The season’s inaugural Fantasy Premier League (FPL) deadline is Friday, May 16 at 6:30PM BST. Having finished fourth last season, thereby qualifying for the Champions League, Unai Emerey’s charges are likely to be strong this time round too, so here are three must-have Aston Villa players ahead of the new campaign.
Three Aston Villa Players To Punt On For FPL Gameweek 1
Ian Maatsen – £5 Million – Our Gameweek 1 Choice
Left-back Ian Maatsen will make his Aston Villa debut at the London Stadium on Saturday evening, having completed a £37.5 million move from Chelsea in June.
The Dutchman shone on loan at Borussia Dortmund during the second half of last season, racking up three goals and two assists in just 23 outings, emphasising that he is certainly an attacking left-back, which should suit Unai Emery’s system.
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Right now, just 4.5% of FPL managers have Maatsen in their squad, but we think at £5 million he offers very good value.
Ollie Watkins – £9 Million
Ollie Watkins was one of the stars of last term, scoring 27 goals in all competitions, while his tally of 19 in the Premier League was only bettered by Erling Braut Håland, Cole Palmer and Alexander Isak.
This earned Watkins a place in England’s Euros squad, memorably bagging the last-gasp winner against the Netherlands in the semi-finals.
All of this means he is priced at £9 million however, the fact that 43.3% of managers have selected Watkins, proves this valuation is justified.
Emi Martínez – £5 Million
Last, but by no means least, every successful FPL team requires a solid goalkeeper and Emi Martínez could be your man.
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Last campaign, with eight clean sheets in 34 appearances, Dibu racked up 115 points, averaging 141 points per campaign since making the move to the Midlands in 2020.
Then, during the summer, he enjoyed five shutouts and conceded only once across six outings as Argentina retained their Copa América title stateside, so Martínez will be full of confidence, even more than usual, and with a relatively kind fixture list coming Villa’s way to commence the campaign, we think you should join his 13.1% of owners.
