FPL is back for the 21/22 season and in this article, I’ll be running you down the top differential picks to start the season that could boost your rank and help you get ahead of your rivals in FPL.
The Best Differential Picks in FPL for the 21/22 Season
Sadio Mané
💷 Price: £12.0M
🔄 Appearances: 31 (4)
⚽ Goals: 11
🎯 Assists: 7
Owned by just 4.3% of FPL managers, this Liverpool forward is massively overlooked because of other popular picks such as teammate Salah and Manchester united talisman Bruno Fernandes. Mané did not have his best season last year by his standards but there is absolutely no doubt about his ability to get back to goal-scoring form. Always tends to do better than Salah in away games and it could be a ceiling game for him against Norwich in the first gameweek.
Kieran Tierney
💷 Price: £5.0M
🔄 Appearances: 26 (1)
⚽ Goals: 1
🎯 Assists: 4
⛔ Clean Sheets: 8
Tierney has an ownership percentage of just 8.4% and is by far the most attacking arsenal defender at just 5M. With the addition of Ben White, Arsenal should be able to keep more clean sheets and expect Tierney to put in a peach of a cross for his teammates to finish and grab those assists.
Callum Wilson
💷 Price: £7.5M
🔄 Appearances: 23 (3)
⚽ Goals: 12
🎯 Assists: 5
Wilson is Newcastle’s talisman and designated penalty taker and that alone builds a strong case for him as an FPL asset. Expect him to be involved in all of the Newcastle attacks and he usually has a strong start to the season and is a great way to get ahead of your rivals with him being part of only 6.8% of teams.
Daniel Bachmann
💷 Price: £4.5M
🔄 Appearances: 23
⛔ Clean Sheets: 13
🧤 Saves: 35
📊 Save Percentage: 76.1%
Owned by a measly 2.8%, he was part of the Watford team that conceded the least number of goals in the championship. He had some great performances in the Euros this year with Austria and with a kind set of fixtures to start the season the shot-stopper can rack up a lot of points with clean sheets and saves. Bachmann was second for the percentage of shots saved (76.1%) in the Championship last season after Norwich’s Tim Krul (80%).
César Azpilicueta
💷 Price: £6.0M
🔄 Appearances: 24 (2)
⚽ Goals: 1
🎯 Assists: 2
⛔ Clean Sheets: 13
After Tuchel took over, Chelsea have improved massively in defence and kept the most clean-sheets in the Premier League last season (18) after champions Manchester City (19). The Chelsea captain is a sure-shot way into the rock-solid defence, occasionally gets an attacking return as he loves bombing forward and is nailed to start every game at either RCB or RWB and is only part of 3.5% of FPL teams.
Harry Maguire
💷 Price: £5.5M
🔄 Appearances: 34
⚽ Goals: 2
🎯 Assists: 1
⛔ Clean Sheets: 13
With compatriot Shaw being the most owned player in the game, Harry Maguire is not exactly a differential being a part of 12.5% of teams but it shows that not many have chosen to double up on the Manchester united defending duo. With a newly hired set-piece coach, Shaw and Bruno’s deliveries into the box combined with his aerial threat wouldn’t surprise me if he bags more than five goals this season grabbing all three bonus points.
Riyad Mahrez
💷 Price: £9.0M
🔄 Appearances: 23 (4)
⚽ Goals: 9
🎯 Assists: 6
In the Champions League, he took the penalty against Dortmund with De Bruyne and Gundogan on the pitch thereby sealing his authority as City’s designated penalty taker. He also has his own share of corners and free kicks for the Citizens. Only part of 7.1% of the teams, he should definitely start the first few games given he had a full preseason and with the injuries to Foden and De Bruyne and Sterling also possibly missing out as he returned late due to the Euros.
Mason Greenwood
💷 Price: £7.5M
🔄 Appearances: 21 (10)
⚽ Goals: 7
🎯 Assists: 2
Only part of 5.2% teams and having had a full preseason capable of playing RW and ST, he is a good punt for the first few gameweeks as Cavani has still not returned from Uruguay and Sancho is still being slowly integrated into the team while Rashford is also out with shoulder surgery. He seems to be the most explosive player in a mouth-watering united attack.
Ferran Torres
💷 Price: £7.0M
🔄 Appearances: 15 (9)
⚽ Goals: 7
🎯 Assists: 2
As City doesn’t have an out and out striker baring Jesus and Pep preferring Torres to play in a false nine role towards the fag end of last season and in the Community Shield against Leicester, he looks to be continuing ahead in that role. He could be a great Out of Position (OOP) player and a massive differential given the service he will receive from the rest of the star-studded team.
Jarrod Bowen
💷 Price: £6.5M
🔄 Appearances: 30 (8)
⚽ Goals: 8
🎯 Assists: 5
Playing close to 2500 minutes he rewarded his FPL owners with eight goals and six assists last season. He is a crucial part of the West Ham attack and with Lingard returning back to Manchester United from his short loan spell, he could provide more returns than last time to his 2% owners.
Jamie Vardy
💷 Price: £10.5M
🔄 Appearances: 31 (3)
⚽ Goals: 15
🎯 Assists: 9
When you think of Leicester he is the first name that comes to mind. A proven goal-scoring poacher, designated penalty taker and capable of scoring against any club he has been blessed with a kind set of fixtures to start with a bang and reward his 12.3% owners.
FPL Differential XI
This list of players assumes a 3-5-2 formation and leaves you with 19M In The Bank which is more than enough to cover your bench with 2 defenders, a backup keeper and a striker. Thank you for reading my first article for the website. I hope you found it helpful.
You can find Fantasy Premier League (FPL) resources for the 21/22 season here.