Fantasy Challenge has had a rebrand for the 2024/25 season and it is proving popular with managers. The revamped game allows managers to pick a new team for each and every Gameweek, so there is no need for future planning.

I shared my Gameweek 1 draft a few days ago. Mo Salah (£12.5m) and Alexander Isak (£8.5m) have appeared in all of my drafts but I have been tinkering with the other three slots.

Highest-owned Fantasy Challenge picks for Gameweek 1

It is interesting to look at the differences between my current team selection and the most popular team selection in Fantasy Challenge so far.

With an unlimited budget to spend and an opening weekend fixture against newly promoted Ipswich, it is no surprise to see Salah as the most popular pick. The winger is currently owned by over 60% of Fantasy Challenge managers.

Salah has had a full rest this summer. Indeed, he has spent the whole of pre-season getting to know new manager Arne Slot. This makes the Egyptian even more popular at a time when others have had a business summer at the Euros or the Copa America.

Isak and Haaland

Like Salah, Isak and Erling Haaland (£15.0m) have also had the summer off. These assets are owned by 46.71% and 52.34% of managers respectively.

Isak has a fantastic opening day fixture at home to Southampton. The forwards were both excellent on their own soil this season:

Haaland scored 15 goals in his 15 home starts during 2023/24. Meanwhile, Isak scored 14 goals in just 13 starts at St James’ Park last season.

Both forwards also ended the season on excellent form. Haaland scored 13 goals from Gameweek 21-38 last season, with Isak scoring 12. Haaland also returned three assists in that period, with Isak setting up his team-mates four times.

Given Haaland has an away fixture against Chelsea on the opening day, I was planning not to have him in Gameweek 1. However, his brace away at Chelsea in 2023/24, his hat-trick in pre-season and his ownership is putting him back on the radar.

Trent Alexander-Arnold

Trent Alexander-Arnold (£7.0m) hasn’t returned to training with Liverpool yet after making it to the Euro 24 final with England. The most expensive defender in the game is currently the fourth most popular pick in Fantasy Challenge. Potentially this is as a result of the unlimited budget for Gameweek 1 as managers can afford to have him.

But with Alexander-Arnold not travelling to the States for Liverpool’s pre-season tour, we are still unsure as to how Slot will deploy him.

With Trent, it still feels like there are a lot of unanswered questions. Will the premium defender be played in defence or in midfield? Can Liverpool be more solid defensively this season? Is he able to reach the attacking highs of the 2022/23 season again?

When you run a comparison of Trent from the 2022/23 season (left), against Trent from 2023/24 (right), the results are interesting.

He picked up two fewer clean sheets in the 23/24 than he did the season before. He also returned six fewer assists and 34 fewer FPL points. It is important to note however that he did start nine fewer games last season and play 771 fewer minutes.

Trent’s assist potential decreased massively season-on-season but his goal threat was significantly improved.

Close eyes on Liverpool to see when Trent rejoins the squad. The brilliant thing about FPL Challenge is that if he isn’t named in the Liverpool team for Gameweek 1, he can be transferred out right until the game kicks off at 12:30 BST on August 17.

David Raya

Raya is the most popular goalkeeper in Fantasy Challenge. Currently, the Arsenal shot-stopper is owned by just under 37% of managers. Like Trent, David Raya (£5.5m) is yet to rejoin the Arsenal squad after his involvement with Spain at the Euros this summer.

The goalkeeper has now made his loan move from Brentford to Arsenal permanent. Last season Raya earned the Golden Glove. The Arsenal man recorded 16 clean sheets in 2023/24, three more than Jordan Pickford (£5.0m) who was the next best. Seven of these clean sheets came in home matches, a total that only Pickford could beat. Raya’s 24 goals conceded last season were also the fewest by any of the regular starting goalkeepers.

Raya faces Wolves on the opening day. Last season, Wolves scored on just 50 occasions; only five teams scored fewer goals than the West Midlands club. With Arsenal’s excellent defensive stats, as well as Wolves’ difficulties in front of goal, it isn’t surprising to see Raya the most popular goalkeeper pick.

The current most popular Fantasy Challenge team

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