Leicester City Fantasy Premier League Preview 2020/21

Who would of thought that right at this moment that Leicester City would defy all the odds and won a premier league in Claudio Ranieri’s first season in charge. Last season do I reckon that Leicester over achieved and finished in the Europa league spot, yes I do! But the way it was going they should of been playing champions league football. Brendan Rodgers did a marvellous job with the team he had, they lost their best CB in Harry Maguire to Manchester United and bought in a Turkish CB who I hadn’t heard of before and he performed remarkably well. Jamie Vardy won the golden boot at the age of 33. 

In regards to Fantasy Premier League Leicester had 9 players hit 115 points or more, those players were: Vardy, Schmeichel, Barnes, Perez, Evans, Maddison, Pereira, Soyuncu and Tielemans. I had 5 of those players at some point of last season. Will Leicester hit the same heights this season? Possibly!

Leicester’s opening 5 games:

West Brom (A)

Burnley (H)

Man City (A)

West Ham (H)

Aston Villa (H)

Leicester have only one hard game in their opening five games of the season and that is against Manchester City. They should be able to grab some goals and a couple of clean sheets against the other four teams meaning any of the above 9 players could possibly be in your starting XI. 

Goalkeeper:

Kasper Schmeichel (5.5): He is following in his fathers footsteps and becoming one of the top keepers in the premier league. He finished third for most points for goalkeepers, scoring 156 points. He kept 13 clean sheets, 3 more than the previous season, he also pulled of 97 saves, 7 more than the previous season. The last two seasons he has played every single minute. Currently at 12.1% ownership, but I feel like this season there are lots of keepers who are value around the 4.5 and 5.0 mark. If you’re one of those coaches who is set on their team and have a spare 0.5 in the bank (ITB) then maybe go for Schmeichel in goal, he has favourable fixtures to start the season.

Defenders:

James Justin (4.5): When Ricardo got injured he became Rodgers first choice RB and he played very well. He may of only scored 35 points, but played over 1000 minutes. He contributed only one assist, but was involved in 4 clean sheets. This season he will be first choice RB till Pereira is fit and healthy. He is value at 4.5m too, currently in 9.0% of teams, he may even keep Pereira out of the team for a little bit if he performs very well.

Ricardo Pereira (6.0): Played 600 less minutes than the season before due to injury, he scored 123 points, contributing 3 goals and only 2 assists but was involved in 10 clean sheets. The season before he produced 8 assists and 3 goals and again was involved in 10 clean sheets. This season once fit and healthy I reckon we will see him produce close to 10 goal contributions which should see him increase his points to about 140+. Once fit and healthy he might end up in my team. 

Christian Fuchs (4.5): Now Chilwell has left for Chelsea, he should definitely be the number one Left Back, but unfortunately is currently injured with a groin and is expected back at the end of October, when Fuchs will be back he will definitely be on my radar and he is cheap, definitely I find him value for 4.5m, if he stays in the team and is fit and healthy we should see him push the 100 mark and for a 4.5m player that is quite a steal.

Midfielders:

Harvey Barnes (7.0): Harvey was one of the most improved players at Leicester, even in FPL he increased his output by 90 points. In 2018/19 he scored 43 points playing 1001 minutes contributing 1 goal and 3 assists, while last season he improved to 133 points from 2075 points contributing 6 goals and 10 assists. He led Leicester in assists. This season he will be about the same as last season but I believe there are better value options in the midfield this season. He is currently in 4.5% of teams.

James Maddison (7.0): He currently is sitting in my team, but I feel like that will change before the game week 1 deadline. He’s been consistent for Leicester since moving from Norwich two seasons ago, scoring an average of 131 points over two seasons. Last season he contributed to 11 goals, scoring 6 and assisting 5, unfortunately he missed games late on due to injury, he is currently battling a hip problem and is at 50% chance to get up for game week 1. I would have him ahead of Harvey Barnes if Maddo can get up for the game versus West Brom. He currently is owned by 6.5% of coaches.

Youri Tielemans (6.5): He came to the premier league back in January of 2019 and he started like a house on fire. He scored 63 points contributing 3 goals and 5 assists in ONLY 1087 minutes. Even though he hit triple figures in FPL last season, his season was a little underwhelming, he only scored 117 points, if you told me he would do that without knowing what he did from January to May of 2019 I would of said he’s had a good season, but just like Perez he has huge potential and hopefully we see that this season. He scored 3 goals and provided 6 assists in just over 2800 minutes. I do reckon we could see him potentially hit 145+ this season and just like Perez he is value, but I would go for either one and hope you hit the 50/50 selection. It’s very tough to know who to pick out of the Leicester Midfield.

Ayoze Perez (6.5): Last season he only played a touch under 2000 minutes which was 900 less than the previous season, but he only scored 12 points less with a 129. In those 129 points he scored, he contributed 8 goals and 5 assists. If he can play over 2500 minutes and going off what he did last season he could easily get you 150 points and for a guy at 6.5m that is value. He will be on my radar for my first team and is cheaper than Maddo. Currently is at 3.3% ownership which isn’t much for a player that has good point potential.

Forwards:

Jamie Vardy (10.0): The oldest player to win the Golden Boot at the age of 33, scoring 23 goals last season. Over the last 5 seasons Vardy has scored more than 10 goals in each season. In regards to FPL he hasn’t dropped below 161 points either. He is starting at 10.0m for the second time in his FPL career, the last time was back when he scored 24 goals and Leicester won the league. Last season he broke the 200 barrier and finished on 210 points scoring 23 goals as mentioned before and contributing 7 assists. Not many players can say that they have contributed to 30 goals in a single season. He only faces City in his first five and I reckon we will see him score about 5 in the first 5 games. Would I start him maybe, it will be between him and Harry Kane.

I’m my opinion, I will be steering clear of Schmeichel unless I have a spare 0.5m and can afford to grab him. But I will definitely be looking at either of Ayoze Perez or Youri Tielemans along with Vardy. I just have to make the decision between Kane and Vardy. Fuchs and Justin are value options, possibly going to have Justin to start with then hope Fuchs gets a long run in the team when Pereira is back and he will be able to slot into my team at the end of October. I feel like Leicester will be about the same as last season in regards to FPL.

Prediction: 4th-9th.