FPL gameweek 1 tips: no Citizens, but don’t forget Kane

If you’re looking to get a head start on your friends in this season’s Fantasy Premier League, you’ll need to know which players are worth backing from the start.

To help, PA has developed a Transfer Score metric, with a player’s form accounting for 50 per cent of the rating and the rest determined by cost, ownership and upcoming fixture difficulty rating (FDR).

These are the players whose metric scores put them at the top of the pile this week. To keep things simple, we’ve ignored new players and those who are blank in GW1.

All aboard the Kane train

Harry Kane is our standout striker pick despite being the joint-most expensive option (tied with Sergio Aguero) at £10.5m.

The England captain scores highly for two of the most important factors in choosing an FPL forward: form and fixture difficulty.

Kane faces Everton, Southampton and Newcastle in Tottenham’s first three games, and comes into those fixtures off the back of five goals in three games at the end of last season.

Elsewhere, Michail Antonio looks an enticing option having finished the season with eight goals in seven league games and a relatively low price tag – even despite West Ham’s tough opening fixtures.

Meanwhile, Che Adams has better fixtures and is a bit cheaper – the 24-year-old started to move out of Danny Ings’ shadow towards the end of last term and will now be hoping to establish himself as Southampton’s other striker.

Spartan Saints

For midfielders, it’s three clubs involved again! Son Heung-min’s form isn’t quite as good as Kane’s but he’s cheaper and benefits from Spurs’ good run of fixtures.

The Saints’ Nathan Redmond edges out the other mid-priced midfielders as he’s got very low ownership, making him a strong differential option.

Declan Rice is great value at £5m if he can pick up where he left off, but those tough fixtures will put some people off. He’s in ahead of his teammate Thomas Soucek, partly due to relatively low ownership but also due to better form (Soucek averaged 3.4 points in the last 5 games compared to Rice’s 5.2).

Differential defenders

It’s a hat trick of top recommendations for Spurs, with Toby Alderweireld worth considering as a premium defender for those who can’t afford to double up on Liverpool at the back.

Speaking of the Reds, perennial favourite Andy Robertson makes it in ahead of Trent because of his better form, added to the fact the latter is owned by over half of all managers and is £0.5m more expensive.

Now John Lundstram is £1.5m more expensive and reclassified as a midfielder, fellow Blade John Egan is the best option in the miserly Sheffield United defence.