Fantasy Premier League 2015-16 Pre-Season Round up
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Hello. Happy Summer everyone and welcome to your Pre-Season Article. The article is intended as a ‘work-in-progress’ and a workspace where we can keep each other up to date with all the latest line-up and substitution news for all twenty of this season’s Premier League teams ahead of our final selection of our fantasy squads.
We should also record the scoreline particulars including the all-important scorers, assisters and ‘nearly men’. Any salient information such as a defender on penalty kicks duties, a midfielder playing striker or Asmir Begovic playing some part in a Chelsea match to let him think he has a chance of playing this season, can be found here.
Of course, if you are lucky enough to witness any of the action, your opinion is valued too so let us know who impresses and doesn’t impress during these games.
Now you may have noticed the cunning use of “your”, “we”, and “each other” above. This is not a one-man band, because I’m useless musically and I’m not on at all hours (as much as I would like to be), so please do get involved – get the line-ups ‘up’ and the opinions flowing.
The Fixtures
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Arsenal
15th July
Singapore XI v Arsenal
18th July
Everton v Arsenal
25th July
Arsenal v Lyon
26th July
Arsenal v Wolfsburg
Community Shield
2nd August
Chelsea v Arsenal
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Aston Villa
11th July
Fulham v Aston Villa
17th July
SC Braga v Aston Villa
21st July
Swindon Town v Aston Villa
25th July
Walsall v Aston Villa
28th July
Wolverhampton Wanderers v Aston Villa
1st August
Nottingham Forest v Aston Villa
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Bournemouth
14th July
Philadelphia Union 1-4 Bournemouth
18th July
Exeter City v Bournemouth
25th July
Nantes v Bournemouth
28th July
Yeovil Town v Bournemouth
31st July
Bournemouth v Cardiff City
1st August
Hoffenheim v Bournemouth
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Chelsea
22nd July
New York Red Bulls v Chelsea
25th July
Paris St Germain v Chelsea
28th July
Barcelona v Chelsea
5th August
Chelsea v Fiorentina
Community Shield
2nd August
Chelsea v Arsenal
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Crystal Palace
11th July
Barnet v Crystal Palace
18th July
Union Berlin v Crystal Palace
1st August
Fulham v Crystal Palace
3rd August
Dagenham & Redbridge v Crystal Palace
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Everton
11th July
Swindon Town v Everton
15th July
Stoke City v Everton
18th July
Everton v Arsenal
26th July
Heart of Midlothian v Everton
28th July
Dundee v Everton
1st August
Leeds United v Everton
2nd August
Everton v Villarreal (Testimonial Match)
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Leicester City
21st July
Lincoln City v Leicester City
25th July
Mansfield Town v Leicester City
28th July
Burton Albion v Leicester City
29th July
Rotherham United v Leicester City
1st August
Birmingham City v Leicester City
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Liverpool
14th July
Thailand XI v Liverpool
17th July
Brisbane Roar v Liverpool
20th July
Adelaide United v Liverpool
24th July
Malaysia XI v Liverpool
1st August
HJK Helsinki v Liverpool
2nd August
Swindon Town v Liverpool
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Manchester City
15th July
Adelaide United v Manchester City
18th July
Melbourne City v Manchester City
21st July
Roma v Manchester City
24th July
Manchester City v Real Madrid
27th July
Vietnam v Manchester City
1st August
Stuttgart v Manchester City
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Manchester United
17th July
Club America v Manchester United
21st July
San Jose Earthquakes v Manchester United
25th July
Barcelona v Manchester United
29th July
Paris St Germain v Manchester United
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Newcastle United
10th July
Gateshead v Newcastle United
14th July
Atlas v Newcastle United
18th July
Sacramento Republic v Newcastle United
21st July
Portland Timbers ‘2’ v Newcastle United
26th July
Sheffield United v Newcastle United
29th July
York City v Newcastle United
1st August
Newcastle United v Borussia Moenchengladbach
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Norwich City
11th July
Gorleston v Norwich City
14th July
Hithcin Town v Norwich City
17th July
Cambridge United v Norwich City
18th July
Maccabi Haifa v Norwich City
25th July
Augsburg v Norwich City
28th July
Norwich City v West Ham United
1st August
Norwich City v Brentford
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Southampton
8th July
Leipzig v Southampton
11th July
Valencia v Southampton
Red Bull Salzburg v Southampton
18th July
Groningen v Southampton
21st July
Quick ‘20 v Southampton
23rd July
Feyenoord v Southampton
2nd August
Southampton v Espanyol
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Stoke City
15th July
Stoke City v Everton
18th July
Singapore XI v Stoke City
22nd July
Wrexham v Stoke City
25th July
Brentford v Stoke City
1st August
Cologne v Stoke City
2nd August
Porto v Stoke City
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Sunderland
9th July
Darlington v Sunderland
14th July
Sacramento Republic v Sunderland
17th July
Pachuca v Sunderland
22nd July
Toronto v Sunderland
29th July
Doncaster Rovers v Sunderland
1st August
Hannover v Sunderland
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Swansea City
15th July
Borussia Moenchengladbach v Swansea City
18th July
1860 Munich v Swansea City
24th July
Reading v Swansea City
25th July
Nottingham Forest v Swansea City
1st August
Swansea City v Deportivo La Coruna
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Tottenham Hotspur
29th July
MLS All-Stars v Tottenham Hotspur
4th August
Real Madrid v Tottenham Hotpsur
5th August
Tottenham Hotspur v Milan or Bayern Munich
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Watford
8th July
St Albans City v Watford
11th July
Wimbledon v Watford
15th July
Verl v Watford
17th July
Eintracht Braunschweig v Watford
19th July
Paderborn v Watford
25th July
Dundee v Watford
28th July
Cardiff City v Watford
1st August
Watford v Sevilla
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West Bromwich Albion
8th July
Red Bull Salzburg v West Bromwich Albion
17th July
Charleston Battery v West Bromwich Albion
19th July
Richmond Kickers v West Bromwich Albion
25th July
Swindon Town v West Bromwich Albion
28th July
Walsall v West Bromwich Albion
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West Ham United
11th July
Peterborough United v West Ham United
18th July
Southend United v West Ham United
21st July
Colchester United v West Ham United
25th July
Charlton Athletic v West Ham United
28th July
Norwich City v West Ham United
2nd August
West Ham United v Werder Bremen
Europa League
2nd July
West Ham United v Lusitanos
9th July
Lusitanos v West Ham United
16th July
West Ham United v Birkirkara
23rd July
Birkirkara v West Ham United
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Will Wally start ????????????
I’m sure that he will start the first game or two. When Sanchez is fit though someone will have to make way. It will most likely be either Giroud or Walcott and that depends on form.
I hope so!! I think he will.
What do you guys think on this Hazard-less team.
Ant
And Kun-less
It’s solid mate no doubt about that.
Will you have the bottle? You could well be laughing if the big two don’t click straight away.
This looks good well balanced side going without Kun & Haz is a risk but risks are meant for taking good strong MF I know CRY have tough fixtures but if any ones going to do well Cabaye will , def a little weak but sacrifices have to be madelike the att & Igholo looking good preseason
Milner scores again..very interesting at 7mln
IT’s against Adelaide United though. 😉
Milner just scored for Pool. 😉
Where’s he playing? Centre mid?
Ye just behind Origi. Both have come off now though.
He must be doing a lot of runs though. Coutinho playing yet? That might change everything, he usually plays number 10 right?
Milner was involved in everything when he was on. He was taking a lot of shots they just weren’t the best. His goal was marginally offside though.
Couthino is in Liverpool as he was in the Copa America so him and Firmino are in Melwood training.
Got a question about Liverpool:
I’ve seen a few lineups with a youngster called Gomez al leftback, but I can’t find him on FPL. Any ideas why?
Bonus question on Everton: Hypothetically, if Stones were to leave or simply fall out with Martinez, who would fill in to partner Jagielka? Hibbert?
Hi Machos, he’s a youngster they signed from Charlton, probably with a view to loaning out but he’s impressed that much that they’ve ruled out a loan move and Rodgers has said he will feature so he’ll no doubt be added in due course.
As for Hibbert – bloody hope not!
I doubt Stones will go anywhere in all honesty. We do need another CB now as it is and they’d only be cover because as you’ve highlighted we are pretty thin in that position now. Browning can play there but he’s just a kid. Hibbert is actually a very good defender and could fill in but he’s not tall enough really. He’s always been one of those footballers who’s good just so long as they don’t have to actually touch a football.
Outstanding low-down on Hibbert there mate
Hey fellas. I’m new to the FL game and am after some advice.
I’m an Aussie Liverpool fan that knows football, but I don’t know how this game works haha. Any general tips would be greatly appreciated!
First go at a team. Not sure about it..
Courtois (Speroni)
Mertesacker, Lescott, Clyne (Baker, Mariappa)
Fabregas, Milner, Schweinsteiger, Hazard (Wanyama)
Kane, Rooney, Ulloa
Full cost. Not sure whether I should swap in guys like Depay, Cazorla and Hendo. Also, 2 premium strikers – good or bad idea?
Thanks in advance.
Hi, welcome!
You’ve got the basics right in that you’re running a formation with 3 at the back and your budget seems well balanced across the positions.
I don’t think Baker or Mariappa will be starters though so you should look at changing those.
Not convinced over Schweinsteiger as I don’t think he’ll score or assist too many.
Also Cazorla might be a good player to get for Fabregas as you already have Hazard and don’t have any Arsenal attackers.
Personally I think if you have Courtois you could save some money by having a 4m non-playing sub keeper.
Agree with most of what Bihom is saying. As of late been hearing that Hennessey mnight be a starter first few months? Can anyone confirm this? If that’s the case I’d like to see his price rise. 😉
Raz, Hennessey is rumoured to be a target for West Brom. Could be an interesting starter at 4mln…..Pulis knows Hennessey from his Palace days and I remember him talking about him favourably then.
Welcome to the site mate. We’ll try our best to help you out.
Your team is good there is a few things to change in my opinion.
Speroni could be downgraded to a 4.0 mil GK as your not going to play Speroni over Courtios right?
Mariappa has some very difficult fixtures for the first few weeks and Baker isn’t a good idea as Villa will find it difficult this year as all their best players are gone.
Lastly, Schweinsteiger isn’t that good FPL wise I don’t see him getting forward too much and that means he won’t really get you many points. Plus you don’t need Fab and Haz I’d change Fab to Caz or Walcott if possible.
Patrick_YNWA – Firstly, welcome to FF247, good to have new members around the place. Right, you’ve got some issues here. GK’s are very expensive, maybe drop Speroni down to a £4m player if you’re set on Courtois? Baker and Mariappa are unlikely to see game time so they’re essentially blank spots in your squad and, WBA have a tough start to the season if i remember correctly. In midfield, i’d drop cesc out for one of those that you mentioned. I liem Cazorla but, if Walcott is stil, able to walk come season start, then he’d be almost a must-have for a couple of GW’s. Two high priced forwards is fine once the rest is balanced out so that you’re not weak in other areas.
Check the ‘Tips’ tab at the top of the page and look at the ;fixture tracker’. It’s a great guide for fixture strength for the first few weeks and there’s also a rotation table there that highlights which teams work well together. Checking out other peoples RMT’s will also give an indication of who are the trend defenders, mid’s and attackers :thumbup:
I’d have to disagree there Bihom/Matt, re Schweinsteiger. I’d definitely take someone like Milner or Chadli ahead of him for £7m but, he should still be decent value at that price. He will score/assist, just not as much as others you’d imagine.
I actually don’t know how much Schweinsteiger costs but since your mentioning Milner and Chadli I imagine its 7.0 mil. I was just going of the fact he will play a deeper role whereas Chadli and Milner will play further up the pitch.
Yeah he’s £7m. I just wouldn’t write him off as an iffy FPL prospect, that’s all. There are better options, no doubt, but a player with that passing ability and long-range shooting skills cant be written off, for me.
That is very true I think he’ll be a great player for United and I’ll give him some time to see how much attacking he is I still feel he won’t be as attacking as others.
Thanks heaps for the tips.
Everything you said makes sense.
As far as the backline goes, I put in Hennessey for GK. Undecided between Bertrand and Fonte, but since Bertrand is currently injured I guess I’ll go with Fonte… Will keep looking for the remaining two. I guess I should pick a player that will regularly start in a team that will do fairly well? (i.e. mid-table)
Caz in for Schweinsteiger, Milner in for Cesc. Now have 2 Liverpool mids in…
I think, THINK, I’m getting the idea ahahaha
Just thought I’d tell you, you already have Milner so won’t be able to do that
The rest I agree with, how much do you have to spend on the last 2 defenders?
Fonte is a good pick as he is a goal threat but their new right back Cedric could be one to consider. He’s slightly cheaper at 5m and a very popular pick on here.
And 2 Milner in one team is what dreams are made of! 😉
My bad! Henderson is in. Still tossing up Schweinsteiger, just because of the fact he plays for United. Schneiderlin is the other option, in terms of cost.
9 mil for defenders. Have Mertesacker, Clyne and Fonte, and put in Morgan and O’Shea.
Also, Ulloa vs Berahino? I have half a mil left over, so browsing for a 6.5 mil striker or 5 mil midfield (to replace Wanyama – I think he’s a good choice though)
Welcome Patrick to the mayhem that is FF247. Theres not a lot for me to say about your squad, i think its all been covered. Pop me an e-mail and i’ll reply with a code to join us in the Regulars League.
E-mail address. Elleffcee@fantasyfootball247.co.uk
Ah right well I would go Schweinsteiger over Schneiderlin if you go that way.
I’d just change Morgan to Huth, O’Shea should be alright.
I’d go Ulloa or even Vardy over Berahino.
I agree. Bastian > Schneiderlin.
Huth is in.
1 mil to spare. Is it worth keeping that extra money tucked away for a rainy day?
That’s a hard one. I’m not sure about saving the money to be honest I like to spend everything unless it’d .5 mil I just think 1 mil is a bit too much to be saving this early in the season.
Geez Elle, let him unpack his bags first. 😉
Email sent.
Having trouble. I make transfers, but I don’t know how to keep the changes? My team reverts back to what it was originally…
Anyway, swapped Rooney for Costa, so now have 0.5 mil remaining in the budget. Feel like Costa will do better than Rooney, but I’m really not sure
Are you clicking the Make Transfers button below the team?
I did.
I missed the ‘Confirm Transfers’ option after that :’)
Silly me. Cheers though. Only found it after you confirmed that I was doing it right
Hi Patrick, welcome to FF247! I’l forgive your Liverpool bias and promise not to mention the Ashes 😉
There are a number of basic guidelines for playing FPL – the most prominent is I think ensure as much as you can that your squad is made up of 15 starters. Looking at your squad above, Mariappa and Baker strike me as 2 that may not start. In this day of constant rotation you could end up not being able to field 11, which obviously detracts immediately your chances of scoring well.
You then need to balance out your money through the squad.
Decide who your “must haves” are and work around them.
Ensure your midfielders (especially your 4 main ones) are attacking ones as that is where they will generate points. (Schweinsteiger is a great example of a great player, but prob not a great FPL asset as he is likely to play a deeper role.)
I think that’s the basic basics but hang around and see the chat going on as people muse over their teams….and remember much will change in the majority of teams from now until the big kick off.
Whats wrong with mentioning the Ashes Cookie, haha? We’re back in buisness i reckon!
Haha thought one of you mob would bite on that!! Yeah well done, comprehensive win – be interesting to see if England can react from here. I reckon a couple of changes will be made, Bairstow in for Ballance or Lyth I would think. Aussies unchanged I assume?
Haha, been surprised how well you’ve gone so fair actually (apart from the Lords match). I think you lot will come back rather strongly. I’d assume we will be unchanged.
We shall see Tom – have a nasty feeling we’ll struggle now you have your tails up, but we’ll see. Johnson bowling well is a big factor for you, without doubt, while I think this was Anderson’s worst ever match at Lords.
The real reason we won was because we didn’t have watson, lol
haha not a fan then ?
I don’t believe Watson has any fans now, haha
Yes well come to the site Patrick yes 4m GK to back Courtois up , Baker & Mariappa lose unitil we know if they will start Schwein wont get many points good player but not for FPL maybe Tadic , Cabaye or Ki there are others , fwds good 😉
Oh and welcome my fellow aussie!
“an Aussie Liverpool fan that knows football”. Is that some sort of supercharged oxymoron?!!
😉
Welcome Patrick.
I see from your name you’re a Village People fan. Good stuff. We have a few of them on here. I think you’ve misspelled it though. It should be Patrick_YMCA. But you’re almost there.
So…. Welcome to FF247!! Have you just discovered the place, or are you one of those Rich-like characters that has been lurking in the bushes for a while? Whichever it is, it’s great to have you on board.
A few tips to help you settle in:
Please try to be nice to all our posters. GP is very easily offended, and when chatting with Kop, if you could do your best to keep the subject matter away from price comparison websites, that would probably be for the best.
Definitely read the rules of the game – You’ll be amazed at what you learn. I’ve been playing 8 years and it was only last year that i realized they give you points when your players score a goal!! I know. I was shocked too.
Finally, make sure you get Tekno’s phone number for Maths help. – Sometimes those questions to get into the site can keep you locked out for hours whilst you figure out why your calculator doesn’t work. Turn’s out it wasn’t a calculator (it was my toaster), but it got me the answer eventually.
Right, that’s about it. Welcome again.
chins
I think that is a disgraceful slur on me and I will be making my feelings known to the administrators in due course. I can’t accept that . . .
See what i mean Patrick_YMCA?
#Touchy
. . . .and chins,
Its spelt Touche . . 😉
#bantsfortheeasilyoffended
Young man.. I don’t appreciate the mock on my beloved team.
Thanks for the welcome. Most of that is fairly typical of a large group like this; there’s always one sook!
I’ve only just discovered this site, and this is my first FL season.
Is there any way to easily follow these chains? It’s the morning, and I had to scroll through and find this. I’m lazy
Hi Patrick, he’s an acquired taste and everything said is well and truly tongue in cheek so relax on that one, trust me!
As following chats I believe you can set up an e-mail alert but I’ll be honest I’ve never done that so I’ve no idea how to do so or indeed if it works! Give me 10 and I’ll let you know!
Evidently we deleted that feature Patrick because it was crap and didn’t work properly.
Fair enough. Looking through isn’t that bad.
I’m rethinking my 3 Liverpool players. Obviously, having 3 from 1 team isn’t so great, especially when they’re not favourites to win the league. I have Clyne, Henderson and Milner. Rest of my squad includes Courtois and Hamer in goal (considering Ruddy/Bulahdelah pair), Mertesacker, O’Shea, Hugh, Cedric (thinking of replacing) at the back, Cazorla, Wanyama, Hazard in the middle, and Rooney, Costa and Deeney up front.
Thoughts? I have no City or Everton coverage, so thinking of slipping some in
@Patrick, I say drop either Milner or Hendo. I like Milner this season, but you are a fan so you are more equipped to decide. I would make one of them into Chadli or similar. Liverpool might do well this season, but playing Stoke away, Arsenal and United away in 3 of their first 5 is not ideal, so I wouldn’t double up just yet on them. Besides that, I think the rest of your team is solid. City plays West Brom and Chelsea in the first two games. They were first and second in clean sheets last season. So that might be the 2 games where you could possibly get away with having no City coverage. When Kun is back then maybe you can then get the City coverage. Just a suggestion though on City. I probably will have someone, but I can see the reasoning of just waiting on Kun. As far as Everton goes, I wouldn’t worry, their fixtures are an absolute nightmare.
Oh and Patrick, relax, we advertise ourselves as the home of world class banter and it can get wild in here at times when all the members check in. And just to show you Chins means no harm, read our new article if you haven’t yet, Chins wrote it, then realize he was actually being nice in his own way. Also go have a read of Grab, Avoid and Bore off from 3 days ago. We like to do well in FPL but not at the expense of some laughs.
“Young man” was a Village People reference; from the song YMCA. Obviously didn’t traverse the interwebs very well haha. Anyway, I’m a high school student – no way am I going to be calling people “young man” on here!
I’m open and used to being made fun of for being a Liverpool fan, among other things – I just spent the weekend away with a witty United fan. It’s fair to say I copped a fair bit of abuse :’)
So, sorry if I came across as a grumpy old dude. Please feel free to give me your best shot everyone
Patrick.. There’s no need to feel down about being a ‘Pool fan 😉
Definitely! I gave as much back as I could, don’t you worry
*hoping he got the reference
Oh -_-
I just did haha
I’m going to need to pick up my game
Hi fellow Aussie, this game is easy to learn but near impossible to master.
Best advice I can give is to read all the articles posted here and don’t worry about anything written elsewhere. Secondly is to get into a really strong league, there will be a few you can join from here, don’t worry about the public leagues. Watch what the players do who are leading leagues, you will learn a lot.
I’m hopefully looking at a breakout year, been playing 4 years and each year getting better. around top 30k last year and hoping for a top 5k finish this year.
What sort of strategies and players you looking to use?
A mate of mine is going 5 good defenders at the back to rack up the points. Thoughts? Apparently, this is how another guy won our private league last season
I’d have a serious look at the rest of his team before putting 5 good defenders in there! Depends what he means by good of course, but certainly most teams around here will have at least two if not three cheap defs that hopefully rotate well in order to get more quality in elsewhere.
Good luck with operation breakthrough bunnies. Top 5k is quite a target. No reason why not though mate.
Patrick – I definitely don’t think 5 good defenders is the way to go. Assuming that means playing 4/5 defenders.
Take a look at the distribution of points across the positions last year and the mids and fwds will come out on top. Add to that, it’s much harder to predict those weeks a defender will score big. Eg. Goal and CS. I’d rather hedge my bets and build my team around consistent performers from mids and fwds.
Take a look at some of the analysis on here to get a feel for which teams rotate well and maybe go 1 top defender and two rotating pairs. Or… Two established defs that you’d play every week, 1 cheap rotating pair and one super cheap bench fodder.
And remember, this can be a tough part of the season. There’s no need to feel down, pick yourself off the ground, cos you’re in a new town, there’s no need to be unhappy, there’s a place you can go. Etc etc. 😉
Draught #454752
Thoughts?
Courtois/Hamer
Cedric/Ward/Morgan/Turner/Alder
Hazard/Milner/Walcott/Cabaye/Anya
Aguero/Rooney/Deeney
Great team.
Thanks Ant.
Little worried about Morgan and Turner though…
Thoughts on best 4.5m def?
Mings or Huth?
Richards?.
Thanks guys… now more to think about haha
Dont know much on Mings though.
Will lean towards Huth I think…
Unless take Alder and Turner out and get all 3 4.5m def haha.
Play Cedric and have 4 4.5m def that I only pick 2 from…
Hey Peter I wouldn’t start with Ward & I’m not sure with Turner maybe Muniesa & OShea good MF & Fwd line
Thanks Silver,
Im now toying with the idea of having my defenders be
Cedric, Ward, Richards, Huth and Mings.
Play Cedric and pick 2 of the other 4?
But will cost me having a weak 5th mid and 3rd striker…