Sky Sports Fantasy Football returns for another season
Sky Sports Fantasy Football returns for another season

Sky Sports Fantasy Football advice: The best bargain buys for the coming season


Time is running out to get your Fantasy Football team in order for the coming campaign - we've got some last-minute bargain buys to help you out.

Sky Sports Fantasy Football is back for the new season with a £50,000 jackpot up for grabs.

Harry Kane is once again the most valuable player at £13m, closely followed by last season's top scorer Mohamed Salah (£12.9m).

Manchester City's Kevin De Bruyne (£12m) and Kyle Walker (£10.5m) are top priced in the midfielder and defender categories respectively, while David de Gea (£8m) is rated the number one goalkeeper.

But with budget's being stretched by including such top talent, cash needs to be saved in other areas and Sky Sports Fantasy Football 2016/17 champion Dan Cox has some advice on the pick of the bunch that could represent value for money.

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Fantasy Football bargain buys

Sky Sports Fantasy Football returns for the new season
Click on the picture above to play Sky Sports Fantasy Football for the new season

Lukasz Fabianski (£6.5m)

With 136 saves and less goals conceded than Everton and England No 1 Jordan Pickford, Lukasz Fabianski couldn't have done much more to keep Swansea in the Premier League last season. You'd expect him to add to a tally of nine clean sheets between the sticks at a vastly improved West Ham side, but Manuel Pellegrini's attacking style will also ensure he continues to rack up the save bonus points. At £6.3m, he's £800,000 cheaper than Petr Cech, despite outscoring the Arsenal stopper by 11 points last term.

Mat Ryan (£6.5m)

Nick Pope was hailed as last season's bargain buy but only outscored Brighton's Mat Ryan by four points and is now £400,000 more expensive. The Australian international kept just one clean sheet less while making 11 more saves, seeing him pick up more points than Thibaut Courtois, but is selected by just 3.8 per cent of all Sky Sports Fantasy Football bosses.

Trent Alexander-Arnold (£8.4m)

Trent Alexander-Arnold
Trent Alexander-Arnold could be a star for Liverpool this season

Liverpool's defence has been one to steer clear of in recent seasons, but the additions of Virgil van Dijk (£9.9m) and then goalkeeper Alisson Becker (£7.3m) has made them a far more appealing prospect. The Reds recorded nine clean sheets from their last 14 outings as Trent Alexander-Arnold established himself as Jurgen Klopp's first-choice right-back.

While he may have to share some minutes with the versatile Joe Gomez (£8.2m), the bonus of his attacking threat should balance that gamble out and see him add to the solitary goal and assist from last season.

Matt Doherty (£6.5m)

Sky Sports Fantasy Football experts must have been licking their lips at the prospect of signing Barry Douglas for just £6.3m following the left-back's haul of five goals and 14 assists in Wolves' Sky Bet Championship winning campaign.

However, Leeds have beaten them to it and leave Matt Doherty, with four goals and four assists, as the next best option. Wolves' backline certainly looks the best investment of the new-promoted backlines after recording 24 clean sheets in their title triumph, while further investment sees bookmakers consider them mid-table fodder rather than relegation battlers this season.

Seamus Coleman (£8.3m)

Everton felt like a club in constant transition last season, dealing with the departure of their star man Romelu Lukuku, their manager Ronald Koeman and them the inevitable exit of Sam Allardyce, However, having finally got their man in Marco Silva and brought in further reinforcements, the Toffees should improve on a disappointing 2017/18.

Keeping the rapidly improving Jordan Pickford will be key to their defensive appeal, but Seamus Coleman also offers offensive threat, scoring 18 goals and assisting another 19 in his 218 Premier League appearances.

Marko Arnautovic (£10.1m)

Marco Arnautovic celebrates after scoring against his former club
Marco Arnautovic could bang in a few goals for West Ham this season

Sky Sports Fantasy Football may have cottoned on to Marko Arnautovic's advanced role at West Ham, moving him from a midfielder to a striker in their listings, but they still rate him fairly low. The Austrian star is priced at considerably less than the likes of Alvaro Morata (£11.7m) and Gabriel Jesus (£12.1m), presumably based on the Hammers' struggles last season, despite comfortably outscoring both. However, fortunes look more favourable under the attacking-minded Manuel Pellegrini, with the creativity of Andriy Yarmolenko, Felipe Anderson and Jack Wilshere adding to their ammunition.

Richarlison (£8.6m)

With five goals and three assists in his first 12 starts, Watford seemingly discovered a superstar in Brazilian Richarlison last season. However, as transfer speculation grew, the 21-year-old's performances plummeted, failing to find the net after November. While that coincided with the Hornets' annual form fall away, Everton should provide the opportunity for Richarlison to kick on, while offering better value than Theo Walcott (£8.9m) and Gylfi Sigurdsson (£9.1m).

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