The focus of Fantasy Premier League managers could steadily shift back to forwards in 2022/23 following a spell of relying on attack-mined midfielders.
In years gone by, premium-cost strikers were the order of the day, but the likes of Mohamed Salah, Son Heung Min and Kevin De Bruyne have helped to revolutionise FPL with mega hauls from midfield.
However, that could be reversed in 2022/23 with the return of the No.9 across plenty of teams in the top flight.
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Harry Kane remains a fierce competitor with terrific form under Antonio Conte, and he is now joined in the ranks of premium strikers by Erling Haaland and Darwin Nunez at Manchester City and Liverpool respectively.
One other major deal for a new No.9 has captured the attention of FPL managers across the world, and we think this player in particular could steal the show in 2022/23.
RadioTimes.com brings you our Fantasy Premier League tips, including the forwards you should sign for your FPL team in 2022/23.
Budget FPL forwards
Odsonne Edouard (Crystal Palace) £5.5m
Edouard showed flickers of greatness in his debut season at Selhurst Park last time out, and he will be desperate to justify more first-team action in 2022/23.
Palace look like a solid, growing, settled unit under Patrick Vieira ahead of this season and Edouard will benefit greatly from the likes of Wilfried Zaha, Michael Olise and Eberechi Eze heading into the season fit and ready.
Edouard scored six and set up four in less than half of the available playing minutes and will hope he can extrapolate that point-scoring form across a whole season.
Armando Broja (Chelsea) £5.5m
As things stand, Broja remains a Chelsea player. Not only that, he’s the only natural, out-and-out striker in the squad aside from the unfavoured Timo Werner.
That is likely to change by the end of the transfer window, but Broja is very much in contention for action with the Blues and his £5.5m price tag makes him an ideal third striker for your bench.
His potential upside is that he could indeed be on the move himself with Newcastle and Everton both linked to his signature. Should one of those moves take place, he will be a starting striker at a decent Premier League club at a bargain-bucket price.
Mid-price FPL forwards
Gabriel Jesus (Arsenal) £8.0m
Here we go, our pick for ‘must-have player of the season’ is Gabriel Jesus. The beauty of the new Arsenal star is that he can fit into your team as the first, second or even third striker.
You could pair him with premium cost stars like Harry Kane and Erling Haaland, or he could lead the line for your team as a lone wolf, freeing up major funds to be spent in midfield.
Jesus has it all. He has recorded massive point hauls despite only playing half of the available minutes in previous seasons with Manchester City, and he will be a nailed-on starter for Arsenal this term. He could conceivably go close to the fabled 200-point mark.
Premium FPL forwards
Harry Kane (Tottenham) £11.5m
Haaland is the name on everyone’s lips with 64 per cent ownership at the time of writing, but Harry Kane is the player you should start the season with if you’re stuck choosing between the pair.
Kane is owned by just over 16 per cent of teams right now and is a safer bet than Haaland, who could explode into life, but may need time to adjust.
Since becoming a first-term regular with Spurs, Kane has hit the 190-point mark six times in eight seasons. In the remaining two seasons, he racked up 160 and 158.
It was a slow start to the season for both Tottenham and Kane last year, but under Antonio Conte, he was playing some of the greatest football of his career, supported by Son Heung Min and Dejan Kulusevski. Simply, he is the third-highest ranked player in the ICT Index and could well approach his all-time high score of 242 points if he stays fit in 2022/23.
Fantasy Premier League fixtures – Week 1
- Bournemouth v Aston Villa
- Crystal Palace v Arsenal
- Everton v Chelsea
- Fulham v Liverpool
- Leeds v Wolves
- Leicester v Brentford
- Man Utd v Brighton
- Newcastle v Nottingham Forest
- Tottenham v Southampton
- West Ham v Man City
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