Fantasy Premier League: The players to avoid selecting for Gameweek One

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A new season of Fantasy Premier League is upon us, with players new to the Premier League and those who have moved clubs among the hottest properties.

However, for every prime FPL target, there is also a long list of possible signings who should be avoided — either because they are unlikely starters for their clubs or offer little in fantasy points terms.

Which of the hundreds of available assets should be nowhere near your Gameweek One squad? The Athletic has got you covered!

The highly-owned potential traps

Each season, I run a single FPL team where, each gameweek, a panel vote on the transfer and captaincy decisions. It used to be run by 50 managers but now a group of 100 people contribute.

This pre-season, I’ve collated their first drafts for a series on my YouTube channel, comparing player ownership within that pool to ownership across the millions worldwide who play FPL, and have created a shortlist of those options who are in over 10 per cent of the experts’ teams.

There were several highly-owned players in the game overall who had little to no representation among their squads.

The headline name here is Newcastle striker Alexander Isak (£10.5m), who is owned by around one-third of managers overall but was a differential among my panel.

As we all know, the Swedish striker wants to leave Newcastle, with Liverpool bidding for him, and his situation has a chance of lingering on until the opening weekend of the season, from August 15 to 18, when the transfer window will still have more than two weeks to run. Add into the mix a tough run of opening fixtures for Eddie Howe and company and it’s ultimately best to avoid Isak, despite his 29 goal involvements in 2024-25.

Meanwhile, Jarrod Bowen (£8.0m) of West Ham, formerly a midfielder in the game, has been reclassified as a forward for this season, which seemingly hasn’t dented his appeal, with the England international racking up an ownership of nearly 20 per cent of FPL managers as things stand.

But Bowen will receive fewer points for each goal he scores this season in his new position, which could hinder his output, despite West Ham starting their season with a trip to one of the promoted sides, Sunderland.

Bowen’s reclassification from midfielder to forward in FPL slightly dulls his appeal (Vincent Carchietta/Getty Images)

As one of the most supported clubs globally, any new faces at Manchester United are generally heavily backed in FPL, with this summer’s midfield arrivals Bryan Mbeumo (£8.0m) and Matheus Cunha (£8.0m) no exceptions at 17% and 11% ownership respectively. However, none of my 100 experts selected this duo in their Gameweek One squads following an underwhelming 2024-25 campaign for United, despite a change of position for Cunha from forward to midfielder.

There’s plenty of competition for places in the United attack and it’s not exactly clear the role each player will be given by coach Ruben Amorim, with both having been talismans for Brentford and Wolves respectively last season. We can’t expect the same level of returns from them at a new team and in a different system, and with captain Bruno Fernandes (£9.0m) set to hog set-piece duties, including penalties, the routes to points for both Mbeumo and Cunha will be more limited.

Fernandes is also an avoid at the start of the season due to a price hike and a deeper-lying position in United’s new-look midfield almost guaranteed. Then there’s the fact they play Arsenal and Manchester City during the first four gameweeks.

New Liverpool right-back Jeremie Frimpong (£6.0m) is the second-most-owned defender in the game at the time of writing, having been acquired by almost 27 per cent of managers.

However, he faces stiff competition for minutes from Conor Bradley (£5.0m), so his starting position is far from guaranteed. I definitely prefer their defensive team-mate Virgil van Dijk (£6.0m) at the same price point as Frimpong, and the expert managers agree with me.

The players who could suffer from early rotation

Arsenal’s new signing Viktor Gyokeres (£9.0m) has been hot property since his addition to the game, with 24 per cent of managers snapping him up. However, there are no guarantees he starts over Kai Havertz (£7.5m) up front when Mikel Arteta’s team travel to Old Trafford in Gameweek One.

Gyokeres is certainly one to keep an eye on for potential addition from Gameweek Two onwards, especially with promoted Leeds visiting the Emirates Stadium in that round. He may be on Arsenal’s penalties, too.

Viktor Gyokeres might not necessarily be an instant starter for Arsenal (Yu Chun Christopher Wong/Eurasia Sport Images/Getty Images)

Tottenham Hotspur striker Dominic Solanke (£7.5m) has been a popular acquisition in early drafts, mine included. The impending departure of Son Heung-min (£8.5m) could see Solanke on penalties this season but he missed both games of Spurs’ Asian tour with an ankle injury. Plenty of FPL managers will be keeping an eye on his availability across the remainder of pre-season, with an opener at home against promoted Burnley kicking off a favourable run of early fixtures.

Indeed, Spurs’ start to the season has helped entice 26 per cent of managers to select their new midfield recruit Mohammed Kudus (£6.5m), who looks to be great value at first glance. However, I’m yet to be convinced to invest in him, given he managed just nine goal involvements in 31 starts last time around for West Ham. Better-value picks should emerge around that price point.

Up at Manchester City, Omar Marmoush (£8.5m) is among their most-owned attacking players for Gameweek One, alongside newcomer and fellow midfielder Rayan Cherki (£6.5m). However, with strength and depth once again in forward areas for the deposed four-in-a-row champions, it’s difficult to pinpoint exactly what minutes their assets will see because of manager Pep Guardiola’s infamous rotation.

It’s thought that Phil Foden (£8.0m) is fully fit and set to capitalise on the summer departure of Kevin De Bruyne from City’s midfield, but I’d stick with forward Erling Haaland (£14.0m) if you are intent on a City attacking player for Gameweek One.

Speaking of rotation and new signings at City, Rayan Ait-Nouri (£6.0m) has been selected by around a quarter of managers since joining from Wolves, but again this is a risky pick. Clean sheets could be hard to come by for City in the opening three gameweeks, with trips to Wolves and Brighton either side of a home game against a bolstered Spurs now under Thomas Frank’s management.

The popular Rayan Ait-Nouri opens the season with a tough run of games (Dan Mullan/Getty Images)

The theme continues when it comes to picking a City goalkeeper, with new arrival James Trafford (£5.0m) providing competition for Ederson (£5.5m). It’s certainly enticing that we could have a top six goalkeeper for £5m in the game, but we would need clarity from Guardiola over who is his number one before investing in Trafford.

One player who made my first draft despite being a massive rotation risk is Everton forward Beto (£5.5m), thanks to an enticing price point.

Everton have solid opening fixtures, plus that new stadium to entertain their fans in, which means the stars could align for Beto early on. There’s hope he plays in a front two alongside new signing Thierno Barry (£6.0m), but they could well share minutes under David Moyes.

With plenty of managers eyeing up a Gameweek One Bench Boost, any starting forwards with good fixtures around this price could be hard to ignore.

Will the punt be worth it?

(Top photo of Alexander Isak; George Wood/Getty Images)

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