It’s time to talk about the reigning Premier League Champions, Chelsea. Antonio Conte turned a shambolic Mourinho team that not only finished 10th in the 15/16 season but also screwed over all of us who drafted Chelsea players that season (Hazard was the number 1 pick for us that season) and turned them into Premier League champions. Antonio Conte popularised the 3-5-2 formation again, breathed new life into Victor Moses and had the league wrapped up by February really. The 16/17 season was a great time to be invested in Chelsea defenders especially but what does the 17/18 draft season have in store?
Goalkeepers
Asmir Begovic has moved on to Bournemouth, Willy Caballero has joined Chelsea to become the new Number 2 goalkeeper but let’s be honest, Thibaut Courtois isn’t going anywhere. I do believe that everyone is different as to when it’s time to pick a goalkeeper and I have praised the merits of having a lower league goalkeeper in my Burnley piece but Courtois was the best scoring keeper last season and Chelsea are only getting stronger this summer.
If you want Courtois, I would say that he could be as good as a round 2 pick, just so you’ve secured yourself a great goalkeeper, this way you can leave picking a 2nd keeper until the later rounds.
See More: Check out the Burnley FPL Draft Overview
Defenders
The BEST defence last season, having a Chelsea defender was a huge boost for your draft team. I used up a waiver last season on Marcus Alonso and he was by far my personal player of the season. Once Chelsea switched to the 3-5-2, Alonso was racking up clean sheets, goals and assists and finished the season as the top scoring defender. Stories of Chelsea signing Alex Sandro does have me worried as I’d very much like Alonso to continue starting, he’s done more than enough to prove himself in that left wing-back position.
Victor Moses (I’m adding him personally as a defender after last season) also benefitted hugely from the formations which last season and after what feels like an entire career spent on loan, Moses was able to play and perform for his parent club, who thought that he just needed to be used as a wing back to get the best results?
Cahill, Azpilicueta and Luiz were all top scoring defenders last year, only Kyle Walker of Tottenham broke up an all Chelsea top 4. Chelsea though have also signed Antonio Rüdiger who should slot straight into central defence but at whose cost? I’m not sure, my gut says it’ll be the Chelsea captain himself, Gary Cahill.
Kurt Zouma & Andreas Christensen are also great prospects so it may be worth keeping an eye out on if they get loans to other Premier League teams as they could be valuable pick-ups. As to when to pick up these players…Chelsea should be quite resolute in defence again and I’d expect 4th round pick ups for any/all of the Chelsea centre backs.
Midfielders
This feels like the best time to bring up the new Kante Rule that you can implement this season in Draft Fantasy Football. I have set up the league today for the new season for my friends and I and we’ve opted in to this rule, N’Golo Kante has been a beast the last couple of seasons so for Defensive Midfielders to be able to gain bonus points now does add a new twist for us. I can see Kante being picked up in about round 8 or 9.
Last season, Chelsea grabbed a lot of assists from their wing backs which left only Hazard and Pedro in the top 20-point scoring midfielders, granted Hazard was the 3rd highest scoring midfielder but it may be something else to think about when drafting. Hazard, will be a 1st round pick again, while Pedro may be picked up a little later, maybe around rounds 3 or 4.
See More: Check out the Arsenal FPL Draft Overview
Forwards
Well, it does look like Diego Costa is off and with Lukaku going to Man Utd, all I’ve got to mention here is Batshuayi. In our league, we like him but he’s just not going to get the chance to be the first team striker besides, there’s even rumours that he will be sold this summer as well.
Names such as Aubameyang, Morata & Belotti are linked but for the reigning champions to not know it’s strike force for the next season is a bit of a concern. I doubt Chelsea won’t make a big signing to be their star forward but for right now, it’s a wait and see but when it does happen, again, it’ll be a 1st round draft pick…surely?
Wildcard
I’ve honestly flipped a coin on this between Batshuayi and Kante and it’s come up for Kante. I’ve mentioned it a lot here but with the Kante Rule coming in and the chance that he may add a few more goals and assists to his name, N’Golo Kante could offer your team that bit extra. If you’re playing in a head to head league than that 1 point could be the difference between a win or a draw.
Conclusion
Courtois, Chelsea defenders, Hazard and Pedro will all be great pick-ups again this season. With the Kante Rule in effect (if you opt in to it) then you’ll also want the man it’s named after, what we’ll all have to keep an eye out on is what happens with the striker situation at Chelsea, for those drafting quite early, will you leave out Costa or just take a punt?
Hi James,
First of I really enjoy this team for team overview series. For many players you make a forecast (in lack of a better word) on when different players will be picked, i.e. Pedro round 6 or 7, for me some of these seem to be a bit off and i’m wondering how many players are in your league? In my league I believe Pedro will be picked in round 3 or maybe even late round 2, depending on my mates.
-Martin
Hi Martin,
I’m glad you like the article. I must admit, now I’ve re-read it, I’m not quite sure why I did put Pedro in so low (maybe I’m sub-consciously throwing off my competition in my league). I play in a 10 man league and yeah, Pedro will most likely be gone by the 4th round. Last season a lot of my mates threw some curveballs in their picks with keepers and defenders going in the first two rounds.
Hi James,
Must be rough playing when your opponents can read most of your thoughts, so yeah maybe you should throw them off from time to time, or are you saving the real gems for the draft? What are your thoughts on Fabregas, with Hazard out and no striker (for the moment) Chelsea could benefit from his creativity and even utilize a false 9. I also play a 10-man league btw, and we are very excited about the introduction of bonus points.