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<p><em>This article takes an in-depth look at the squad built for <strong>Fantasy Premier League Gameweek 1</strong>, and then finishes with a transfer plan to maintain it alongside captaincy for each week.</em></p>
<p><strong>Believe you can win Fantasy Premier League</strong>, because you can.</p>
<ul>
<li><a href="https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/fantasyfootballtips/">FPL Strategy and Tips – Fantasy Premier League 2021/22</a></li>
<li><a href="https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/premier-league-team-previews-and-best-players/">Premier League Fantasy Football 2021/22 Tips: Team Previews and Best Players</a></li>
<li><a href="https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/fpl-best-opening-fixtures/">The Best Opening FPL Fixtures 2021/22</a></li>
</ul>
<p>I must say before I start, a fair few of these players were mentioned in one of my previous articles "Zombie Team". As such the analysis on certain individuals will be primarily the same but tailored to accommodate fixtures and other shorter term variables to make them justifiable for selection.</p>
<h2></h2>
<h2>The Philosophy</h2>
<p>This team was built around two fundamental ideas of Fantasy Premier League, one which most align with, the other not so much. I've been on the side of both of these theories and am strongly convicted this is the way to go.</p>
<ol>
<li>Talisman Theory</li>
</ol>
<p>The team selected below contains a large proportion of players who are either the most or second most relevant in their side when it comes to attacking output and more importantly returning points. The allocation of the budget has ensured that players who are going to be regularly starting in the side all fit this criteria, defenders excluded to an extent.</p>
<p>Resultant of this I was more than happy to concede one more premium player than most in order to strengthen the rest of the squad.</p>
<p>2. Strength in depth</p>
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<p>I've taken the approach to maximise the potential of my starting eleven by allocating as much of the budget as I possibly can to it and have found it doesn't work. Unforeseen circumstances will certainly hit you at one point in your season and you need to be prepared for this. Take a look at last year's COVID cancellations as an example.</p>
<p>Whilst I don't expect COVID to affect the season (just my opinion, can't say for certain), there will be other instances such as unexpected poor performances, injuries, postponements, blank and double gameweek's where a good bench is required to fill the void.</p>
<p>This isn't to say your bench needs a plethora of options who are all top performers in their respective sides, but simply some cover for the main guys, as any good side needs.</p>
<p>Just look at how Pep Guardiola manages Manchester City.</p>
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<h2>Fantasy Premier League Gameweek 1 Team:</h2>
<h3>Robert Sanchez:</h3>
<p>At £4.5m he's slightly under-priced in comparison to the rest of the goalkeepers who are viable options. The extra £0.5m was needed to facilitate the rest of the squad but <strong>Illan Meslier (£5.0m)</strong> is just as good an option if you can afford him.</p>
<p>Brighton have a good set of fixtures for the first nine gameweek's which allows you to leave your keeper as a set and forget. Transfers will be far more effective for moves with greater upside, e.g. swapping premium players for captaincy or attacking differentials.</p>
<p>Graham Potter's style of management was mightily impressive last season, and whilst the results weren't excellent many of the performances were showcased by their "Expected" statistics. One thing to mention is Sanchez was great last season when he stepped in for Matt Ryan.</p>
<p>He was the only goalkeeper to underperform his xPoints in comparison to the top 10 highest scoring goalkeepers. It's unsustainable to think Brighton will continue to play this well and him to still return under his expected value, as such I expect a regression to the mean and big hauls for Sanchez this year.</p>
<p>The Hub's predictive tool has him down to have the highest points per game using their predictive tool for all keepers below £5.0m in the first four games.</p>
<p><img class="aligncenter wp-image-37465 size-large" src="https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/Sanchez-1024x197.png" alt="FPL Gameweek 1 Team" width="1024" height="197" /></p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>You can find a full range of statistics with the <a href="https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/opta/"><strong>OPTA Stats FPL tool</strong></a>.</p>
<h3></h3>
<h3>Ben White:</h3>
<p>"White’s transfer fee of £50 million ensures he will start every game when fit, which over the course of a season is music to a manager’s ears.</p>
<p>Secondly, with <strong>Thomas Partey (£5.0m)</strong> now settled at the club, Arsenal should enjoy a defensive security that they’ve lacked over previous seasons. I don’t expect any attacking threat from him given he amassed an xG of just 0.42 last season.</p>
<p>However, providing a regular source of clean sheets at his price points makes him a more than justified selection." - Zombie Team article.</p>
<p>In addition this, when looking at the fixture run, it's a very healthy one barring Gameweek 2 and 3 all the way up to Gameweek 11.</p>
<p>It's a huge opportunity to get on him early as I imagine he could see a huge price rise following the conclusion of Gameweek 4. Statistically Arsenal tend to fair far better against the "lesser teams" from a defensive standpoint so I can imagine White becomes a popular pick sooner rather than later. He just emphasises the point of minimising transfers, employing "Buffer Theory" and using those transfers for larger upside moves.</p>
<h3></h3>
<h3>Luke Ayling:</h3>
<p>"There aren’t many better options at his price-point, he facilitates the enhancement of the rest of the squad.</p>
<p>Whilst his returns didn’t materialise for <strong>FPL managers</strong> last season, his <a href="https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/opta/"><strong>underlying statistics</strong></a> were great. He had an <strong>xA (expected assists) of 3.54.</strong> To give context, <strong>Stuart Dallas (£5.5m)</strong> only recorded an <strong>xA of 3.13 </strong>and managed three assists.</p>
<p>Hopefully for his owners, Ayling fills his potential by playing in the full-back role and becomes this season’s Dallas.</p>
<p>I’m quite bullish on the <strong>Leeds defence</strong> following the change in system in the second half of the season. This was best demonstrated in the game against <a href="https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/premier-league-fantasy-football-manchester-city-best-player-picks/"><strong>Manchester City</strong></a><strong>, </strong>where they adopted a low block structure and looked to counter.</p>
<p>It’s beneficial because the lack of a high press (in comparison to the first half of the season) allows them to perform better against the bigger teams with more technical players (that can crowd the midfield out quicker).</p>
<p>It’s difficult to score consistently against a side where the time and space between the lines will be so minimal. With players like <strong>Jack Harrison (£6.0m)</strong> and <strong>Raphinha (£6.5m)</strong> on the flanks possessing the work rate they do, that only gets harder.</p>
<p>To put in to perspective how drastic this tactical change was; between Gameweek 1-19, Leeds had an <strong>xGA (expected goals allowed) of 31.59</strong> (ranking 2nd worst). In the second half of the season, their <strong>xGA was 27.12</strong>. It doesn’t seem like a huge improvement, but it took them from 2nd worse to 10th best." - Zombie Team article.</p>
<p>Similar to White if you look at his fixtures from Gameweek 3 or even Gameweek 2 depending on your perspective of Everton (I'd say currently Gameweek 2 as Everton don't look great), then Ayling shows his capability to be a steal at his price point as you don't have to rotate him and at £4.5m you are getting a guaranteed starter every week, with good fixtures and large potential attacking upside.</p>
<h3></h3>
<h3>Luke Shaw:</h3>
<p>"In the form of his life, boasts a brilliant <strong>capability for attacking returns</strong> with his quality down the left flank. He has all the <strong>underlying statistics</strong> in his favour, has three fantastic and defensively sound players along his line, and is playing in a side who look to be flourishing going forward in pre-season especially.</p>
<p>Not too expensive either, and at <strong>52.8% ownership</strong> it’s not worth the risk to go against him when he provides such a compelling case." - Zombie Team article.</p>
<p>If you combine this with a good set of first seven fixtures including Southampton, Wolves and Newcastle, respectively, in that order from Gameweek 2 - 4 then his ceiling increases and becomes even more reliable. Further his xA last season of 5.56 was tremendous and again I expect a regression to the mean, so this time he actually reaps the rewards of his brilliant chance creation.</p>
<p>Finally he assisted <strong>Harry Maguire (£5.5m)</strong> in preseason against Everton highlighting his potential and improvement following Utd acquiring a new set piece coach.</p>
<h3></h3>
<h3>Trent Alexander-Arnold and Konstantinos Tsimikas:</h3>
<p>The Liverpool full-back duo, whilst Robertson is injured at least.</p>
<p>"He recorded the <strong>second-most FPL points amongst defenders</strong> last season, and that was classified as a bad one.</p>
<p>With <strong>Virgil Van Dijk (£6.5m)</strong> returning to the side eventually and the acquisition of <strong>Ibrahima Konate (£5.5m), </strong>Alexander-Arnold will have less defensive duties. This should provide him with a sense of security and a licence to bomb forward.</p>
<p>Regardless of how Liverpool’s season goes he will certainly deliver attacking returns. Given his unmatched creative abilities from a full-back role “creating” a huge ceiling for himself, he provides too much upside not to own.</p>
<p>The Hub’s predictive tool also have him down as the defender to record the most points in the first four gameweeks." - Zombie Team article.</p>
<p><img class="aligncenter wp-image-37426 size-large" src="https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/Screenshot-2021-08-11-at-14.34.33-1024x190.png" alt="fantasy premier league gameweek 1 team" width="1024" height="190" /></p>
<p>It's unnecessary to overcomplicate his selection further, he will hurt you too many times in a season and he's worth paying the extra money for. Yes, without him you can build a draft where the rest of the team becomes really strong, however I don't think it will make up for what he can provide at this price point.</p>
<p>Tsimikas at £4.0m isn't a difficult decision, he's got brilliant set piece taking ability, a good preseason behind him and a manger who's got full faith in himself "Greek Scouser", for a three week punt at worst, you will struggle to find better.</p>
<p>The fixtures are fantastic, full stop.</p>
<h3></h3>
<h3>Riyad Mahrez:</h3>
<p>"<strong>Riyad Mahrez</strong> looks set to start the season with very, <strong>very little rotation risk</strong> and will be Pep Guardiola's star man going forward.</p>
<p>Considering he took the pressure penalty against Borussia Dortmund and <strong>Kevin De Bruyne (£12.0m)</strong> is unlikely to be back from injury, I expect him to be <strong>on penalties</strong> which always helps.</p>
<p>He's appeared to be <a href="https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/fpl-pre-season-guide/"><strong>very sharp in pre-season</strong></a> which is always a good sign. It allows a flow of momentum and increased confidence heading into the <strong>2021/22 FPL season</strong>.</p>
<p>From the eye-test and especially what I saw in the Community Shield, it looks really good for prospective Mahrez owners.</p>
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