da 888casino： Will it up to points or building your backline in a budget for the upcoming campaign?
da dobrowin： The 2023-24 season of the Premier Leaguefantasy football is back and live.
You have a £100 million budget to begin with and with that amount, you might have to splash the cash on at least a few premium buys such as Erling Haaland, Mohamed Salah, Harry Kane, or even get Trent Alexander-Arnold in there.
But lest you remember to complete your squad of 15 players including five defenders within budget, yet keep the team competitive, especially with a lot of cost-effective options from the newly-promoted sides. GOAL can help you here.
Getty ImagesTrent Alexander-Arnold | Liverpool | £8.0m
The Liverpool right-back was third among the top defender of the gone season, with 156 points. But he now makes it into the premium category with a price tag of £8.0m from £7.5m in Gameweek 1 last season. He is now only behind John Terry (£8.5m) in the all-time most expensive starting defender.
His worth comes from the versatility he brings to the table as someone who can double up as a central midfielder. Thus picking Alexander-Arnold over a £6.5m Andrew Robertson could make sense, especially as the England international picked up 60 points with a goal and seven assists in the Reds' last 10 games.
AdvertisementGetty ImagesKieran Trippier | Newcastle | £6.5m
At 198 points, Trippier was the top defender in the 2022-23 season, given that Newcastle earned themselves a Champions League slot as well. His start cost last season was £5.0m, to be valued at £6.0m by the end of the campaign. So the £6.5m ahead of this season is pretty fair.
He hit a bit of slack in the latter half of last season but had already compensated with his overall numbers, such as 393 crosses, 135 successful crosses, and 216 corners, the highlight being the 83 successful corners.
Getty ImagesVirgil van Dijk | Liverpool | £6.0m
With Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp opting for the 3-2-2-3 system, it makes for a reason good enough to spend £0.5m less and pick Van Dijk over Robertson. Why? Because Robertson wouldn't necessarily flair as much at the left side of the three-man backline as much as he would as a left-back.
On the other hand, the Dutchman managed to pick up 127 points even in a below-par season for the Reds, starting 32 games and posing as a threat during set-pieces as well. Nine shots on target from a total of 22 shots and scored three goals (3.93 xG) are numbers to back that claim.
(C)Getty ImagesLuke Shaw | Manchester United | £5.5m
Manchester United registered 12 clean sheets last season from the 24 league games wherein Erik ten Hag deployed the traditional left-back as a center-back. Shaw particularly had a strong display in the second half of the season.
He also proved to be good at garnering bonus points, with 34 created chances, although he had a low on goal attempts (14) and xGI (3.98). It could have been directly between Shaw and Kieran Trippier if the former was valued at £6.0m as opposed to getting a good bargain at £5.5m right now.