Last updated on August 7th, 2024
Let’s find out about the good, the bad, and the best before you make your final draft.
Written by MohonC
As we approach the GW1 deadline which is less than 12 days from now, we are also trying to finalize our team. Like every year, all of us are focusing on the pre-season performance of every team and their players and we must know which factors to take into account while making our team based on it.
Almost every pre-season match is complete, the final match is going to be played on the 11th of August, but I will not wait to analyse and point out the key takeaways until then, as I will be returning with the Gameweek Preview and Review series. Barring any injury that might influence our decision after the final pre-season match, I don’t think whatever I say now is going to change much after it, so let’s get started with all the important facts and stats that might help all of us as we make our final draft, particularly talking about premiums and big teams.
First of all, Arsenal – I personally don’t like players who are returning from holidays and aren’t involved in the pre-season at all; yes, I am talking about Saka. Though Arteta confirmed that players involved in the latter stages of the Euro should be fine for the season opener. Aston Villa, Tottenham and Manchester City in the first 5 matches, which can be considered a difficult fixture run, is enough to influence me to save the funds and use it elsewhere. I still think the best way to navigate the first few weeks is to get the best asset for the best fixtures. Talking about pre-season, Martinelli getting enough minutes is a good sign for those, including me, who are looking for a cheaper Arsenal attacker for the first match. It will help me to get Nkunku in GW2 if I opt to go without him in GW1 in place of Martinelli or someone else. As for the defense, I would not want to go anywhere near the Arsenal backline in the first few weeks. The worrying sign in the Arsenal line-up is Havertz, who was used by Arteta more in the midfield than upfront; with Gabriel Jesus fit and scoring 2 goals in as many matches in the pre-season, the owners of the German forward are going to decrease in the coming days which includes me.
July 20: Arsenal 2 – 0 Leyton Orient (behind closed doors) | Jesus (Nketiah), Smith-Rowe (Jesus)
July 24: Arsenal 1 – 1 Bournemouth (Dignity Health Sports Park) | Viera (Nwaneri)
July 27: Arsenal 2 – 1 Manchester United (SoFi Stadium, Los Angeles) | Jesus (Nwaneri), Martinelli (Lewis-Skelly)
July 31: Arsenal 1 – 2 Liverpool (Lincoln Financial Field, Philadelphia) | Havertz (Odegaard)
August 7: Arsenal v Bayer Leverkusen (Emirates Stadium) |
August 11: Arsenal v Lyon (Emirates Stadium) |
Now coming to Aston Villa, the star of the pre-season is Morgan Rogers who scored 3 and assisted 1. He also had enough minutes and FPL managers will be looking towards him to make their benches strong, but let me tell you that all 3 goals and assists came in the first 2 matches which were against Walsall and Spartak Trnava, but he blanked in the next 3 games against Leipzig, Club America, and Columbus Crew, which resulted in a loss for Aston Villa. Watkins is set to start the season against West Ham, who was poor so far in the pre-season, losing to Wolves and Crystal Palace in the friendlies. West Ham is an interesting team and signed a few interesting players like Kilman and Summerville, and now signed the German/Dortmund forward Fulkrug, which makes it much more compelling.
July 17: Aston Villa 3 – 0 Walsall (Bescot Stadium) | Rogers x 2 (Barkley), Barry (Iling-Junior)
July 20: Aston Villa 3 – 0 Spartak Trnava (Anton Malatinsky Stadium, Slovakia) | Bailey, Rogers (Young), Archer (Rogers)
July 27: Aston Villa 1 – 4 Columbus Crew (Lower.com Field, Ohio) | Archer (Bailey)
July 31: Aston Villa 0 – 2 RB Leipzig (Red Bull Arena, New Jersey) |
August 3: Aston Villa 0 – 1 Club America (Soldier Field, Chicago) |
August 7: Aston Villa v Athletic Bilbao (Bescot Stadium, Walsall) |
August 10: Aston Villa v Borussia Dortmund (Signal Iduna Park, Dortmund) |
There is not much to say about Bournemouth except that as the season is getting closer, you can see them lining up strongly, so more or less, it’s like how they will start in GW1. There’s not much to say about Brentford, too, except their new signing, Igor Thiago is injured after scoring a brace; that makes the bees hold onto Toney, who is attracting interest from Arsenal and Manchester United.
July 16: Bournemouth v Crystal Palace (behind closed doors) | No information available
July 20: Bournemouth 1 – 1 Wrexham (Harder Stadium) | Senesi (Billing)
July 24: Bournemouth 1 – 1 Arsenal (Dignity Health Sports Park) | Semenyo
August 4: Bournemouth 1 – 0 Rayo Vallecano (Vitality Stadium) | Sinisterra
August 10: Bournemouth v Girona (Vitality Stadium) |
Brentford signed a new forward, Igor Thiago, who started the pre-season with a brace but was then injured, which might make the bees hold onto Ivan Toney, who is attracting interest from both their PL rivals, Arsenal and Manchester United. If he stays then he is going to be their best player for the season again.
July 20: Brentford 5 – 2 AFC Wimbledon (Cherry Red Records Stadium) | Thiago x 2 (Stevens), Wissa pen, Schade, Mbeumo (Morgan)
July 25: Brentford 1 – 1 Benfica (Estadio da Luz, Lisbon) | Mbeumo
July 30: Brentford 1 – 3 Estrela da Amadora (Behind closed doors) | Jensen (Damsgaard)
August 3: Brentford 1-1 Watford (Vicarage Road) | Schade (Trevitt)
August 9: Brentford v Wolsfburg (Gtech Community Stadium) |
As for Brighton, the side experimented with many players, and Yakuba Minteh scored twice in the pre-season, but I really have no idea who is going to play when the time comes. I have been trying to decode the line-up but failed; the only positive is that Estupinan might miss the start of the season, and Barco(4.0m), the defender is set to start by the looks of it, though I might be wrong because, as I said, it’s pretty tough to predict the Brighton line-up.
July 17: Brighton 3 – 0 Sheffield Wednesday (behind closed doors) | Scorers not available
July 24: Brighton 5 – 1 Kashima Antlers (National Stadium, Tokyo) | Minteh (Milner), Sarmiento (Weir), Ayari (Adingra), Cozier-Duberry x 2 (Buonanotte)
July 28: Brighton 4 – 2 Tokyo Verdy (National Stadium, Tokyo) | Van Hecke (Welbeck), Minteh (Osman), Adingra (Buonanotte), Sarmiento
August 3: Brighton 1 – 0 QPR (Loftus Road) | Welbeck pen (Minteh)
August 10: Brighton v Villarreal (Amex Stadium) |
Next on the list is Chelsea and the most exciting asset this year is going to be Nkunku(6.5m). He was used everywhere in terms of attacking position and Maresca confirmed that he can be used anywhere. He scored 3 goals, but 2 of which came through penalties, which are going to be taken by Cole Palmer(10.5m) once he returns to the main team. Sanchez(4.5m) started all the friendlies and looks set to start despite a new signing by Chelsea(Filip Jorgensen) who might give him a fight to get in the starting line-up.
July 24: Chelsea 2 – 2 Wrexham (Levi’s Stadium, Santa Clara) | Nkunku (Guiu), Ugochukwu (Broja)
July 27: Chelsea 1 – 4 Celtic (Notre Dame Stadium, Indiana) | Nkunku pen (Sterling)
July 31: Chelsea 3 – 0 Club America (Mercedes-Benz Stadium, Atlanta) | Nkunku pen (Lavia), Guiu (Dewsbury-Hall), Madueke pen (Nkunku)
August 3: Chelsea 2 – 4 Manchester City (Ohio Stadium, Columbus) | Sterling (Madueke) , Madueke (Lavia)
August 6: Chelsea v Real Madrid (Bank of America Stadium, Charlotte) |
August 11: Chelsea v Inter Milan (Stamford Bridge) |
Crystal Palace is looking sharp and their fixture run is very enticing. The most exciting part of the whole team is Rak Sakyi, who is only 4.5m but scored 3 goals in the pre-season. Perhaps thinking that he will get enough minutes at the start of the season is too wishful(which is not how you should play FPL), but he is someone to watch out for if he starts getting minutes. Could be the Andreis Pereira of this season.
July 16: Crystal Palace v Bournemouth (behind closed doors) | No information available
July 19: Crystal Palace 1 – 1 Charlton (Crystal Palace Academy) | Rak-Sakyi (Kamada)
July 27: Crystal Palace 6 – 3 Crawley Town (Broadfield Stadium) | Edouard (Kamada), Rak-Sakyi x 2 (Edouard x 2), Kamada (Richards), Ayew, Schlupp (Hughes)
July 31: Crystal Palace 3 – 1 Wolves (Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium, Maryland) | Schlupp, Ayew (Henderson), Agbinone (Ayew)
August 3: Crystal Palace 3 – 1 West Ham (Raymond James Stadium, Florida) | Mitchell, Schlupp (Ayew), Edouard (Schlupp)
August 11: Crystal Palace v Nantes (Selhurst Park) |
Everton is not a team that attracts my interest. There is nothing much to say about their pre-season matches, too, and Pickford could have been someone to consider, but his price tag of 5.0m is putting me off. Also, they play Spurs and Villa(both away) in their first 4 matches, so I don’t have much to say about them in terms of FPL, but of course, Holgate, who is just 4.0,m, could be a differential and the perfect bench fodder, if he gets minutes under Dyche.
July 19: Everton 3 – 3 Sligo Rovers (The Showgrounds) | Holgate (Chermiti), Chermiti x 2 (Harrison x 2)
July 27: Everton 1 – 2 Salford (Peninsula Stadium) | Garner (Chermiti)
July 30: Everton 0 -3 Coventry (Coventry Building Society Arena) |
August 3: Everton 3 – 0 Preston (Deepdale) | Calvert-Lewin pen, O’Brien (Calvert-Lewin), Lindstrom (Harrison)
August 10: Everton v Roma (Goodison Park) |
Fulham, on the other hand, is the team to watch out for because of the fixture run they have at the start of the season. Robinson(4.5m) is perhaps the best cheap attacking defender in FPL right now. Muniz is, as usual, the best choice when it comes to the forward line. But Rahul Jimenez(2 goals, 2 assists in the pre-season), who is only 5.5m and cheaper than Muniz(6.0m), could be the game changer. He looked good in the friendlies. The only thing is Marco Silva experimented heavily and rotated the squad in high numbers. Oh, and I forgot to mention the most interesting thing, Smith Rowe(5.5m) switched clubs to Fulham from Arsenal and is a great midfield option as he looked good for Arsenal in the pre-season matches.
July 24: Fulham 4 – 0 QPR (behind closed doors) | Jimenez pen, Wilson x 2, Traore
July 27: Fulham 6 – 1 Watford (behind closed doors) | Lukic pen (Muniz), Muniz (Iwobi), Iwobi (King), Jimenez (Wilson), Stansfield (Jimenez) Pajaziti (Jimenez)
August 2: Fulham 1 – 0 Benfica (Estadio Algarve) | Iwobi (Robinson)
August 5: Fulham v Sevilla (Estadio Algarve) |
August 10: Fulham v Hoffenheim (PreZero Arena, Sinsheim) |
Ipswich Town is one of the teams that got promoted this year and couldn’t have got a difficult start to the season with Liverpool and Manchester City in the first two weeks but after that, their fixtures look good up until GW11 when they face Spurs. The question is how will they perform during this period. Hutchinson signed a permanent deal and is one of the most important assets of their team. I don’t want to talk about how they played last year in the league, as the Premier League is very different, but yes, it gives us a peek into what the team is capable of. Though Ipswich Town assets can help us fill our team and rotate them if you are brave enough, it also helps you get Haaland and Salah both in your team.
July 20: Ipswich 1 – 0 Shakhtar Donetsk (Sportzentrum Landskron) | Morsy (Burns)
July 27: Ipswich 1 – 2 Fortuna Dusseldorf (Portman Road) | Harness (Chaplin)
August 3: Ipswich 1 – 0 Hoffenheim (Kuftstein Arena) | Taylor (Hutchinson)
August 10: Ipswich v OGC Nice (Portman Road) |
Not so bad, yet not so good; that’s how Leicester City’s pre-season is going so far. 2 wins and 2 losses, a difficult fixture run is also contributing to making FPL managers avoid their players. But in case you need a 4.0m defender, then look no further than Wout Faes, who is nailed on to start.
July 20: Leicester 2 – 1 Villarreal (behind closed doors) | Vardy, Mavididi
July 23: Leicester 2 – 1 Shrewsbury Town (Croud Meadow) | Mavididi (Fatawu), McAteer (Justin)
July 26: Leicester 0 – 1 Palermo (SMH Group Stadium) |
August 3: Leicester 0 – 1 Augsburg (Illerstadion, Kempten) |
August 10: Leicester v Lens (Stade Bollaert-Delelis) |
Liverpool defeated Arsenal and Manchester United both after a shock 1-0 loss against Preston in the pre-season opener. Salah scored 1 and assisted 2 so far, still looking like the best asset from Liverpool. Diogo Jota led the line against Arsenal and Manchester United and assisted twice against their arch-rivals. It could be a very interesting option to start the season with if you want to save funds and leave Salah out of your team, but Salah still looks like the most nailed-on player and the others can be rotated. Arne Slot perhaps started Jota upfront but also said Nunez has an important role to play, it’s up to you to decipher his words accordingly. In defence, Arnold looks like the best option if you are not worried about funds, but we all might be overlooking Robertson too much.
July 19: Liverpool 0 – 1 Preston (Behind closed doors) |
July 27: Liverpool 1 – 0 Real Betis (Acrisure Stadium, Pittsburgh) | Szoboszlai (Salah)
July 31: Liverpool 2 – 1 Arsenal (Lincoln Financial Field, Philadelphia) | Salah (Elliott), Carvalho (Elliott)
August 3: Liverpool 3 – 0 Manchester United (Brice Stadium, South Carolina) | Carvalho (Jota), Jones (Salah), Tsimikas (Jota)
August 11: Liverpool v Sevilla (Anfield) |
While Manchester City coach Pep Guardiola confirmed that players returning from the Euro/Copa won’t make the squad in the community shield but perhaps will be back in GW1/2, now with that in mind Oscar Bobb(2G 3A) can be a very cheaper option if you want to play a punt, while Haaland(5G) scored a hat-trick against Chelsea after coming back from the nigle in the previous match. Gvardiol is the most preferred defender from the City line-up with over 32% ownership, but all the other defenders are 0.5m cheaper if it matters to you for consideration.
July 23: Manchester City 3 – 4 Celtic (Kenan Stadium, North Carolina) | Bobb (O’Reilly), Perone (Bobb), Haaland (Bobb)
July 27: Manchester City 2 – 3 AC Milan (Yankee Stadium, New York) | Haaland (Bobb), McAtee (Hamilton)
July 30: Manchester City 2 – 2 Barcelona (Camping World Stadium, Orlando) | O’Reilly (Gvardiol), Grealish (Kovacic)
August 3: Manchester City 4 – 2 Chelsea (Ohio Stadium, Columbus) | Haaland x 3 (McAtee), Bobb (McAtee)
August 10: Manchester City v Manchester United (Community Shield, Wembley) |
Manchester United camp is messed up right now as Hujlund is out for 6 weeks, new signing Yoro is out for 3 months, Rashford(7.0m) was withdrawn in the previous match but recovered from his knock and returned against Liverpool, though failed to impress. Jadon Sancho(6.5m) could return to leading the line in GW1 as per Ten Hag after his showing against Liverpool, but the main attraction here in this team is Amad Diallo(5.0m) who scored twice and assisted once in the pre-season. He impressed in the attacking role and is the one to watch out for.
July 15: Manchester United 0 – 1 Rosenborg (Lerkendal Stadion, Trondheim)
July 20: Manchester United 0 – 2 Rangers (Murrayfield, Edinburgh) | Amad (Mount), Hugill (Oyedele)
July 27: Manchester United 1 – 2 Arsenal (SoFi Stadium, Los Angeles) | Hojlund (Rashford)
July 31: Manchester United 3 – 2 Real Betis (Snapdragon Stadium, San Diego) | Rashford (Amad), Amad (Amass), Casemiro (Rashford)
August 3: Manchester United 0 – 3 Liverpool (Williams-Brice Stadium, South Carolina) |
August 10: Manchester United v Manchester City (Community Shield, Wembley) |
Newcastle probably has the best fixture run in this season. Isak(3G) is perhaps the most essential asset at the start of the season in every team, and I won’t be surprised if Isak is owned by more than 75% of managers when the deadline hits. The only question that remains is his withdrawal from the last game, which Howe thought down and said he should be fine and that there was nothing much to worry about. Jacob Murphy scored 4 times and assisted twice, which makes him an interesting option as he got enough minutes under his belt, but Gordon is joining the camp this week, and his presence in the starting line-up might come to an end with that. Burn(4.5m) is the most sought-after defender. There’s a rumor that Tripper might leave in which case Livramento/Hall may become the nailed-on starter.
July 20: Newcastle 3 – 1 SpVgg Unterhaching (behind closed doors) | Barnes, Murphy (Barnes), Isak
July 27: Newcastle 2 – 0 Hull (MKM Stadium) | Isak (Murphy), Murphy (J.Miley)
July 31: Newcastle 4 – 1 Urawa Red Diamonds (Saitama Stadium, Saitama) | Isak, Murphy x 2 (Willock, J.Miley), Hall (Murphy)
August 3: Newcastle 0 – 2 Yokohama F. Marinos (National Stadium, Tokyo) |
August 9: Newcastle v Girona (St James’ Park) |
August 10: Newcastle v Stade Brestois (St James’ Park) |
Once again, not much to say about Nottingham Forest. Hudson Odoi(2G 2A) looks good, just like Wood, Gibbswhite, and Elanga, so any choice out of these 4 can be a good differential. In goal, Sels looks set to start as Turner has become the 3rd choice keeper if you look at the pre-season matches.
July 13: Nottingham Forest 3 – 0 Chesterfield (SMH Group Stadium) | Wood (Hudson-Odoi), Bowler, Sangare (Hudson-Odoi)
July 19: Nottingham Forest 1 – 1 Sunderland (Pinatar Arena, Murcia) | Richards (Elanga)
July 23: Nottingham Forest 2 – 1 Milwall (Pinatar Arena, Murcia) | Wood (Dominguez), Hudson-Odoi (Yates)
July 26: Nottingham Forest 0 -1 Elche (Pinatar Arena, Murcia) |
August 2: Nottingham Forest 0 – 0 Villarreal (City Ground) |
August 8: Nottingham Forest v Olympiacos (Karaiskakis Stadium) |
Southampton is another promoted side and is looking good in pre-season friendlies. They start the season against Newcastle but then have better fixtures in the next two. For any manager who is looking for a 4.5m midfielder, Sam Amo-Ameyaw(1G 2A in pre-season) is a high-risk high-reward punt. Tyler Dibbling(1G 4A) is yet to be added to the FPL players list. Yukinari Sugawara(1G 2A) is another option if you are looking for an attacking defender.
July 19: Southampton 7 – 1 Eastleigh (Silverlake Stadium) | Armstrong x 2 (Aribo, Dibling), Smallbone (Downes), Mara pen (Amo-Ameyaw), Manning (Sugawara), Sugawara (Dibling), Alcaraz (Amo-Ameyaw)
July 24: Southampton 3 – 2 Bordeaux (behind closed doors) | Own-goal (Dibling), Amo-Ameyaw, Mara (Dibling)
July 27: Southampton 3 – 1 Montpellier (behind closed doors) | Sulemana, Dibling (Edwards), Harwood-Bellis (Sugawara)
July 31: Southampton 0 – 2 Oxford United (Kassam Stadium) |
August 3: Southampton 1 – 0 Milwall (The Den) | Armstrong
August 7: Southampton v Lazio (St Mary’s) |
August 10: Southampton v Getafe (St Mary’s) |
Coming onto Tottenham Hotspur, the star of the pre-season is none other than Heung Min Son(3G 1A). He is undoubtedly the best asset in the team, but managers looking for a cheaper option can go for Johnson(6.5M), who looks set to start in GW1, or Kulusevski(6.5m, 1G 3A), who was used as a false 9 by Ange in all the matches so far. However, it might change soon as Spurs are looking to sign a proper striker, and the spicy rumor is that they may bid for Solanke.
July 17: Spurs 5 – 1 Hearts (Tynecastle) | Johnson (Maddison), Lankshear (Spence), Moore (Bergvall), Spence (Werner), Neilson OG
July 20: Spurs 2 – 0 QPR (Loftus Road) | Bissouma (Kulusevski), Scarlett (Moore)
July 27: Spurs 3 – 2 Vissel Kobe (National Stadium, Tokyo) | Porro (Kulusevski), Son (Johnson), Moore (Donley)
July 31: Spurs 4 – 3 Team K League (Seoul World Cup Stadium) | Kulusevski (Son), Son x 2 (Donley, Kulusevski), Lankshear (Werner)
August 3: Spurs 1 – 2 Bayern Munich (Seoul World Cup Stadium) | Porro (Bissouma)
August 10: Spurs v Bayern Munich (Tottenham Hotspur Stadium) |
Already talked about West Ham, other than their exceptional signings, the pre-season is not so great
July 15: West Ham 2 – 2 Ferencvaros (Kitzbühel) | Ings, Aguerd (Irving)
July 20: West Ham 1 – 0 Dagenham and Redbridge (Chigwell Construction Stadium) | Irving (Ward-Prowse)
July 27: West Ham 1 – 3 Wolves (EverBank Stadium, Florida) | Kudus (Ings)
August 3: West Ham 1 – 3 Crystal Palace (Raymond James Stadium, Florida) | Antonio
August 10: West Ham v Celta Vigo (London Stadium) |
Wolves perhaps has the most difficult fixture run in the opening weeks, with Arsenal, Chelsea, Newcastle, Aston Villa, and Liverpool in the first 6 weeks. Their new signings, Pedro Lima, Strand Larsen, and Rodrigo Gomes, are all looking good, but at the start of the season, I am not going near any of them; though it’s risky, it can be a huge differential if the big teams stumble upon them which is being too wishful right now.
July 15: Wolves 1 – 0 Como 1907 (Marbella) | Doherty (Ait-Nouri)
July 20: Wolves 3-0 Bristol City (Compton Park) | Cunha (Cundle), Hwang (Sarabia), own-goal (Doyle)
July 27: Wolves 3 – 1 West Ham (EverBank Stadium, Florida) | Cunha (Strand-Larsen), R.Gomes x 2 (Lima)
July 31: Wolves 1 – 3 Crystal Palace (Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium, Maryland) | S. Bueno (Strand-Larsen)
August 3: Wolves 0 – 3 RB Leipzig (Chase Stadium, Miami) | Own-goal (Sarabia) Sarabia (Strand-Larsen), R.Gomes (Hwang)
August 10: Wolves v Rayo Vallecano (Molineux) |
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Note: These are all personal views. FPL is subject to varied opinions and mental stress; make sure to follow your way and play accordingly.
