Will European football impact Newcastle, Brighton and Aston Villa in FPL?
Unlike last season, Newcastle, Aston Villa and Brighton will be playing European football in 23/24. This could dent their players’ FPL appeal.
All three sides were hugely impressive during 22/23 and finished inside the top seven, albeit without continental football stretching their resources.
Upon FPL’s relaunch for the next campaign, not only should managers consider the higher prices of assets like Kieran Trippier, Kaoru Mitoma and Ollie Watkins but they’ll all have a busier schedule to fight against.
EUROPEAN FOOTBALL PLAYER COUNT
Seven Premier League sides featured in Europe last season. If the theory says that a bigger squad is needed to compete on all fronts, how many players did they start in league matches?
| Man City | Liverpool | Chelsea | Spurs | Arsenal | Man Utd | West Ham | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| UCL | UCL | UCL | UCL | Europa | Europa | Conference | |
| PL starters | 22 | 26 | 31 | 24 | 21 | 24 | 23 |
| 10+ starts | 18 | 18 | 19 | 17 | 12 | 18 | 16 |
Between the seven, an average of 24.4 different players began Premier League matches and 16.9 started at least ten.
Whilst Chelsea’s inflated squad and managerial mess caused one extreme, Mikel Arteta’s Arsenal showed that a small pool of players can cope well. They were unchanged on 13 occasions. In fact, the Gunners almost won the title.
NEWCASTLE
After the Gunners, Newcastle made the second-fewest line-up changes. Their back line of Kieran Trippier, Fabian Schar, Sven Botman and Dan Burn was particularly settled, starting 31 of the 38 matches together.
Just 21 players started a game and only 14 exceeded a half-dozen of them. A magnificent defensive start slipped away over the final months and Eddie Howe’s concern will be whether this continues into 23/24, especially with Champions League football on the horizon.
First through the door this summer is Sandro Tonali. From now, the aim will be to add both depth and quality whilst still adhering to Financial Fair Play constraints. They’re one or two defensive injuries away from having to rely on Jamaal Lascelles, Matt Targett and Harrison Ashby.
Another factor to consider is their high-pressing way of play. With more matches, this will be harder to maintain.
BRIGHTON
Until Roberto De Zerbi reverted to rotation mode over the final Gameweeks, Brighton were also low on line-up alterations. 25 different players were handed starts, with 16 beginning at least ten.
Of these, Leandro Trossard and Alexis Mac Allister have already left and Moises Caicedo is rumoured to follow. Enock Mwepu was forced into early retirement, whilst Levi Colwill’s loan is over.
However, four names have already arrived – Joao Pedro, James Milner, Mahmoud Dahoud and Bart Verbruggen. Should the Seagulls continue this early transfer market surge, their playing style may survive a Europa League schedule.
A slower possession-based play intends to provoke the opposition into pressing, at which point they play through it with devastation.
ASTON VILLA
In between the two is Villa’s 23 league starters, where 14 reached double figures. The arrival of Unai Emery transformed their fortunes and took them from relegation concerns to a seventh-place finish. Such is their ambition, being in the Europa Conference League is merely a stepping stone.
Ashley Young is gone, alongside the January departures of Danny Ings, Jan Bednarek and Ludwig Augustinsson. On the other hand, Youri Tielemans is a solid free transfer and the heavily-rumoured Pau Torres move would be a huge coup.
Ollie Watkins is their only established forward and more bodies are needed in midfield, so FPL managers may want to judge their assets closer to the Gameweek 1 deadline.
