Fantasy Football Portal’s Official Fantasy Premier League GW1 Team

Having already named our squad for the new Fantasy Premier League season, it is time to pick our FPL team for the first Gameweek of the 2016/17 campaign.

The stand-out fixtures see Premier League champions Leicester City travel to newly-promoted Hull City in the 2016/17 season opener, while Arsenal play Liverpool on Sunday and the weekend’s action is rounded off when West Ham visit Chelsea on Monday night.

A reminder of our 15-man FPL squad – De Gea, Heaton; Williams, Van Dijk, McAuley, Dann, Taylor; Eriksen, Sigurðsson, Arnautović, Kanté, Touré, Lukaku, Gray, Agüero – and here’s the team.

David de Gea

Manchester United face familiar foes in GW1 as their fixture sees José Mourinho’s new team travel to Bournemouth, who they met in their final match of last season.

David de Gea gets an early chance to justify his selection as our number one goalkeeper here and why he was so sought after by Fantasy Premier League managers.

Gareth McAuley

With Ashley Williams set to make the switch to Goodison Park, we’re happy to include McAuley in our 3-man defence, while the Welshman acclimatizes to his new surroundings. The Baggies have to negotiate a difficult away game at Crystal Palace but McAuley is as reliable as they come.

Virgil van Dijk

Southampton centre-back Virgil van Dijk comes up against Watford in GW1, a match the Saints will be expected to win under their new manager Claude Puel.

Van Dijk will have a chance to continue his excellent form from last season with a clean sheet, which should get us off to a decent start in the new FPL campaign.

Scott Dann

Our back three for GW1 is completed by Scott Dann, whose Crystal Palace are set to play West Brom at home on the first weekend of the season.

Clean sheet points look on the cards here, while Dann, Palace’s new captain, could even get himself on the scoresheet, having scored a terrific five goals for the Eagles last season.

Yaya Touré

A home game against Sunderland is perhaps one of the best fixtures to have in GW1, so Yaya Touré will be in our midfield.

The Ivory Coast star needs to impress Pep Guardiola and has the ideal opportunity to get his season off to a flying start against the Black Cats, who also have a new manager, David Moyes.

Marko Arnautović

Marko Arnautović is heading to Teesside in GW1, with Stoke City playing a Middlesbrough side that have several high-profile new players to incorporate into the team that won promotion.

The Austria international will be charged with providing the creativity for the Potters, who are looking to push on under Mark Hughes.

Gylfi Sigurðsson

The only Swansea player in our starting XI for the opening weekend is set-piece specialist Gylfi Sigurðsson, who is one of the most reliable goalscorers in the Premier League.

Sigurðsson’s Swansea side are aiming for a winning start at Turf Moor on Saturday afternoon and the Icelandic midfielder is sure to be a popular FPL pick again in 2016/17.

Christian Eriksen

The last of our midfielders is Christian Eriksen, whose Spurs are travelling to Goodison Park.

Eriksen is another set-piece taker who we are banking on to score big points over the season and with the Toffees expecting to field a new-look backline, the Danish schemer might just be the man to cash in, by racking up a big FPL points score.

Romelu Lukaku

Playing in the same fixture in GW1 is striker Romelu Lukaku, who has a new manager to impress in the form of Ronald Koeman.

Home advantage can be key in the opening weekend, with Lukaku backed to start with a goal.

Andre Gray

Our next striker is at home too, with last year’s Championship Player of the Season Andre Gray making his Premier League bow for Burnley against Swansea City.

Gray has been on fire in the pre-season games and the visit of the Swans in GW1 provides an opportunity to maintain his hot streak in front of goal and showcase his FPL potential.

Sergio Agüero

Finishing off our team is Sergio Agüero, who has cost £13.0m to add to our FPL squad and is shouldering the points-scoring burden.

Agüero faces Sunderland at home in GW1, an ideal fixture to get off to a goalscoring opening under Manchester City’s new manager Pep Guardiola. He looks armband material.

Substitutes

First in line off the bench is spare midfielder N’Golo Kanté, who will make his Chelsea debut on Monday night against West Ham United at Stamford Bridge. He could be the man to step in, should Yaya Touré miss out for the Citizens.

Extra defenders  – Neil Taylor (Swansea away to Burnley) and Ashley Williams (Everton at home to Spurs if transfer is confirmed) make up the rest of the squad and they are second and third choice substitutes respectively for GW1. Williams could sit the Spurs game out, assuming his transfer from Swansea City is finalized but we’re expecting him to be a huge Fantasy Premier League player in 2016/17.