New FPL Season, Same Old headache

Well if it isn't the gift that keeps on giving-the new English Premiere league season is only a few weeks away and I can't help but feel nostalgic. It feels like it was only a week ago that @acidyo announced the start of last season's steem fantasy league but here we are, already gearing up for another season.
Last season was very frustrating from a personal point of view, I started really strongly but dovetailed at the mid point of the season. My team suffered from a lack of attention at one point coupled with a lot of bad transfer decisions.

Well that's water under the bridge now, the new season of FPL is already underway and with it comes transfer/ selection headache. It is very important that you start the season the right way, it sort of sets the tone for the entire season, although it is possible to start slow and catch up, it is better to avoid that occurrence.

Goalkeeper

When it comes to picking goalkeepers, I always tend to the cheaper/economical option. I fancied Ryan(4.5m) of Brighton Hove Albion against the most popular and expensive options Alisson and Ederson at 6.0m that were also the two top scoring players in this position, something that is largely down to the quality of the defence ahead of them. Ryan's the best choice for me, first of all, that's a whole 1.5m in savings that can be redirected to somewhere else in your team and considering goalkeepers generally don't produce that many points in the first place and the Australian Goalkeeper was only 70 points behind his Brazillian counterparts over the course of the season, he stands at my ideal choice, at least for now.

Defenders

With Defenders, I chose to mix things up, going with a mixture of expensive, moderate and cheap. Other than price, I also consider their position, tending towards bringing in side backs because they're often involved in attacks. 6 out of the top 10 scoring defenders of last season were side backs. The top scoring defender of last season was Liverpool's Robertson and despite his lofty price of 7.0, he still makes it into my team. He's worth the risk and I expect him to deliver. The moderately costing player I considered is Wan Bissaka(5.5). He recently moved to Manchester United and will be a force to reckon with, especially when you consider how well he did for a lowly team like palace. The final prominent member of the defence is the budget player and I swayed towards the slightly cheaper Nathan Ake(4.5) of Bournemouth. I did consider Lascelles(4.5) but the uncertainty at Newcastle at the moment makes him a risk while tarkowski(5.0), Coady(5.0) and the recently added to defenders list, Ritchie(5.5) only missed out by a whisker.

Midfield

Ah yes, the midfield brought a lot of good fortune for many last season and for me, well it brought pain. The top three point scoring players in the form of Salah(12.5), Sterling(12.0) and Mane(11.0) were part of this midfield. I had all these players at different points in the season, sadly due to negligence, I missed out on their high scoring periods. I expect another strong performance from each of them this season but unlike last season when Mane was the mid range value player(starting at 9.0), his price of 11.5m puts him up there among the expensive players. Due to Salah and Mane's exertion in the currently running African tournament, I favoured Raheem sterling as my luxury option. He remains a risk due to Pep's rotation policy but it's a risk worth taking and Sterling's price means I had to make certain trade offs in the team. He's surrounded by decent performers that were among the top10 scoring midfielders and around the 7.0 range. Ryan Fraser(7.5), Felipe Anderson(7.0) and Wilfred Zaha(7.5) all get the nod. other notable options that missed out are Milivojevic(7.0) of Palace, Sigurdson of Everton(8.0) and Paul Pogba(8.5m).

Forwards

The luxury position was a straight choice between Aubemayang and Aguero. Considering the Gabonese forward notched four points more than his argentine counterpart and costs a whole 1m less(Auba is 11m and Kun is 12m), I went with him. The moderately expensive option was also a straight choice between four players; Lacazette(9.5m), Firminio(9.5m), Jamie Vardy(9.0m) and Wilson(8.0m). It was a tough one to make but I went with Firminio for at least the early part of the season because a lot of the goal scoring and creative burden upfront will be dependent on him due to Salah and Mane's exertion in the AFCON. The final forward position was a lot easier to make. Raul Jimenez burst into the scene last season and at 7.5m is worth the risk and takes up my third forward position to complete my team.

The Team

Arranging a team of 15 players with the 100m budget is harder than it has ever been before. Just as expected, all the top performers of last season saw their prices go up while others dropped. I favour the popular 3-4-3 fantasy league formation by default. although this changes as the season proceeds, it was a major determinant in my choice of players. Nothing is set in stone and there will certainly be changes as the season proceeds

The Others

There are a lot of notable absentees from this list, the Manchester City contingency for example aren't here. Players like Kevin De bruyne(9.5), bernado Silva(8.0) and Sane(9.0), James Maddison(7.0) of Leicester, Harry kane(11.0), Eriksen(9.0) and a bunch of toher players missed out for now but all that could change as the season progresses.

Transfer Window Activity

The window is still open and there's a lot of speculation flying around. Chelsea's transfer window ban and their change of manager made me avoid their players, especially with the absence of Hazard. It is interesting to see how Pulisic performs in the coming season , he wasn't listed in midfielders but i reckon a lot of people have their eyes on him. Pedro and Willian (both 7.0) will also have bigger roles to play while Hudson Odoi(6.0) and Loftus Cheek(6.5) will also have a shout. That might change as the season proceeds.
United added Wan Bissaka to their squad and I expect more transfer business from the reds while Arsenal are constantly being linked with Fraser(7.5), Zaha(7.0) and Kierran Tierney at Celtic, I wonder how that will influence the team. Manchester City have been relatively quiet but there'll definitely be activity, David Silva(7.5) announced that this will be his last season at City, I reckon that will be on their minds. Liverpool have also been relatively quiet and I expect things to stay that way at Anfield unless something unprecedented happens.

There are still a couple of weeks until the season starts so I will have a lot of time to chop and change my team before then. I'll love to hear what you think about my team, your thoughts generally about the new season and any other information. See you in the comments section.