Last season in the English Premier League was a good one for me. My adopted favorite team, Liverpool, finished fourth and went to the Champions League final, and I finished third in The Current Fantasy League! Mo Salah was the reason for those successes. He had a "career year," winning all the Footballer of the Year awards and being my captain in Fantasy for most of it — and my highest point-scoring player. With Egypt, Salah had a disappointing World Cup, but nothing else about the finals in Russia was disappointing. As a fan, I have to say it was the best World Cup ever!

So it seems slightly bizarre that only weeks after being totally satiated by a month of great football action, here we are again poised on the brink of another EPL season, which starts on Friday with Manchester United vs Leicester. I predicted last year that the title would go to Manchester — and City ran away with it, breaking all records and being statistically the best Premier League side ever. Don't think they'll be able to match that feat, but they may still stay too strong for everyone else, except perhaps Liverpool? That's the fan in me, wishful thinking a little, but it feels like now or never!

Meanwhile, The Current Fantasy League swelled to over 70 participants last season; this year, let's see if we can surpass the 100 mark. Joining the league couldn't be easier. Simply use this link and you'll be added automatically after you've entered the game. The league code is: 1923586-441954.

There's no right or wrong way to do the picking of the team; there's no draft, so you have free range within the $100 million budget. My two fave players, who shared the captaincy last year, Mo Salah and Harry Kane, are the highest priced players this year, and so I've decided to steer clear of them this season. I hope they each have another good season, but I am doubtful that either will repeat last year's performance, and it would be fun to pick a cheaper player that goes on to have an outstanding year. Marko Arnautović with West Ham, who I picked as my dark horse team for last season, maybe this? Or Richarlison for example, who I had picked occasionally while with Watford last year, might have his big break now he's moved to Everton.

The backbone of my team will still come from Liverpool; I like the transfers they have made this season, especially goalkeeper Alisson and winger Xherdan Shaqiri to help cover for Mo, so he might not play every game. Beware of rotations by team managers when picking your team! Most of my defenders are reliable choices from last season, and in this column last year, I said that it was strange that the best player from the previous year, N'Golo Kanté of Chelsea, didn't score very high in Fantasy. Well, he ended up as the highest-scoring player you can get for the price, so he might be a regular for me this season … and he had a great World Cup, playing for the triumphant French!

There are always a few weird picks at the end of the process for me. I like to get a few players from the newly promoted teams, who often have a bright start to the season. Maybe the omens are especially good for the Welsh team Cardiff after their most famous son, Geraint Thomas, just won the Tour De France!

Enjoy the game!

External Links

Premier League - official site

The Current's Fantasy Premier League (league code is 1923586-441954)

BBC Sport - full Premier League coverage

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