Gameweek One (very brief) preview
I've been debating whether or not to do a full weekly preview but given the lateness of the post, I think the decision has been made for me. The forecast data for the week can be found here, though a huge caveat must be added that it is purely based on prior year and takes no account for transfers, manager changes etc.
A couple of brief points to consider as you finalise your team:
Don't forget your free transfers in GW2
We are obviously setting our squads for the medium-long term and don't want to be too short sighted, but given that we have a free transfer to come, it makes sense to pick one player specifically for his GW1 fixture based on the fact he can be dumped next week if need be. The obvious choice of course are Reading midfielders and forwards who don't project too well over 10 weeks but enjoy the double gameweek in the opener. The same logic probably applies to Villa and Fulham attacking players who project well for one week but then have a relatively tough tun of games. This leaves the likes of Darren Bent, Moussa Dembele and Pavel Pogrebnyak as interesting one week plays (I actually like Pogrebynak for the longer term given his price, but you get the idea).
Defensively, it looks like QPR and Reading make good one week rentals with Gunter looking particularly interesting as at 4.0m you won't even be forced to move him next week as he can safely be stashed on your bench.
Double down on Chelsea
Given their decent fixture next week, you can probably grab an extra Chelsea player without too much concern, as you'll still have time to ditch him before the off week in Gameweek 3. I wouldn't go crazy and grab players you wouldn't otherwise want but if you're holding 7.0m and aren't in love with any of the prospects, you could a lot worse than simply plugging Ramires in and taking the likely 4 points with some upside. Such a move doesn't sound overly exciting but gaining 2 and 4 points now and then for minimum risk is the name of the game.
Safety first
It sounds boring and it's a strategy that likely won't help you win the overall pl.com game, but you need to be grabbing players who are certain to play. Not likely, not probable, but certain. Of course you can never be 100% what will happen without getting inside a manager's head but if there have been hints that player A will be eased into the side or player B is struggling to get over his knock from the Olympics you should generally be looking elsewhere. You can afford to carry one such player if you like him for the long term, but even then, consider whether you need that player to start and if so you should think about grabbing a short term rental, as described above.
As a final reminder, all the team previews can be found below, along with some wider trends already discussed. Good luck with your teams and I'll see in the inevitable GW2 carnage as all our best laid plans fall apart:
Team Preview I: The Promoted
Team Preview II: The Elite
Team Preview III: The Maybes
Team Preview IV: The Others
GK rotation strategy
10 week goals forecast
Impact of the Van Persie transfer
A couple of brief points to consider as you finalise your team:
Don't forget your free transfers in GW2
We are obviously setting our squads for the medium-long term and don't want to be too short sighted, but given that we have a free transfer to come, it makes sense to pick one player specifically for his GW1 fixture based on the fact he can be dumped next week if need be. The obvious choice of course are Reading midfielders and forwards who don't project too well over 10 weeks but enjoy the double gameweek in the opener. The same logic probably applies to Villa and Fulham attacking players who project well for one week but then have a relatively tough tun of games. This leaves the likes of Darren Bent, Moussa Dembele and Pavel Pogrebnyak as interesting one week plays (I actually like Pogrebynak for the longer term given his price, but you get the idea).
Defensively, it looks like QPR and Reading make good one week rentals with Gunter looking particularly interesting as at 4.0m you won't even be forced to move him next week as he can safely be stashed on your bench.
Double down on Chelsea
Given their decent fixture next week, you can probably grab an extra Chelsea player without too much concern, as you'll still have time to ditch him before the off week in Gameweek 3. I wouldn't go crazy and grab players you wouldn't otherwise want but if you're holding 7.0m and aren't in love with any of the prospects, you could a lot worse than simply plugging Ramires in and taking the likely 4 points with some upside. Such a move doesn't sound overly exciting but gaining 2 and 4 points now and then for minimum risk is the name of the game.
Safety first
It sounds boring and it's a strategy that likely won't help you win the overall pl.com game, but you need to be grabbing players who are certain to play. Not likely, not probable, but certain. Of course you can never be 100% what will happen without getting inside a manager's head but if there have been hints that player A will be eased into the side or player B is struggling to get over his knock from the Olympics you should generally be looking elsewhere. You can afford to carry one such player if you like him for the long term, but even then, consider whether you need that player to start and if so you should think about grabbing a short term rental, as described above.
As a final reminder, all the team previews can be found below, along with some wider trends already discussed. Good luck with your teams and I'll see in the inevitable GW2 carnage as all our best laid plans fall apart:
Team Preview I: The Promoted
Team Preview II: The Elite
Team Preview III: The Maybes
Team Preview IV: The Others
GK rotation strategy
10 week goals forecast
Impact of the Van Persie transfer
Comments
Do you plan on reintroducing the player pool once the season is under way? That was a great tool for quick scouting last year.
Great stuff as usual.
Are you sure there's going to be a wildcard next week, though? I don't see anything about it on the official site.