A scintillating Premiership season has drawn to a close and fantasy football fiends are forlornly contemplating a football-free summer, so already thoughts are turning to the 2017-18 campaign. Fantasy football looks only set to grown in popularity and thus become more competitive, so the more research you do the better. Simply picking the best players from this season once more won’t cut it. Success will only come from choosing emerging stars due to enjoy a breakout season, padding out your squad with over-achieving low priced players and choosing a couple of stars to serve as captain week on week. Essentially, you have to pick players that will represent great value for money, and here are some we think could fit the bill:
Goalkeepers
If you want consistency it is hard to look past Hugo Lloris, as Tottenham have emerged as the toughest nut to crack defensively over the past couple of seasons and there is no reason to believe that won’t continue. Lloris is remarkably free of injury and a great points earner. A budget option would be Tom Heaton of Burnley, who made more saves than anyone else last season. Burnley are phenomenal at home, but suspect on the road, so he is a risk. Ben Foster at West Brom is another interesting option, as it pays to opt for keepers at defensive-minded clubs. Jordan Pickford is tipped to sign for a Premiership club and could be a good option too.
Defenders
Michael Keane could be set for a breakout season if he moves to Man Utd. He would be a great fit at the heart of a defence that already yields few chances, and would rack up plenty of clean sheets. He is handy in the other box at corners too. Man City, Liverpool and Arsenal have proved themselves suspect defensively, so Chelsea, Tottenham and Man Utd defenders look more attractive, particularly fullbacks like Kyle Walker that get forward and get assists.
Midfielders
Every fantasy football season has a breakout star that earns an outrageous amount of points for his price tag, from Dele Alli to Sadio Mane. Next season it could be the turn of Tom Davies. Places in the Everton midfield are competitive, but this local lad has supreme confidence, a great eye for goal and strong creativity, so he could earn plenty of points. Jonjo Shelvey at Newcastle is always good for plenty of assists and the odd goal from set pieces. If Arsenal keep up their 3-4-3 formation we could see a rejuvenated Aaron Ramsey playing box to box and getting plenty of goals. Tottenham’s Cristian Eriksen is very effective, as is Gylfi Sigurdsson of Swansea. Anothony Knockaert, Championship Player of the Year at Brighton, looks a great pick.
Strikers
It is impossible to leave out Harry Kane. He has topped the goal scoring charts for the last three seasons and everything at Tottenham goes through him. He looks a great bet for a fourth consecutive Golden Boot next season. We know you like your fantasy football league, but if you also like some betting make sure you do it on a good place. Check out this rating of betting sites, choose one that appeals to you, and you will find Kane around the 7/5 mark to win the Golden Boot next season. Even with much less game time than his rivals this season he won it, and looks unstoppable. Sergio Aguero would be a great pick, but his injury problems rule him out. That could open the door for Gabriel Jesus to take the league by storm. Alexis Sanchez is another essential pick if he is still plying his trade in the Premiership. You will need some budget options to supplement them. Dwight Gayle, who should lead the line at an attack-minded Newcastle Utd, could be your man, or Josh King at Bournemouth. Tammy Abraham, if he completes a move to Brighton, could be another choice.