Here are my initial picks for Football Exchange GW1!
Remember, the aim of Football Exchange is to buy low and sell high so what you're really looking for in these initial rounds are the hidden gems and the players who are set to have a better start to 26/27 than they experienced across 25/26.
As the game weeks roll on, it'll then be a case of looking at those who are likely to come back strong from a dip in form.
That being the case, I've not picked anyone who has a value higher than 42 MEDALS. The premium picks might come off but I'm quite happy to wait and watch with the expectation that a few of them will have slow starts and that's when I can enter the market for them.
The Tractor Boys start their season with a home match against Sunderland. I think this represents a great chance for a clean sheet bonus from a cheap keeper option.
The Black Cats had the 3rd lowest xG in the league last season behind only Burnley and Wolves who were both way off the pace.
I'd also expect a newly promoted team to be up for the fight in front of their home fans on the opening day.
United have a good run of fixtures early doors and are without a couple of their first team centre-backs meaning that Maguire is almost a certain to start.
Alongside the possibility of clean sheet and defcon bonuses, Maguire is one of United's biggest goal threats at the moment. He scored on Saturday against AC Milan from a corner and in real emergency situations has been deployed as a centre forward.
He may be a decent pick for this week and the first few games!
Maguire heads home against AC Milan
Again, this is a pick based as much on the expectation that United get a clean sheet or 2 in their opening few games.
Shaw is very unlikely to deliver on defcon or provide attacking returns. To be honest, his defending looked pretty suspect too in the loss against AC Milan.
Carrick doesn't appear to view Dorgu as a left-back and United are certainly in the market for reinforcements in that area making it likely that Shaw will be a short-term acquisition.
At 21 MEDALS definitely worth a punt!
Looks very likely to start alongside Gabriel for the early part of the season. However, Arsenal do appear to be keen on brining in reinforcements at centre-back so again, this could be another one where I'm hoping for a quick profit and then to move on to a player who is guaranteed more starts.
Again a bit of punt on this one but the Brazilian has played more minutes in pre-season than those who he is competing against (Mainoo, Tielemans & Mount) for a starting spot.
He's probably the most defensive minded of those 4 too which might mean he's in a position to pick up a view defcon points early on.
Yet again, United are probably looking for an out and out 'spoiler' in that midfield area so worth keeping an eye on as the transfer window comes to an end.
At least for now he looks to be staying on Merseyside after interest from the Saudi leagues. It wouldn't surprise me if other clubs were sniffing around before the end of the month.
Until then, he'll be Everton's primary creative threat and he's on penalties.
A nice home game against a Palace side that has conceded a few during pre-season could see an immediate return!
Finished last season strongly and has had an excellent pre-season too.
Spurs have done a lot in the transfer window to strengthen their defence and midfield and while rumors persist over moves for attacking reinforcements nothing has yet come to fruition meaning that Tel is a certainty to start at Brentford.
Tel created 2 goals for Spurs Mikey Moore versus Hoffenheim on Saturday
As noted in my previous post on bargain buys, Isak feels too good to ignore at 32 MEDALS.
With Ekitike out injured and Liverpool still hunting for other options in the forward line, their attack is going to be largely reliant on the form and fitness of the Swedish striker.
That may sound like a gamble but realistically, it can't get much worse than it did last season for the former Newcastle man who starts with a trip to St James Park - it's almost written in the stars for him to score there!
One of the players charged with replacing Isak's goals was Yoanne Wissa. He had an injury plagued season with Newcastle but did well in the World Cup and appears to be first choice in the striker position coming into the new season.
We know he has the quality to score in this league and therefore a 21 MEDAL outlay feels like risk free business.
Having said that I don't fancy the Sunderland attack, I've now gone and picked their centre-forward. A contradiction or just hedging my bets?
To be fair, Brobbey is exactly the type of striker that a team that lacks real attacking flair needs. You can lump it up to him and he will cause a bit of chaos amongst the opposition back line.
He's under-valued largely due to having been a sub for the early part of this season. Where he's now become one of the first names on the team sheet, 32 MEDALS represents good value.
Brobbey scored 3 goals in the World Cup
The eagle-eyed amongst you will noticed I've only selected 10 players.
Remember, there is no requirement for you to select a full 11 in any given GW when playing Football Exchange!
For me, I'm waiting to see who Arsenal start in their midfield this afternoon as an indication as to who I think might play against Coventry on Friday.
The players I'm particularly interested in are Odegaard and Nwaneri both of whom are undervalued if they get the minutes.
