Manchester United
Old Trafford
Manchester United FPL: Who To Own, Captain And Avoid — 4 Aug
The call — Hull away, Ipswich at home, Everton away. That's how Manchester United open the season, and our model rates their attack as one of the four sharpest in the league. No romance here, just arithmetic. United's first six read HUL (A), IPS (H), EVE (A), MCI (H), FUL (A), TOT (H) — a very kind run for the forwards, with the…
Bruno Fernandes at £12.0m is where our model starts, and it's not close. He's projected for around 31 points over the six — call it 5 a week with the usual Bruno wobble between a blank and a double-digit haul when everything runs through him, which it does. Nearly 5 in 10 managers already own him, so he's less a punt than an entry fee. The honest caveat: £12.0m is a lot for a player who takes his share of yellow cards and the odd quiet away day.
The better value sits below him. Mbeumo at £8.0m projects to about 27 points over the run, owned by roughly 3 in 10 — a proper price for a player in a top-four attack. Cunha, same £8.0m, is the quieter option at just over 1 in 10 owned; our model likes him, but ranks him behind Mbeumo, and I'd respect that ordering rather than chase the fresher name. If you're picking one United midfielder under £10m, it's Mbeumo.
At the back, the appeal is cheapness rather than glory. Lammens at £5.0m is a perfectly sensible keeper — usually good for 3 a week behind a mean defence — and Maguire at £5.0m is the budget route into the same backline, though barely 1 in 10 own him and the clean-sheet fixtures are only average, not gift-wrapped. Neither will win you a gameweek. Neither will lose you one either, which is rather the point at £5.0m.
The call: Fernandes is a buy if you can fund him, and captain material for Hull away and Ipswich at home. If the budget says no, Mbeumo at £8.0m is the pick — take him over Cunha and don't overthink it. The £5.0m defensive pair are solid bench-fodder-plus, nothing more. Buy Bruno, armband him early, and let the fixtures do the work.