While it isn’t the be-all-and-end-all, pre-season form can often be an indicator of strong FPL performance at the start of the season, and those keeping a keen eye on friendlies are bound to have an upper hand on FPL managers who cobble together a team half an hour before the Gameweek 1 deadline.
Here are three players who have shone in pre-season action:
Eberechi Eze (£6.5m) – Crystal Palace
Now that long-time servant Wilfried Zaha has moved on to pastures new, Crystal Palace are in need of a new talisman and that responsibility could well fall on Eberechi Eze’s shoulders. Judging by his eye-catching pre-season form though, he looks more than up to the task, as he has scored twice and assisted five times across the Eagles’ warm-up matches. Couple that with his impressive numbers towards the end of the 2022-23 Premier League campaign, and you have a mid-priced midfielder who has the potential to massively outperform his modest valuation of £6.5m.
Ben Chilwell (£5.5m) – Chelsea
There has been quite the exodus at Stamford this summer as new manager Maurizio Pochettino trims the fat on the bloated squad he inherited, but one man who certainly appears to be in the manager’s plans is Ben Chilwell. The full-back has both scored and assisted in pre-season and has hinted at being given the license to roam forward at every opportunity. After a tricky opening fixture against Liverpool, Chelsea have a somewhat kind run of fixtures in the initial stage of the campaign so jumping on their assets early could save you a transfer further down the road.
Mo Salah (£12.5m) – Liverpool
Hardly an under-the-radar option given his reputation as one of the FPL ‘GOATS’, but it’s still worth pointing out the numbers Salah is putting up pre-season, especially as the Egyptian’s ownership is far lower at the moment than it has been at the start of previous campaigns. In five friendly appearances, the Egyptian has logged two goals and seven assists, and while many FPL mangers are weighing up the merits of Cody Gakpo, Diogo Jota, Luis Diaz and Darwin Nunez for their squads, it seems that the tried-and-tested approach could be the way to go. Fitness permitting, Salah is likely to play more minutes than the teammates just listed, and it would be no surprise to see him justify his premium price-tag once more.