The 2016/17 Premier League season is a stone’s throw away from its kick off and that entices football fans around the world to launch their own fantasy teams into action. This season is mired with complexities for fantasy managers to make their choice as the Premier League witnesses the crème de la crème of forwards. However, there are no excuses as the tension boils amongst enthusiasts willing to make a perfect start in order to pitch their claim for superiority in various leagues across the globe.
No worries folks because we have brought to you a list of the five best strikers you can choose from to assemble a team that could set your points soaring off a jetpack. It wasn’t an easy list to compile since this is the list that brings a high probability of scoring points early in the season. Nonetheless, our in-depth analysis should leave you more confident of putting together a team within the tight-fisted budget, before the Premier League starts on 13 August.
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In our top five picks, we would like to remind our readers that this is a selection opinion on the initial squad. This is one reason why we have left out conventional forwards, such as Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Olivier Giroud, Callum Wilson, Andy Carroll, Diego Costa or the likes of Troy Deeney and team-mate Odion Ighalo.
While we believe it might be too early and difficult to accommodate Ibrahimovic who is priced at £11.5m but has never played in the Premier League, Giroud is omitted for lack of fitness. Costa had missed much of the pre-season due to a back injury and was left out of the Euro 2016, leaving us without a strong premise to include him in the line-up which could also feature Michy Batshuayi.
Amongst bargain forwards, Wilson had been injured for a long time after a stunning start, and Bournemouth’s add-on Benik Afobe raises further doubts over his returns.
Watford and Sunderland have weak fixtures that should eliminate the inclusion of Jermain Defoe, Deeney and Ighalo.
Keeping this in mind, here are the five best forwards to look out for this season are:
1) Sergio Aguero
Sergio Aguero is a no-brainer for any fantasy manager to start his team selection. If you haven’t chosen him or are unwilling to pay for his hefty price tag of £13m, then you must do so at your own risk. Aguero toured China on Manchester City’s pre-season training, and Pep Guardiola considers Manuel Pellegrini’s choice as the obvious lead in his 4-2-3-1 formation, which seems unlikely to change. Aguero scored the first goal against Arsenal in the latest friendly at Gothenburg, Sweden and the star striker appeared to be in shape and crisp as the past few seasons.
Sergio Aguero is a proven goal scoring machine and will be a contender for the Golden Boot yet again unless injuries hamper his conquest. At the moment, it’ll only be common sense if he is picked in the squad, as more than 50% fantasy managers have already made the bookings.
Another premise which makes him a safe buy despite his price tag, is the projected stable movement in his price. Even if Aguero fails to start his season in a thunderous fashion, favourable fixtures for Manchester City would do little to give you hits in your finances.
First six fixtures: Sunderland (H), Stoke (A), West Ham (H), Manchester United (A), Bournemouth (H), Swansea (A)
2) Harry Kane
If history is to be considered as a premise, even a 6-year-old can turn into a football pundit so as to make the second guess. But we’d like to believe in more than that, and recommend Tottenham Hotspur’s Harry Kane as the next best pick for your striker options. The England striker did not live up to the hype during Euro 2016, but doubting his quality and achievement for the Spurs would be rather foolish.
Kane has already shown promises of reproducing his past season’s form by scoring in pre-season friendlies and seems to be linking up well with new signing Vincent Janssen as well. Kane has been and could yet again, easily be the top goalscorer in the Premier League following the strengthening of the North London side under Mauricio Pochettino, as Janssen could take some heat off Kane, while the defenders might not be able to do much against his powerful finishing.
Priced at £11m, supported by a settled midfield unit comprising Christian Eriksen, Dele Alli and with Spurs also provided with an easly looking fixture list at the start, Kane comes highly recommended.
First six fixtures: Everton (A), Crystal Palace (H), Liverpool (H), Stoke (A), Sunderland (H), Middlesbrough (A)
3) Ahmed Musa
In an attempt to prove that their Premier League title was not a one-off, Leicester City have reinforced their attacking options with the club-record signing of Ahmed Musa from CSKA Moscow. And the new recruit has already smashed his critics with impressive pace and performances in Leicester City’s pre-season friendlies, as he announced himself on the big stage against the mighty Barcelona.
Musa, together with Jamie Vardy and Riyad Mahrez, form a formidable attack which could easily be judged as the speediest front line in England. As you might already be thinking, whether or not, it is true that we suggest Musa should be picked ahead of Vardy. This is based mostly on account of the arrangement, which will likely be made by majority teams as fantasy managers try to fit the best bargain options.
Musa priced at £7.5m thus beats Vardy, whose last season’s heroics have rocketed his starting price to £10m. Besides, Musa should feature amongst points as he seems naturally suited to exploit Claudio Ranieri’s style of counter-attacks and routing through spaces in the final third.
First six fixtures: Hull (A), Arsenal (H), Swansea (H), Liverpool (A), Burnley (H), Manchester United (A)
4) Andre Gray
Andre Gray could be the Jamie Vardy of this season if he successfully translates his pre-season form into the Premier League. Gray is Burnley’s club record transfer and he justified his status last season by claiming the Championship Player of the Year award finishing as the top goal scorer. But if you are arguing about his chances at the top-level, then you should also consider his blistering pre-season form where he scored 9 goals.
Gray’s lethal weapon is his pace while the ability to outclass defenders with the ball on his foot and finish his move coolly has got our attention. He will take penalties and that is an extra bonus for a £6.5m forward assured of playing time.
First six fixtures: Swansea (H), Liverpool (H), Chelsea (A), Hull (H), Leicester (A), Watford (H)
5) Alvaro Negredo
The former Manchester City striker is back in the Premier League leading the attack for the newly-promoted side Middlesbrough. Negredo, given his experience at the top-tier, didn’t take any time to show his capabilities and made a statement by scoring two goals in Boro’s hectic pre-season.
Negredo covers Middlesbrough’s weakness by providing a reliable attacking option which manager Aitor Karanka had vowed to address, given his side’s relatively poor attack. However, surfaced doubts about their survival in the Premier League seem to have cooled down as Middlesbrough put up a good show, with Negredo creating a number of chances against stronger sides Udinese and Real Sociedad.
His promising start, £6.5m tag and favourable fixtures led to us picking him as a bargain striker. However, his minutes could be challenged by Jordan Rhodes.
First six fixtures: Stoke (H), Sunderland (A), West Brom (A), Crystal Palace (H), Everton (A), Tottenham (H)
