Pedro Powers Ahead

After toying with my team for many an hour, the XI I eventually settled on didn’t do too badly.

The big decision was Haaland. I looked at him repeatedly but eventually took the risk and went without. A combination of his lack of pre-season minutes and the manager’s comments tipped the balance.

That decision freed up the money elsewhere and left me with João Pedro as captain.

One goal, one assist. That’ll do nicely.

THE HITS

João Pedro

A solid captain choice. Plenty of managers owned him, but far fewer handed him the armband, which gave me exactly the advantage I was hoping for.

The early signs at Chelsea look promising too. Palmer, Pedro and Rogers look like they could really enjoy playing together, and I may end up wanting more than one of them.

For now, though, I’m very happy with Pedro.

Saka, Calafiori & Tzolis

Many pundits have already concluded that Arsenal will stroll towards a consecutive title and, on the early evidence, it’s hard to disagree.

Saka looks like he has a point to prove, which could be ominous for the rest of the league and very useful for FPL managers.

Tzolis’ assists early in pre-season initially caught my eye, but it was his Charity Shield performance that really convinced me. Unfortunately, around one in four managers ended up reaching the same conclusion, so he wasn’t quite the differential I’d hoped for.

Still, definitely one to keep.

THE MISSES

Isak

A player who should have had a point to prove against his former club.

Instead, he was woeful.

I’m giving him one more Gameweek to prove himself at Anfield. I may even hand him the captain’s armband and risk the whole thing.

What could possibly go wrong?

Thiago

Possibly the most frustrating one of the lot.

Brentford battered Spurs. Points everywhere. And somehow, virtually nothing for Thiago.

A missed penalty and a whole host of chances made it particularly painful because he actually passed the eye test. On another day, he could easily have hauled.

For that reason, I’m reluctant to panic after one week.

The bigger miss was Lewis-Potter, who had been sitting in my team before I eventually talked myself out of him. Classic FPL.

Mbeumo

Let’s face it: United had a stinker.

The fans at Old Trafford won’t be nearly as forgiving as I am after one Gameweek.

Mbeumo was probably the best of a bad bunch, but I’m still not convinced about him as a long-term pick. For now he survives, but he’s already edging towards the watchlist.

THE VERDICT

Overall, I’ll take it.

Going without Haaland could have gone horribly wrong, João Pedro delivered as captain and most of the players I backed showed enough to justify keeping them.

The danger now is doing what every FPL manager does after Gameweek 1: taking 90 minutes of football and completely rebuilding the team around it.

So naturally, I’m already considering captaining Isak at Anfield.