Week One Rankings

I really love doing rankings. I also hate doing rankings…at least for week one of fantasy football (that goes for both the English and the American kind of football). Because let’s be honest, who knows exactly how teams are going to line up to start the game? We all think we know that Mata will start for United this week, but realistically only one man in the world knows for sure who he wants to start on Saturday. That’s why it is so hard to put together rankings for the first week of both forms of fantasy football and it’s why I hate doing it. But I can’t hardly turn around and publish my week one rankings article for the first and only line to be: “I hate Week One Rankings! See you next week!”, now can I.

So, I have put together my rankings but as it stands there are a lot of variables right now. This season, the Premier League is made even worse by the fact that almost every player who went beyond the second round in the World Cup having a question mark placed beside them as to whether they are fit to start this week or not. However, we just need to get through it because we’ll learn a lot this week about managers plans and who’s carrying niggles through preseason that are actually too serious for a proper run out in the season.

For Goalkeepers it isn’t too bad to do the rankings because, except for Chelsea and Sunderland, every other situation is fairly clear right now. However, when we get to the outfield positions it gets murky. I have tried to rank the guys I feel are definite for this week higher than those guys who are in a 50/50 selection dilemma. However, it isn’t always that simple! A simple question is would you rather risk starting Mangala as your number three defender knowing he could sit out this week and give you a big “Zero”, or do you risk a back-up option such as Janmaat, who will more than likely play but could concede a load of goals in a tough match up and end up getting you negative points? Personally, I would go Mangala because I’d rather accept the zero for the chance of a 6 point week than risk a negative score for a potential 1 or 2 point game.

Below each position I have included a list of the injured guys, when I expect to see them back and whether I would roster them right now.

Goalkeepers

Rankings	Names	Team	Opponent
1	Szczesny	Arsenal	Crystal Palace
2	Howard	Everton	Leicester
3	Hart	Man City	Newcastle
4	Lloris	Tottenham	West Ham
5	De Gea	Man Utd	Swansea
6	Mignolet	Liverpool	Southampton
7	Cech	Chelsea	Burnley
8	Courtois	Chelsea	Burnley
9	Begovic	Stoke	Aston Villa
10	Mannone	Sunderland	West Brom
11	Guzan	Aston Villa	Stoke
12	Green	QPR	Hull
13	McGregor	Hull	QPR
14	Foster	West Brom	Sunderland
15	Speroni	Crystal Palace	Arsenal
16	Fabianski	Swansea	Man Utd
17	Adrian	West Ham	Tottenham
18	Boruc	Southampton	Liverpool
19	Krul	Newcastle	Man City
20	Pantilimon	Sunderland	West Brom

 

No injuries at this position!

Defenders

Rankings	Names	Team	Opponent
1	Terry	Chelsea	Burnley
2	Ivanovic	Chelsea	Burnley
3	Baines	Everton	Leicester
4	Cahill	Chelsea	Burnley
5	Koscielny	Arsenal	Crystal Palace
6	Kompany	Man City	Newcastle
7	Luis	Chelsea	Burnley
8	Lovren	Liverpool	Southampton
9	Debuchy	Arsenal	Crystal Palace
10	Kolarov	Man City	Newcastle
11	Skrtel	Liverpool	Southampton
12	Jagielka	Everton	Leicester
13	Coleman	Everton	Leicester
14	Gibbs	Arsenal	Crystal Palace
15	Zabaleta	Man City	Newcastle
16	Vertonghen	Tottenham	West Ham
17	Davies	Tottenham	West Ham
18	Stones	Everton	Leicester
19	Evans	Man Utd	Swansea
20	Cameron	Stoke	Aston Villa
21	Caulker	QPR	Hull
22	Jones	Man Utd	Swansea
23	Smalling	Man Utd	Swansea
24	Pieters	Stoke	Aston Villa
25	Chambers	Arsenal	Crystal Palace
26	Johnson	Liverpool	Southampton
27	Vlaar	Aston Villa	Stoke
28	Mangala	Man City	Newcastle
29	Demichellis	Man City	Newcastle
30	Dawson	Tottenham	West Ham
31	Davies	Hull	QPR
32	Ward	Crystal Palace	Arsenal
33	Rosenior	Hull	QPR
34	Fonte	Southampton	Liverpool
35	Mertesacker	Arsenal	Crystal Palace
36	Ferdinand	QPR	Hull
37	Clyne	Southampton	Liverpool
38	Bertrand	Southampton	Liverpool
39	Shawcross	Stoke	Aston Villa
40	Brown	Sunderland	West Brom
41	O’Shea	Sunderland	West Brom
42	Jose Enrigue	Liverpool	Southampton
43	van Aanholt	Sunderland	West Brom
44	Rafael	Man Utd	Swansea
45	Creswell	West Ham	Tottenham
46	Walker	Tottenham	West Ham
47	Olsson	West Brom	Sunderland
48	Hangeland	Crystal Palace	Arsenal
49	Williams	Swansea	Man Utd
50	Delaney	Crystal Palace	Arsenal

Coleman (Hamstring) Has a chance to play this week and has a decent match up. Im risking him unless the news changes between now and Saturday morning

• Mertesacker (Lacking Match Fitness) Still returning from the world cup break and I expect him to miss out hence the low ranking even with a decent match up.
• Koscielny (LMF) Has played a part in preseason and I expect to see him out there having played last week
• Zabaleta (LMF) He missed last week but with Sagna struggling with fitness and Clichy not impressing last week they could risk him. Would normally be top ten for me but the fears he might miss out hold him back a little.
• Sagna (LMF) Not sure they chuck him out there if Zabaleta is capable, and if he isn’t fit then Clichy is perhaps the better option. For now I struggle to see the value in owning him because Zabaleta is so good!
• Shaw (Knock) Ruled out for four weeks but his potential to be top 10 means you cannot afford to drop him.
• Demichellis (LMF) This opens the door for Mangala to potentially start this weekend, but it could go either way or even could be Nastasic, hence the late third defender ranking.
• Kompany (LMF) Played last week and I expect him to this week
• Walker (Pelvis) Injury plagued his season last year, so this worries me and meant I moved him down 20 places for this week. For now roster him but you may have to be prepared to drop him if this develops
• Vertonghen (LMF) One of my favourite defenders in football and I had high hopes for this week with a decent match up. I still expect him to play and he should be started across the board.
• Evans (Knock) Currently LvG has 3 central defenders and to play his preferred formation he needs all three so I expect Evans to bounce back but if he doesn’t get better fast then I would be benching him this week.
• Agger (Knee) There are so many options at Liverpool that Agger was struggling to be a bench player for me and now he is droppable
• Jenkinson (Hamstring) For now he is droppable because people will not rush to own him
• Lescott (Knee) Again droppable because he isn’t a sexy choice in the world of defenders
• McAuley (Calf) Probably benching him this week because he is a solid contributor when he does play
• Santon (Knee) Another guy who had an injury plagued season last year. Has great talent but I don’t want to own this injury prone player in particular.

Midfielders

Ranking	Player	Team	Opponent
1	Hazard	Chelsea	Burnley
2	Toure	Man City	Newcastle
3	Ramsey	Arsenal	Crystal Palace
4	Sanchez	Arsenal	Crystal Palace
5	Fabregas	Chelsea	Burnley
6	Silva	Man City	Newcastle
7	Mata	Man Utd	Swansea
8	Sterling	Liverpool	Southampton
9	Nasri	Man City	Newcastle
10	Cazorla	Arsenal	Crystal Palace
11	Gerrard	Liverpool	Southampton
12	Eriksen	Tottenham	West Ham
13	Barkley	Everton	Leicester
14	Coutinho	Liverpool	Southampton
15	Mirallas	Everton	Leicester
16	Lamela	Tottenham	West Ham
17	Johnson	Sunderland	West Brom
18	Schurrle	Chelsea	Burnley
19	Oscar	Chelsea	Burnley
20	Henderson	Liverpool	Southampton
21	Nolan	West Ham	Tottenham
22	Herrera	Man Utd	Swansea
23	Snodgrass	Hull	QPR
24	Young	Man Utd	Swansea
25	Wilshere	Arsenal	Crystal Palace
26	Cabella	Newcastle	Man City
27	Arnautovic	Stoke	Aston Villa
28	Tadic	Southampton	Liverpool
29	Drinkwater	Leicester	Everton
30	Arteta	Arsenal	Crystal Palace
31	Shelvey	Swansea	Man Utd
32	Puncheon	Crystal Palace	Arsenal
33	Sidwell	Stoke	Aston Villa
34	Townsend	Tottenham	West Ham
35	Livermore	Hull	QPR
36	Larsson	Sunderland	West Brom
37	Noble	West Ham	Tottenham
38	Gouffran	Newcastle	Man City
39	Paulinho	Tottenham	West Ham
40	Willian	Chelsea	Burnley
41	Salah	Chelsea	Burnley
42	Montero	Swansea	Man Utd
43	Rodwell	Sunderland	West Brom
44	Lennon	Tottenham	West Ham
45	Fernandinho	Man City	Newcastle
46	Navas	Man City	Newcastle
47	Huddlestone	Hull	QPR
48	Sessegnon	West Brom	Sunderland
49	Januzaj	Man Utd	Swansea
50	Pienaar	Everton	Leicester

Walcott (Knee) Expected back September 13^th and will be looking to build on the start he had last year before the injury. Definitely worth keeping hold of. 

• Ozil (LMF) It is probably just a one week layoff to let him get back to fitness. They won’t push him because they have Cazorla and Ramsey who can play a similar role. Bench this week.
• Lallana (Knee) Expected back September 20th and should have a really nice year, so hold onto him.
• Markovic (Knock) Probably won’t be thrown in this week with a slight injury. The issue is that Liverpool have an awesome midfield but if you drafted him he is worth holding onto to see his role.
• Mirallas (LMF) I expect him to play this week and to do well, hence the ranking.
• Fernandinho (LMF) I reluctantly ranked him low, but if he isn’t 100% fit they may choose to start Fernando instead.
• de Jong (Calf) I haven’t ranked him this week because I think they write this week off and look to have him back for Villa or Palace in the next two weeks.
• A.Valencia (Knock) I partly expect him to start on the right but I could also see Young or Rafael getting the job if he isn’t 100%.
• Giaccherini (Groin) Definitely out this week and probably not worth owning until he is definitely going to see regular time.
• Knockaert (Ankle) Expected back on the 30th of August. He’s one of my sleepers in midfield but he isn’t worth owning for a couple of weeks at least.
• Carrick (Ankle) Not expected back until the end of September so don’t own him
• Ramires (Suspended) Going to miss the first week but I am not sure what his role will be so I wouldn’t advise owning him.
• J.Cole (Thigh) I expect him to miss this week but he while he intrigues me this year I wouldn’t be owning him
• Lampard (LMF) Unlikely to feature much this season but his name meant I felt I had to include him here. Do not own for now

 

Strikers

Rankings	Players	Team	Opponent
1	Costa	Chelsea	Burnley
2	Sturridge	Liverpool	Southampton
3	Rooney	Man Utd	Swansea
4	Lukaku	Everton	Leicester
5	Dzeko	Man City	Newcastle
6	Giroud	Arsenal	Crystal Palace
7	Aguero	Man City	Newcastle
8	Remy	QPR	Hull
9	Bony	Swansea	Man Utd
10	Adebayor	Tottenham	West Ham
11	Soldado	Tottenham	West Ham
12	Jovetic	Man City	Newcastle
13	Welbeck	Man Utd	Swansea
14	Lambert	Liverpool	Southampton
15	Crouch	Stoke	Aston Villa
16	Wickham	Sunderland	West Brom
17	Nugent	Leicester	Everton
18	Pelle	Southampton	Liverpool
19	Riviere	Newcastle	Man City
20	Ings	Burnley	Chelsea
21	Campbell	Crystal Palace	Arsenal
22	Agbonlahor	Aston Villa	Stoke
23	Long	Hull	QPR
24	Bojan	Stoke	Aston Villa
25	Weimann	Aston Villa	Stoke
26	Gomis	Swansea	Man Utd
27	Zarate	West Ham	Tottenham
28	Vardy	Leicester	Everton
29	Gayle	Crystal Palace	Arsenal
30	Hernandez	Man Utd	Swansea
31	Austin	QPR	Hull
32	Jelavic	Hull	QPR
33	Fletcher	Sunderland	West Brom
34	Berahino	West Brom	Sunderland
35	Torres	Chelsea	Burnley

 

• Van Persie (LMF) Already LvG has said he will be out this week so he should be benched but he will be roaring back next week
• Sergio Aguero (LMF) Had Jovetic impressed last week then Aguero wouldn’t have started this week but I think there’s a chance he does
• Negredo (Foot) I expect him to miss the first month at least, but you cannot afford to drop him because he’s a good striker who’ll be looking to perform.
• Lukaku (LMF) Not sure I see Everton leaving out their £28 million man and I expect him to have a really good week
• Benteke (Achilles) I expect to see him back in September, but if you want to own him you’ll need to have him now because others will risk holding him for a few weeks for the potential returns.
• Rodriguez (Knee) His injury news has faded into the background because of the transfer news. I expect him to be back in mid to late September, so he’s worth holding onto for now.
• Podolski (LMF) Probably just a this week to help him get up to speed after an extended break. Issue for me is I don’t see him playing enough to be worth holding onto long term, but it’s worth giving it a week or two in case he has a role.
• E.Valencia (LMF) Of the lacking match fitness guys on this list his outlook is the most pessimistic. There have been rumours he will miss the first two weeks but don’t drop him just yet.
• Carroll (Ankle) He could be out until December so I wouldn’t want to own him right now
• Drogba (Knock) Took a knock last weekend and will probably miss this week. I expect him to be the #2 choice when fit so worth holding onto to see his role in the next two or three weeks.
• Ideye (LMF) The latest rumours are he is going to be fit this weekend. Even if he isn’t its worth holding onto him to see if he definitely will be their #1.
• Cisse (Knee) Likely to be out several months so do not own him.
• Vokes (Knee) A ruptured ACL in March means he will miss a few weeks at least and potentially a few months. Not worth owning right now.

So there we have it for the week one rankings. From here on in it gets a lot clearer as we see who managers are putting their faith in and we can see the beginning of trends forming for players. If any big news comes out before Friday evening I will look to update the article, so it’s worth checking back to be sure there aren’t any last minute things you need to worry about.

 

 

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