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 avoided if you're planning on topping your mini-league this season.
Ollie Watkins (£9.0m)
England's Euro 2024 semi-final hero has yet to turn up for his club Aston Villa in pre-season with the league kicking off this weekend, that doesn't bode well for the Villa frontman that currently has 45% ownership.
With some favourable fixtures at the beginning of the season including Leicester, Wolves and Ipswich, last season's highest points scoring forward (228) faces an uphill battle to get close to replicating that form and points total again.
While some may think he is a good pick, I believe there are at least three other forward players who are better value and will get more points than him. Gabriel Jesus, Joao Pedro and Chris Wood all immediately spring to mind.
Kieran Trippier (£6.0m)
Another of last seasons top FPL performers, Trippier was a huge threat from set pieces as he was designated to take the majority of corner and free kicks for the magpies.
But this season may see the right-backs game time limited as Tino Livramento tries to force his way into the team following his €37 million move from Southampton 12 months ago.
Trippier's form in the second half of last season was patchy to say the least and with a more than capable back-up from the 21 year old Livramento, the pressure will be on the former Atletico Madrid man from gameweek 1.
This makes it very hard to justify picking Trippier, when the likes of Trent, Udogie, Dalot and Digne among others are all available.
SEE ALSO: The Best Fantasy Football Names For Your FPL Team In The 2024-25 Season
Darwin Nunez (£7.5m)
The Liverpool front man has only played 68 minutes so far under new boss Arne Slot so will have a considerable amount of work to do to get in the starting 11 with the likes of Diogo Jota, Luis Diaz, Mo Salah and Cody Gakpo all competing for three starting spots in attack for the reds.
The Uruguayan's ability to be in the right place at the right time is what makes him so attractive to FPL players and that shows as he is in the top 10 attackers ownership wise with 6.9%.
The 132 points he earned along with the 11 goals scored was a remarkable return when you consider the amount of times he hit the woodwork and missed golden opportunities last season.
He may see limited game time this season particularly at the beginning of the campaign with the luxury of being able to rotate in the Europa League not an option for the reds anymore.
Kai Havertz (£8.0m)
The 75 million man from London neighbours Chelsea began to show signs at the back end of last season that he was settling into life at Arsenal under Mikel Arteta.
But with massive competition for places between Bukayo Saka, Gabriel Jesus, Leandro Trossard and Gabriel Martinelli to contend with, I fear that Havertz may be the one to lose out if he isn't able to produce consistently.
And for £8m, options like Isak, Solanke, Toney and Füllkrug among others for roughly the same money look better value and more attractive picks.
Antony Gordon (£7.5m)
With a whopping 31.4% ownership, the English midfielder is one of the most owned players in the game heading into the beginning of the 2024/25 season.
With 11 goals and 16 assists he out-performed his Newcastle team-mates to be the highest points scorer last season with an impressive 183.
With a lot of talk surrounding his future at the club this summer, it was rumoured that he wanted a way out of the club and talk circulated that he would favour a move to Liverpool, only for a deal to break down.
It is hard to know how Gordon will react to this, if he was set on leaving the club his form will more than likely take a dip and with a number of other midfield options reasonably priced such as Jarod Bowen, Eberechi Eze and Bernardo Silva, banking on Gordon's form is not worth the risk.
Mark Flekken (£4.5m)
The Brentford shot-stopper may be identified as a cheap goalkeeper option but with Man City, Liverpool and Spurs to play in the first five fixtures, the chances of clean sheets for the Dutchman look to be slim.
With 7 clean sheets and 12 bonus points last season, the 31 year-old was a very popular pick amongst players and rightly so.
But without keeping a clean sheet in pre-season and conceding a bag full of goals, confidence will be low which doesn't bode well for such a tough start to the season.
Alternative options such as Alphonse Areola, Emi Martinez and Vicario may be safer to start the season with.
