FPL GW1 Preview: Breaking Down FPL Dilemmas for Gameweek 1

Welcome to Insanely Football’s first Dilemmas & Preview blog for the new FPL 2022/23 season. This blog will break down all the popular Dilemmas that FPL managers have every week starting from FPL GW1.

Let’s dive right into it. We will start with the first one.

Link to all our 2022/23 Pre Season articles including a transfer tracker of all new signings, all team pre-season friendly updates, team previews, fixture analysis, position-wise analysis, and more. Completely free to access as well!

Link to all Our FPL Team Analysis Series for all 20 PL Teams from our team correspondents

FPL GW1 Preview & Key Dilemmas Answered

1) Is it worth going against the ‘Template Picks’ in Gameweek 1?

FPL GW1 Preview ~ Is it worth going against the 'Template Picks' in Gameweek 1?

Many FPL managers face the age-old question, especially at the start of the new season in Gameweek 1. There is no right or wrong answer here. It depends on how serious a player you are, meaning how seriously you take your rank and how much fun you want with FPL.

FPL GW1 Preview ~ template picks — Current FPL Template Team via **planfpl.com**

If you want to start strongly, picking players with high ownership should help you do well. There is a reason most of these players are selected by a majority of FPL managers out there. One thing to note is that it doesn’t always turn out that these picks perform right from Gameweek 1. There might be a few other less-owned picks out there that perform better, but at least you are not losing anything as not a lot of managers own them.

You are taking a massive risk if you go without highly owned template picks. If they do well in the beginning, there is a high chance that you lose ground on everyone else who went for these popular players. It also means that you would be on the back foot and have to catch up early on in the season.

It’s always a great strategy to go for two or three differentials and a slightly template squad for Gameweek 1. It would help you maintain rank through the highly-owned players and, at the same time, gain rank over other managers through differentials.

Having some differential picks is what will differentiate you from the crowd. Plus, this makes the game much more fun, especially when they haul. In reality, it is pretty challenging to own every template player, and you would have to let go of a few good picks. Choose your players wisely and trust your decision-making process.

Further Read: FPL GW1 Differential Picks to Consider Ahead of GW 1 Deadline

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2) Is the £8m midfield spot necessary?

FPL GW1 Preview ~ Is the £8m midfield spot necessary?

Since the 2022/23 FPL game launched, there has been a considerable debate around the £8m midfield spot. But I would take a step back and ask myself, is it required?

The presence of so many good options like Saka, Mount, Foden, Mahrez, Maddison, etc., makes you think it is an excellent strategy to keep a spot open and play the best player according to fixtures. The other argument is with cheap enablers like Bailey, Neto, Martinelli, and Rashford in play, you can overlook the £8m price point and go for value instead.

The slight worry with all these enablers is that though most of them have had decent pre-seasons, i.e. Neto, Bailey, and Martinelli in particular, they could be a few bad games away from rotation which might not be the case with most of the £8m midfielders barring the City options.

Another crucial point to consider is what you do with the additional money you save when you go for budget options in midfield. If you can make significant upgrades elsewhere, for example, upgrading a £4-4.5m defender to Robertson for those good early fixtures or upgrading a £6m forward to Jesus, or just being able to get more attacking and slightly premium picks in your team, it logically makes a lot of sense to let go of the £8m midfield spot.

Over the season, there are high chances that most of the £8m mids do well and outscore the cheaper midfield options, but we are not looking very long-term in Gameweek 1. Many managers could be eyeing a Wildcard between Gameweeks 5 to 9, so there is always a chance to see what players are doing well for a week or two and then jump on to them. It also might not be tough to upgrade to an £8m midfielder as you would have to make a few transfers by taking some money out from your defence or attack.

I still feel having one £8m spot in your team helps you retain the structure in midfield and rotate players accordingly. It allows you to play safely in the beginning by going for options like Saka, Mount or even Diaz if you are not going for Robertson. You can even attack from the start and take a bit of a gamble by going for a Man City midfielder, preferably Foden and save the additional transfer in the future.

Further Read: Best 8.0 Million FPL Midfielders- Stats, Comparison & Verdict

3) What to do with Chelsea FPL assets?

FPL GW1 Preview ~ what to do with chelsea assets

Chelsea has some excellent FPL options, but pre-season has been an issue for them. They had a mixed pre-season which included wins against Udinese and a horrible 4-0 loss against Arsenal. Tuchel has also come out and made comments about him not being confident with his squad, and this looks a bit worrying for Chelsea’s FPL options.

Mendy(£5m) is still a very good option. Clean sheets would come even if the defence takes some time to settle. However, I think Ramsdale is of better value at the same price point. You can even go down to the £4.5m bracket if you want to save some funds.

Reece James is the standout option in defence right now, and he is right up there with all the other premium defender picks. Despite playing less, he was top for most goal involvements among defenders last season. I still feel there are two issues with James as an FPL pick. With Rudiger leaving, Chelsea’s defence has looked shaky in pre-season. Another problem is if Chelsea signs Cucurella or someone like Dumfries, James could play as a right-sided centre-back, which significantly limits his FPL potential. At least for now, he is still a better pick than Chilwell, who has just returned from a long-term injury. It is crucial to wait and watch with Chilwell, as he will likely become a much better option once he returns to full fitness.

In attack, Mount is the clear standout pick. Last season, Mount had better points per 90 record than Saka and Luis Diaz, both popular picks this season. He is owned by around 10% of FPL managers and can be a great player for Chelsea’s first few fixtures. He works well in Tuchel’s setup, and I expect him to start every game.

I wouldn’t say Sterling is an essential pick by any means. He has looked good in pre-season and is expected to start more games than Man City last season. Despite that, I don’t think having Sterling on your GW1 team is worth it. He could be a solid FPL asset during specific points of the season, but I would avoid him for now. You can get Mount at £8m instead, and he will likely be far more involved in everything Chelsea does.

If Havertz nails the number 9 position, he can become a great FPL option. He is listed as a forward this year, but his FPL potential looks bleak compared to Jesus, who is also the same price. Havertz is also a wait-and-watch at the moment.

Overall, there are a couple of excellent options in James and Mount for Gameweek 1. Though a double-up could be nice considering the early fixtures for Chelsea, if I am going with one pick, I’d go Reece James for Gameweek 1.

Link to all Our FPL Team Analysis Series for all 20 PL Teams from our team correspondents

4) Going two vs three premiums in your Gameweek 1 team? Which is better?

FPL GW1 Preview ~ Going two vs three premiums in your Gameweek 1 team? Which is better?

Another burning question for Gameweek 1 is whether to go for two premium picks or go even heavier with three premiums. I think a lot depends on how much risk you are okay taking.

The consensus is that the 4-4-2 formation having two premiums with one of Kane/Haaland and Salah gives a lot of flexibility and makes up for a well-balanced squad. On the other hand, a Threemium team with Salah, Son and Haaland work well for risk-taking managers who are going heavy on big-hitters and see gains where different managers are going safe.

Let’s look at this a bit more closely. Starting with two premiums helps you go in a couple of directions with your FPL team. You can decide whether you want to go a bit heavy at the back with premium defenders like Perisic, James or even a £5m option like Trippier instead of budget defenders and a £4m Neco Williams. The other option is to invest a bit more in midfield and have that £8m midfielder spot open where there are a lot of opportunities to get.

Alternatively, when you go for three premiums in Salah, Haaland and Son, you are pretty likely to miss out on an 8m midfield spot and maybe even the 4th premium defender spot, assuming we are not considering Perisic as a premium option here. Both could be crucial spots, in my opinion, and a decision must be made here.

It would also mean that you might have to let go of Jesus, who is expected to lead the Arsenal attack and has done well in pre-season. You essentially go against the most popular pick in FPL for Gameweek 1. You could lose out, especially if he does well early on.

You can also get to a team with Salah, Haaland, Kane and Jesus, but the sacrifices in other areas of the pitch are probably not worth it. In this scenario, going premium at the back becomes challenging. You miss out on premium defenders while having a very light midfield.

Another thing to consider is that you will only captain one of these three premium picks every week. The net gain from these premium picks over other FPL managers might not be as high as expected.

I feel going with two premium picks is the way to go. This option gives you a lot of flexibility with your team that could come in handy early in the season. All the best for Gameweek 1! I hope all of you start the new FPL season very strongly, and I will see you all next week.

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Further reads from ALLABOUTFPL ahead of the 2022/23 FPL Season

Link to all our 2022/23 Pre Season articles including transfer tracker of all new signings, all team pre-season friendly updates, team previews, fixture analysis, position-wise analysis, and more. Completely free to access as well!

Link to all our FPL Forwards, FPL Midfielders, FPL Defenders, and FPL Goalkeepers series of blogs including the best 4.0 million defenders, and 4.5 Million midfielders.

Link to all Our FPL Team Analysis Series for all 20 PL Teams from our team correspondents

If you’re new to FPL, here is a link to all our FPL Beginners Guide including FPL Beginner’s Guide- How to play?, Bench boost, Team value, Triple captain, Effective ownership, Price Changes, Free Hit, Bonus Points, and more.

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FPL GW1 Preview: Breaking Down FPL Dilemmas for Gameweek 1