Three Manchester City players other than Erling Haaland you need in your FPL team for Gameweek 1

The return of Premier League football this weekend also means Fantasy Premier League (FPL) is back from Friday night.

Millions of fans around the globe will be selecting their 15-man squads this week in anticipation of the new campaign, and having three Manchester City players is a must. The Blues scored the most goals in the last seven seasons and have conceded the fewest in three of the last four campaigns.

But Pep Guardiola’s penchant for resting and rotating makes selecting City stars in FPL a nightmare, while the start of this season is particularly uncertain given the late return to pre-season of several players. Kyle Walker, John Stones, Rodri and Phil Foden will almost definitely not be involved this weekend against Chelsea, while Bernardo Silva and Kevin De Bruyne were only fit enough for a spot on the bench in Saturday’s Community Shield.

So who to pick for gameweek one? We’ve selected three City options - other than the obvious Erling Haaland selection - for your opening round of FPL fixtures.

Manuel Akanji - £5.5m

Played the full 90 minutes last week and should be in line to feature again at Stamford Bridge. The Swiss international started the final 11 games of last term and 15 of the last 16. The defender also scored in this fixture last season and will hope to repeat the trick this weekend.

Josko Gvardiol - £6m

Ended the 2023/24 season with six goal contributions in seven league games and is City’s most offensive defender. The Croat will offer an attacking threat down the left flank and is expected to start given he returned earlier to pre-season than the majority of City’s defenders. At £6m he is an expensive outlay but should be worth it as he started the final 10 games of last season.

Oscar Bobb - £5m

Was City’s standout performer in pre-season and impressed again at the weekend in the Community Shield. With so many senior players reporting back late over the summer, Bobb is expected to start in the opening weeks of the campaign. Also, £5m is a steal for a City attacker who is likely to play regularly across August.