Who to pick, who to avoid

[BBC Sport]

The Fantasy Premier League season begins on Friday 21 August so, to help managers as you tinker with your teams before the deadline, we've gone through all 20 teams and ranked some of their assets.

Our four experts - Pras, FPL Heisenberg, Gianni Buttice and Holly Shand - have each chosen:

A talisman - each team's key player and one to own, if you can afford the price.

A differential pick - a low-owned player who could end up being an FPL star.

A player to avoid - an asset unlikely to justify their price tag or be productive enough to win your league.

Arsenal

Talisman: Gabriel (£8m, defender)

Pras: The Brazil centre-back is easily the standout pick for the champions.

He finished as the top-scoring defender last season (209 points) and remains the most reliable, albeit expensive, way into the strong Arsenal's defence.

Differential: Ben White (£5.5m, defender)

Pras: The England right-back offers attacking threat and a realistic path to regular minutes while Jurrien Timber remains out.

White might not be a season-keeper but is a strong pick to start off with.

Player to avoid: Christos Tzolis (£6.5m, midfielder)

Pras: The new signing has talent and has been involved in quite a few pre-season goals, but manager Mikel Arteta's rotation among the wide left attackers makes consistent starts far from guaranteed for the Greece international. Plus, they seem to be in the market for another left winger.

Aston Villa

Talisman: Ollie Watkins (£8m, forward)

Holly: Watkins has seen a £1m price drop going into this campaign and will likely be Aston Villa's main man following the departure of Morgan Rogers to Chelsea in the transfer window.

He remains incredibly consistent, scoring on average 16 goals in his past four seasons at the club and he's also potentially a penalty taker now Youri Tielemans has gone to Manchester United.

Differential: Matty Cash (£4.5m, defender)

Holly: Villa's defence remains a consistent one for investment, with nine clean sheets last campaign. Cash sits in around 8% of sides, and is first choice as right-back.

He produced six goal involvements last season, three goals and three assists. He had 30 shots on goal and made 30 key passes, highlighting his routes to points.

Player to avoid: Alejandro Garnacho (£6m, midfielder)

Holly: Former Manchester United man Alejandro Garnacho may be well fancied after arriving at Villa on loan from Chelsea this summer, but Emi Buendia may be hard to displace in midfield.

Garnacho comes in kindly priced, but played just 1,261 minutes last season, providing one goal and four assists. There are more consistent options at this price point.

Alejandro Garnacho has just seven goals and eight assists in his past two seasons combined [Getty Images]

Bournemouth

Talisman: Marcus Tavernier (£6m, midfielder)

Gianni: Since Antoine Semenyo left Bournemouth, you could argue they have no clear standout individual, and some would say that's a strength of the team – the ability of the collective is all important.

But Tavernier is their chief creator and responsible for a lot of their set-pieces.

With 11 attacking returns last season he's likely to be their talisman once again. Justin Kluivert (£6m) is set to be Bournemouth's penalty taker but, when the Dutchman is not on the pitch, expect Tavernier to step up.

Differential: Adrien Truffert (£5.5m, defender)

Gianni: At only 5% owned, left-back Truffert, who scored the second-most FPL points for the Cherries last season (165), may also be their best differential.

The Frenchman ghosts into dangerous advanced positions and carries open-play goal and assist threat as well as being good for defensive contributions and bonus points.

He is an all action hero.

Player to avoid: Evanilson (£6m, forward)

Gianni: There are a plethora of £6m forwards in FPL this year and Dominic Calvert-Lewin, Igor Jesus and Brian Brobbey are just three that standout as better picks than Evanilson, who only scored six goals in his 32 league games last season.

What has changed in FPL for 2026-27 season?

Brentford

Talisman: Igor Thiago (£8m, forward)

Heisenberg: Thiago is the clear talisman for Brentford after a sensational goal-scoring season, netting 22 league goals. The Brazilian finished the campaign with 181 FPL points, and his £8m starting price reflects just how much Brentford will rely on him again this season.

The concern is whether he can justify such a significant price rise, but the upside is obvious.

Thiago has the profile of a forward who can deliver in bursts, particularly against weaker opposition, and Brentford are likely to continue looking for him regularly inside the penalty area.

Differential: Dango Ouattara (£6.5m, midfielder)

Heisenberg: Ouattara is my favourite Brentford differential. He showed plenty of attacking promise last season, averaging more than five FPL points per start and producing four double-figure hauls.

The big appeal is the combination of price and attacking potential. At £6.5m, he does not need to become a premium-level scorer to represent excellent value, and his low ownership means you'll get a nice rank boost if he hits the ground running.

Player to avoid: Callum Wilson (£5.5m, forward)

Heisenberg: Wilson is a former FPL favourite of mine, but I cannot see him getting many minutes for Brentford with Igor Thiago leading the line.

Even if Thiago gets injured at some point, then Brentford could use the likes of Outtara or Kevin Schade instead, meaning Wilson's minutes would still be patchy.

Brighton

Brighton signed Croatia defender Luka Vuskovic from Tottenham for a club record fee of £46m [Getty Images]

Talisman: Pascal Gross (£5.5m, midfielder)

Pras: The veteran German midfielder is the safest Brighton option.

Gross is involved in all set-pieces, including penalties, and provides steady midfield returns.

And his price point makes him a great enabler too, allowing you to spend more cash else...

Indexed and credited by AIPROPX. Originating outlet: Yahoo Sports. Open at source →