The best FPL strikers for your fantasy football team based on last season’s data | Premier League
Defending is on the up, but the most expensive talent is in attack.
Accordingly, many of the most expensive players in fantasy football are strikers.
How to join FanTeam’s Premier League 2021/22 Fantasy Football tournament:
To sign up, you need to be over 18, Gamble Aware and meet FanTeam’s terms and conditions. Otherwise, just follow these simple steps:
- Head to FanTeam via this link (or click the image below) and sign up
- Join the ‘£1M Fantasy Premier League’ tournament and pay your £20 entry fee
- Create a team and click ‘Enter Tournament’
So, to give you a steer ahead of the 2021/22 Fantasy Premier League tournament, below are last season’s top five strikers for overall points totals from FanTeam’s Fantasy Premier League 2020/21 tournament.
5. Dominic Calvert-Lewin (Everton)
- FanTeam Fantasy Premier League points from 2020/21: 173
- FanTeam price for 2021/22: 8M
Everton may have disappointed as a team last season (they were the lowest scorers in the top half of the Premier League table) but that wasn’t Dominic Calvert-Lewin’s fault. The English striker had his best personal season in front of goal, scoring 16 times and recording a further five fantasy assists in 33 appearances across the campaign.
Calvert-Lewin made an excellent start to the 2020/21 season by scoring seven goals in his opening five games, including a hat-trick against West Brom, and while he would net just five in 2021, hampered by injury and some poor attacking play from his side, the striker did enough to be named part of England’s squad for Euro 2020. However, he is once again injured and currently a doubt to make the start of the 2021/22 Premier League campaign.
4. Ollie Watkins (Aston Villa)
- FanTeam Fantasy Premier League points from 2020/21 184
- FanTeam price for 2021/22: 7.5M
From one English striker to another, Ollie Watkins was one of the surprise packages of the season in the Premier League after joining Aston Villa from Brentford. Although the 25-year-old had been banging in the goals in the Championship, there were always doubts as to whether that would translate to the top tier.
Well, translate it did. Watkins scored 14 goals in 37 appearances for Aston Villa in the Premier League and was awarded a further eight fantasy assists as Dean Smith’s side finished a respectable 11th having fought hard against relegation in 2019/20. Watkins’ form also earned him an England call-up, though he was left out of the squad for Euro 2020. Smith has also confirmed Watkins won’t be playing out wide following the signing of Danny Ings, saying: “Ollie hasn’t played wide for a couple of years. I didn’t bring him in to play there.
“He scored 26 goals for Brentford as a centre-forward and came to us and got 16 goals also as a centre-forward. I don’t envisage him out there.”
3. Patrick Bamford (Leeds United)
- FanTeam Fantasy Premier League points from 2020/21: 194
- FanTeam price for 2021/22: 7.5M
There’s a growing theme here with the third of (spoiler alert) five English strikers to have dominated in the Premier League last season as Patrick Bamford helped Leeds United make a comfortable return to the top flight. As Leeds were earning their promotion from the Championship there was a lot of criticism flying around about Bamford, who some believed was not good enough to lead the line in the Premier League.
But the 27-year-old proved his critics wrong and only three players scored more than his 17 goals in the Premier League last season, with those being Harry Kane, Mohamed Salah and Bruno Fernandes (not something to be ashamed of). But Bamford did not just score goals. He helped create them, too, with 11 fantasy assists across the campaign.
2. Jamie Vardy (Leicester City)
- FanTeam Fantasy Premier League points from 2020/21: 198
- FanTeam price for 2021/22: 9.5M
One England striker who wasn’t playing for a place at Euro 2020 last season was Jamie Vardy, as he had retired from international football to focus on his club career. And it has proven very beneficial to the striker and Leicester.
Vardy scored 15 goals in the Premier League last season, the seventh-most in the division, a commendable return considering his role had slightly changed at Leicester to become more of a supporting striker than the Foxes’ main man. That change is also reflected in the fact he recorded 14 fantasy assists in the Premier League last season, the joint-most in FanTeam’s fantasy tournament.
1. Harry Kane (Tottenham Hotspur)
- FanTeam Fantasy Premier League points from 2020/21: 239
- FanTeam price for 2021/22: 12M
You won’t be surprised to see who tops the list. Harry Kane was without doubt the best striker in the Premier League last season and one of the most complete forwards across Europe. The Tottenham man finished the Premier League campaign with both the Golden Boot and Playmaker Award, scoring 23 goals and recording 14 assists in 35 matches.
Understandably, with Kane leading for both goals and assists, no player was directly involved in more goals in the Premier League last season and only Bruno Fernandes and Mohamed Salah scored more FanTeam points, though they were both aided by the fact their goals yielded more points as midfielders. Kane went on to score three goals at Euro 2020 as England reached the final and will be looking to start the new campaign fast when he returns.
Last season’s best bargain: Kelechi Iheanacho
- Starting price in 2020/21: 5.5
- FanTeam Fantasy Premier League points from 2020/21: 103
We mentioned Vardy playing a more supporting role for Leicester last season and one of the beneficiaries was Kelechi Iheanacho, who was given an extended run in the team and showed just what he can do. The Nigerian striker, who had a starting price of just 5.5 due to his historic lack of use, ended the campaign as a guaranteed starter for Leicester thanks to his goalscoring exploits. Iheanacho scored 12 goals in 1,456 Premier League minutes, just over a third of his total tally in the division and equal to the amount he managed in two campaigns for Manchester City.
Biggest flop: Sergio Aguero
- Starting price in 2020/21: 11.5M
- FanTeam Fantasy Premier League points from 2019/20: 40
This one is harsh because he suffered massively with injuries but many will have picked Sergio Aguero at the start of last season with dreams of him firing their FPL teams to glory; and they would have done so by using a chunk of their budget. But, at an 11.5M starting price, Aguero’s return of just 40 points with four goals and one fantasy assist in 562 minutes was a disaster. So bad was his season that Aguero’s final price was 8.7M, a drop of almost 3.0M across the campaign. For context, Aguero’s 40 points put him at the same level as Joel Matip, Fabian Balbuena, Willian Jose and Mathew Ryan.
Writer’s tip: Che Adams
- FanTeam Fantasy Premier League points from 2020/21: 132
- FanTeam price for 2021/22: 6.5M
If you’re looking for a differential player next season, one who may not be popular among rival players but can bring the points, then Che Adams could be your man. The Scotland striker had a return of 132 points last season, an excellent amount considering his starting price was just 5.5M. Adams scored nine goals in the Premier League and recorded seven fantasy assists, with only Danny Ings more involved among the Southampton squad (and he has now left).
Squawka is partnering with FanTeam to produce more content ahead of the 2021/22 Premier League season, so stay tuned for more tips over the coming weeks. To sign up for the upcoming season’s Fantasy Premier League tournament, visit their site here or click the image below.
