Fantasy Football

FPL 24/25 tips: Our Gameweek 1 fantasy football squad

By Harry Edwards

Published: 21:05, 9 August 2024

The start of the 2024/25 Fantasy Premier League season is just one week away.

Excitement for the new season has been building since the game was released, and player prices confirmed, last month. Managers will have built and rebuilt their squads countless times already. And there will be rebuilds to come.

There are a lot of big decisions to be made in FPL this year, especially with the news that Erling Haaland will be £15m. We’re also seeing some changes with a new Mystery Chip to be revealed and the ability to save up to five free transfers.

The question is, which players should you be looking at for Gameweek 1?

We’ve built our 15-man squad with the opening weekend — and £100m budget — in mind.


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Jordan Pickford

  • Club: Everton
  • Price: £5.0m
  • 2023/24 points: 153
  • Gameweek 1 fixture: Brighton (H)

David Raya would be our top goalkeeper choice, but we’re going for a cheaper option here to spread the funds elsewhere. And Jordan Pickford is a capable deputy. He ranked second in clean sheets among goalkeepers in the Premier League last season and averaged 3.18 saves per 90 minutes.


Ben White

  • Club: Arsenal
  • Price: £6.5m
  • 2023/24 points: 182
  • Gameweek 1 fixture: Wolves (H)

But we will have an Arsenal defensive player in our squad. Ben White was the best defender in FPL last season, as part of the toughest back line in the Premier League. Pushed out to the right, White was directly involved in nine goals in FPL, adding five assists to four goals. He also received 72 points from clean sheets alone.

Kieran Trippier

  • Club: Newcastle
  • Price: £6.0m
  • 2023/24 points: 111
  • Gameweek 1 fixture: Southampton (H)

Given how Newcastle start the season, it’s hard not to go for a Magpies defender. Kieran Trippier is the best of the bunch when it comes to FPL. He creates a lot of Newcastle chances and is on set pieces, upping his opportunities for assists and goals. In the Premier League last season, Trippier created 26 chances from set play at an average of 1.04 per 90 minutes.

Trent Alexander-Arnold

  • Club: Liverpool
  • Price: £7.0m
  • 2023/24 points: 122
  • Gameweek 1 fixture: Ipswich (A)

We know, £7m is a lot to spend on a defender. But look at his opening week. Alexander-Arnold will ook to hurt the Ipswich defence with his passing, putting a tough last season behind him. He was directly involved in seven goals last season with four assists, creating 2.67 chances per 90 minutes. Alexander-Arnold also averaged 24.55 final third passes attempted per 90 minutes and 98.63 touches.


Anthony Gordon

  • Club: Newcastle
  • Price: £7.5m
  • 2023/24 points: 183
  • Gameweek 1 fixture: Southampton (H)

There was a toss up between Anthony Gordon and Jarrod Bowen, and we’ve gone for the Newcastle man. In terms of FPL, he was directly involved in 27 goals, with 16 fantasy assists alongside 11 strikes of his own. Gordon also averaged 2.52 shots per 90 minutes, and should be key in the opening weeks of the season for Newcastle.


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Martin Odegaard

  • Club: Arsenal
  • Price: £8.5m
  • 2023/24 points: 186
  • Gameweek 1 fixture: Wolves (H)

There are quite a few midfield options for Arsenal, but Martin Odegaard is a very good choice for his price. The Norwegian scored eight goals and provided 10 assists in the Premier League, with 2.24 shots and 2.96 chances created per 90 minutes. The latter places him in the top three among Premier League players with at least 1,170 minutes played (i.e. half of the season). He also averaged 23.56 final third passes completed per 90 minutes and was top for through balls.

Son Heung-min

  • Club: Tottenham
  • Price: £10.0m
  • 2023/24 points: 213
  • Gameweek 1 fixture: Leicester (A)

An instance of a midfielder who could play further forward, Son Heung-min feels like a must-have. Even if Tottenham have another man leading the line, the South Korean will be very much involved in the attack. Last season, Son was directly involved in 27 goals, scoring 17 with 10 assists. Remember he’s getting five points for every goal too, so a similar season would put him high up.

Luis Diaz

  • Club: Liverpool
  • Price: £7.5m
  • 2023/24 points: 142
  • Gameweek 1 fixture: Ipswich (A)

Liverpool have a favourable opening weekend, so Luis Diaz is another good option to have. Now, the Colombian linked up with Arne Slot late as he reached the Copa America final, but we’d expect him to be in the team to face Ipswich. In the Premier League last season, Diaz scored eight goals and five assists and had an Expected Goal Involvement total of 16.81. Including fantasy assists, Diaz was directly involved in 15 goals.

Bryan Mbeumo

  • Club: Brentford
  • Price: £7.0m
  • 2023/24 points: 127
  • Gameweek 1 fixture: Crystal Palace (H)

Another case of a forward being classed as a midfielder, Bryan Mbeumo was a key player for a lot of FPL managers last season. He was the man to fill in for Ivan Toney’s goals when the Englishman was out, before an injury hampered the progress. He returned with five goal involvements in his final seven Premier League games last season. Now, with Toney’s future up in the air, Brentford fans will be hoping Mbeumo can get amongst the goals once more.


Darwin Nunez

  • Club: Liverpool
  • Price: £7.5m
  • 2023/24 points: 132
  • Gameweek 1 fixture: Ipswich (A)

Completing the Liverpool hat-trick, Darwin Nunez is an interesting case. The Liverpool forward was known more for missing chances than scoring them, but he still scored 11 goals in the Premier League last season. On top of his eight assists, Nunez ranked in the top five for shots and shots on target, as well as open-play expected goals and right foot expected goals. This could be his season.

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Dominic Solanke

  • Club: Bournemouth
  • Price: £7.5m
  • 2023/24 points: 175
  • Gameweek 1 fixture: Nottingham Forest (A)

The last name in our starting lineup, Dominic Solanke was fantastic last season. After so many years, the Englishman finally worked out the formula for scoring goals in the Premier League. He netted 19 in total last season, with only two players scoring more than Solanke. Only two players also had more shots than Solanke’s 109 which came at an average of 2.95 per 90 minutes. And, there is every chance that he could be a Tottenham player by the time the season starts.


Mark Flekken

  • Club: Brentford
  • Price: £5.0m
  • 2023/24 points: 119
  • Gameweek 1 fixture: Crystal Palace (H)

Alongside Pickford, Mark Flekken is a good No.2 to have. The Brentford man came out on top in our analytics for bonus points last season and received 12 in total. He averaged 3.15 saves per 90 minutes and kept seven clean sheets.

Timothy Castagne

  • Club: Fulham
  • Price: £4.5m
  • 2023/24 points: 105
  • Gameweek 1 fixture: Man Utd (A)

One of the cheaper defenders to make up our budget, Timothy Castagne is a decent option. You may even want to be bold and use him in the opening gameweek. The Belgian full-back broke 100 points last season in 29 games, scoring one and providing three assists. He also kept nine clean sheets and was only booked three times.

Tyrick Mitchell

  • Club: Crystal Palace
  • Price: £5.0m
  • 2023/24 points: 119
  • Gameweek 1 fixture: Brentford (A)

Another cheap defensive option, Crystal Palace look set to be a good team to utilise this year. They ended the season strong under Oliver Glasner and could climb up the table if not too affected by departures. Joachim Andersen is one defensive option, but Tyrick Mitchell was also directly involved in five goals last season, with 10 clean sheets.

Chris Wood

  • Club: Nottingham Forest
  • Price: £6.0m
  • 2023/24 points: 131
  • Gameweek 1 fixture: Bournemouth (H)

Chris Wood found his feet in the second half of the 2023/24 Premier League campaign and should lead the line for Nottingham Forest. He ended the season with 14 goals and one assist, with a total points tally of 131. Wood did all that without scoring a penalty too, ranking in the top 10 for big chances scored (11).

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