A new record has been set today, with five FPL World Champions featured in one article! I spoke to five World Champions to get their GW1 line-ups for you. We're going to look at all five teams, identify those similarities and differences, and see how one of us can win FPL this year. 🏆
Simon March
Simon March won FPL in the 2014/15 season, a proper FPL veteran with 5 Top 10K's to his name, as well as a ton of Top 100K's.
His team is:
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Sanchez
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Virgil
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Williams
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Van de Ven
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Palmer
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Salah
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Kudus
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Rogers
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Wood
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Joao Pedro
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Watkins
On his bench: Dubravka, Konsa, Esteve, and Ramsey.
I also asked the Champs for some manager thoughts. Simon said the following:
"All the changes from my previous draft have come in defence, with Levi Colwill’s injury prompting a switch to Neco Williams, with Matz Sels swapping to Robert Sanchez to maintain the Chelsea/Nottingham Forest defensive coverage. I’d prefer to keep Sels over Sanchez, so I’m keeping an eye on Chelsea’s defenders in pre-season to see if there’s a viable low-priced alternative, perhaps Trevoh Chalobah. I’ve switched my premium defender from Gvardiol to van Dijk as I think van Dijk’s fixtures are slightly better for defensive returns and his attacking threat and defcon points should make him relatively fixture-proof anyway. The only other change is West Ham’s Aaron Wan-Bissaka to Spurs’ Micky van der Ven which, again, is largely a fixtures play, though Spurs’ defence isn’t exactly filling me with confidence right now! Other than that, the focus remains on building the squad around established players from teams with good opening fixtures and a range of price points throughout to help facilitate any future transfers."
Amazing insight from Simon. He's big on Chelsea and Forest defence having swapped Sels and Colwill to Sanchez and Williams. Chelsea just played their first pre-season game, somewhat of a split line-up though. Delap started, Joao Pedro came on and scored again. 4 goals in his last 3 Chelsea games, and Jackson is expected to be gone before the window closes. Kudus should get very good minutes this season, whether it's on either wing or perhaps even through the middle due to Maddison’s ACL injury. So our first Champion is on Palmer + Salah. Let's look at the next one. 🧐
Jamie Pigott
Jamie Pigott became World Champion in 2021/22 and also set the record for the most FPL points ever with 2,844. I imagine that will be beaten due to the extra chips and new rules, but that record will always demand respect in the context. 👏
He's gone with:
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Sels
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Williams
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Ait-Nouri
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Porro
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Marmoush
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Palmer
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Gakpo
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Fernandes
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Wirtz
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Evanilson
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Watkins
A bench of: Dubravka, Thiago, Konsa, and Esteve.
A hugely different approach, only one premium, no Salah, no Haaland.
Jamie said: "I'm bullish on Ait-Nouri. The rest of the defence I’m not so confident with and will probably tinker with. Love the mids and attack in this structure. I think there’s genuinely a ton of value in that second tier that I’m willing to go no Salah or Haaland and have Palmer + 6 semi-premium attackers in the 7m-9m range, plus Thiago as a solid first bench on pens."
Really cool to see such a different team and approach to so many currently. One thing is for sure and this is a big takeaway, there is no particular way to win FPL. You can play relatively template at times like Simon’s draft, with a few differentials chucked in to try and snatch those upside points. Or you can go massively against the grain like Jamie does. He famously won FPL by binning Salah off for AFCON and not buying him back when everyone else did, and opted for De Bruyne instead who went on a historic run to end the season, including that famous 30-pointer one gameweek.
He's right, there is a ton of value in the likes of Bruno, Wirtz and Gakpo has potential too. Gakpo scored a brace last friendly and has 4 goals and 1 assist in pre-season. It does look increasingly likely that Isak is headed to Liverpool and that could affect Gakpo’s minutes, but he looks very secure for the opening gameweeks at least. Perhaps Gakpo and Wirtz can cover Salah! The one thing they will have difficulty covering is the captaincy Salah provides; Jamie will have to really pick his moments if or when he takes the armband off Palmer. Zabarnyi has signed for PSG, so that's Kepa, Huijsen, Kerkez and Zabarnyi all gone from last season's defence and they're away to Liverpool GW1. In Man City's squad to face Palermo in pre-season, Gvardiol was missing, reportedly not fully fit, nor is Rodri or Foden. There's still a good chance Gvardiol starts GW1. Is Ait Nouri the one though? 🤔
Jonas Sand Labakk
Jonas Sand Labakk became world champion in the 2023/24 season in dominant style, and was absolutely miles ahead of everyone else with weeks to go before the end of that season. 👑
He's gone with:
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Sanchez
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Williams
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Van Dijk
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Porro
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Ndiaye
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Palmer
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Bruno
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Anderson
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Thiago
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Watkins
On his bench: Dubravka, Marc Guiu, Anderson, and Esteve.
He's the only one that didn't spend all 100m, with 0.5m banked. It can come in very handy having money banked; it keeps you flexible if one of your players underperforms and drops 0.1m while another rises 0.1m, otherwise there is always that risk of being immediately priced out. He's also got the flexibility to go from Williams to any 5.5m defender, Porro to any 6m defender, Thiago to a 6.5m forward, etc.
Jonas said: "Palmer has been in all my drafts, don’t think he will leave now. Anderson is not the best for attacking output, but good for DEFCONs. Ndiaye could well be Mitoma by GW1, but should have penalties. The two I'm most unsure about: Bruno and Thiago. Bruno mainly because I suspect he will play in a deeper role, which potentially might be good for defcons, but not great for attacking threat in open play. Thiago I've not seen enough of, but might be on pens and starting if Wissa is leaving. I'm swaying away from an early BB, will use it later instead. Watkins I’m fairly confident in. I think he will have pens over Tielemans. But I do like the structure. I could get Haaland with just 2 transfers and almost anyone else with just one."
Yeah, Thiago is in my current draft too, and Wissa looks destined for Newcastle. They will sign a replacement and the question is will they be back up to Thiago or take minutes from him. Dango from Bournemouth is one name popping up a lot by journalists reporting on the situation. Brentford drew 2 - 2 with Monchengladbach for their final pre-season game, which Thiago started though with no goal involvements. They only played pre-season matches and he scored in their first one however. Potentially more twists and turns in the transfer window. Forest are reportedly preparing a bid for Leif Davis. They've rejected offers from Premier League clubs this summer, so it might be very difficult to get him but he's one to keep an eye on for a potential impact on Williams. Very nice draft from Jonas. 📈
Joshua Bull
Joshua Bull won FPL in the 2019/20 season. His line-up is:
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Kelleher
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Tarkowski
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De Cuyper
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Gvardiol
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Frimpong
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Palmer
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Salah
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Marmoush
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Isak
He's got two placeholder spots, Smith Rowe for a 5.5m mid to decide on, and Delap for a 6.5m forward to decide on.
Bench: Dubravka, Rodon, Guiu, and Tresor.
Another Salah and Palmer combo, but a very different looking backline. Kelleher was missing from that final Brentford pre-season match. I found a quote where Andrews was asked about Gustavo Nunes and he said his injury is certainly not the Schade and Kelleher territory of short term. Suggesting that they're both out for a short term, it is a spanner in the works though with Kelleher. Let's hope for clarify in the press conferences near the deadline. 🤞
Marmoush is perhaps the biggest upside pick that is going under the radar. 8.5m is not cheap though, but he has big potential if he gets regular minutes which seems plausible with KDB gone. A hat trick versus Newcastle on only his third appearance for City shows what he's capable of. I'm not a fan of the Isak pick, the bridge has been burned at Newcastle based on Howe’s quotes. We're less than a week from GW1 and presumably he ends up at Liverpool, but does he start without a pre-season under his belt? I've filed him under "wait and see" for now. Frimpong also feels a bit risky with Bradley for competition; they should share minutes at times.
Ben Crabtree
Lastly, Ben Crabtree who famously won FPL as an Evertonian in 2016/17 without owning a Liverpool asset for all 38 gameweeks, and in fact it's the only way he plays not just then but still to this day. 🤩
His team is:
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Sels
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O'Brien
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Wan-Bissaka
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Ait-Nouri
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Cunha
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Palmer
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Rogers
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Saka
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Gyokeres
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Watkins
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Solanke
His bench is: Dubravka, Dewsbury-Hall, Hall, and Esteve.
Ben said: "I think O'Brien could be nailed for now. All being fit this is my team. Hall is my main question mark given he's 5.5m although I do like him accidentally helping spell "Dewsbury-Hall" on the bench! If Solanke's minutes are still a doubt for GW1, I'll move him back to Joao Pedro, or look at a 6.5m forward and move the extra mil for Cunha to Fernandes."
A really different draft from Ben, with Saka, Cunha, and Gyokeres popping up for the first time. So no Ndiaye despite being an Everton fan himself. O'Brien and new signing Dewsbury-Hall are his choices. It does go to show how far the money spreads around without Salah, same with Jamie's draft earlier. I'm not so keen on this structure, but I would say that as it's very different to my draft, and who am I to question a champion! 😅
Thank you to all five for sharing their teams, if you enjoyed the article please consider subscribing to support me! Check out all the premium features included. 🤝