The Premier League is back this Friday, and so is FPL. For anyone drafting their team for Gameweek 1, here are 6 FPL players to avoid for the start of the season. These players are on high ownership percentages and should be faded, according to the great FPL writer AbuBakar Siddiq.
Aaron Ramsdale (£5.0m)
FPL imposes a limit of three players per club in your team, so it’s crucial to avoid selecting a budget pick from a given club if you anticipate wanting three higher-quality options from the same side later on.
Arsenal are a top team and have a very kind fixture schedule to begin with hence it is imperative that you begin with three of their top most assets.
For example, this is why I believe someone like Aaron Ramsdale (£5.0m) from Arsenal is a poor pick even though he sits in nearly 20% of the squads at the time of writing.
While he may be a good pick in isolation, I believe there are at least three other Arsenal players who are better to own than him.
William Saliba (£5.0m)
A very similar argument applies to 16% owned Saliba as well.
In my opinion, Gabriel is a superior pick.
Among the Arsenal defenders, Gabriel is my preferred choice, as he offers the most assurance in terms of starting regularly. This factor will hold even more significance this season, with Arsenal participating in the Champions League.
He was also second for xG among defenders last season.
Six of Arsenal's opening seven opponents were in the bottom seven for xG conceded from set plays last season which is a match up you'd like to target.
Saliba is also just coming back from injury so there is a chance that he could miss the odd game here or there.
READ ALSO: The Best Fantasy Football Names For Your FPL Team In The 2023-24 Season
Kieran Trippier (£6.5m)
At the time of writing, Trippier has been selected by 35% of FPL managers in their squads which makes him the second highest owned defender in the game.
A lot of it is down to the fact that Trippier was the top scoring defender in terms of FPL points last season, scoring nearly 200 points.
However, Newcastle have a very rough start to begin with. They are scheduled to play Aston Villa, Man City, Liverpool and Brighton in their opening four fixtures - all teams you would expect them to concede against.
This makes it very hard to justify Trippier, that too at a premium price point when the likes of Chilwell, James, Stones, Dias, Shaw, Gabriel and Estupinan are all cheaper.
Amari'i Bell (£4.0m)
Bell is the highest owned £4.0m defender in the game right now.
In my opinion, he's susceptible to a price drop as he plays for a weak defence and is also going to blank in Gameweek 2.
If you're looking for a Luton defender, I think Issa Kaboré is the one to pick given that he is likely to have more attacking threat as a wing-back. Wing-backs are integral to Luton's style of play and Kaboré has little competition for his position.
There's also George Baldock from Sheffield United and Jordan Beyer from Burnley who play for slightly superior defences but have been given the same price as Bell.
Alexis Mac Allister (£6.0m)
In my opinion, there are two main reasons behind Mac Allister's unusually high ownership of 13.6% at the moment.
First is the fact that he has joined a big club which naturally leads to an increase in FPL ownership as a result of the large fanbase. Second are the memories of the second half of last season where Mac Allister was scoring plenty of FPL points for Brighton.
However, it is important to realize that a large chunk of those points came either from penalties or when he was playing as a #10. In the presence of Mohamed Salah, Mac Allister is not expected to be on penalties nor is he expected to play in an advanced midfield position.
Alexander Isak (£7.0m)
A Newcastle forward is very difficult to justify with their tough fixture schedule.
Throughout pre-season, Isak has shared minutes with Wilson for the central striker position and I expect that trend to continue.
Isak played as a left winger towards the end of last season but unfortunately it led to a decrease in the quality of chances that he was getting.
There's plenty of competition on the left wing now as well with Harvery Barnes coming in.
It's best to wait and watch all Newcastle assets at the moment, as we need time to have an informed opinion about their best options, keeping in light their qualification for the Champions League and the security of minutes.
