Fantasy Football stats leaders: Gross, Kulusevski, Haaland and Mitrovic lead the way after FPL Gameweek 1
Gameweek 1 is in the books and, admit it, you’re already thinking about playing your wild card, aren’t you?
But before you swipe that Southampton defender, Chelsea attacker or Manchester United player of any kind off your screen, maybe take a deep breath. Fantasy football is a marathon, not a sprint.
We’ll try to demonstrate just that with our weekly updates on the leaders of each player position. You can see the pattern gradually forming as the season progresses, who’s a flash in the pan and who’s staying.
Read on to find out more about the Golden Boot fight between Erling Haaland, Aleksandar Mitrovic and Pascal Gross.
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Fantasy Football: Top Goalkeeper
After the first week of play, this is a fairly simple category: did you keep a clean sheet? Come down! Chelsea’s Edouard Mendy and those of Manchester City Ederson each with seven points at the top. Mendy made three saves in the Blues’ 1-0 win at Everton, while Ederson was usually unfamiliar with the traditional aspects of goalkeeping and made one routine save, but still earned a bonus point for his all-around contribution as City beat West Ham.
There were also clean sheets for Aaron Ramsdale, Nick Pope and Markus Travers after Arsenal, Newcastle United and Bournemouth all opened with 2-0 wins.
Most FPL points 2022/23: Goalkeepers
| rank | player | team | Points |
| =1 | Edouard Mendy | Chelsea | 7 |
| =1 | Ederson | Manchester City | 7 |
| =2 | Aaron Ramsdale | arsenal | 6 |
| =2 | Nick Pope | newcastle | 6 |
| =2 | Markus Travers | Bournemouth | 6 |
MORE: Everton vs Chelsea result, highlights & analysis as Jorginho wins penalty points for Tuchel
Fantasy Football: Top Defender
Before Ramsdale, Oleksandr Zinchenko enjoyed an outstanding Arsenal debut. The diminutive Ukraine international provided an unexpected header for Gabriel Martinelli’s opener and his decent all-around contribution helped earn three bonus points.
A total of 12 made Zinchenko the joint second-tallest defender behind Fabian Schar, due to the Newcastle man arguably hitting the weekend’s goal home to break the deadlock against Nottingham Forest. Schar’s 15 points exceeded Bournemouth’s Lloyd Kellywho tied Zinchenko with an assist and a whole bunch of bonus points.
Ben Chilwell was brought down for Chelsea’s crucial penalty at Goodison Park and another full-back Emerson Royal scored two assists in Tottenham Hotspur’s 4-1 win over Southampton to give them nine points.
Most FPL points 2022/23: Defenders
| rank | player | team | Points |
| 1 | Fabian Schar | newcastle | fifteen |
| =2 | Oleksandr Zinchenko | arsenal | 12 |
| =2 | Lloyd Kelly | Bournemouth | 12 |
| =4 | Ben Chilwell | Chelsea | 9 |
| =4 | Emerson Royal | Tottenham | 9 |
These players all have less than 2% ownership and achieved double-digit returns in Gameweek 1 🔎
🔵 Gross – 15 points (0.5%)
⚫️ Flock – 15 points (1.3%)
🍒 Kelly – 12 points (0.4%)
🍒 Lerma – 10 points (0.5%)
🐺 Podence – 10 points (0.9%)#FPL pic.twitter.com/uyxbJlGy64– Fantasy Premier League (@OfficialFPL) August 7, 2022
Fantasy Football: Top Midfielder
Dejan Kulusevski was the star of that Spurs loss, setting up Ryan Sessegnon’s opener and using Emerson’s good work to complete the goal. That earned the Sweden international 13 points, two more than Jorginhothe beneficiary of Chilwell, who drew a foul from Everton’s Abdoulaye Doucoure.
In between are the two with 12 points Mohammed Salah (Yes he is quiet listed as midfielder) after performing Darwin Nunez before plunging to salvage a point for Liverpool at Fulham.
But showing the way is Rough following his victorious brace for Brighton & Hove Albion at Old Trafford. Gross now has six career goals against United – he really warned you not to get him on your side!
Most FPL points 2022/23: midfielders
| rank | player | team | Points |
| 1 | Pascal Gross | Brighton | fifteen |
| 2 | Dejan Kulusevski | arsenal | 13 |
| 3 | Mohammed Salah | Liverpool | 12 |
| 4 | Jorginho | Chelsea | 11 |
| =5 | Jefferson Lerma | Bournemouth | 10 |
| =5 | Kiernan Dewsbury Hall | leicester | 10 |
| =5 | Daniel Podence | wolves | 10 |
MORE: Manchester United vs Brighton result, highlights and analysis as gross double ruins Ten Hag’s Old Trafford arc
Fantasy Football: Top Striker
Danny Welbeck shone against his former club and set up Gross’ first goal for seven points, making him the fifth-best striker of Matchweek 1. Ivan ToneyHis goal to spark Brentford’s comeback in a 2-2 draw at Leicester City earned him eighth overall as he shared two bonus points with Welbeck.
A Golden Boot scuffle between Nunez and Haland is expected by many and the Uruguay international came off the bench to score and assist at Craven Cottage. His nine-point haul was surpassed by Haaland, who scored both goals for City at West Ham on the other side of London a day later to end the weekend on 13 – just like Liverpool’s two-goal tormentor Mitrovic.
Haaland, Nunez, Mitrovic and Toney – maybe this really is the season when the big men make big statements.
Most FPL points 2022/23: Forwards
| rank | player | team | Points |
| =1 | Erling Haland | newcastle | 13 |
| =1 | Aleksandar Mitrovic | arsenal | 13 |
| 3 | Darwin Nunez | Liverpool | 9 |
| 4 | Ivan Toney | Brentford | 8th |
| 5 | Danny Welbeck | Brighton | 7 |
MORE: West Ham vs Manchester City result, highlights and analysis as Erling Haaland kicks off Pep Guardiola’s title defense