG during the season in which Lukaku was at Chelsea, so there is a good chance he could finally be the Serie A top scorer this season.
Honourable Mentions
Antonio Sanabria (€8m), Boulaye Dia (€9m) and Arthur Cabral (€6.4m) – As I said before, it is hard to find reliable forwards in this game, and for this reason Sanabria and Dia can’t go above an honourable mention. They will score, but their price is too high to justify investing in them instead of the rest of the team. Cabral comes at a great price, and would have made the list, but he’s linked with a move to Spurs. If he stays at Fiorentina at the end of the window, consider him as part of the list.
Check out the best premium players for the new season of Serie A Fantasy right here.
