How to fit Salah, Aubameyang and Werner in your Fantasy Football XI
Blink and you missed the 'pre-season' campaign, with the Premier League returning to action this weekend and with it the restart of fantasy football campaign.
This season we have submitted our own Fantasy Premier League team and created our own league for you to join in an attempt to get the better of Team WhoScored. It's not only bragging rights you could win either, with prizes up for grabs for each of the top three finishers. Simply click here, or the image below, to enter your team into the running.
As if that wasn't kind enough, we're even revealing the team we have chosen ahead of the opening weekend and the reasoning behind our selections. We'll be continuing our fantasy football tips throughout the campaign too, so be sure to keep your eyes peeled. So, here goes...
Hugo Lloris (H vs EVE) - £5.5m
While Tottenham fans will be bemoaning their fixture congestion in the opening month of the camapaign, with Europa League qualification to secure, their start in the Premier League has been kind to them. That's not necessarily in reference to the visit of Everton first up, but they face just one of last season's top nine - Manchester United in gameweek four - in their first eight matches. Lloris had an injury disrupted season last time out but still boasted the best save success rate in the Premier League of keepers to start 20+ games (77.2 per cent).
James Justin (A vs WBA) - £4.5m
With first choice right-back Ricardo Pereira still injured, Justin should be a starter for Leicester in the opening weeks of the season and given their schedule in that time, is a very cheap option and was among our tips for the best value defenders. The Foxes travel to West Brom first up before home meetings with Burnley, West Ham and Villa in their first five.
Reece James (A vs BHA) - £5.0m
Another player set to promise from injury to a fellow full-back at the start of the season, James should start at right-back with Azpilicueta covering for the absence of new man Ben Chilwell on the left. There are many Chelsea fans that feel the youngster may well displace the aforementioned Spaniard before the end of the season, and an opener at Brighton represents a good chance to impress.
Trent Alexander-Arnold (H vs LEE) - £7.5m
Picked by over half of the players on the game this season for good reason, Alexander-Arnold will be the mainstay in most FPL sides. He plays in the best defence in the league and has registered 25 assists across the last two league campaigns. Need we say more?
Kyle Walker-Peters (A vs CRY) - £4.5m
Making the move to Saints on a permanent basis this summer, Walker-Peters has next to no competition for the right-back berth at St. Mary's so is far from a short term option. As part of a side that improved drastically since the turn of the year, with aspirations of a top half finish at the least, Southampton have a decent first four fixtures and are capable of keeping their opponents at bay in all of them.
Mohamed Salah (H vs LEE) - £12m
As with teammate Alexander-Arnold, Salah's inclusion doesn't need much of an explanation. Many suggest that he is now regressing, but a direct hand in 29 league goals is not too shabby, finsihing the previous campaign as one of just three players to reach double figures for goals and assists. While Liverpool's start isn't the easiest, he'll be well fancied to score at home against Leeds having netted 15 of his 19 league goals last season at Anfield.
Allan Saint-Maximin (A vs WHU) - £5.5m
Having improved over the course of the season following an understandable period of adjustment, Saint-Maximin ended the previous campaign as one of the league's most exciting players. His end product definitely needs work but the winger has found his feet in England now and that should improve as a result, so £5.5m seems a more than reasonable price ahead of a decent opening run of fixtures.
Tomas Soucek (H vs NEW) - £5m
Owned by fewer than 7 per cent of the game as things stand, Soucek's £5m price tag is just too cheap to resist and was among our tips for the best value midfielders. The giant Czech is an absolute menace from set pieces and is more than capable of getting close to double figures in goals for the season, netting three in 12 starts last time around. He's not just a target from dead balls either and makes intelligent runs into the box with the freedom that the likes of Rice and Noble afford those around them.
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (A vs FUL) - £12m
Having been classed as a midfielder this season following a shift in position to the left wing last, Aubameyang is unsurprisingly one of the games most owned players. He'll be a lock for captain in gameweek one for those that have the Arsenal captain too given their clash with a Fulham side most predict will struggle. With his productivity in front of goal not hampered by a move out wide, we should see a third consecutive 20-goal season from the Gunner.
Jamie Vardy (A vs WBA) - £10m
Last season's Premier League Golden Boot winner, Vardy's age appears to have deterred many FPL managers but back fully fit the Foxes hitman should be set for another strong start. Brendan Rodgers' side were certainly handed one of the most favourable opening schedules - as referenced in the selection of clubmate Justin - and for that reason the veteran is a no brainer in our side for the opening weeks, if not the entire season.
Timo Werner (A vs BHA) - £9.5m
We'd like to be different and not buy into the hype around Chelsea's new look attack, but Werner is too exciting a prospect to resist. Following a 28-goal haul in a 34-game season, supplemented by an impressive eight assists, the German is some way back on the most expensive players in the game but has every chance of competing right at the top of the leaderboards, so ranked among our best value forwards. With the service that the likes of Ziyech and Havertz should offer, the striker should be in dreamland and has already scored in a friendly away at this weekend's hosts Brighton.
Subs: Alex McCarthy (£4.5m), Eric Dier (£5m), Sander Berge (£5m), Rhian Brewster (£5m)
Think you can beat the WhoScored team in this season's Fantasy Premier League? Well you have the chance to prove it this season. Join 'The WhoScored Invitational League' by clicking here, or the image below for the chance to win some great prizes come the end of the season.