We begin our countdown to the new football season in earnest with a look at last season’s top performers, sorted by the league in which they were playing at the time. Using those statistics and looking at the summer each individual has experienced to try and see which players could reproduce their magical form from the last campaign and deserve an inclusion, and which may struggle and may, in some cases, be best avoided for our fantasy managers’ consideration.
The next league we will look at will be the Premier League. Last season’s title race was decided on the final day, when Man City claimed their second Premier League title and broke hearts on the red half of Merseyside as Liverpool were bidding to claim their first Premier League crown, and first English league title since 1990. Liverpool’s campaign was largely headlined by the deadly duo of English striker Daniel Sturridge and his partner in crime, Uruguayan Luis Suarez. Both players made it onto EFL’s list of the top five Premier League players in last season’s fantasy competition based on points won, while City enjoyed one name on the list – a player who looked at one stage this summer destined to leave the Etihad Stadium following a reported spat with some of the club’s higher-ups.
The only other club to feature were Jose Mourinho’s Chelsea, who managed to contribute two players to the top five despite finishing the Portuguese’s first season back in the helm at Stamford Bridge without a trophy. With all that said, let’s get down to the players.
In fifth place, Chelsea stopper Petr Cech earned a cool 450 points from between the sticks in the West Londoners’ side, and while his points-to-value ratio was perhaps not the highest in the league at 37.5, the points themselves would have been a welcome addition to any fantasy managers who opted to include the Czech international.
Technically, Cech wasn’t even Chelsea’s most successful goalkeeper last season, but Thibaut Courtois earned his tally playing for Atletico Madrid in Spain, and these lists look at players who earned their totals in the respective article’s country of focus, meaning Cech takes his place on the Premier League list having featured in that league last season. 16 clean sheets from 34 starts contributed largely to that total, and with only 24 goals conceded under his jurisdiction it was certainly an impressive season for the 32-year-old stopper.
Next up came the aforementioned Sturridge, who featured in 29 relevant games for Liverpool last time around after moving to Anfield to end his time at – ironically – Chelsea. 22 goals coupled with seven assists helped him reach the top five, and make him the only Englishman in the list. He managed 490 points, and his P/V total ended at 65.3 – certainly solid considering his initial €7.50m asking price. That has jumped up to €10.00m this season, but he will be without partner Suarez – more on that shortly. He will be enjoying provision of service by the likes of Liverpool new boy Adam Lallana this season, as well as veteran Steven Gerrard, and so the season could certainly prove to be a successful one for the England striker despite a disappointing World Cup campaign for the Three Lions in Brazil. €10.00m still isn’t a bad price for a player of Sturridge’s quality, though the biggest consideration will certainly be how well he can up his game with a new look side around him, without partner Suarez.
In third place, Eden Hazard becomes the second Chelsea player to feature here. Having moved to the Blues in 2012, the Belgian international has enjoyed his time at Stamford Bridge and came up last season ahead of team-mate Petr Cech in terms of points won. The 23-year-old grabbed himself 510 points, coming largely from 14 goals and seven assists from his 35 appearances – including three from the subs’ bench. He carried a €10.50m asking price last season, and this has now gone up to €11.50m – but it still seems difficult to look past Hazard as a popular inclusion in fantasy managers’ selections. He already features in 7% of teams at the time of writing, and should he be able to recapture last season’s fine form that will surely only go up.
Taking the effective silver medal on this list in Man City midfielder Yaya Toure, who nabbed a massive 630 points from his 35 appearances. 20 goals and nine assists make up the bulk of that tally, and his P/V of 74.09 is a very encouraging statistic. His value of €8.50m last time around surely proved one of the biggest bargains around, and that is borne out by this season’s asking price increase – a whopping €4.00m with it now at €12.50m. He did look like he could be heading for the Etihad’s exit door, but now looks set to stay and try to carry his side on to a second consecutive Premier League title, and third in total. The former Barcelona man is already in 15% of fantasy boss’ squads, and, much like Hazard, that figure could well be set to rise if he can get the league campaign off to a solid start.
Finally, making up the last position on the list and claiming the honour of being EFL’s top player in England last season – and, indeed, the top player in the world – was then-Liverpool striker Suarez. The Uruguayan had a spectacular season. Much like Toure this summer, the chances of Suarez remaining at Anfield for the 2013-14 season seemed remote at best at one stage, but he stayed on and enjoyed arguably his finest campaign of his career so far alongside Daniel Sturridge in the Reds’ frontline. He scored 740 points, garnered from a mouth-watering 31 goals and 12 assists from his 33 games for the Anfield outfit. He did eventually leave the north west, joining up with Spanish giants Barcelona in a deal worth a reported €75m, but his value in EFL’s game is only €16.50m – a much more attractive price to be sure!
His P/V last season wasn’t actually that much better than Cech’s as his asking price was exactly the same – €16.50m. He is one of the most expensive players in the game, and despite his obvious talent several considerations should be taken into account before fantasy managers select him in their squads. Firstly, he is turning out for a new club – and while the majority of players, all things considered, eventually settle in, it could take a bit of time. However, time is one thing the Uruguayan does have – he is banned from all football activity until November owing to on-field misdemeanors in Brazil this summer, though that is pending the outcome of an appeal at the time of writing. Given his new surroundings and potential absence until almost mid-season, it is perhaps no surprise that only 5% of managers have opted to include last season’s most successful fantasy football star this time around so far. Expect that to go up at the earliest opportunity once he does arrive on his new stage, but until then – or at least until the event that his appeal proves successful as that could mean his return by the end of August – it may perhaps be best to steer clear of spending so much cash on his selection at this stage.
