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            <p>The brilliant <a href="https://twitter.com/BigManBakar">@BigManBakar</a> shares his FINAL Gameweek 1 FPL team ahead of the 22/23 season, powered by <a href="https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/opta/">the Hub's data</a> and a stellar FPL record.</p>
<p>He’ll also explain the reasoning behind each of his picks.</p>
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<h3></h3>
<h3><strong>Aaron Ramsdale (£5.0m)</strong></h3>
<p>I usually tend to start with £4.5m goalkeepers, but this season has made me rethink that strategy.</p>
<p>Only <strong>Alisson (£5.5m)</strong>, <strong>Ederson (£5.5m)</strong> and <strong>Hugo Lloris (£5.5m)</strong> had a better FPL points-per-game average than Ramsdale last season.</p>
<p>Hence, it is to my pleasant surprise that Ramsdale is only owned by 11% of the managers at the time of writing.</p>
<p><a href="https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/premier-league-fantasy-football-tips-arsenal-team-preview/">Arsenal</a> have a great run of fixtures to start with – they only play Manchester United from last season’s top six in their opening eight fixtures.</p>
<p>The Gunners kept 13 clean sheets last season, so we know they have the tendency to produce defensive returns when the <a href="https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/fixture-ticker-old/">fixtures</a> are in their favour.</p>
<p>Furthermore, Ramsdale has the best minutes per baseline BPS ratio among all the Arsenal defensive assets, which makes him likely to accumulate bonus whenever Arsenal keep a clean sheet.</p>
<p>I prefer Ramsdale to Mendy as I believe he has more haul potential - which is why he had a better FPL points per game average than Mendy last season, despite the slump in Arsenal's defensive solidity in this calendar year.</p>
<p><img class="alignnone size-large wp-image-47775" src="https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/Screenshot-2022-08-01-at-09.16.47-1024x833.jpg" alt="bakar's gameweek 1 team reveal" width="1024" height="833" /></p>
<ul>
<li><strong>Like digging into the stats? You need our</strong> <strong><a href="https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/opta/">OPTA tool.</a></strong></li>
</ul>
<h3><strong>Danny Ward (£4.0m)</strong></h3>
<p>Until a couple of weeks ago, there were no starting £4.0m keepers in the game.</p>
<p>However, Leicester goalkeeper <strong>Kasper Schmeichel (£5.0m)</strong> has left for OGC Nice which brings <strong>Danny Ward (£4.0m),</strong> Leicester’s substitute goalkeeper, to the forefront.</p>
<p>These comments from Leicester manager Brendan Rodgers give me further confidence about Ward being first choice to begin with:</p>
<p>“Danny Ward is an exceptional keeper, I’ve always said we’ve got a number one keeper there. If Kasper is to go, he’s a big possibility for us. I think we would still need to bring in another one as a back-up. I’d be happy with that.”</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<h2>Defenders</h2>
<h3><strong>Trent Alexander Arnold (£7.5m)</strong></h3>
<p>No defender created more chances or had a better xGi per 90 than Alexander Arnold last season.</p>
<p>He's one of the most nailed players in my team - regardless of price.</p>
<h3><strong>Andrew Robertson (£7.0m)</strong></h3>
<p>I’m actually shocked to see that Robertson is owned by just 10% of FPL managers at the moment – especially given his strong finish to 2021/22.</p>
<p>No defender had a better points per game average than Robertson’s 7.4 since Gameweek 14 last season.</p>
<p>It was at this point that Robertson hit a serious run of form, and never looked back: in 20 starts, he only failed to register a clean sheet or an attacking return on two occasions, which is remarkable. He also recorded six double digit hauls in that spell.</p>
<p>The consistency and explosiveness that he offers is unlikely to be matched by most midfielders in the £7-8m club.</p>
<p><img class="alignnone size-large wp-image-47776" src="https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/Screenshot-2022-08-01-at-09.18.57-1024x830.jpg" alt="bakar gameweek 1 fpl team" width="1024" height="830" /></p>
<h3><strong>João Cancelo (£7.0m)</strong></h3>
<p>Cancelo at £7m is very appealing.</p>
<p>He's playing for what was <a href="https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/opta/">statistically</a> the best defence in the league in terms of big chances and xG conceded last season.</p>
<p><a href="https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/premier-league-fantasy-football-tips-manchester-city-team-preview-2022-23/">Man City</a> have amazing fixtures to begin with as well, so I see Cancelo as a very safe pick.</p>
<p>He had the most shots among all defenders in the league in 21/22, and was third among all Man City players for big chances created as well.</p>
<p>He's also very under-rated at accumulating bonus which makes him an all round explosive asset.</p>
<h3><strong>Reece James (£6.0m)</strong></h3>
<p>Only Alexander Arnold recorded a better xGi per 90 among defenders than James last season.</p>
<p>We have seen time and again how explosive an asset James can be - to be very honest, I would have paid even £6.5m for him.</p>
<p><a href="https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/premier-league-fantasy-football-tips-team-preview-chelsea/">Chelsea</a> have kept just the one clean sheet in pre-season but Reece James is yet to leave my draft. I believe that he's too good as an asset to leave out if Chelsea are playing five at the back - which I expect them to do.</p>
<p><img class="alignnone size-large wp-image-47777" src="https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/Screenshot-2022-08-01-at-09.22.51-1024x828.jpg" alt="bakar gameweek 1 team" width="1024" height="828" /></p>
<h3><strong>Ivan Perisic (£5.5m)</strong></h3>
<p><strong>Despite rumours of a potential benching against Southampton, I have still selected £5.5m Perisic in my squad. </strong></p>
<p>It is a controversial decision - but with 11 playable attackers already in my team, I don't see a better alternative available with the options I have played around with.</p>
<p>I'm absolutely convinced about Perisic this season and after Gameweek 3 he will have a huge role to play in my team. I'm happy to take a price drop or two on the chin as I believe I will make up the lost value in no time after Gameweek 3. I believe keeping him gives me the chance to catch his upside after Gameweek 3 - an upside which I believe none of the City defenders like Walker or Dias have. Here is why I feel so strongly about him:</p>
<p>No team has conceded fewer big chances than Spurs since Conte has taken the helm. Only Liverpool and Man City have kept more clean sheets in this spell. There is definitely a lot of potential in the Spurs wing-backs, especially for someone of Perisic's pedigree.</p>
<p>He has already had great success working with Conte in the past - no defender in the Serie A had a better xGi per 90 than Perisic under Conte in 20/21. Perisic had a xGi per 90 of 0.44 in 20/21 &amp; 0.39 last season - with those kind of numbers, he'd be right up there among the very best in the league:</p>
<p><strong><em>xGi per 90 (Since Conte's arrival)</em></strong></p>
<p><em>Trent 0.48</em></p>
<p><em>Reguilon 0.46</em></p>
<p><em>Doherty 0.41</em></p>
<p><em>Chilwell 0.37</em></p>
<p><em>James/Cancelo 0.35</em></p>
<p><em>Robertson 0.30</em></p>
<p>Despite rumours of a potential benching against Southampton, I have still selected £5.5m Perisic in my squad.</p>
<p>It is a controversial decision - but with 11 playable attackers already in my team, I don't see a better alternative available with the options I have played around with. I'm absolutely convinced about Perisic this season, and after Gameweek 3 he will have a huge role to play in my team. I'm happy to take a price drop or two on the chin as I believe I will make up the lost value in no time after Gameweek 3.</p>
<h2><strong>Midfielders</strong></h2>
<h3><strong>Mohamed Salah (£13.0m)</strong></h3>
<p>Salah's price is a bit on the expensive side, but he's still a lock for me.</p>
<p>He's the most reliable captaincy option in the game, which sets him apart from the rest of the pack, and makes him worth the premium.</p>
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