Fantasy Premier League: Players to watch out for 4

This is the last of the series of posts on Fantasy Premier League (at least for a little while). I know a lot of you guys probably aren't interested in this and there are probably better sources for information on this than an amateurish fantasy football manager like me. In this post I'll be writing about strikers to watch out for. After 2 Gameweeks, a lot of options are probably obvious and if there's any department where my predictions have been accurate, it has been this one. I'll mention 3 strikers that are likely to make an impact this season.

Zlatan Ibrahimovic

If it wasn't very obvious before the season started, it is now. Ibrahimovic is definitely going to make a big impact this season. I've had him in my team since Gameweek 1. However, the amount of impact he has had till now is certainly a lot more than I expected. I did not make him Captain in any of his last 2 matches and he went on to score 2 goals in each of them. 

Mourinho has certainly come all guns blazing as the manager of Manchester United and he is going to spare no effort in proving to the world that he is still the "Special One". With Bailly in Defence, Pogba and Mata in midfield and Ibrahimovic and Rooney up front, this Manchester United squad is a strong contender for the title along with their Noisy Neighbours. 

I'm not going to talk about the draw for United in Zlatan's case because it really doesn't matter but United do have an easy set of fixtures from GW 16-23 (with the exception of Liverpool). However, considering the way he is performing and the way FPL managers are busy buying him, he may well be quite expensive by then. He is already leading the charts with a TSB (Teams selected by) of 52.8%.

Alvaro Negredo

The beast is back in the Premier League and this time he adorns the red of Middlesbrough FC instead of the Blue of City. Negredo was certainly an impact player with City as well and he was certainly one of my favourites in that squad. In 2013-14 season, he even got a lot of minutes on the field as Aguero was out injured. His price rose from £9.0 till £9.8 when he was in his peak form. However, Aguero's return resulted in Negredo being reduced to a substitute or a benchwarmer. 

This time he is back in Premier League on a loan from Valencia and he certainly looks just as sharp as he was back then. 1 goal in opening Gameweek and 2 assists in the following week are the perfect proof of that. In addition, he started at a very affordable price of £6.5 (£6.7 as of this writing).  Middlesbrough have brought in a lot of reinforcements following their promotion to Premier League and they seem intent on staying. Negredo is just the kind of striker that will help them do that this season. He will also certainly give returns for the low cost that he comes at, allowing managers to keep 2 expensive strikers alongside him (Ibrahimovic + Kane/Lukaku/Aguero). 

In addition, Middlesbrough has a fairly easy draw for the first five GWs. This means he is quite likely to perform well for at least 3 more GWs before they face their first real test against Spurs. A good run of 5 matches may even boost his confidence and he may end up doing equally well against stronger sides too. Sufficient to say, he is definitely the guy you want in your squad. 

As a proof of my faith in this man, I must mention that I've had him in my team since the beginning and he was my pick for Captain in GW 2 ahead of my other 2 strikers - Ibrahimovic AND Aguero. This is how much I trust this player. 

Michy Batshuayi (Chelsea)

Chelsea, under new management, hasn't spent big in the transfer window but they've definitely spent smart. Conte has brought in 3 players in key areas to strengthen a squad already full of quality. Up front, Conte has brought in Batshuayi from Marseille. The striker was impressive during Belgium's Euro campaign as well.

However, it still remains a question how many minutes he will get. Chelsea already have an established striker in Diego Costa and he seems to be Conte's first choice as well. Batshuayi has only come in as a substitute in GW 1 and 2. However, he hasn't failed to impress on both occassions. With an assist and a goal under his belt in less than 30 minutes of game time, Batshuayi is certainly someone you should consider buying once he ends up in the starting lineup for Chelsea.  

Christian Benteke (Crystal Palace) 

Benteke is another Belgian striker who would be looking to impress in Premier League this season. After a poor season under Jurgen Klopp, Benteke has moved on to Crystal Palace. However, I would not judge the striker on his time at Merseyside. Watching Liverpool play, I always felt that there was absolutely no problem with the striker. The problem was that the rest of Liverpool squad couldn't adjust itself to play in a way that would bring the best out of the Belgian. Klopp's game tactics didn't suit him either.

However, Benteke could easily thrive at a club like Crystal Palace where Alan Pardew would be more than happy to build a team and game style around Benteke. If Benteke settles well at Palace (which I really hope he will), he has the potential to lead Palace to a top half finish as opposed to last season's 15^th place finish. Crystal palace also enjoy a run of easy fixtures from GW 3 to 8 and GW 20 to 27. The first spell should give him plenty of minutes to settle in to the squad and he can really explode in the second spell. Keep this Belgian on your watchlist for sure, if not your squad.

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A lot of you might say that I might be writing after watching the Premier League for 2 weeks now and anyone can say "this player is good/bad" after watching them for 2 GWs but I can back it up with proof that I predicted Ibrahimovic and Negredo to perform. While Ibrahimovic was an obvious pick, Negredo wasn't for a lot of people. However, I had him from the very start. He was even my captain pick for GW 2. I'm posting my FPL team's strikers for the 2 weeks as an evidence.

Gameweek 2

Gameweek 1

I can't stress enough how amazing this season is going to be. I have extremely huge expectations from this season, as a manager as well as a Liverpool fan. I just want to finish by wishing all managers best of luck for this season. May all your arrows be green.