Brighton FPL Gameweek 1: Why you must own Sanchez & Veltman
During the second half of the 2020-21 season, Brighton and Hove Albion’s defence became a must-have for Fantasy Premier League (FPL) managers and that trend looks set to continue into the new campaign with Robert Sanchez and Joel Veltman looking the best value options.
The quality which Sanchez (£4.5 million) brings is clearly no secret based on the fact that he is currently the most highly-owned Seagulls across FPL, featuring in 23.3 percent of squads.
After replacing Maty Ryan as Graham Potter’s number one in December, Sanchez kept 10 clean sheets and conceded just 27 goals in 27 starts.
In fact, only eight goalkeepers kept more clean sheets than him over the whole campaign – and they all started between four and 11 games more.
Heading into the 2021-22 season, Brighton sit top of the defensive ticker for the opening five gameweeks. This means that they have a gentle start to the season with plenty of potential for clean sheets, beginning with the trip to Burnley this weekend and followed by a first home match against newly promoted Watford.
Unsurprisingly, this means that four of the five most popular Brighton players in FPL are Sanchez and three defenders – including Veltman, who seems to have slipped under the radar slightly which makes him a decent differential pick given he is certain to start.
Behind Sanchez in the ownership stakes is last season’s WeAreBrighton.com Player of the Year Yves Bissouma with 13.1 percent ownership. Bissouma is followed by defenders Lewis Dunk on 6.9 percent, Shane Duffy with 3.7 percent and then comes Veltman on 3.6 percent.
Duffy (£4.0 million) proving more popular than Veltman is strange as the Irish international has never been a Potter player. He endured a pretty disastrous loan spell at Celtic last season and it would be somewhat of a surprise if he is still at the Amex by the time the transfer window shuts at the end of the month.
Veltman (£4.5 million) meanwhile will be in the starting XI at Turf Moor, either as one of three central defenders in place of the sold Ben White (£4.5 million) or at right wing back where there is a vacancy due to the continuing absence through injury of Tariq Lamptey (£4.5 million).
In 2020-21, Veltman made 25 starts and registered nine clean sheets, one goal and one assist. His heatmap shows how high up the pitch he advances and if Brighton show more of the same defensively this season, the Dutch defender looks to be a great option given his points potential at both ends of the pitch.
For FPL managers who want to invest in the Brighton attack, Leandro Trossard (£6.5 million) looks like a good option. He ranked second amongst all team-mates for expected goals (xG) last season, only behind Neal Maupay (£6.5 million). Trossard also led the way for the Albion in terms of expected assists (xA).
Captain Fantastic
Picking a captain for gameweek one is normally notoriously difficult, but this year it is very difficult to look beyond handing the armband to Mohamed Salah (£12.5 million)
Salah has scored on the opening day in every season since signing for Liverpool with Jürgen Klopp’s side scoring at least three or more goals on each of those occasions.
That trend can easily continue as the Reds take on Norwich City, enabling the second-best Egyptian player of all time behind Adam El-Abd provide FPL managers with attacking returns.
You can pick up expert advice throughout the 2021-22 Fantasy Premier League season with Fantasy Football Scout
