The new season of Fantasy Premier League starts in a few days. The game was launched a while ago and player prices seem higher than ever before. In addition, FPL has changed the positions of a number of key players. The importance of rotating the premium options will probably be higher this season than ever. This article will compare the premium picks to try and find out their respective strengths and weaknesses.
Fantasy Premier League: The Premium Options
The Premium Options
The players costing over 10.0 units have been considered as the premium picks. So, let’s find out who they are.
- Mohamed Salah (£12.0)
- Sadio Mané (£12.0)
- Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (£12.0)
- Kevin De Bruyne (£11.5)
- Raheem Sterling (£11.5)
- Bruno Fernandes (£10.5)
- Sergio Agüero (£10.5)
- Harry Kane (£10.5)
- Jamie Vardy (£10.0)
Overall Strategy
It is probably unlikely that a player can own more than three Fantasy Premier League premium options at the same time. The fact that there is a dearth of regular starting fillers and the price increases of several mid-range players with high potential mean that you will have to try and maximize the premium options more than ever before.
However, you should remember that the premium picks cost so much because they can perform at any moment and against any opposition. So, the form of the players has to be considered before deciding to switch to another premium pick. Just because someone has a better-looking fixture, you should not opt for him. If someone is on a hot streak, it is always best to pounce on that and try to milk out as much as possible from it.
This article will try to find out which players can provide the best option for switching and which players are better as long-term options. The key is to try and find out the best captaincy options each week and the premium picks will score the highest points more often than not. You have to try and find out which of these players can provide you the highest return as your captain.
Fantasy Premier League Premium Options With the Highest Ceilings
Manchester City
Sergio Agüero comes to mind immediately when we consider players with a high ceiling, especially in the matches we can call bankers. Before his injury-laden last season, the Argentine scored 20 or more goals in each of his previous five.
Furthermore, he is devastating against the weaker oppositions. Agüero has scored the most number of hat-tricks in the Premier League (12). He scored four goals twice and an astonishing five goals in a single match once. It is this ability that makes him a really attractive option in matches against the weaker teams.
However, he scored two hat-tricks against Chelsea and one each against Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur as well, so you cannot just call him a flat-track bully.
Raheem Sterling has scored four hat-tricks and all of those came against the weaker teams. He is someone that can be really explosive in the easy-looking matches. Sterling is becoming hungrier for goal.s which was evident last season.
In the previous two seasons, he had 15 and 17 assists respectively. He only got six assists last season but scored 20 goals for the first time in his career. Sterling’s finishing has improved and he sometimes plays as a striker as well. So, Sterling is someone that can be considered a captaincy option for the easier matches.
Liverpool
Choosing between Mohamed Salah and Sadio Mane is always difficult. The Egyptian tends to be favoured because he seems more explosive. However, the Mane is not someone that should be ignored.
Both of them have scored two hat-tricks each in the Premier League. However, Mane has scored them both for Southampton. It is true that Salah seems to be a bit more selfish and takes more shots than Mane. Salah has a higher ceiling because of that.
The potential is always there for Salah to go really big especially against mid-table and weaker teams. So, Salah edges out Mane in the home bankers but only just.
The Consistent Fantasy Premier League Premium Options
Harry Kane has scored eight hat-tricks in the premier league. However, the last one came in the 2017/18 season. Kane has missed a significant period due to injury in both of the last two seasons. It will be interesting to see how he performs this season.
Tottenham have a massive number of matches to play and they will need Kane to be fit. His record against the weaker teams is not as devastating as you might expect. He likes playing against Leicester City and Arsenal and has a good record against Southampton and Everton also.
With Kane, you might just have to hold him for a longer period to get the maximum value out of him. He doesn’t always deliver against the weakest teams as we have found out over the seasons.
Kevin De Bruyne is someone that can be called fixture-proof. He tends to do well against everyone. As a captain pick, he might disappoint sometimes as his teammates could score more than him in that particular week. However, if you want to play safe, you could just captain De Bruyne in every single game. It won’t be such a bad option.
De Bruyne does well against the big teams because of Pep Guardiola’s tendency to push him further up as he deploys two more defensive-minded midfielders behind him. In the easier matches, De Bruyne has to contest with one extra attacking midfielder for FPL points.
Bruno Fernandes took the Premier League by storm last season. He had an absolutely massive impact on how Manchester United performed in the second half of the season. It is true that the Portuguese has only been in the Premier League for half a season but what a time he has had.
The primary appeal Bruno Fernandes has is that he is the penalty taker. Considering the way Manchester United play, they should win a fair few penalties this season as well. They faded towards the end of the season so it will be interesting to see how they do from open play at the start of this season.
The Talismen
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Jamie Vardy fall in this category. Arsenal and Leicester City are highly dependant on these two players for goals. In fact, sometimes it seems no one else can score for them other than Aubameyang and Vardy. This means that sometimes even when their teams lose, they still come away with decent points.
The most recent example was the defeat Leicester suffered towards the end of the season at Bournemouth. Despite losing 4-1, Vardy got that solitary goal which was a good return for his FPL owners.
They are both penalty-takers as well so with Aubameyang and Vardy, you always have a chance to get solid points. Out of the two, Aubameyang has become more attractive this season as he has been classified as a midfielder. Hence, the Gabonese will get more points from his goals and can get a clean sheet bonus as well.
Both of them do well against the weaker teams so are good candidates for the armband in easy games. However, the ceiling may not be as high as the general attacking play of the teams are not on the level of Manchester City and Liverpool.
The Last Word
Picking the right captain is absolutely vital in Fantasy Premier League. From this article, switching to Aguero, Salah or Sterling in easy-looking matches could inject a big ranking push for your side, even if it means taking a hit, whereas there are others like Kevin De Bruyne and Bruno Fernandes who are consistent and need to be kept throughout the season. It is a risky strategy to keep switching between the premium options though, as you keep losing the value in terms of FPL units when you sell them and there is no guarantee that the big scores will come in the banker fixtures.
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