Hot or Not Player Picks - FPL Gameweek 1 [Part 1]

Who’s HOT and who’s NOT in the world of Fantasy Premier League ahead of Gameweek 1 asks @DannyBryan27

Hello and welcome to the first edition of ‘Who’s HOT and who’s NOT’ for the new 2017/18 Fantasy Premier League season.

The waiting is almost over, as the dawn of the new Premier League season is just days away – so now’s the time to get those teams primed and ready for the big kick-off.

Everton have been super busy in the transfer market this summer – can they improve upon last season’s 7th place finish? And what about Arsenal? How will they react to missing out on Champions League football for the first time in over 20 years?







And Manchester City – a serious amount of money splashed with the aim of improving that fragile defence – can Pep’s new look side deliver the goods?

So many questions…

Gameweek 1 sees newly-promoted Brighton make their Premier League bow against title-favourites Manchester City, whilst fellow new-boys Huddersfield begin their campaign at Crystal Palace.

Elsewhere, Romelu Lukaku makes his full Manchester United debut against West Ham, in a fixture which also sees Javier Hernandez make his Hammers debut against his former club – serious potential for an opening Gameweek flurry of FPL points.

So, without further ado, here are my tips on how to get the best possible start to your FPL season in Gameweek 1.

As always, I wish you all the very best of luck for the season ahead – here’s to continued success and plenty of green arrows in 2017/18!

INFO: Please note, that we’ve decided to break our Hot or Not article down in two parts.

Part 1 will give you our HOT list, with Part 2 showing our NOT list – a link to Part 2 can be found at the end of this article.

HOT

Kyle Walker – Manchester City [£6.5m]

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Great things will be expected of Kyle Walker this season after completing his £54m transfer to Manchester City, making him the world’s most expensive defender.

He’s likely to make his full debut for City in Gameweek 1 against newly promoted Brighton, with Pep almost guaranteed to have him in his regular starting XI.

The Seagulls, who eventually finished runners-up in the Championship last season, face a real baptism of fire in their first ever Premier League fixture against a Manchester City side tipped by many to lift their third league title in six years.

It’ll go down as a real opening day shock if Chris Hughton’s side manage to pull off a result against Pep Guardiola’s revamped City side, who’ve undergone a serious face-lift this summer, with over £200million spent so far in the transfer window.

Despite his hefty price tag, Walker is proving very popular with FPL bosses – he’s currently featuring in over 20% of teams at the time of writing.

This comes as no surprise, given his impressive points haul of 142 last season whilst in Spurs colours, so get in on the act, wave goodbye to £6.5m of your transfer pot and make the England full-back your top defensive priority for Gameweek 1 if you haven’t already.

Wilfried Zaha – Crystal Palace [£7.0m]

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2016/17 was undoubtedly the best season of Wilfried Zaha’s career so far – the Ivorian winger was Palace’s star man as they narrowly avoided relegation to the Championship and has recently committed his long-term future to the club, signing a five-year deal.

Zaha’s Gameweek 1 fixture also features a side experiencing their first taste of the Premier League, as Huddersfield travel to Selhurst Park.







The fixture also sees Frank de Boer take charge of his first competitive fixture since he succeeded Sam Allardyce as Palace boss back in June.

At £7.0m, Zaha remains a bargain amongst a host of big-name midfielders. An added advantage comes in the fact that, fitness permitting, he’ll almost certainly be in Palace starting XI every Gameweek.

The same cannot be said of other midfield options at clubs with much more resources than the South London club.

A kind opening fixture following a sensational 2016/17 season has been enough to convince a whopping 22.9% of FPL bosses to part with £7.0m of their budget – get on board and add Palace’s dazzling winger to your ranks for Gameweek 1.

Romelu Lukaku – Manchester United [£11.5m]

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FPL bosses really are spoilt for choice in the striking department this season – so many options, yet no way of shoehorning them all in to our sides.

Over a third of FPL bosses have already taken the plunge and made Harry Kane their main forward, despite him now being the FPL’s most expensive player at £12.5m, and with good reason – the Spurs man finished last season as the Premier League’s top goalscorer with 29 goals.

However, Manchester United have invested heavily in their strike-force this summer, by bringing in Romelu Lukaku from Everton for a hefty fee.

Given the astronomical cost of adding both Kane and Lukaku to your team (£24m), most of you will be limited to just one.

Which one that should be is, admittedly, a very tough call, as almost 50% of FPL bosses have opted for Lukaku, and I’m in agreement with them – here’s why:

The giant Belgian makes his Old Trafford debut against West Ham – his favourite Premier League opponents, netting nine times in just eleven career appearances against the Hammers.

Kane begins the defence of his Golden Boot at St. James’ Park, as Spurs face Newcastle, who secured a return to the Premier League at the first attempt after suffering relegation in 2015/16.

This is a tricky looking opener for Mauricio Pochettino’s side, who have so far failed to add to their squad in the transfer window.

What’s more, It remains to be seen how Spurs cope with playing their home fixtures at Wembley – a venue where they struggled in last season’s Champions League. So, for Gameweek 1 and beyond, Lukaku looks a safer bet at this stage.

Additionally, opting for Lukaku over Kane will save you £1m to spend elsewhere.

To read PART 2 of our Hot or Not article for Gameweek 1, please click the link below



Thank you for reading ‘Fantasy Premier League Tips: Hot or Not Player Picks – FPL Gameweek 1 [Part 1]’ which was written by @DannyBryan27

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