New Fantasy Premier League Transfers 2018/19 – Liverpool Edition

New Fantasy Premier League Transfers 2018/19 Liverpool Edition

Hello and welcome to New Fantasy Premier League Transfers 2018/19 Liverpool Edition! This is our year! Only joking I’m too much of a realist to get swept up in that stuff and I’m sure fellow Red and resident pessimist Kop would agree with me on that. Even though I do not feel as optimistic as the majority of fans, it seems that other fans from teams around the league are getting involved in and really feel Liverpool have made a great push to challenge defending Champions Man City. Liverpool have looked at some key areas of their team and improved immensely. They have spent £164 million this summer on improving weak spots which could prove money well spent if Alisson, Fabinho, Keita and Shaqiri hit the ground running. With this new level of depth in the squad Liverpool should improve on their performances last season and it should make having Liverpool assets a very smart move. Whether you choose an old player or one of these new ones it’s up to you, but I am here to give you the low down on the new boys, so without further ado…

Alisson – 5.5 mil
This was a must do transfer for Liverpool, but I’ll be honest I didn’t think it was going to happen! Klopp was giving his backing to Karius and defending him, so I feared we would be looking at Loris Karius between the sticks for another season but finally Klopp had enough of his compatriot who has had a horrid time ever since the Champions League final. Not only did he make the high-profile mistakes that night but Karius has made mistakes in nearly every friendly Liverpool have played this summer! Enough was enough and led Liverpool to splash the cash, returning to Roma where they grabbed the amazing Mo Salah, to make the Brazilian number 1 Alisson, the most expensive goalkeeper in the world. Alisson has been highly sought after this summer and in the last year or two. His stats can make you see why the young goalkeeper has demanded such a high price. Last season he played 49 games between Serie A and the Champions League where he kept 22 clean sheets; over the course of his entire career Alisson has played 120 games and kept 49 clean sheets. This is not bad reading for the fans of a team who have had problems after problems at the goalkeeping area; so with a new shot stopper coming in there is reason for optimism for plenty of clean sheets with the likes of VVD and the “best defender in the world” Lovren sitting in front of the Brazilian. Not only do they have a new goalie to protect the net they have two new mids to strengthen the defence who are…

Naby Keita – 7.5 mil
I’ll start off with a new addition that was technically bought last season, the Guinean Naby Keita. The robust central midfielder has earned a lot of admirers during the short amount of preseason he has had. Keita is very well-known for his meandering runs towards the opposition box and causing trouble. Keita scored 9 goals and grabbed 7 assists in all competitions last season which is decent returns from a central midfielder. Keita seems to have brought a bit of steel into a Liverpool midfield that really needed it as he is a young man who loves a tackle so I’d expect him to earn plenty of plaudits for his no nonsense style of play. The one downside to Keita is the act he’s a bit of a card magnet over his 5 year career he has received 31 yellow cards and 3 red cards in club football. 9 of those yellows and 2 of those reds came last season but I suspect that maybe have come from frustration at not being allowed to move directly to Liverpool and having to stay in a RB Leipzig side that struggled throughout the season. Keita is making his way into more and more drafts as an alternative to Firmino or as a 3rd Liverpool attacking cover so this could seriously pay off if he settles into English life quickly.

Fabinho – 6.0 mil
Another addition to the Liverpool midfield is the Brazilian defensive midfielder from Monaco who many feel should have been at the World Cup. Fabinho is the first proper defensive midfielder Liverpool have had for a while and have been calling out for. This should allow Henderson and Keita to get higher up the pitch with Fabinho providing the much needed cover in the deeper role. While Fabinho has been brought in to solidify that midfield he is also adding to Liverpool’s attacking threat as he has 33 goals and 23 assists so far in his career and grabbed 7 goals last term with 4 assists. Fabinho is not too shabby at penalty kicks which make up 19 of the 33 goals he has scored in his career. You would possibly think he might take over penalty duty but with the likes of Mo Salah, Bobby Firmino and Sadio Mané up top that might be a wait and see. Fabinho may turn out to be like his compatriot, Fernandinho, in the fact he can pop up with goals but at 6.0 mil there are likely to be better options out there.

Xherdan Shaqiri – 7.5 mil
Now onto yet another midfielder who is new to Liverpool but very familiar to us FPL managers, the little Swiss who is shaped in the weirdest of ways has proven he can do it on a rainy night in Stoke so a nice trip on the Mersey should be just right for him! Shaqiri has had a brilliant career playing for Basel, Inter Milan, Bayern Munich and the mighty Stoke City so he has plenty of experience and adds more power to the already stacked Liverpool front line. I don’t see Shaqiri pushing his way into the team, especially not replacing Player of the Year and Egyptian God, Mo Salah, on the right wing. Shaqiri will probably be more of a sub player and someone who has been brought in to give the likes of Salah and Mané a rest. Shaqiri will also give Liverpool that little something they always missed when Salah was injured or rested; obviously the key players Mane, Firmino and Salah link up well but right now as I write this I am picturing a backup front three of Lallana sliding a through ball into Shaqiri who slides it across for Oxlade-Chamberlain or Sturridge (when they are fit!). Shaqiri has 66 goals and 63 assists in his career so with some very good players around him Shaqiri could flourish or flounder but it is definitely a wait and see for me as I don’t feel he is completely nailed.

Thanks for reading New Fantasy Premier League Transfers 2018/19 Liverpool Edition. This article was written by MattX

@MattyMcVeigh

HELPFUL LINKS –

PRE-SEASON FRIENDLIES
Usually we run an article and ask people to get involved and cover the friendlies with any info they can gather. And it’s usually fun but in all honesty it’s usually also a bit messy and difficult to refer back to. This season we have one link that you will need need for all such info, courtesy of Mito –

FPL Pre-Season Info

Here you will find all the pre-season info you could ever wish for in one place – line-ups, scorers, assists, match info, sarcastic comments…

SET-PIECE TAKERS LIST
This is a work in progress as we make our way through pre-season but again Mito is all over it as it’s an invaluable resource and can be found here

FPL FIXTURE TRACKER

(It’s scrollable btw, just swipe left or right)

FIXTURE TRACKER LINK

FIXTURE TRACKER 2018/19

It’s been a busy summer already with Arsenal, Everton, West Ham and Chelsea appointing new managers, Manchester City adding to their already dominant squad, Man Utd continuing to splash the cash and Liverpool trying to protect Karius by beefing up their midfield. Spurs may even have a new home soon.

And FPL wise, this is the place to discuss strategy, learn about the promoted teams and their players while in the days and weeks to come we’ll have plenty of articles, interviews, player analysis, Bore Offs, Tips, etc, etc.

So be sure to get involved in the discussions, the RMTs and the banter as we look forward to another season of Fantasy fun!

The League Codes for FF247 for the 2018/19 season are as follows –