Welcome back to Fantasy Premier League and welcome back to FISO!
Looking at the top of the Premier League table at the end of last season, you could be forgiven for thinking that it was almost a replica of the season before that. As they have done in six of the last seven season, Manchester City finished on top, followed by Arsenal. The Gunners once again lost out to their skyblue Manchester rivals, though they did manage to limit the gap to the top to just 2 points, compared to the 5 points between the top the season prior. At this point in the pre-season last year, we asked ourselves whether or not Arsenal would be able to compete for the title until the very end once again? Now we are asking, will this be the season in which the Gunners finally bring the Premier League title back to North London, for the first time since the legendary 2003-04 season?
Now, on to more serious business, because the Fantasy Premier League has undergone a significant facelift in the build-up to the 2024-25 campaign. We recommend FPL managers to explore the changes in detail, but we’ll already list them here below to give you a head start:
Banking 5 free transfers: This season, fantasy managers can save up to FIVE free transfers instead of the usual two. In other words, great news for the patient managers and the big planners. On top of that, however many free transfers you have saved up will NOT be reset to zero after activating either a Free Hit or a Wild Card.
Mystery Chip: Talking about Chips, we’ve got a new one this season! It’s called the Mystery Chip and fully in line with its name, it’s use is well… a mystery. FPL towers say that all will be revealed towards January 2025, so keep an eye out for that.
Updated points-scoring: Good news for goalkeepers with a penchant for goalscoring, because a goal by a goalie will be worth 10 points this season, up from 6 points last season. As far as the Bonus Points System (BPS) goes, a saved penalty is now worth 9 BPS (down from 15 BPS). Also, conceding a goal now results in -4 BPS for goalkeepers and defenders. For any player, a goal line clearance is now worth 3 BPS, a foul won 1 BPS and a shot on target 2 BPS.
New look: The design of the in-game FPL pitch has been improved as well, copying the format that is already being used in FPL Challenge.
The Premier League 2024-25 season is set to kick off on Friday, August 16th, at 20h00 (UK time), when Manchester United host Fulham at Old Trafford.
In the build-up to gameweek 1, we will be taking an in-depth look at each of the 20 teams competing in the Premier League this season, including a general team preview, a tactical preview and some FPL recommendations per side. In this first part of our Season Preview series, we’re taking a look at Arsenal and an Aston Villa side that qualified for the Champions League for the first time since the 1982-83 season.
ARSENAL – General preview for 2024/25
Mikel Arteta’s appointment as Arsenal manager back in December 2019 was initially welcomed with underwhelming enthusiasm and the first season and a half under the Spaniard did little to turn that sentiment around with two 8-place finishes. Since then, the only way has been up at the Emirates, resulting in a 5th-place finish, followed by a second place in 2023 and another second place last season. On both occasions it was Manchester City who kept them off the ultimate Premier League glory.
While that might be a tough pill to swallow for many, a look at the stats underlying those results shows steady improvement. The Gunners kept more clean sheets (18) and faced less shots (323) than in each of the two preceding seasons, and no team conceded less goals from open play than them. They also matched Manchester City in terms of ball recoveries in the final third and they did so with a relatively young but at the same time very settled side. Only Chelsea and Burnley had a younger average starting lineup last season. Of course, the growing influence of captain Martin Odegaard cannot be underestimated, as no player in the entire league created more chances from open play than the gifted Norwegian (88).
As opposed to last summer, when Arsenal spent around £200 million on new recruits, the club has been relatively calm on the transfer market up until now. In reality, the only major signing so far has been Italy international Riccardo Calafiori from Bologna for about £42 million, though the loan of last season first goalkeeper David Raya was also made permanent for around £27 million. The return to full fitness of the abundantly talented central defender Jurriën Timber, who missed the entire last season due to an anterior cruciate ligament injury, can also be considered a new transfer. No candidates for the first eleven have been sold, though Albert Sambi Lokonga was loaned to LaLiga side Sevilla FC and left-back Nuno Tavares to Lazio Roma.
Arsenal: Tactical preview 2024/25
One of major pillars of Arsenal’s increasing ability to compete for the Premier League title is their continuously improving tactical ability. Arteta clearly knows how to get to his players, which is especially apparent in the tactical fluidity and flexibility of his side. While the manager’s preferred starting formation is usually depicted as aa 4-3-3, a majority of the games presented us with an image of players interchanging positions during matches, both in and out of possession. This also explains his love for technically superior and versatile players in all ranks, with Declan Rice and Kai Havertz being prime examples.
We don’t expect much to change in this aspect for the coming season. On the contrary, Arsenal will be building on their developments from the past few seasons, undoubtedly combined with solutions to specific challenges presented by the new season. In terms of FPL, it will be interesting to see if Arsenal can maintain their defensive stability without compromising in attack, as this would make their fantasy roster once again very popular amongst managers. One thing is sure though: Martin Odegaard will be as nailed-on as they come in the free attacking midfielder role.
ARSENAL – Potential FPL picks
It’s probably no surprise that Martin Odegaard (£8.5m) is in our first list of potential FPL picks as well. He is Arsenal’s captain and despite recording 8 goals and 11 assists from 35 league starts last season, his price tag is still relatively affordable this season. The Norwegian pulls the creative strings for the Gunners and is on many of the set-pieces as well, which is always a plus when it comes to FPL assets. With 186 FPL points, Odegaard scored the second-most FPL points of all Gunners, only behind Bukayo Saka. It should be noted though, for both Odegaard and the other Arsenal picks in this list, that the North Londoners don’t have the easiest of starts to the season in terms of fixtures.
We mentioned him above as the Arsenal player with the most FPL points last season, so it would be strange if we would not include Bukayo Saka (£10.0m) in this list as well. After getting 14 goals and 12 assists in the 2022-23 season, the England international recorded 16 goals and 12 assists last season, which highlights what a premium fantasy asset he is. This is, unfortunately, also reflected in his price this season, though £10.0m makes him far from overpriced in our opinion. Saka actually outscored players like Erling Haaland and Mohamed Salah, who arguably got more of the spotlight throughout the season, with his 226 FPL points. Expect the Arsenal star to feature in plenty of FPL squads come Gameweek 1, despite the clubs challenging start to the season and his delayed pre-season after England’s run in the Euros.
As for our third Arsenal fantasy pick, we doubted for a long time between central defender William Saliba, who was a mainstay in one of the league’s sturdiest defences last season, midfielder Gabriel Martinelli who looks determined to get back into the starting line-up this season and forward Kai Havertz (£8.0m), arguably one of the most gifted footballers in the entire league. We ended up going with the German, mainly because we already recommended two rather pricey Arsenal assets in this list and we believe that Havertz’ price is almost a bargain for the coming season. It took him a while to really find his groove in Arteta’s side, but as a wandering striker he managed to show what he is capable of. In 30 league starts, he managed 13 goals and 10 assists for a total of 180 FPL points, and we expect him to be firmly first choice up front come Gameweek 1. That means something, considering that only champions Man City scored more goals than the Gunners last season. FPL is offering an abundance of attacking options once again this season, but at his current price, we definitely recommend to put Havertz on your scouting list.
ASTON VILLA – General preview for 2024/25
Where Mikel Arteta needed some time to get his Arsenal side to play the way he envisioned, it took his countryman Unai Emery a lot less time to make an impact at Aston Villa. After the sacking of Steven Gerrard back in October 2022, the Spaniard led his side to a 7th spot and therefore qualification for Europe (the Conference League) in his first season. It turned out to be just the start though, as the Villans continued their upward trend last season, finishing fourth and therefore qualifying for the UEFA Champions League for the first time in 41 years.
As a result of the above, Villa provided FPL managers with a rich choice of often very reasonably priced fantasy assets, including the likes of Leon Bailey, Douglas Luiz and of course, Ollie Watkins. Outside of the top four, only Spurs and Chelsea scored more goals than the Villans, while only Man United and Crystal Palace conceded less than them. In other words, a very deserved fourth-place finish and for those who might be doubtful about their ability to repeat such a performance while playing in Europe as well: Villa also made it to the Conference League semi-finals last season. Sure, the Champions League is different gravy, but we are pretty confident that Emery will know how to manage the heavy schedule coming season.
A big part of that expectation comes from the fact that Aston Villa is once again splashing the cash this summer. After spending around £78 million last summer, the counter this summer is sitting pretty at around £176 million. A large chunk of that was spent on Everton’s Amadou Onana (£50 million), while the Villans also dug deep for Dortmund’s Dutch international Ian Maatsen (£37.5). Other interesting new names include Sheffield United’s Cameron Archer, Hull City’s Jaden Philogene and Luton Town’s Ross Barkley. As for the departures, Villa cashed in as well, notably with the sales of first-eleven members Douglas Luiz (£43 million) and Moussa Diaby (for a reported £50 million).
Aston Villa: Tactical preview 2024/25
Considering the success of Unai Emery’s tenure at Villa Park so far, we don’t expect too much to change tactically for the Villans. Then again, the club did sell two starters in Douglas Luiz and Moussa Diaby, which means the Spanish tactician will need to adapt to a couple of new players. While the departure of Diaby could be compensated by a number of players on the current roster, we expect the replacement of Douglas Luiz to possibly be a bit more complex. The Brazilian added a unique combination of defensive grid and attacked prowess to the side, and while new signing Amadou Onana is a fantastic talent, he is much more defence-minded than Luiz. Emery can also count on the quality likes of Youri Tielemans and Ross Barkley though, so it will be interesting to see what his solution will be.
As for the formation, Emery usually prefers a dynamic 4-2-3-1 (or 4-4-2 at times) spearheaded by the excellent Ollie Watkins. We expect the full-backs to be pushing high up the pitch again this season, a system that fits new left-back Ian Maatsen like a glove, often overlapping the wingers flanking Watkins. There might be a bit less goal threat from the middle of the pitch in comparison to last season, though John McGinn and Youri Tielemans have more than proven their Premier League pedigree as scoring and/or assisting midfielders. Come Gameweek 1 we will see to what extent Emery and his staff have managed to integrate the new signings and implement new tactical tweaks into the side.
ASTON VILLA – Potential FPL pick
We can’t start a brief list of potential FPL picks from the Aston Villa roster without starting with Ollie Watkins (£9.0m), especially now that we know that he is priced at a very reasonable £9.0m. We honestly expected his price tag to carry at least £10.0m for the 2024-25 season, after scoring 19 goals and providing 18 assists, but FPL towers have decided differently. All the better for us fantasy managers and we’re not the only ones who think so, because at the moment of writing, Watkins is part of just under 55% of all FPL squads. Add to that a largely (very) attractive start to the season in terms of fixtures and we find it kind of hard to imagine a starting FPL eleven without the Villa striker in it even if he will have started pre-season later than the non-England players.
The Aston Villa roster was a source of great bargains last season and it looks like Leon Bailey (£6.5m) is continuing that “tradition” this season. The pre-season is showing us that Emery is counting on the Jamaican as part of his starting eleven, most likely to the right of Ollie Watkins. This should, in fact, not be much of a surprise when you know that the winger recorded no less than 10 goals and 11 assists from just 22 league starts last season. With Diaby out of the way (sold to Al Ittihad), there seems to be very little in the way of a true breakout season for Bailey. And to top it all off, the winger is listed as a midfielder in FPL, meaning that he gets an additional point for clean sheets and for each goal scored (compared to forwards).
We generally try to avoid new signings in our Gameweek 1 squad, but Ian Maatsen (£5.0m) is not entirely new. At least, not to the Premier League. The Dutchman moved to the Chelsea Academy from PSV Eindhoven at a very young age, but never managed to really conquer a first-team starting spot. As a reserve player at the Blues, and on loan at Charlton, Coventry and Burnley, he did accumulate decent experience in England: 12 Premier League games, 34 League One games and 79 Championship games. His big breakthrough in the footballing elite came last season though, when a loan move to Borussia Dortmund resulted in 16 Bundesliga games and 7 Champions League games. The Bundesliga side actually reached the Champions League final with Maatsen at left-back and the 22-year-old played himself into the Champions League Team of the Season. Combine all this with his dynamic playing style, his positional versatility and his willingness to join in attack (3 goals and 2 assists in 20 games last season), and we might just have the perfect Emery left-back right here.
For further thoughts and discussions on the new FPL season visit FISO’s FPL forum.