Fantasy Premier League 2020/21: The dilemmas you need to deal with

As the new Premier League season is about to go underway, I've decided to pen down my thoughts about a couple of things that I think are going to shape this season's Fantasy Premier League. It's my annual blog ritual. I write a piece about this every year before the season begins. 

In the past, my blogs have been entirely forward-looking. I pen down my thoughts on the different things that are likely to shape FPL. However, in this year's blog, I've also decided to review the things I talked about in the last blog and do a retrospective on how my analysis turned out. After that, I'll be talking about 2 key debates that are likely to determine choosing a squad for this season's FPL managers. Finding the right balance on these 2 debates will be key in this seasons FPL

Look back on last year's blog

Since you won't have time to read my last season's blog, titled "3 things to look out for this season", I'll summarize it here. I talked about 3 things that were going to be worth looking out for - the transfers, the title race, and the newly promoted teams. My retrospective on these 3 points:

1. The Transfers - City and Liverpool had a quiet transfer window last season. Additionally, I talked about how it is usually tricky to put new transfers into your squad as they need some time to settle in but if done right, can bring you good returns for value. Looking back, Bruno Fernandes was an example of the latter. 
2. The Title Race - It was expected to be a 2 headed race between City and Liverpool at the start of the season last year. While these two teams were again the top 2 of the league, Liverpool turned out to be the runaway winners by some margin this time. The 17 point gap between Liverpool, the title winners, and Manchester City was largely due to the latter's leaky defense, which I'm sure they'll be keen to improve this time around. 
3. The Promoted Teams - I also talked about how players from newly promoted teams can be a good value for money. Looking back, Lundstram is a very good example of that. 

This time, I'm going to write about 2 debates or dilemmas that are going to shape this season's Fantasy Premier League.

Form vs Fixture 

This has been an everpresent debate amongst FPL managers when picking players. However, one key factor that has added a new dimension to this debate significantly is the Coronavirus pandemic. When looking at fixtures of a player or a team, one of the key determinants of difficulty is also whether the fixture is being played at home or away. This is especially important when the fixture is expected to be a closely contested one. The home support can be a deciding factor in these situations. 

However, due to the pandemic, matches are still going to be played behind closed doors till the end of September at least. This means that apart from the way the dressing room looks and feels, the teams will not feel too flustered while playing away and form will become a much more important factor. Additionally, if the number of cases doesn't drop and the games continue to be behind closed doors, this might just become an important factor over a much larger part of the season.  

Attacking Midfielder vs Striker 

This is another key factor that will shape up squad selection for FPL managers this season. As football as evolved, the lines between the role of an attacking midfielder and a striker has become blurrier than ever. There are attacking midfielders that are expected to give high returns in terms of goals (for example, Raheem Sterling), and then there are strikers playing as false 9's (example, Roberto Firmino). 

This is reflected in the classification as well as the pricing of several players this season. The number of midfielders ranging above £10m in price has consistently increased and the number of strikers in a similar price range has been dropping. There are 3 strikers that command a price of £10m and above compared to 6 such midfielders. Additionally, a few key players like Aubameyang (Arsenal) and Marcus Rashford (Manchester United) have also been re-classified from striker to midfielder position. 

In the category of high-price attacking midfielders and strikers, the Premier League has a bunch of choices to pick from and FPL managers will have to make trade-offs and use their expert judgment on these. If we talked about last year's top 2 teams - Manchester City has 3 such players and Liverpool has 2. Additionally, Arsenal, Chelsea, Manchester United, and Spurs have their fair share of expensive midfielders/strikers as well. Not to mention, Jamie Vardy, lest I forget Leicester. There are 15 players valued at £9M and above. Most squads won't be able to pick more than 3 of these and choosing the right permutation and combination will be key this season. 

I hope you liked this blog. Feel free to share it with your FPL mates or comment at the bottom with your thoughts. I'm also sharing my current opening game week FPL squad below. Although, I may make a few changes before matchday.