In this blog the Top Five Fantasy Premier League (FPL) Key Players for Gameweek 1 are discussed. Each FPL Gameweek picks will always be in the below format:

1x Defender or Goalkeeper

2x Attackers less than £8.5m

2x Attackers £8.5m or over

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Headliner - Erling Haaland (bur)

Last year's Golden Boot winner, Haaland, found the back of the net 36 times and as the Stats Sandbox image below shows, he was top for shots in the box (SiB) (115), 'big chances' (BC) (59) and 'Expected Goals' (xG) (28.94). Man. City were the top scorers with 94 goals and were also top for both BC (132) and xG (77.10). Their hosts Burnley had the best defensive record in the Championship last season and conceded only 35 goals, they were also ranked top for 'Expected Goals Conceded' (xGC) (38.2). Our Fix Algorithm currently projects a point score of 5.7 for Haaland.

Evaluate players with Opta statistics.

Marcus Rashford (WOL)

Rashford scored 13 goals at Old Trafford last season, no midfielder scored more in home matches. Rated at 96% to start by our Predicted Lineups feature, he was also top amongst midfielders for shots on target (SoT) (33) and BC (25), with only Salah (15.59) recording a higher xG (12.16) on home turf. Man. Utd scored 36 goals at home and were ranked third for SoT (119), behind only Arsenal (123) and Brighton (134). Their visitors Wolves conceded 38 goals in away matches and kept just a single clean sheet on their travels. The Midlands side were ranked 13th for shots conceded (287) and xGC (31.25). Our Fix Algorithm currently projects a point score of 4.7 for Rashford.

Gabriel Martinelli (NFO)

Martinelli scored nine goals for the Gunners at the Emirates last season, with only Saka (10) faring better in home matches amongst their midfielders. As the below image from our Fix Heatmaps feature shows, he averaged 5.7 FPL points per game at home and his 33 SiB could only be bettered by Saka (41), while Ødegaard (41) and Saka (46) were the only players to createmore chances than his 35. Arsenal scored 53 goals at the Emirates with only Man. City (60) more prolific in home matches. No team took more shots at home than the Gunners (354), and they were ranked fourth for xG (40.73). Their visitors Forest struggled on the road last campaign and shipped 44 goals, more than any other side. Only Bournemouth (224) and Everton (236) allowed opponents more SiB (218). Our Fix Algorithm currently projects a point score of 5.1 for Martinelli

Use a range of pitch maps to help inform your transfers.

Kaoru Mitoma (LUT)

Mitoma was top amongst Brighton midfielders for goals scored (three), assists (five) and BC (nine) from Gameweek 20 on and will be looking to build on a strong debut campaign. As the below image from our Fixture Analyser shows, Brighton have a great run of fixtures over the opening six Gameweeks making their assets a great pick for the long term. Brighton scored 72 goals last season with only Liverpool (75), Arsenal (88) and Man. City (94) performing better. The Seagulls were ranked third for xG (73.96). Their opponents Luton were ranked second for both goals conceded (39) and xGC (43.8) in the Championship, but the Premier League is likely to prove a far sterner test. Our Fix Algorithm currently projects a point score of 4.7 for Mitoma.

Analyse team’s upcoming fixtures.

Pervis Estupiñán (LUT)

Estupiñán was one of Brighton's most creative players with the left-back ranked third amongst defenders for chances created last season (31). He also had significant goal threat and was ranked sixth for shots (17). Luton were ranked eighth for both goals scored (57) and xG (58.2) in the Championship which bodes well for cleansheets here. It was Luton’s defence that played a key role in their promotion over their attack. The Seagulls conceded 53 goals last campaign and kept 12 clean sheets, and were ranked fifth best for SiB conceded (394). Our Fix Algorithm currently projects a 50% probability of a Brighton clean sheet and a point score of 5.0 for Estupiñán.

Use predictive FPL statistics to increase your Gameweek points.

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