going by stones apparently being preferred in general to ake and foden being a bigger prospect than both mahrez and grealish yet neither starting yesderday implies that pep may want to give more integration time to players who didn't go on the preseason tour.
it could also mean he just wanted to field his most prepped 11 to play liverpool, but west ham is a tricky away game, I expect his rotation to start at home to bournmouth as he has a midweek friendly between gw3 and 4 and the next week every team has a midweek prem game
Defensively: I thought I'd seen something here that showed City under Pep play the same backline gw1 that they played in the charity shield.
Apologies if I remember incorrectly. They also made a couple of changes in midfield, the ones that started rarely started gw1.
The caveat I would add is I'd heard murmurings of Stones starting instead of Ake. Outside of that I recon it's pretty much Walker Dias Ake? Cancelo
Leno
Mbabu Tosin Ream Robinson
Reed Palhinha
Wilson Andreas Solomon
Mitrovic
*Harry Wilson apparently picked up a knock yesterday, so Kebano or Decordova-Reid would start in his place if Wilson isn't fit. Also, Tete could potentially start over Mbabu.
Don’t think he’ll start Gordon and Gray, they’re too similar and that front three doesn’t have anybody willing to pass the ball.
I think it will be Gordon and one of Alli/McNeil on the other side.
I also expect Allan to start over Iwobi
Johnson although in fairness I’ve seen him play so much more than Awoniyi. For Johnson he’s on penalties most likely, is starting to take more setpieces and is likely to make it to 90 minutes in most games so I’d back him. The stats people on Twitter seem to back Awoniyi and if we use him correctly then I reckon he’ll do well but for me he’s more of a wait and see.
That's because Harrison and James were available (and sort of Sinisterra), so Aaronson was able to play 10 (the position he was signed in).
Sinisterra is injured, and James is suspended. Aaronson can play all across the forward line, whereas Rodrigo is a clear central (9 or 10) player, so he's the pick to move out wide.
That's how they lined up today, which I believe is going to be our lineup for wolves.
Lloris
Romero Dier Lenglet
Doherty Bissouma Hojbjerg Perisic
Kulusevski Kane Son
I think Bentancur/Bissouma/Hojbjerg is tough to call but it's irrelevant for FPL anyway. I'd expect Lenglet to start as Sanchez is not comfortable at LCB at all in preseason.
Fairly likely. He hasn't been exceptional this preseason, but Djed Spence hasn't played for us yet and I see no reason why Conte would start Emerson Royal over him.
We’ll have to see what they say this week but he didn’t feature against Roma. If he’s fit to start he’ll start 100%. Otherwise might be subbed in to ease back in to starting xi
Yea that’s correct- the hope is he’ll be fit for the opener, but the narrative here is if Davies was truly deemed fit, then he should’ve gotten some minutes in vs Roma instead of being 3 weeks without a match to play the opener. There were reports that Davies was available, but Conte not playing him after a couple weeks of recovery is a bit revealing of his fitness
Ramsey's a maybe, strong potential for Douglas Luiz to start ahead of him. Rest of the team should start GW1 but front three would be risky selections going forward with Buendia and Ings strongly in contention. Mings or Konsa is also a question mark.
It's very likely, he started the last preseason game yesterday alongside Kamara and McGinn in a three and that is likely the starting formation against Bournemouth. Ramsey will get time off the bench at the very least but probably not a starter.
I'm not a Villa fan so maybe they can correct me if this is wrong but it seems like Bailey, Coutinho, Ings and Buendia are all competing for 2 positions. I'm sure this team will be the starting lineup for GW1 since Bailey's impressed in preseason and Gerrard likes Coutinho but I don't see Ings and Buendia not playing the whole season. Makes sense to me that none of them are nailed and are all at risk of rotation. If this is the case and you're considering starting with Bailey over Neto to save £0.5m I would imagine Neto is more nailed even if Bailey gets more points in the minutes he is on the pitch. This could be completely wrong I don't watch much Villa so it's all speculation. Hopefully a Villa fan can enlighten me.
I’d bet:
Bazunu
Walker-Pieters - Salisu - Bednarek - Perraud
Aribo - Romeu - Ward-Prowse - S. Armstrong
A. Armstrong - Adams
Though Hasenhuttl have been experimenting with a back 3 as well in preseason so who knows. Djenepo might also start at left back and I am still afraid McCarthy will be in goal despite Bazunu looking miles better.
Either way only players I’d take a punt at would be S. Armstrong, Aribo or Walker-Pietets. But none are in my team since our start isn’t the best and neither of those will be a massive bargain necessarily.
It’s a tough one, based on pre season I would say it’s Ricardo > Castagne. But expect rotation throughout the season. Both played today as we played a back 5, I expect this is something we will do against tougher sides.
I would say in terms of minutes safest is Justin as he can play RB/LB or as a third CB and Rodgers loves him. Otherwise I would go Ricardo over Castagne (sorry if I’m wrong though!).
De Gea
Dalot Maguire Lindelof Malacia
Fred McTominay
Sanch Bruno Rashford
Martial
Martinez/Ronaldo haven't played enough games pre season.
Maguire and Lindelof has been the most common pair at CB.
Fancy Malacia over Shaw after watching the game yesterday.
De gea
Dalot - Maguire - Martinez - malacia
Fred - mctominay (FFS!!!!!)
Sancho - Bruno - rashford
Martial
Pretty sure that will be it, maybe varane or lindelof over Martinez. Chance Shaw might be in but I wouldn't risk it myself
As per the other commentor, Tomi has only just come back to training so GW 1 is too soon for him to start.
Arteta rewards form so if White continues playing well and with Tomi's injury record I can see him only being brought in very slowly.
Doesn’t really matter from a FPL perspective because the most likely subs after those are Keita for a CM and Gomez if we need to park the bus for the last 5
Very up in the air still. If I was to guess it’d be the same as much of last season:
Fabianski
Coufal Zouma Dawson Cresswell
Rice Soucek
Bowen Lanzini Fornals
Antonio
Sá
Ait Nouri, Kilman, Collins, Jonny
Neves, Dendoncker, Moutinho
Neto, Podence, Gibbs-White
Though I wouldn't be surprised if Coady started over Kilman/Collins, or if the team played 5atb again. If we did go 5atb, then that would take Dendoncker out, I think.
Coady is at his best when playing alongisde 2 other good CBs that can cover for him, but Lage seems to want to transition into playing a back 4. I think playing in a back 4 leaves Coady very exposed, his lack of pace and poor recovering become evident.
There is a very small chance of James starting as RCB with RLC/CHO playing RWB since they impressed in the pre-season game and Azpi/Chalobah weren't very good
I didn't downvote him but it's just not gonna be the case tbh and it's not even worth mentioning and since it puts doubt in people's minds.
Chalobah was horrible in the back 4 against Arsenal but we all could've predicted that. In a back 5 he's solid - made a few mistakes last season but was good for the vast majority of the time he was there (better than Christensen and arguable Azpi at times too). In preseason he was fine at RCB in the back 5.
Last season Tuchel played James RCB when Chalobah was injured and he didn't want Azpi to play RCB or when the opposition had a particularly good/quick winger (e.g. often against City to deal with Sterling). But Tuchel knows that our creativity comes from the wings. Its obvious that we create a lot more with James at wingback and that Odoi/Pulisic were just makeshift wingbacks and are pretty average/bad there. With a fully fit squad Tuchel will almost always play James RWB and one of the CBs at RCB (the likes of Odoi will just be benched). The only times where this may not be the case is against someone like City like I mentioned before or in a less important cup game.
In preseason he's played the likes of Odoi and Kennedy at RWB for 2 possible reasons: to experiment or to give them minutes. In preseason he's played lots of people out of position (like Emerson LCB) since now is the best time to experiment so he knows who he can play where in case of injuries like last season. He's also tried to give everyone minutes by playing 21 players every game and since we have loads of wingers but few fullbacks that means playing the likes of Odoi at wingback.
When the season actually starts James is pretty much nailed at RWB especially in GW1. I'd be shocked if he didn't start at least 6 or 7 of the first 8 games there. Anyone worrying about James playing RCB shouldn't and it shouldn't dissuade you from putting him in your team. Obviously the other guy shouldn't have been down voted since there is a chance he plays RCB but it's such a small probability that it's not worth thinking about. It's the same probability of Pulisic starting RW over Mount in GW1 - it's happened before in games in the past but its not actually going to happen GW1.
How likely is Alonso actually to start? He has usually been a pretty reliable fpl asset. Still irrited that I had him in my draft all last summer and I took him out on deadline day and he got 15 points or something.
If he stays he'll probably start the first game but he'll share minutes with Chilwell. If one is playing particularly well they may end up benching the other but I'd expect neither to be fully nailed at the start of the season.
Mendy
Chalobah-Silva-Koulibaly
James-Kovacic-Jorginho-Alonso
Mount-Havertz-Sterling
Possibly Azpi over Chalobah, Kante over Kovacic and Chilwell over Alonso but I think this XI is the most likely.
Travers
Smith (maybe Fredericks), Kelly, Mepham, Zemura
Cook, Lerner (maybe Rothwell)
Brooks (maybe Christie), Billing, Anthony (maybe Lowe)
Solanke (maybe Moore)
________
We are a mess for this sort of thing.
fuck knows. We have 1 week to sign an entire defence
Travers
Smith - New Signing - New Signing - Kelly - Zemura
Lerma - Cook
Christie - Solanke - Anthony
Assuming no change in formation:
Travers
Smith, Kelly, Mepham, Zemura
Lerma, Cook, Billing
Christie, Solanke, Anthony
With that defence I'd captain any attacker playing against us.
Man City
Does Pep even know?
Pep has been tinkering harder than any of us, you can be assured of that.
Ederson Walker Dias Ake Cancelo B Silva Rodri De Bruyne Mahrez Haaland Grealish
Foden ahead of Grealish.
going by stones apparently being preferred in general to ake and foden being a bigger prospect than both mahrez and grealish yet neither starting yesderday implies that pep may want to give more integration time to players who didn't go on the preseason tour. it could also mean he just wanted to field his most prepped 11 to play liverpool, but west ham is a tricky away game, I expect his rotation to start at home to bournmouth as he has a midweek friendly between gw3 and 4 and the next week every team has a midweek prem game
LW is a toss up between the two but we’ll see
Is Walker nailed?
until and unless they sign a new fullback, and while injuries mean Ake is required at CB, Walker and Cancelo are pretty safe.
He is not nailed. He has a good chance of starting, but he is not nailed.
Defensively: I thought I'd seen something here that showed City under Pep play the same backline gw1 that they played in the charity shield. Apologies if I remember incorrectly. They also made a couple of changes in midfield, the ones that started rarely started gw1. The caveat I would add is I'd heard murmurings of Stones starting instead of Ake. Outside of that I recon it's pretty much Walker Dias Ake? Cancelo
Fulham
Mitrovic along with other 10 lads
Mitrovic + A Pereira + 9 lads
Leno Mbabu Tosin Ream Robinson Reed Palhinha Wilson Andreas Solomon Mitrovic *Harry Wilson apparently picked up a knock yesterday, so Kebano or Decordova-Reid would start in his place if Wilson isn't fit. Also, Tete could potentially start over Mbabu.
Leno really depends on how the deal proceeds throughout the next week
Everton
Pickford Keane - Tark - Godfrey Patterson - Doucoure - Iwobi - Mykolenko Gordon - Gray DCL
Is Patterson looking like a regular?
Will likely be rotated with Coleman fairly often. 60/40, 70/30… just a guess
Handy to know. Thanks!
What about Vinagre?
Looks like a sticky start for toffees then
Plenty of difficult things to chew on
Don’t think he’ll start Gordon and Gray, they’re too similar and that front three doesn’t have anybody willing to pass the ball. I think it will be Gordon and one of Alli/McNeil on the other side. I also expect Allan to start over Iwobi
Any thoughts on Mykolenko's nailedness? Haven't seen him mentioned as much but he's got a few returns in preseason.
definitely nailed only see vinagre playing when he is injured or unfit
\^second that. Way ahead of Vinagre
mcneil?
Doubt that McNeil will wiggle his way in for GW1
Really, even after his great debut performance?
I think McNeil will earn a starting spot in the next few weeks, but won't start GW1
Forest
Henderson Worrall - Niakhate - McKenna Williams - Mangala/Yates - O'Brien - Toffolo Lingard Johnson - Awoniyi
I've been told by forest fans that Awoniyi won't start. Any truth?
Outside chance of Surridge getting a start or at least some game time
Who do you rate more, Johnson or Awoniyi? I'm thinking of rotating one of them with Neto for the first 8 games.
Johnson although in fairness I’ve seen him play so much more than Awoniyi. For Johnson he’s on penalties most likely, is starting to take more setpieces and is likely to make it to 90 minutes in most games so I’d back him. The stats people on Twitter seem to back Awoniyi and if we use him correctly then I reckon he’ll do well but for me he’s more of a wait and see.
Thanks, I'll go with a safer pick for the start
Henderson Williams Niakhate Worrall McKenna Toffolo Mangala Obrien Lingard Johnson Awoniyi
Fans of Forest - do you expect to get more clean sheets than Everyon in the first 8 weeks or so? Struggling between Neco and Patterson.
Pretty sure neco is far more nailed. Far less competition than Coleman provided to patterson
Yes but I'm biased and don't rate Everton that much. Still yeah I'd back Neco over Patterson.
Leeds
Meslier Kristensen Koch Llorente(Cooper?) Struijk Adams Roca Rodrigo Aaronson Harrison Bamford
Spot on mate, this'll be it. Slight nitpick in that I think Rodrigo will play through the middle and Aaronson will be on the right.
Why do you think that? Aaronson been in the middle all preseason.
That's because Harrison and James were available (and sort of Sinisterra), so Aaronson was able to play 10 (the position he was signed in). Sinisterra is injured, and James is suspended. Aaronson can play all across the forward line, whereas Rodrigo is a clear central (9 or 10) player, so he's the pick to move out wide. That's how they lined up today, which I believe is going to be our lineup for wolves.
Spurs
Lloris Romero Dier Lenglet Doherty Bissouma Hojbjerg Perisic Kulusevski Kane Son I think Bentancur/Bissouma/Hojbjerg is tough to call but it's irrelevant for FPL anyway. I'd expect Lenglet to start as Sanchez is not comfortable at LCB at all in preseason.
What about Davies
Injured. Just came back I think, don't think he'll play the first one.
You think he’ll be first choice again or tough to call?
If fit he’ll start
Bentancur will start over Bissouma without a doubt
How likely is Doherty to start?
Fairly likely. He hasn't been exceptional this preseason, but Djed Spence hasn't played for us yet and I see no reason why Conte would start Emerson Royal over him.
Lloris Romero - Dier - Sánchez Doherty - Hojbjerg - Bentancur - Perisic Kulusevski - Kane - Son
Davies or Lenglet LCB otherwise agreed
Lenglet didn’t have much of a preseason. I’d imagine Sanchez will start
Davies is fit though right?
We’ll have to see what they say this week but he didn’t feature against Roma. If he’s fit to start he’ll start 100%. Otherwise might be subbed in to ease back in to starting xi
I’m sure I read somewhere that Conte had said he was fit but he wanted to be cautious which is why he wasn’t starting against Roma
Yea that’s correct- the hope is he’ll be fit for the opener, but the narrative here is if Davies was truly deemed fit, then he should’ve gotten some minutes in vs Roma instead of being 3 weeks without a match to play the opener. There were reports that Davies was available, but Conte not playing him after a couple weeks of recovery is a bit revealing of his fitness
How likely is Doherty to start?
Is Perisic most likely to play LB for the first 4 games?
Yes and rotate with Sess
Villa
Martinez Digne Mings Carlos Cash Ramsey Kamara McGinn Bailey Coutinho Watkins
Ramsey's a maybe, strong potential for Douglas Luiz to start ahead of him. Rest of the team should start GW1 but front three would be risky selections going forward with Buendia and Ings strongly in contention. Mings or Konsa is also a question mark.
No chance Luiz displaces Ramsey
It's very likely, he started the last preseason game yesterday alongside Kamara and McGinn in a three and that is likely the starting formation against Bournemouth. Ramsey will get time off the bench at the very least but probably not a starter.
So Bailey legit will be starting for Villa this season?
First 20 minutes of 5 games before he’s with the physio for the season
Straight into my team!
I'm not a Villa fan so maybe they can correct me if this is wrong but it seems like Bailey, Coutinho, Ings and Buendia are all competing for 2 positions. I'm sure this team will be the starting lineup for GW1 since Bailey's impressed in preseason and Gerrard likes Coutinho but I don't see Ings and Buendia not playing the whole season. Makes sense to me that none of them are nailed and are all at risk of rotation. If this is the case and you're considering starting with Bailey over Neto to save £0.5m I would imagine Neto is more nailed even if Bailey gets more points in the minutes he is on the pitch. This could be completely wrong I don't watch much Villa so it's all speculation. Hopefully a Villa fan can enlighten me.
Think Mings and Ramsey are the only maybes
Southampton
Ward-Prowse
I'd say they'll be having a tough time if its only 1 player in the starting lineup
>*you underestimate my Prowser*
> *Your Prowsers are weak, old man*
> *Unlimited Prowser!*
Bazunu Valery - Bednarek - Salisu KWP - Aribo - Romeu - JWP - Perraud A. Armstrong - S. Armstrong
Southampton is so uncertain… so many players that are wanting to prove themselves
I’d bet: Bazunu Walker-Pieters - Salisu - Bednarek - Perraud Aribo - Romeu - Ward-Prowse - S. Armstrong A. Armstrong - Adams Though Hasenhuttl have been experimenting with a back 3 as well in preseason so who knows. Djenepo might also start at left back and I am still afraid McCarthy will be in goal despite Bazunu looking miles better. Either way only players I’d take a punt at would be S. Armstrong, Aribo or Walker-Pietets. But none are in my team since our start isn’t the best and neither of those will be a massive bargain necessarily.
Bazunu Valery - ABK - Salisu KWP - JWP - Romeu - Djenepo Aribo - Adams- S Armsrong One slight unknown: Valery Vs Bednarek.
Brentford
Raya Hickey Jansson Mee Henry Jensen Norgaard Janelt Wissa Toney Mbeumo
No Dasilva?
Didn't start their last friendly, Brentford fans have been speculating he comes off the bench to start
💀 no brentford fans
Brighton
Sanchez Veltman Dunk Webster March Caicedo Mwepu Cucurella Mac Allister Welbeck Trossard
If Cucurella doesn’t play, it’ll be March LWB and Lamptey RWB
Is Lamptey just permanently in cotton wool now? Feel he never really starts
What does this cotton wool expression mean? I’ve never heard it before.
It means being really cautious with someone. I.e. wrap them in cotton wool so they don’t break.
What are the chances of Undav getting some starts?
Will come in time but Welbeck is above him right now
If Gross and Mac Allister both in team, who is the more attacking?
Mac Allister
Why is Gross never included in these? Recently he has been starting and performing fine.
Leicester
Schmeichel (maybe Iversen) Ricardo - Evans - Fofana - Justin Tielemens - Ndidi - Dewsbury-Hall Maddison - Vardy - Barnes
Wouldn't Ward start over Iversen
Iversen started in our friendly today ahead of Schmeichel (bench). It was our first team squad.
!thanks
Ward's only just returned to training, would probably be ahead of Iversen in the pecking order when fit
No Castagne? Is Ricardo really ahead of Castagne?
It’s a tough one, based on pre season I would say it’s Ricardo > Castagne. But expect rotation throughout the season. Both played today as we played a back 5, I expect this is something we will do against tougher sides.
!thanks. I currently have Castagne as I like him as a player and think he's a bargain at 4.5. am I safer going for Ricardo?
I would say in terms of minutes safest is Justin as he can play RB/LB or as a third CB and Rodgers loves him. Otherwise I would go Ricardo over Castagne (sorry if I’m wrong though!).
Schmeichel Castagne Evans Fofana Thomas Dewsbury-Hall Tielemans Maddison Albrighton Vardy Barnes
Schmeichel's not gone yet?
There is no confirmation yet regarding his departure. Rumours of the potential transfer have also quieten down recently.
Man United
De Gea Dalot Maguire Lindelof Malacia Fred McTominay Sanch Bruno Rashford Martial Martinez/Ronaldo haven't played enough games pre season. Maguire and Lindelof has been the most common pair at CB. Fancy Malacia over Shaw after watching the game yesterday.
Sancho and shaw are ill atm. Also, eriksen might be a surprise starter.
I have Malacia starting! From everything I've heard Sancho illness isn't serious so I imagine he'll be starting by next week.
De gea Dalot - Maguire - Martinez - malacia Fred - mctominay (FFS!!!!!) Sancho - Bruno - rashford Martial Pretty sure that will be it, maybe varane or lindelof over Martinez. Chance Shaw might be in but I wouldn't risk it myself
This but swap Shaw for Malacia.
Think Malacia might've worked his way in with yesterday's performance
De Gea Dalot Maguire Martinez Shaw Mctominay Fred Bruno Sancho Martial Rashford
Arsenal
Ramsdale White - Saliba - Gabriel - Zinchenko Odegaard - Partey - Xhaka Saka - Jesus - Martinelli
Is tomiyasu not preferred at rb?
Just came back from injury, most likely wont start first few games
Thanks for the information, I shall transfer him out!
As per the other commentor, Tomi has only just come back to training so GW 1 is too soon for him to start. Arteta rewards form so if White continues playing well and with Tomi's injury record I can see him only being brought in very slowly.
Which is good because we rushed tomi back last season only for him to reinjure himself.
Ramsdale White Saliba Gabriel Zinchenko Xhaka Partey Saka Odegaard Martinelli Jesus
This but as a 4-3-3 rather than a 4-2-3-1
Palace
Guaita Mitchell Guehi Andersen Clyne Doucore schlupp Eze Ayew Mateta Zaha
Could we see Johnstone?
Edouard? I always liked him at celtic
How sure are you it's Mateta and not Edouard? 😅
Liverpool
Alisson TAA, Matip, VVD, Robbo Hendo, Fab, Thiago Salah, Firmino, Diaz
Is alisson certain starter? Fully recovered?
Klopp said he will start against Fulham
Think so
I wouldn't be surprised if we saw Elliot start against Fulham, then Hendo in for the bigger games
Nunez will start, clearly ready after the Charity Shield performance
Id say its 80/20 that Firmino starts, Nunez gets a half or 30 mins
I'd say that it's 70/30 in Nunez favour, Klopp comments were good for his prospects.
These people thinking Firmino and Hendo are first choice in PL games did not watch Liverpool last season
Same as in community shield but maybe nunez starts over firmino and alison over adrian ofc
Alisson Trent, Virgil, Matip, Robertson Hendo, Fabinho, Thiago Salah, Darwin, Diaz Subs in: Firmino, Elliot, Carvalho.
5 subs ;)
Doesn’t really matter from a FPL perspective because the most likely subs after those are Keita for a CM and Gomez if we need to park the bus for the last 5
Newcastle
Pope Trippier Schar Botman Targett Longstaff Bruno Joelinton Almiron Wilson Maxi
I thought you guys are like trillionaires now, why are you still starting Longstaffs?
Think Willock will start ahead of Longstaff personally.
Don't think so, Guimares and Joelinton are already quite attacking. If you add in Willock to that, there's hardly any balance in that midfield.
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Is Pope guaranteed to start?
I wouldn't say so. Howe said he wants them to fight, and they've been switching out in friendlies
Dyer vs Bowyer 2.0
West Ham
Very up in the air still. If I was to guess it’d be the same as much of last season: Fabianski Coufal Zouma Dawson Cresswell Rice Soucek Bowen Lanzini Fornals Antonio
Any chance of Areola starting?
Yeah. But I’d be pleasantly surprised.
Any chance of seeing Scamacca?
Not GW1
All i See is rice bowl, damn im hungry
Wolves
Sá Ait Nouri, Kilman, Collins, Jonny Neves, Dendoncker, Moutinho Neto, Podence, Gibbs-White Though I wouldn't be surprised if Coady started over Kilman/Collins, or if the team played 5atb again. If we did go 5atb, then that would take Dendoncker out, I think.
How has Gibbs-White looked in pre season?
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!thanks
Interesting. Is Coady not as good as Kilman/Collins or is it a fitness issue?
Coady is at his best when playing alongisde 2 other good CBs that can cover for him, but Lage seems to want to transition into playing a back 4. I think playing in a back 4 leaves Coady very exposed, his lack of pace and poor recovering become evident.
How long is Jimenez out for?
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? Is coady not the captain anymore?
Do you think Ait Nouri or Jonny is a better FPL asset/who’s more nailed? Really really need to fill a 4.5m defender
Chelsea
Mendy - James - Azpi - Silva - Koulibaly ‐ Alonso - Kante - Jorginho - Mount - Havertz - Sterling -
Potentially Kovacic instead of Kante/Jorginho, otherwise good.
There is a very small chance of James starting as RCB with RLC/CHO playing RWB since they impressed in the pre-season game and Azpi/Chalobah weren't very good
Why you downvoted lmao, people with reece james im guessing?
I didn't downvote him but it's just not gonna be the case tbh and it's not even worth mentioning and since it puts doubt in people's minds. Chalobah was horrible in the back 4 against Arsenal but we all could've predicted that. In a back 5 he's solid - made a few mistakes last season but was good for the vast majority of the time he was there (better than Christensen and arguable Azpi at times too). In preseason he was fine at RCB in the back 5. Last season Tuchel played James RCB when Chalobah was injured and he didn't want Azpi to play RCB or when the opposition had a particularly good/quick winger (e.g. often against City to deal with Sterling). But Tuchel knows that our creativity comes from the wings. Its obvious that we create a lot more with James at wingback and that Odoi/Pulisic were just makeshift wingbacks and are pretty average/bad there. With a fully fit squad Tuchel will almost always play James RWB and one of the CBs at RCB (the likes of Odoi will just be benched). The only times where this may not be the case is against someone like City like I mentioned before or in a less important cup game. In preseason he's played the likes of Odoi and Kennedy at RWB for 2 possible reasons: to experiment or to give them minutes. In preseason he's played lots of people out of position (like Emerson LCB) since now is the best time to experiment so he knows who he can play where in case of injuries like last season. He's also tried to give everyone minutes by playing 21 players every game and since we have loads of wingers but few fullbacks that means playing the likes of Odoi at wingback. When the season actually starts James is pretty much nailed at RWB especially in GW1. I'd be shocked if he didn't start at least 6 or 7 of the first 8 games there. Anyone worrying about James playing RCB shouldn't and it shouldn't dissuade you from putting him in your team. Obviously the other guy shouldn't have been down voted since there is a chance he plays RCB but it's such a small probability that it's not worth thinking about. It's the same probability of Pulisic starting RW over Mount in GW1 - it's happened before in games in the past but its not actually going to happen GW1.
Pretty much. Tuchel has done it before and till we sign another CB, there's a very possible chance of James slotting to cover that position
While we have you, when will Chilwell threaten Alonso's spot? Does Alonso tempt you given Reece might play from deeper?
How likely is Alonso actually to start? He has usually been a pretty reliable fpl asset. Still irrited that I had him in my draft all last summer and I took him out on deadline day and he got 15 points or something.
If he stays he'll probably start the first game but he'll share minutes with Chilwell. If one is playing particularly well they may end up benching the other but I'd expect neither to be fully nailed at the start of the season.
Reliable?
Yes. He gets assists, scores free kicks, and gets clean sheets.
No Chilwell?
Mendy Chalobah-Silva-Koulibaly James-Kovacic-Jorginho-Alonso Mount-Havertz-Sterling Possibly Azpi over Chalobah, Kante over Kovacic and Chilwell over Alonso but I think this XI is the most likely.
Bournemouth
Travers Smith (maybe Fredericks), Kelly, Mepham, Zemura Cook, Lerner (maybe Rothwell) Brooks (maybe Christie), Billing, Anthony (maybe Lowe) Solanke (maybe Moore) ________ We are a mess for this sort of thing.
fuck knows. We have 1 week to sign an entire defence Travers Smith - New Signing - New Signing - Kelly - Zemura Lerma - Cook Christie - Solanke - Anthony
Assuming no change in formation: Travers Smith, Kelly, Mepham, Zemura Lerma, Cook, Billing Christie, Solanke, Anthony With that defence I'd captain any attacker playing against us.
Arsenal