[Scorpion Sting]

On this at the moment:

Begovic
Kiko Douglas Bednarek
Salah Sané Mkhi Walcott
Firmino Zaha Aguero

Fabianski - Mee Tomkins Masuaku


Fabianski is great value at 4.5 million, set and forget at that price. Defence is a bit weak so changes will happen here for sure. Hoping Bednarek can nail down a starting spot. There is a real dearth of options up front this season so can't see too many other options other than the likes of Aubameyang, Kane, Arnie and Vardy. Midfield is going to be Salah, Sané and 3 others. Walcott is there for now for his explosiveness.

If people are posting their teams could they offer some reasons why they chose some of the players and also offer advice to others, cheers.

[manual_man]

Fabianski (Steklenburg)
TAA Robertson Daniels (Bennett Peltier)
Salah Sanè Silva Ramsey (Stephens)
Aguero Zaha Tosun

Fabianski as agreed great value. 4m sub keeper but chances are Fabianski plays all season and he scores points away too. I went off the idea of rotating keepers a couple of seasons ago. Liv def double up with TAA and Robertson but honestly both could be great value and Liv should improve in defense with Keita and Fabinho offering a bit more steel in midfield. Opening fixtures nice too. Fixtures quite nice for Bournemouth too so Daniels seems a no brainer for 4.5m. Bennett and Peltier both 4m but good chance they'll play, and for teams that will keep some clean sheets.

Salah was the first name on my teamsheet. 303pts last season he'll be my captain most weeks. Ramsey finished last season strongly and I think Emery will put alot of faith him. Could be superb value at 7.5m, though obviously there's always the fitness concern. Silva and Sanè should be nailed and City will score goals. Stephens is just the safe 4.5m mid - he'll rarely play for me.

Aguero starting off - hopefully he's nailed. Rotates well initially with Salah for captaincy. Lukaku or Auba are other good options if Aguero doesn't work out. Tosun... may be a little risky but Everton have a lovely run of fixtures and he'll have Siggy, Walcott and Bolasie feeding him. I'm just slightly concerned HOW nailed is he. Maybe preseason will shed some light. At least Arnie is a good alternative at 7m. Then Zaha. Finished last season very strongly. Strong opening fixtures. I'm fairly confident he'll provide good value for his pricetag.

First draft obviously. Lots could change

[Paully D]

Fabianksi does look good value at £4.5m, but his fixtures to start off are:

liv, BOU, ars, WLV, eve, CHE, MUN, bri, TOT

I don’t normally like rotating keepers for various reasons, but with those fixtures it might be a good idea.

Pairing up with McCarthy from Southampton for example would give you:

BUR, BOU, LEI, WLV, BRI, CHE, wlv, bri

[2nd Row Donkey]

Ederson

Bavies, Monreal, Mee

Salah, miki, Dilva, Gudmundssun, Doucoure

Firmino, Aguero

(Fodder x 4).

Hopefully my early August and preseaon I'll be able to replace fodder with playing 4 or 4 5m players

[SlickRic]

my first proper draft. i know it's largely pointless, as it'll change by deadline, but still.

Ederson Button
Daniels Mee Tomkins Bennett Peltier
Salah Sane Gray Eriksen Deulofeu
Aguero Firmino Bonatini

Ederson - enough said really. City will keep plenty of clean sheets. Don't like the Arsenal game first up, as Emery will probably give Arsenal a bounce, but the first games are generally tasty.

Button - fodder

Daniels - a nice start to the season. i don't trust Bournemouth though, but he's there for now.

Mee - they've Europa, but that's a good start they have. Burnley should also be fit faster than other teams.

Tomkins - Roy has them solid.

Bennett and Peltier - both seem to be being talked up by fans, with Wolves and Cardiff potentially solid defensively. you never know though.

Salah - don't need to say much. 13.0 is probably a tad expensive, but it's for good reason.

Sané - will be raring to go, and with so many of City's big hitters likely having late holidays, he's almost certain to start the first few games.

Demarai Gray - assuming Mahrez goes to City, he could be a great under the radar pick at a good price of 5.5.

Eriksen - i think Kane will probably start the season up front, but I can't see him firing on all cylinders. hopefully Eriksen will cover me for Spurs anyway.

Deulofeu - another guy who I see no reason why he shouldn't score decent points at 5.5.

Firmino - underpriced at 9.5. I don't think the World Cup will have affected him as he didn't play enough.

Aguero - has to be first choice to start the season.

Bonatini - bench player for me at 5.0, but could surprise people if he gets the chance.

...

as i said, this will all change, but I'm pretty sure i'll go 3-5-2. I could downgrade Sane to Silva and upgrade my defence quite easily for example.

i don't really like the defence as is.

i generally like the shape of the attack though.

[Wilberto]

So currently I'm on this third version of my first draft.

DDG (Stekelenburg)
Azpi | Robertson | Dunk (Bennett | Bednarek)
Salah | Sané | Milivojevic | Albrighton (Stephens)
Kane | Zaha | Murray


DDG - Expensive, but scored very well last season, particularly at the start when United kept so many clean sheets with DDG claiming countless save and bonus points. Will play every game for me (and Utd obvs)

Stekelenburg - 4.0m keeper with a yellow flag will hopefully put people off using him as bench fodder to reduce the chances of him dropping to 3.9m. Will probably downgrade to another keeper on WC should they drop just to get that extra 0.1m. Never know when even that small amount might come in handy!

Azpi - Either Azpi or Alonso with both at 6.5m Think I fancy Azpi more (he outscored Alonso by 10 points last season), and is just more solid and nailed on.

Robertson - How could I not have him after his heroics towards the end of last season! Should be a nailed on started and, like a previous poster said, with Fabinho now sitting in front of that defence, they should be considerably more solid and gain a few more clean sheets.

Dunk - Scored well last season. Nailed on starter. Only 4.5m.

Bennett - 4.0m defender who's apparently destined for good things by all accounts. Tbh, I've only decided to go with him after hearing others rave about him in here!! I do think Wolves should be quite decent this season, as opposed to Cardiff who could tank which is why I'm going with Bennett and Bednarek over Peltier.

Bednarek - Decent option for me at 4.0m. Had a decent World Cup all things considered and could well be first choice for Southampton. May admit defeat here and eventually swap out for Peltier.


Salah - It's Salah. You either want to pay that price for him, or you don't...and I do.

Sané - As mentioned above, with Sterling going so far into the tournament with England, it could be Sane and Bilva carrying the torch for City early on down the wings. Also, Sterling is quite expensive at 11.0m. Sané will also be out with a point to prove after missing out on the World Cup for Germany who, as we know, were subsequently awful in the tournament.

Milivojevic - A little expensive at 6.5m, but does he still take free kicks, and possibly penalties but they could be given back to Bentekkers. Either way, had a great end to the season so hoping for a good one again from him.

Albrighton - Similar to an above poster regarding Demarai Gray, I think if Mahrez goes (which is looking ever so likely now) the burden must be shared among everyone else across the midfield. Albrighton scored pretty well last season and is only 5.5. That said though, I'm still not thoroughly convinced on him either.
Stephens (BHA) - Safe 4.5m option who probably won't play.


Kane - A lot has been made of his inability to score in August but, after a good World Cup for him, I have a felling it could be different this season due to much less of a break. Could be completely wrong!! In any case, I hate having to take hits to shoehorn him into my team later on, and I usually Wildcard quite late.

Zaha - Doubling up on Crystal Palace seems a bit dodgy, and as a forward he may not be as attractive anymore. I may look to downgrade him and upgrade the midfield and go to 4-5-1.

Murray - Was was that stat about teams with English strikers winning the most penalties again. I know it'll be Gross that takes them so I should put him in but at least he'll get the assists for any penalties he wins, plus he'll score as well. May still downgrade him though to upgrade to a premium midfield.





All in all, I'm not really happy with my striking options, and also don't like the lack of City coverage in defence. At the moment, I have question marks over Albrighton, Murray, Milivojevic, and Zaha.

[NoviGlitzko]

It's tough this year. Mine so far:

Ederson | 4.0 fodder
Robertson | Young | Tomkins | Daniels | Cedric
Salah | Pogba | Mkhitaryan | Jota | Deulefeu
Aguero | Firmino | 4.5 fodder



Ederson - Apart from the opening Arsenal fixture, has great games afterward so want to find a reasonable way into the City defense. Otamenti is too expensive. The rest of the City defense aren't nailed.

4.5 Fodder

Robertson - Should play 90% of the time and will get attacking returns. Pool are solid at home.

Young - Much like above, and I believe he'll play the first 4 games but I'll have to track his progress after the WC. I'll be keeping an eye on the likes of Mendy/Trippier to see how much game time they are getting and switch over after the first international break.

Tomkins - Absolute bargain into a Palace defense with good fixtures. Got three goals and 9 bps last season too. If I had 0.5 to throw around I'd bring in bps magnet Sakho. Played 1/3 of the season and got 18 fricking bonus. PVA if I had money to throw around.

Daniels - Can get attacking returns as we all know and 4.5 for him is good value for money even with how unpredictable Bournemouth are. Nailed.

Cedric - Taking a punt that Southampton will be better this year. Not a bad shout playing him at home and might get the odd assist. Nailed.

Salah - So tempting to go with Mane who's a whopping 3.5M cheaper and who I think will have a great season, but I can't leave Salah out. Should be captain material most of the season. That effect's Kane's desirability.

Pogba - I'll have to see his progress after the WC as well but he'll be nailed and I just think United HAVE to do better this season going forward. Should be involved in most things with Fred in behind and offers a cheaper alternative into the United attack than Lukaku, who I'm worried about not owning.

Mkhitaryan - Should be nailed and is a steal is 7.0M. Much like Pogs offers a cheaper way into a team without getting Aubameyang.

Jota - Plays OOP for Wolves at times and netted 17 goals last season. Only turning 21 so you'd imagine he'll be more matured. It's a punt though.

Deulefeu - Toss up between him and Loftus-Cheek assuming the latter leaves Chelsea this summer. I think he'll have a good season and seems pretty nailed.

Aguero - After a disappointing WC for Jesus SURELY Aguero will be nailed. Question marks about how much he'll be subbed etc. but with his opening fixtures he could be devastating.

Firmino - Excellent value for money if his second half of the season is anything to go by.

4.5 Fodder

[SlickRic]

I've already switched Robertson in and downgrade Silva to do it. Could be one of the top 2 or 3 defenders this season, especially if Conte leaves and Alonso is no longer basically a winger.

[NoviGlitzko]

Conte reportedly signed a 2 year contract extension. Alonso going no where!

[razorblunt]

GK:
Fabianski - for pretty much the exact same reasons as everyone has already stated
Bettinelli - that's just for now, may end up swapping before GW1 for another 4.5 keeper. McCarthy is ruled out as I have Cedric and I don't like having GK + DEF from the same club

DEF:
Dave (Azipilicueta) - 6.5 is saucy but he's an old reliable or the past few seasons and I've never really gone for Alonso
Peltier & Bennett (Wolves) - I'd seen them both on whoscored.com so had them earmarked before the game opened up
Daniels - attacking option
Cedric - attacking option, I tend to avoid CBs

MID:
Made the decision to forego Salah to have 4 solid midfielders
Sane - should hit the ground running with fresh legs and a chip on his shoulder for the WC omission
Mhkitaryan - new manager, decent player, good value at 7
Eriksen - out of the WC early
Mane - have to get LFC midfield in there
Cairney - great stat, cheap option, good springer from the bench in the event of players rested

ATT:
Aubameyang - looks to have found his feet
Firmino - Bobby Dazzler, no explanation needed
King - waiting on Mitrovic to be added, if he's also 6.5 I'll swap out


Hanging around pending any reshuffles:
Tosun - should go well under Silva
Klaasen - interesting to see if Silva gives him a run, same with Lookman
Gray
Baines and Coleman handy to swap out with Dave if I need an extra 1m
Mings - so much promise can't seem to get an injury free run
Ralls
Jota - I don't fancy paying 6.5 for anyone coming up from the Championship. Same goes for Sessegnon
A few of the Arsenal defenders too.

[Wilberto]

I'm beginning to think I should be forcing Firmino and Mhkitaryan in my team above. I want Auba as well. Spending 32.5m on three players (DDG, Salah, Kane) really limits options.

[normanoffside]

Originally Posted by Wilberto

I'm beginning to think I should be forcing Firmino and Mhkitaryan in my team above. I want Auba as well. Spending 32.5m on three players (DDG, Salah, Kane) really limits options.

Leave Kane out for now, he almost never starts the season well and even less so now that he is in The WC for another week.

[Cartman78]

Starting to tool around with this now a bit...

* Fabianski & McCarthy

Seems to be the best option for rotating keepers. The other option is obviously DDG and a cheapie but will cost 1m more.

* PVA - Robertson - Cedric - Bennett - Peltier

A few familiar faces here...the 3 lads finished the season strongly and should be nailed on.

Robertson should continue to provide defensive and attacking returns; ditto PVA. Cedric could yet make way on later drafts...not sure if I want a Southampton defensive double up at any stage.

Know zero about the other 2 lads but they appear to be very much en vogue at the minute.

* Salah - Sane - Walcott - GerryD - Neves

Salah and Sane are no brainers for me.

GerryD and Walcott are educated gambles (aka super-punts)...both are equally flakey, frustrating and potentially explosive.

Neves will be on my bench and should be a half decent sub if needed.

* Zaha - Firmino - Aubameyang

Striking options are a real headache...will be holding off on Kane for a while, not sure about Aguero, less sure about Lukaku & Vardy.

Assuming that Aubameyang and Zaha will hit the ground running, Firmino should be fresh too I reckon after being underused by Brazil.

Anyway first draft done....very underwhelming I have to say :-(

[2ndcoming]

Fabianski, McCarthy

Laporte, Alexander-Arnold, Bennett, Peltier, Wan-Bissaka

Salah, Mahrez, Jota, Ozil, Sessegnon

Aubameyang, Zaha, Arnautovic.


(Talent subject to change!)

[caviardreams]

With the saints signing Gunn I wonder if there is another decent option at 4.5 to rotate with - at least for the first while - maybe Begovic? I have the Fabianski & McCarthy combo myself too at the moment though.