Fantasy EFL is kicking off on Friday 9 August, meaning we’re well and truly into Gameweek 1. As such, we’re rolling out a lot of our familiar Fantasy Premier League (FPL) essentials for those playing the new game that covers all three English Football League (EFL) divisions, consisting of 72 clubs.

If you haven’t already signed up to select your first side – it’s free to play and there are great prizes to win – then do so immediately!

To get you started, there’s plenty of information in our complete pre-season guide to Fantasy EFL, including rules, points, strategy tips, transfers, summer friendlies and more. Additionally, there’s the content that we’re creating live on the official EFL site.

INTRODUCING THE SCOUT SQUAD

Here, our resident EFL experts – Lewis, Louis, Scott and (um) Chris – get the chance to nominate a 12-man and four-team longlist for the upcoming Gameweek.

All four panellists explain their notable inclusions and omissions below. As the game is without player prices and budget limitations, we’re simply asking each one to select:

• Three goalkeepers (GKs)
• Three defenders (DEFs)
• Three midfielders (MIDs)
• Three forwards (FORs)
• Four ‘winning teams’

SCOUT SQUAD: FANTASY EFL PLAYERS FOR GAMEWEEK 1

Most popular picks: Sammie Szmodics (four), Alfie May, Luke Ayling (three), Bailey Peacock-Farrell, Koji Miyoshi, Jayden Bogle, Perry Ng, Daniel Crowley, Emmanuel Latte Lath, Birmingham City, West Bromwich Albion (two)

LOUIS SAID…

Along with Illan Meslier and Bailey Peacock-Farrell, I also think Barnsley’s new goalkeeper Jackson Smith has solid prospects for Gameweek 1. I would back all three teams to keep a clean sheet against weaker-looking opposition.

In defence, I’ve opted for Middlesbrough’s Luke Ayling, who finished last season with nine assists. Wycombe Wanderers left-back Luke Leahy seems to be going well under the radar, having banked 18 attacking returns. Half of them came from the penalty spot. Combine that with clean sheet potential and he becomes a difficult player to ignore.

Cardiff City’s Perry Ng could be one of the best assets in the game. He averaged 2.8 tackles and 2.5 clearances per 2023/24 outing, along with nine clean sheets, six assists and four goals.

Gabriel Sara was in my initial all-Championship midfield selection but he has now joined Galatasaray, so Daniel Crowley is the replacement. Like Sara, the Notts County man shows a wonderful balance between goals and assists, providing owners with multiple routes to points in any given game.

Meanwhile, Blackburn Rovers face newly-promoted Derby County, making it a good time to bring in the Championship’s top scorer from last season. Sammie Szmodics plays out of position, takes penalties and stands out as the best captaincy option for Gameweek 1.

I expect Daniel James to shine this season, especially after Crysencio Summerville’s move to West Ham United. One of the most offensively efficient teams across all three leagues, I predict plenty of Leeds United goals against promoted Portsmouth, which is also why I have selected Joel Piroe too.

As well as spearheading a deadly frontline, Piroe should also take up the recently vacated penalty-taking role.

Birmingham City should punish a poor Reading side on the opening day, with Alfie May there to score. He goes into the new season having scored in each of his pre-season matches.

Someone else who I think could go big in Gameweek 1 is Middlesbrough’s Emmanuel Latte Lath. The Cote d’Ivoire international managed a huge eight goals and one assist in his final six Championship matches of last season.

As for my team selection, they are very reflective of my picks. I’d prefer to save the next Leeds selection for a round where they play twice at home but I’m also backing Birmingham and Barnsley to win at home. But the two-point reward for predicting an away win is enticing and I think West Bromwich Albion‘s trip to a woefully inconsistent Queens Park Rangers could be interesting.

CHRIS SAID…

I’m trying to build an initial squad that has a balance between ‘safe’ choices, punts and some stats-backed picks and the three goalkeeper selections demonstrate that clearly. Oxford United are newcomers to the Championship, whilst Norwich City are one of the favourites, making Angus Gunn feel like a pretty strong option for an away clean sheet. 

Bristol City’s Max O’Leary is my stats-based pick, grabbing the top save percentage in last season’s Championship (75%) and making 138 stops alongside 18 clean sheets. Travelling to Hull City is a ‘neutral’ match but, then again, I think that offers save-point potential even if a clean sheet isn’t guaranteed.

For the punt, I’m thinking Arthur Okonkwo from Wrexham. I saw a lot of him via the TV show last year and he was always impressive. I think the Red Dragons will be expecting a good start to this campaign against Wycombe.

At the back, I’m pretty settled on my selections of Leeds’ Ethan Ampadu and Sheffield United’s Anel Ahmedhodzic. Both are in solid defences for sides expecting to compete at the top of the division and have supposedly ‘green’ fixtures against Portsmouth and Preston North End. I’m not the only one either, as these are the two most selected defenders at the time of writing (38% and 20% respectively).

Cardiff’s Perry Ng is my data-based pick, after accumulating 110 tackles, 96 clearances, 10 goal involvements last time. Plus, he has a decent home fixture versus Sunderland.

My midfield picks feel super safe but, to be honest, this is the area I feel will most likely need rotation. Sammie Szmodics almost single-handedly kept Blackburn Rovers away from relegation with an incredible haul of 27 goals and four assists. Such an eye for goal makes him one of the few essential picks for Fantasy EFL managers – assuming he’s still playing in the EFL. At present, that looks to be an increasingly narrow possibility, with numerous Premier League sides like Ipswich Town competing for his signature.

Gustavo Hamer has already enjoyed a spell in the Premier League and come away with pretty good attacking stats considering how much the Blades struggled on their way down. 14 goal involvements, 67 key passes and 28 interceptions are all figures that I expect to be improved upon by the Dutchman in the Championship.

New Huddersfield Town signing Herbie Kane was in my thinking for the final midfield slot but then I really couldn’t ignore the attacking double-up for Birmingham. Again, there’s a lot to choose from with Juninho Bacuna, Jordan James and newcomer Willum Thor Willumsson all worth a glance but I’ve instead opted for Koji Miyoshi. Last year’s 55 key passes, 19 interceptions and 12 goal involvements will surely all be bettered in League One – he’s already been on the pre-season scoresheet.

Ironically, I did think I’d picked the safest-looking starter with Norwich’s Gabriel Sara. He bagged 13 goals and 12 assists last year but has just signed for Galatasaray, so I’m switching my Canaries attention to forward Josh Sargent instead. 16 goals from 33 shots on target and two assists out of 25 key passes for the US international are very impressive, considering he had only 28 matches. It ranked him as the fourth-best Championship forward proportionally with 0.81 goal involvement per 90 minutes.

Alongside him, I think a Leeds forward is essential. That would have been main man Summerville but, plucked away by West Ham, I’ll instead give his spot to Willy Gnonto.

There are no real ‘punts’ up front for the third pick, as Birmingham’s Alfie May is one to file under ‘no-brainer’ for me. He netted 23 times for Charlton Athletic in 2023/24 and it’s entirely possible that could be bettered this time, as the Blues threaten to dominate League One.

My strategy for picking out winning teams is to save the biggest ones for double (and treble) Gameweeks, so that rules out Leeds and Birmingham for now. I’m also mainly focusing on teams playing away with the capacity to score lots – hence Coventry City (away to Stoke City) – and/or keep clean sheets – in this case, West Brom away to QPR.

Lower down the leagues, I fancy newly promoted League Two side Bromley as an away punt to ‘do a Wrexham/Notts County’ against Harrogate. Finally, I’ve opted for Northampton Town away to Leyton Orient. There’s not a lot of science in that pick but I’m dedicating it to Simon, an absent friend and stalwart Cobblers fan who took me to a few games, before passing away a few years back – miss you, fella!

SCOTT SAID…

The three goalkeepers I’m selecting are Daniel Grimshaw, James Belshaw and Aynsley Pears. For the first week, I’m targeting certain fixtures while also not wanting to waste key Leeds and Birmingham players on stoppers when I feel their attacking options can score more. Each of this trio are facing newly promoted sides who scored the least goals. Furthermore, the Blackpool, Harrogate and Blackburn defences were all relatively strong last season, keeping 18, 11 and 10 clean sheets.

My defenders are Jayden Bogle, Luke Ayling and Michal Helik. I wanted to target the Leeds defence because they kept the most Championship clean sheets last time and Bogle has been its most attacking asset in pre-season, picking up two assists in three games.

Ayling managed nine assists after his winter move from Leeds to Middlesbrough and has a good home fixture against Swansea City, which I am looking to target. Polish centre-back Helik delivered nine goals in a Huddersfield team that struggled to score. He’ll always be a threat from set pieces and, now down in League One, Helik could be a high-scoring defender this time. His first fixture isn’t perfect – away at Peterborough – but he seems like a pick too good to miss.

In midfield, it’s Koji Miyoshi, Daniel Crowley and Sammie Szmodics. Birmingham is a team to target in the first game after their fantastic pre-season including a 4-1 win over West Brom. Miyoshi ended on a half-dozen goals and assists last season and I imagine his numbers will increase in League One. With their first outing being against Reading, the Japanese winger just seems like a must.

Crowley had a great time in 2023/24, scoring 15 goals and assisting another 10 for free-scoring Notts County. They open against Tranmere Rovers, who were in the bottom half for goals conceded. Whereas Blackburn hotshot Szmodics seems to be a great chance for gaining valuable Fantasy points.

Up front, I’ve plumped for Alfie May, Mateo Joseph and Jordan Rhodes. Top-scorer May is now playing in an even stronger team and has been reaping the rewards with five pre-season goals including a brace against West Brom. He is an obvious but necessary pick.

Of all the Leeds attackers, Joseph seems to be the pick of the bunch, scoring four times over this summer and looking like he’ll lead the line against Portsmouth. With a low 1.1% ownership, he could be a great differential when trying to beat mini-league rivals. As for Rhodes, the Blackpool man registered 15 goals last season and has a good fixture against Crawley Town.

The four teams I have selected are Bolton Wanderers, Blackpool, Rotherham and Notts County. All are away, as I chase the extra points for victories on the road. Bolton want automatic promotion and are against a Leyton Orient side that finished 11th last time. Although the O’s beat them in last season’s equivalent fixture, I expect Bolton to win this one.

Blackpool’s newly-promoted opponents Crawley only came seventh in League Two, suggesting there’ll be a gulf in quality between the two teams.

Steve Evans is now in charge of Rotherham and has a great League One record. I expect a quick start and they face an Exeter side who ranked 18th last time for home form.

Notts County are looking to build on last season’s 14th-placed finish and I think they’ll finish further up this time. I anticipate that their opponents Tranmere will struggle again this time, beginning with a County win on Saturday.

LEWIS SAID…

My three goalkeepers are Birmingham City duo Ryan Allsop and Bailey Peacock-Farrell, alongside Gillingham’s Jack Turner.

Although I’d rather not select two Blues‘ keepers, we’re yet to see Chris Davies decide on his number one. His final press conference on this matter will be crucial. I expect the Blues to make a strong start against Reading. As a punt, it’s Turner because of his side’s good record at home to Carlisle United, most recently beating them 1-0. With 0.1% ownership, the differential train is now moving. 

Middlesbrough’s Luke Ayling and Leeds’ Jayden Bogle are expected to compete at the top of the Championship, which is why picking strong defences for the first Gameweek feels safe. I fancy Ayling to bring attacking returns, having seen his half-season assists record.

On the back of two pre-season assists, I think Bogle will be as attacking as ever. When hosting newly promoted Portsmouth, I think he’ll return at both ends. Additionally, he has lower ownership (5%) than Junior Firpo (8%) and Ethan Ampadu (37.9%) – I love the value of lower-owned players in strong sides. With the most clean sheets in last year’s Championship, what could possibly go wrong…!?

My data-based pick is Stevenage’s Carl Piergianni, taking on Shrewsbury Town at Broadhall Way. A club captain with 2.1% ownership, he made 55 tackles, 166 clearances and brought 18 clean sheets last campaign. Six goal involvements too.

The first midfield selection was never in doubt: Sammie Szmodics. With 27 goals and four assists for Blackburn, the attacking maestro was sensational in single-handedly saving Rovers from relegation. The highest-owned player in Fantasy EFL makes Szmodics a no-brainer against Derby at Ewood Park. Let’s hope Rovers can keep hold of him until then.

Elliot Lee went from strength to strength during 2023/24, scoring 16 goals and providing five assists in 46 games. With Wrexham talisman Paul Mullin seemingly out of Gameweek 1’s clash with Wycombe, Lee becomes the default first pick from Phil Parkinson’s side.

Although a number of options tempted me for the final slot, I couldn’t ignore the differential potential of Millwall’s Zian Flemming. He brought seven goals and five assists last season, numbers that I expect him to better this time around. A Flemming free-kick decided last year’s home meeting with Watford, so a repeat would be brilliant for this low ownership.

We all love a throwback pick, don’t we? That’s why I’ve selected Doncaster Rovers’ talisman Billy Sharp. Returning to Donny, Sharp’s previous spells accumulated 45 goals and 16 assists in 102 games. After a disappointing spell at Hull, he has rediscovered his scoring touch, highlighted by a classic pre-season penalty against Middlesbrough. I even fancy Sharp to score from the spot versus Accrington Stanley.

Sticking with Boro, a more obvious choice is forward Emmanuel Latte Lath. A brace against Swansea contributed to his 16 goals in 30 games and it’s the same opponent this time. At 11.9% ownership, he seems essential.

The forward options seem endless but I’ve gone for Paddy Madden. Now at Chesterfield on the back of 17 goals and five assists at Stockport County, Madden hopes to fire the Spireites into wonderland against Cambridge United.

When it comes to teams, the plan is to hold off on choosing the big guns teams until they’ve got double (and treble) Gameweeks, where they hopefully rack up huge hauls. Coming off the Billy Sharp pick, I’m backing Doncaster at home to Accrington, who they thrashed 4-0 last season.

My away selection of Norwich is a bit more uncertain now that Sara has departed. But their trip seems strongest throughout all three divisions and I’m hoping to gain two points from it.

The other picks are Birmingham and Wrexham, with an expectation of successful openers at home to Reading and Wycombe.

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