Fantasy Premier League 2023: Key Players and Strategies
The Fantasy Premier League season kicks off on Friday 21 August and the tinkering has already gone into overdrive. To cut through the noise, four seasoned FPL minds – Pras, FPL Heisenberg, Gianni Buttice and Holly Shand – have gone club by club, pinning down three things every manager wants to know: the talisman you build around, the differential that can rocket your rank, and the trap you should leave well alone.
Below is where they’d put their chips.
Arsenal
Talisman: Gabriel (£8.0m, defender)
For Pras, there’s no debate. Gabriel is the premium route into the champions’ defence and comes with the numbers to back it up: 209 points last season, the top-scoring defender in the game. Expensive, yes. But if you want a nailed, high-ceiling Arsenal defender, this is the doorway.
Differential: Ben White (£5.5m, defender)
With Jurrien Timber still sidelined, White looks locked in at right-back. He brings attacking threat and solid minutes at a friendlier price. Pras doesn’t see him as a season-long hold, but as an opening run pick, he’s firmly on the radar.
Player to avoid: Christos Tzolis (£6.5m, midfielder)
The talent is there and pre-season has teased it, but Mikel Arteta’s rotation on the left flank is ruthless. Add the likelihood of another left winger arriving, and Pras sees Tzolis as a minutes minefield you don’t need to step on.
Aston Villa
Talisman: Ollie Watkins (£8.0m, forward)
Holly points straight at Watkins. A £1.0m price drop, Morgan Rogers gone, and a four-season run of roughly 16 league goals a year. He could also be on penalties with Youri Tielemans now at Manchester United. Villa’s attack still runs through him.
Differential: Matty Cash (£4.5m, defender)
Nine clean sheets last season, plus Cash’s six attacking returns (three goals, three assists) from right-back. With 30 shots and 30 key passes, Holly sees multiple routes to points at a very palatable price.
Player to avoid: Alejandro Garnacho (£6.0m, midfielder)
New to Villa on loan and priced kindly, but only 1,261 minutes last season for one goal and four assists. With Emi Buendia a serious roadblock, Holly prefers more secure options in that bracket.
Bournemouth
Talisman: Marcus Tavernier (£6.0m, midfielder)
With Antoine Semenyo gone, Bournemouth lean even more on Tavernier’s creativity. Gianni highlights his set-piece share and 11 attacking returns last season. Justin Kluivert looks like the penalty taker, but when he’s off the pitch, Tavernier should step up.
Differential: Adrien Truffert (£5.5m, defender)
Only 5% owned and the second-highest FPL scorer for Bournemouth last season (165 points). Truffert attacks space from left-back, offers open-play goal and assist threat, and hoovers up defensive and bonus points. Gianni calls him an “all action hero” for good reason.
Player to avoid: Evanilson (£6.0m, forward)
Six goals in 32 league games last season and stuck in a crowded £6.0m bracket. Gianni prefers Dominic Calvert-Lewin, Igor Jesus or Brian Brobbey over the Bournemouth forward.
Brentford
Talisman: Igor Thiago (£8.0m, forward)
Heisenberg doesn’t hesitate: Thiago is Brentford’s focal point. Twenty-two league goals and 181 FPL points last season justify the £8.0m tag. The question is whether he can match that after a big price rise, but the upside – especially against weaker sides – is obvious.
Differential: Dango Ouattara (£6.5m, midfielder)
More than five points per start last season and four double-digit hauls. At £6.5m, Ouattara doesn’t need to hit premium numbers to be excellent value. Low ownership means big gains if he starts fast.
Player to avoid: Callum Wilson (£5.5m, forward)
Once an FPL darling, now a bench risk. With Thiago leading the line and other wide forwards like Ouattara and Kevin Schade able to fill in, Heisenberg sees Wilson as too uncertain for your third striker slot.
Brighton
Talisman: Pascal Gross (£5.5m, midfielder)
Pras leans on reliability. Gross takes everything – corners, free-kicks, penalties – and just keeps returning. At £5.5m, he’s not just a points source; he frees up cash elsewhere.
Differential: Luka Vuskovic (£5.0m, defender)
The new centre-back from Spurs should slot straight in. Brighton kept 10 clean sheets last season, bettered by only six sides, and Vuskovic offers both defensive contribution points and shut-out potential at low ownership.
Player to avoid: Georginio Rutter (£5.5m, forward)
Reclassified as a forward and facing competition from Charalampos Kostoulas, Rutter loses both positional appeal and minutes security. Pras doesn’t see enough upside there.
Chelsea
Talisman: Joao Pedro (£7.5m, forward)
Cole Palmer might be the priciest Blue, but Holly notes Joao Pedro is the one fantasy managers are flocking to – over half of all teams own him. Fifteen goals, nine assists last season and a productive pre-season capped by a hat-trick underline why.
Differential: Levi Colwill (£5.0m, defender)
£1.0m cheaper than Maxence Lacroix and set to anchor Chelsea’s defence. After an injury-hit year, Colwill looks well-placed to rack up defensive contribution points. Holly also circles a home game against promoted Hull in Gameweek 4 as an early opportunity.
Player to avoid: Enzo Fernandez (£7.0m, midfielder)
A strong World Cup, but a red card in the final and now heavy transfer speculation. Holly flags uncertainty over his future and a potentially late return before Gameweek 1 as reasons to steer clear.
Coventry City
Talisman: Haji Wright (£5.5m, forward)
Gianni sees Wright as Coventry’s clear spearhead after 17 Championship goals last term. Those planning an early bench boost will note his Gameweek 2 home fixture against Hull. One caveat: he’s often hooked around the 70–80 minute mark.
Talisman (budget): Carl Rushworth (£4.5m, goalkeeper)
At just 1% ownership, Rushworth becomes interesting if you’re rotating two cheap keepers. He pairs neatly with Brighton’s Bart Verbruggen (£4.5m).
Player to avoid: Milan van Ewijk (£4.0m, defender)
Eight assists in the Championship turned heads, but Gianni prefers less popular £4.0m options who rack up defensive points more consistently – including team-mate Bobby Thomas.
Crystal Palace
Talisman: Ismaila Sarr (£6.5m, midfielder)
Sarr is central to Palace’s attack. Heisenberg points to his volume of shots and big chances, plus some penalty upside when Jean-Philippe Mateta is off the pitch. At £6.5m, he could be slightly underpriced if he keeps dominating their transitions.
Differential: Daniel Munoz (£5.5m, defender)
One of the league’s most attacking defenders under Oliver Glasner, Munoz offers clean sheets, defcon points, assists and goals. The big question is whether Pierre Sage keeps him as aggressive. Heisenberg says he’s one to monitor – and own if that role continues, even if a transfer within the league materialises.
Player to avoid: Jorgen Strand Larsen (£6.0m, forward)
If Mateta is first choice, Larsen’s minutes shrink. For a £6.0m striker, Heisenberg wants 90-minute security and penalties – boxes someone like Calvert-Lewin ticks far more convincingly.
Everton
Talisman: James Tarkowski (£6.0m, defender)
Fifth-highest scoring defender last season with 170 points. Tarkowski racks up defensive contributions regardless of opponent, making him, in Pras’s words, almost fixture-proof. Set and forget.
Differential: Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall (£6.5m, midfielder)
Eight goals and seven assists last season, plus some set-piece duty. Pras sees him as central to Everton’s attacking play again and a viable mid-priced midfield pick.
Player to avoid: Beto (£5.5m, forward)
Seventeen starts, nine goals and shared minutes with Thierno Barry. Everton’s attack doesn’t scream volume, and Pras suggests simply spending the extra £0.5m on a more reliable striker.
Fulham
Talisman: Rodrigo Muniz (£5.5m, forward)
With Harry Wilson and Raul Jimenez gone, Fulham’s attacking hierarchy is thin. Muniz is one of their priciest assets but returned just one goal and one assist from 10 starts last season. New signing Gonzalo Garcia, £0.5m dearer, adds pressure for minutes.
Differential: Antonee Robinson (£4.5m, defender)
Ten assists the season before last showed his upside. Nine clean sheets last campaign keep him in the conversation. Holly also notes a slim possibility of penalty duty after several departures, which would make Robinson a serious bargain.
Player to avoid: Sander Berge (£5.0m, midfielder)
Three assists and five defcon hauls from 34 starts for 91 points. Steady but unspectacular, and with constant transfer links away from Craven Cottage, Holly prefers to leave him out of early drafts.
Hull City
Talisman: Oli McBurnie (£5.5m, forward)
Seventeen goals, eight assists and the man who scored the stoppage-time winner in the play-off final. McBurnie is Hull’s standout FPL option on paper, but Heisenberg is blunt: he’d rather spend a little more on Calvert-Lewin or Brobbey and is avoiding Hull altogether at the start.
Differential: Ryan Giles (£4.0m, defender)
Eight assists in the promotion campaign show his attacking quality from left-back, but Matty Targett offers stiff competition. Couple that with Hull’s weak clean-sheet prospects and Heisenberg sees better £4.0m punts elsewhere.
Player to avoid: Liam Millar (£5.0m, midfielder)
Heisenberg could have named almost any Hull player here. Attacking chances will be limited and clean sheets scarce. If you must go cheap Hull midfield, he’d even drop to Regan Slater at £4.5m instead.
Ipswich Town
Talisman: Emersonn (£5.5m, forward)
A record signing from Toulouse and expected to lead the line. Gianni believes he could quickly become Gary O’Neil’s main man up top.
Differential: Daizen Maeda (£5.5m, midfielder)
Classified as a midfielder but operating wide in attack, Maeda arrives from Celtic with 50 goals in 149 Scottish Premiership games and a strong World Cup for Japan behind him. At 0.4% ownership, he’s a deep differential worth tracking.
Player to avoid: Chuba Akpom (£5.0m, forward)
Gianni expects him to be an impact sub at best. The name is familiar from his Middlesbrough exploits, but minutes will be scarce.
Leeds United
Talisman: Dominic Calvert-Lewin (£6.0m, forward)
Fourteen goals, two assists last season and penalties in his locker. Holly notes he stayed fit enough for 35 appearances in his debut Leeds campaign and now dominates the budget forward bracket, with around a quarter of managers backing him.
Differential: Harry Wilson (£6.5m, midfielder)
Nineteen goal involvements (10 goals, nine assists) last season for Fulham and now part of a revamped Leeds attack. If he nails a starting spot and set-pieces, Wilson could become a key asset – though the £0.5m premium over Calvert-Lewin may give managers pause.
Player to avoid: Jaka Bijol (£5.0m, defender)
Eight clean sheets last season and James Trafford arriving to improve that, but Holly points out there’s a cheaper, safer way in: Joe Rodon at £4.5m, who delivered 20 defcon points.
Liverpool
Talisman: Dominik Szoboszlai (£7.0m, midfielder)
Pras calls him Liverpool’s standout option. Regular minutes, set-piece involvement and solid all-round output have already drawn in nearly half of all managers. He looks like the central piece in their FPL puzzle.
Differential: Florian Wirtz (£7.5m, midfielder)
A creative force now expected to play closer to goal under Andoni Iraola. If the system clicks, Pras expects Wirtz to comfortably beat last season’s five goals and four assists.
Player to avoid: Jeremy Jacquet (£5.0m, defender)
Returning from a long injury, short on pre-season minutes and now behind loan signing Ronald Araujo in the pecking order. Everything points to a slow integration.
Manchester City
Talisman: Erling Haaland (£15.5m, forward)
Record-breaking price, record-breaking ownership. Gianni acknowledges his limited pre-season minutes and no guarantee of 90 against Bournemouth, but with Crystal Palace and Coventry to follow, going without the game’s ultimate talisman is a bold, perhaps reckless, call.
Differential: Phil Foden (£7.0m, midfielder)
A full pre-season and seemingly in line to start the opener. At just 7% owned, Foden offers a huge ceiling. The risk? One poor display and Pep Guardiola has the depth to rotate him out.
Player to avoid: Marc Guehi (£6.0m, defender)
Fourth-most popular defender in the game, but Gianni underlines the problem: his starting spot under Enzo Maresca is far from guaranteed, with Ruben Dias and Josko Gvardiol both at £5.5m and firmly in the frame.
Manchester United
Talisman: Bruno Fernandes (£12.0m, midfielder)
Twenty-four assists, 235 points and now a £12.0m price tag. Heisenberg highlights his penalties, set-pieces and creative burden as reasons he remains a monster FPL asset, especially with Hull and Ipswich in the first two weeks. The cost hurts, but the captaincy upside is huge.
Differential: Matheus Cunha (£8.0m, midfielder)
Just 12.7% owned compared to Bryan Mbeumo’s 23.9%, Cunha finished last season with four goals and an assist in his final seven matches. His ability to play across the frontline makes him dangerous, though it also raises the risk of shared minutes.
Player to avoid: Benjamin Sesko (£7.0m, forward)
Eleven goals in his first Premier League season show the talent is real. Heisenberg’s issue is minutes: with more fixtures on the calendar and heavy competition, he sees safer routes into United’s attack in Fernandes and Cunha, at least early on.
Newcastle United
Talisman: Nick Woltemade (£6.0m, forward)
A turbulent summer at St James’ Park leaves Woltemade as the main FPL focal point. Eight goals and four assists from 24 starts last season give him a platform, and he’ll fight to stay ahead of Yoane Wissa for minutes.
Differential: Malick Thiaw (£5.0m, defender)
Newcastle’s defensive standards dipped last season, but Thiaw still emerged as their top-scoring defender with four goals and 12 defcon hauls from 33 games. Holly believes a repeat of that output would more than justify his price.
Player to avoid: Lewis Hall (£5.0m, defender)
Three goal involvements but 47 fewer points than Thiaw. His style doesn’t mesh as well with the scoring matrix, and transfer rumours away from the club add another layer of risk.
Nottingham Forest
Talisman: Morgan Gibbs-White (£8.0m, midfielder)
Fifteen goals, four assists and the third-highest scoring FPL midfielder last season. Pras expects Gibbs-White to flourish under Oliver Glasner in the left-sided No 10 role again. The question is whether he can hit those heights twice.
Differential: Neco Williams (£5.0m, defender)
Wing-back in a Glasner system, some set-pieces and good defcon numbers. Pras draws a direct line to Daniel Munoz’s success under the same manager last year and sees Williams as a strong value pick.
Player to avoid: Chris Wood (£6.0m, forward)
At 34 and coming off an injury-hit season, Wood now faces serious competition from Igor Jesus, who has impressed in pre-season. That minutes risk is enough for Pras to pass.
Sunderland
Talisman: Enzo le Fee (£6.0m, midfielder)
Five goals, six assists and a steady stream of defensive points in his first Premier League campaign. Heisenberg sees Le Fee as Sunderland’s most reliable FPL option, with potential penalties adding another string to his bow.
Differential: Granit Xhaka (£5.5m, midfielder)
Just one goal but six assists and a hefty 26 defcon points from 32 starts. Xhaka is low glamour, high reliability, and Sunderland’s opening fixtures – Ipswich away then Fulham at home – give him a platform to deliver early.
Player to avoid: Wilson Isidor (£5.5m, forward)
Tempting price, proven scorer, but stuck behind Brian Brobbey in the striker pecking order. With so many cheap forwards available, Heisenberg doesn’t see the need to gamble here.
Tottenham Hotspur
Talisman: Pedro Porro (£5.5m, defender)
Gianni calls Porro the closest thing Spurs have to a talisman. Their highest-owned asset, he was outstanding last season and arrives off the back of a strong World Cup for Spain. With doubts over Dominic Solanke and James Maddison’s fitness, Porro is the early Spurs go-to.
Differential: Mathys Tel (£6.0m, midfielder)
Under 0.5% owned and clearly trusted by Roberto De Zerbi. Tel finished last season in eye-catching form, playing high and wide on the left, and even scored a 30-yard free-kick in pre-season against Sydney FC. If he nails down that role, he could explode.
Player to avoid: Marcos Senesi (£6.0m, defender)
A star for Bournemouth last year, but his Spurs prospects are murky. De Zerbi’s set-up is still unclear and Senesi faces stiff competition at centre-back. At £6.0m, Gianni sees too much risk for too little clarity.
The pieces are on the board. Prices are set, ownerships are rising, and the deadline is coming fast. The question now is simple: who do you trust to carry your season, and who will you be brave enough to leave out?
