Save the following date and time on your phone: Friday, August 9, 6pm. Mark it as important, highlight in red, include an asterisk or two and your emoji of choice. The deadline for Gameweek 1 is 7pm, so if all else fails you’ve got a one-hour warning to get your squad sorted in preparation for the big kick-off.The budget of £100m to pick a squad of 15 players remains the same, but that won’t stop you trying to cram in the high-value players like Mohamed Salah (£12.5m), Harry Kane (£11m), Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (£11m) or Raheem Sterling (£12m) before realising you don’t actually have enough budget remaining to hit ‘save’ on a completed squad.Defenders • Midfielders • Strikers (coming soon)DefendersAndy Robertson and Trent Alexander-Arnold may once again be a great fantasy picks, but with both priced at a whopping £7myou really will have to hunt out the bargains to accommodate them.With stoppers, it’s pretty straightforward. Will they play? Do they have clean sheet potential? Can they provide an attacking threat?Strong word of warning: it’s slim pickings at this price bracket and there’s no magical Aaron Wan-Bissaka starting off at £4.0m to save us this year...SEE ALSO27 essential Fantasy Premier League tips from old winners and experts1. Lewis Dunk, Brighton (£4.5m)If Harry Maguire completes a proposed Cristiano Ronaldo-esque £80 million transfer to Manchester United, then there’s every chance that Leicester could come in with a daft bid for Dunk.It’s all speculation at this point, but regardless: at £4.5m in fantasy land, the 27-year-old is a guaranteed starter in Brighton’s defence alongside Shane Duffy – who at £5m is too expensive for this barrel-scraping selection.Two goals and one assist last season means he’s not completely toothless in front of goal, so while it’s unlikely that new boss Graham Potter will ever deploy the 6ft 3in one-cap England international up front, he should get easy minutes on the board. A viable, playing option to warm your fantasy bench and free up funds elsewhere.2. Ahmed Elmohamady, Aston Villa (£4.5m)A welcome return to the league for former Hull and Sunderland defender Elmohamady, who posted 114 points back in 2014/15 with two goals and five assists for a Tigers side that finished 16th. It’s as close to impressive in this list as you’re going to get.Tickle Me (they must call him that) contributed two goals and eight assists in the Championship last season as Aston Villa secured their big top-flight return. Twenty-six of his starts last season came at right-back, with a further 13 coming further upfield – potential here for a coveted ‘out of position’ fantasy pick. And there’s more, stats fans: Elmohamady posted 53 key passes last season, ranking him 38th in the Championship. For a defender, that’s not too shabby.The 31-year-old also chipped in with two goals in four games at the recent Africa Cup of Nations, putting him level on goals for the tournament with a certain Mr. Mo Salah.3. Joel Ward, Crystal Palace (£4.5m)Last season we tipped Wan-Bissaka as a £4.0m bargain basement must-have for Crystal Palace, and duly patted ourselves on the back for the rest of the year. And how times have changed:the youngster has sincemade a £50 million move to Manchester United.Back in FPL, that presumably leaves Ward to pick up the pieces at right-back. He was very much a utility man last season and deployed in various places across Roy Hodgson’s back four, making just six starts.His defensive team-mate Martin Kelly (£4.0m) is owned by over 20% of teams, which is frankly mad. To translate: fantasy managers picked a squad of 14 players and had £4.0m budget left for a final defender they’ve heard of. Sure, there are injury doubts over both Mamadou Sahko and James Tomkins, but he won’t be a long-term solution.Unless Palace sign another right-back in the coming weeks, we should be looking at Ward as another £4.5m starting option to sit snugly on your bench. It’s worth keeping an eye on how Hodgson lines up his defence over pre-season.4. Max Aarons, Norwich, (£4.5m)If Aarons makes a summer move from Norwich to Crystal Palace in the next three weeks (for some reason), please discount the previous pick. The exciting 19-year-old notched up two goals and six assists last season, helping his club to promotion and himself to three of the following four individual accolades:EFL Young Player of the Year 2018/19 – CheckEFL Team of the Season 2018/19 – CheckBritain’s Big Celebrity Love Get Me Out Of Here Brother Talent Island 2018/19PFA Team of the Year: 2018/19 Championship – CheckNorwich tied him down to a new five-year deal this month, after Aarons emergedas a speculated transfer target for the likes of Manchester United and Tottenham.Critically, Norwich start the season at Liverpool, so admittedly a captain shout for GW1 he is not. However, Luis Suarez has long since left Anfield so the hopeful Canaries are instantly better off than in their last top-flight jaunt.5. Rob Holding (Arsenal)God help Arsenal fans if they have to rely on Shkodran Mustafi for another season. Holding, before his 2018/19 campaign was cruelly cut short by a long-term knee knack in December, was actually looking like the Gunners’ best defender.He’ll need some work in pre-season but it shouldn’t be too long before the ex-Bolton stopper returns to help his side . And when he does, there’s a good chance he’ll start to partner Sokratis: Mustafi is… well, Mustafi; Laurent Koscielny would rather be anywhere else; Calum Chambers’ future is unclear; and Konstantinos Mavropanos remains a little raw.Worst case, he doesn't start and you switch him out for one of the above. Easy.MidfieldersUp next...Defenders • Midfielders • Strikers (coming soon)There’s a good argument that midfielders are the most important element of your fantasy side. Last season, the top three scoring players all fell into this category (Mo Salah, Raheem Sterling and Sadio Mané) and are sure to be highly owned again this time.You’re looking for a player who gets regular minutes, preferably shows some attacking intent and doesn’t play for a team likely to get thumped every week. Price limit at a miserly £6.5m...1. Ayoze Perez, Leicester (£6.5m)The 25-year-old Spaniard is coming off his most productive Premier League season yet, with 12 goals and two assists for Newcastle last year – and now he’ll be surrounded by greater quality at the King Power Stadium.Perez’s adaptability should mean Brendan Rodgers easily finds a spot in the starting XI for him, either alongside or just behind Jamie Vardy. With the impressive James Maddison (£7.0m) and Youri Tielemans (£6.5m) supplying from deeper positions, the Foxes’ midfield looks pretty exciting indeed.Tielemans is a fine budget option himself, but Perez’s additional goalscoring threat means he wins the tiebreaker. While the Spaniard may have overachieved last year, that should balance itself out with an increase in assists alongside Vardy.2. Manuel Lanzini, West Ham (£6.5m)Another side with a fine-looking engine room. West Ham’s major injury problems seem to be behind them for now, and there are several interesting options. Felipe Anderson (£7.0m) had an excellent 2018/19 campaign, but the slight discount for Lanzini and significantly lower ownership make him more attractive.Lanzini missed out on Argentina’s Copa America squad but will benefit from a full pre-season after that horrible injury which kept him out for much of last term. After their opening game against Manchester City, the Hammers play only one team from the top half before mid-October.Samir Nasri enjoyed some success at the end of the season in a central role, but West Ham generally struggled to replace Lanzini’s creativity and talent through the middle. He should give Manuel Pellegrini’s team a significant boost alongside the arrival of record signing Sebastien Haller from Eintracht Frankfurt – a probable upgrade on problem child Marko Arnautovic.3. James Ward-Prowse, Southampton (£6.0m)Southampton were revived under new manager Ralph Hasenhuttl during the second half of last season, and no one personified that improvement better than Ward-Prowse. The technically gifted central midfielder blossomed under new management, scoring all seven of last season’s Premier League goals in 2019. Having created 46 chances last term, he would have expected better than zero assists.While Danny Ings (£6.0m) retains penalty duties at St. Mary’s, the striker managed only 21 starts last year because he’s made entirely of glass and balsa wood. If and when Ings isn’t available, JWP takes over and is first in line for free-kicks regardless – as he should be, given that he’s one of the finest dead-ball specialists in the league.4. Joao Moutinho, Wolves (£5.5m)Moutinho’s signing last summer was a coup for Wolves, even considering their ‘strong’ Portuguese connections. He didn’t disappoint in the West Midlands, playing an instrumental role as they finished 7th, grabbing eight assists and 119 fantasy points.Moutinho is guaranteed starter each week and his assists weren’t a fluke – he was in the top eight for expected assists (xA) last year, whereas Matt Ritchie (DF, £5.5m), came 40th in xA despite actually getting eight. That suggests Moutinho’s success is likely to be duplicated next term, as does the fact that he is really good at football.5. Emi Buendia , Norwich (£6.0m)The young Argentine is the Canaries’ heartbeat, and their success this season will hinge on him more than any other player. While the 22-year-old is far from the youngest player in Daniel Farke’s starting XI, that’s still a lot of pressure for the midfielder’s debut Premier League season.Luckily, he’s well capable of living up to expectations. Buendia was a force of nature in the Championship, assisting 12 and scoring eight more in a magnificent campaign.Mario Vranic (£6.5m) is more expensive, presumably based on his excellent output last year (10 goals, seven assists) in fewer minutes. But the underlying stats are all in the youngster’s favour. As well as leading the team for chances created, he made more tackles than any other player – the type of stats that lead to bonus point goodness.Honourable mentions: John McGinn (Aston Villa, £5.5m) could be a differential if he can bring his Championship form up to the next Level. Andros Townsend (Crystal Palace, £6.0m) is good value and may have more expected of him dependent on the Wilfried Zaha saga. Nathan Redmond (Southampton, £6.5m) provides a Saints alternative, while Alex Iwobi (Arsenal, £6.0m) is one to watch if Arsenal don’t manage to sign a new wide player.Miguel Almiron (Newcastle, £6.0m) is an interesting option given his encouraging introduction to the league in January. Initial fixtures and Newcastle’s current state leave him as one to watch for now, mind.Following consecutive fantasy coverage across seven years and more than 250 gameweeks, FantasyYIRMA are confident in saying they’ve wasted a large portion of their adult lives on fantasy football. 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