With Fantasy Premier League (FPL) live for 2023/24, we’re welcoming back our team of Hall of Famers and guest writers for the new campaign. And new to our list of contributors is Ali Jahangirov, the reigning FPL champion! Here, Ali talks through his Gameweek 1 team.

Ali and our other writers will be providing regular articles and team reveals throughout the new season, with only Premium Members able to access every single one.

You can sign up here for the new campaign – once you’re aboard, you’ve locked in the price of your Premium Membership for good, so long as you don’t cancel.

The Gameweek 1 deadline is only hours away now and FPL managers are getting ready to lock in their teams.

Based on the latest injury updates to a few popular picks like Gabriel Jesus (£8.0m) and Christopher Nkunku (£7.5m) and some takeaways from the pre-season friendlies, my draft has changed a lot since the game launched.

Both were my favorite options for the second forward spot but now that they are not available, a budget-friendly Joao Pedro (£5.5m) being on penalty-taking duties for Brighton and Hove Albion has caught my attention.

SALAH THE DIFFERENTIAL

Choosing Pedro also enables a great opportunity to bring in another heavy hitter like Mohamed Salah (£12.5m), who has impressed in Liverpool’s pre-season friendlies. The Egyptian is the most nailed Liverpool attacker out of the lot and a 24.7% ownership is something we rarely see for the most consistent FPL player of recent years. It is hard to ignore.

The Gameweek 2 fixture against Bournemouth is calling for Liverpool cover. I think the Reds are about to have a great season, with high goalscoring potential for several of their assets.

Trent Alexander Arnold (£8.0m) is in the conversation as well but seeing new arrival Dominik Szoboszlai (£7.0m) on some of the set pieces over the summer reduces the English full-back’s avenues to points.

Another argument for having Salah locked in my team is the flexibility to move away from him by downgrading to other options, rather than trying to fit him in after a few Gameweeks.

Although it’s safe to have a fairly template team at the start of the new campaign, it is also important to have a few differentials to have a chance to gain ground.

TROSSARD PUNT

Leandro Trossard (£7.0m), who has had a fantastic pre-season and scored in the Community Shield for Arsenal, looks pretty good for early-season game-time. His minutes could be slightly affected by new arrival Kai Havertz (£7.5m) but the absence of Jesus creates a potential spot for the Belgium international.

Even if benched, he could offer attacking returns by coming on late in the game against tired opposition legs. The new added time rule means that we could expect up to 10 minutes of injury time instead of the regular 3-4 from previous seasons, which brings us to an interesting conversation of picking between starters who could play 60-70 minutes or impact subs who will come on for 30-40 minute cameos. Bear in mind, it’s the start of the season and most players are not 100% fit and ready to play 90 minutes week in, week out.

At least for 3-4 Gameweeks, we will see even nailed assets hooked off after 60-70 minutes as their fitness levels are steadily worked on. Only time will tell how the new rule affects the dynamics of FPL in the longer term but it’s worth keeping the extra pitch-time in mind for the first few weeks.

CURRENT DRAFT