Draft Fantasy Premier League Players

While Draft Fantasy managers will already have an eye on the Premier League season opener in mid-August, there has been plenty of action for football fans to enjoy.

Apart from the Under-20 World Cup in South Korea and Under-21 European Championships in Poland, we recently had the dress rehearsal for the 2018 World Cup: the Confederations Cup in Russia.

There have been a number of famous players on show including the stars of 2014 World Cup winners (Germany), Euro 2016 victors (Portugal), Copa America holders (Chile) and many more.

While some of the top footballers in world football were on show however, we’re more focused on those who will be making it into our FPL  draft teams, like some of the names mentioned below…

Bernardo Silva and Cedric Soares shine for 3rd-placed Portugal

Portugal were unable to replicate their Euro 2016 success as they were knocked out by Chile on penalties in the semi-final (more on that later).

Thankfully for Draft Fantasy fans, they played five matches, giving managers plenty of time to run the rule over their potential picks.

Manchester City’s £42m signing Bernardo Silva impressed in his three appearances, netting against New Zealand and demonstrating some of the form that saw him bag eight goals and nine assists for Monaco last season.

He was also rested in the play-off against Mexico, meaning he should be fresh for pre-season, with the possibility of slotting straight into Pep Guardiola’s plans.

Another player who impressed was Southampton’s Cedric Soares – a man who has been a steady fantasy player since his arrival from Sporting Lisbon.

The marauding right-back looks to get forward and managed to find the net against Mexico while also helping his side keep four consecutive clean sheets.

With Mauricio Pellegrino likely to help Southampton continue their defensive resilience Cedric will be a solid pick again, and may even see his stock rise should he move to Chelsea or Tottenham Hotspur.

Premier League players on show for champions Germany

While the squad Germany lifted the trophy with was mainly international B-team players from the Bundesliga, there were two Premier League stars on show.

Sheridan Mustafi was at the heart of a three-man defence for three of the Champions’ games and looked relatively comfortable, suggested his prospects will bode well if Wenger continues with the 3-4-3 he used at the end of last season.

The other Premier League player in the side was Emre Can. The Liverpool man has never been much of a source for points but got forward a lot for his country, even bagging an assist against Mexico. It is worth noting that the German did manage 45 shots last season – including 21 in the box- so could be one to watch should Jurgen Klopp’s side continue their free-scoring form.

Sanchez bags but Bravo the hero

Should he stay at Arsenal, Alexis Sanchez will inevitably be among the top picks in FPL draft next season and his form in Russia shows little sign of deterring investors.

Despite starting the first game against Cameroon on the bench, Sanchez came on to set up a goal and was unlucky not to have broken his countries’ goals record after coming close to scoring.

He broke it just six minutes into the very next game against Germany however, showing the cutting edge that delivered 24 goals and 10 assists last campaign. He played every minute of his remaining games, but with Chilean’s boundless stamina this shouldn’t affect his pre-season.

While he will have a lot more to do to regain any fans and possibly the City jersey, Claudio Bravo started the last three games and deserves an honourable mention for stopping all three of Portugal’s penalties as the South Americans charged towards the final.