Manchester United FPL: Who To Own, Captain And Avoid — 10 Aug

The obvious route in is Bruno Fernandes at £12.0m. He's projected for around 31 points over the first six gameweeks, he takes everything United win in the final third, and he plays every single week — the man simply does not blank on minutes. Nearly half of all managers already own him (~5 in 10), so he's more insurance than inspiration. But that's fine. I like insurance.

The sharper value sits one row down. Mbeumo at £8.0m projects around 27 points over the same stretch — barely behind Fernandes at two-thirds of the price — and only about 3 in 10 managers have him. If you'd rather spend the £4m saving elsewhere, that's the trade I'd make. Cunha, same £8.0m price tag, is the quieter option at roughly 1 in 10 owned, but our model ranks him behind Mbeumo for a reason, and I don't argue with the order.

At the back, United rank third-meanest defence in our projections, though the fixtures for clean sheets are merely average — that Manchester City visit in GW4 and Spurs in GW6 do the damage. Lammens at £5.0m is the tidy way in: cheap, starts, and projected for a respectable return across the six. Maguire at the same price is playable but I'd want the keeper first — goalkeepers don't get hooked on 60 minutes.

The honest caveat: the run turns. City and Spurs both arrive at Old Trafford in this window, so whoever you buy needs to earn his keep against Hull, Ipswich, Everton and Fulham before the hard yards. Front-loaded fixtures reward early movers and punish the ones who wait until GW4 to act.

The call: if you've got the budget, Fernandes is the safe, boring, correct pick — buy him and captain him for Hull away and Ipswich at home. If you're stretching a squad, Mbeumo is the smarter pound-for-pound buy and my preferred route in. Either way, get one United attacker in before GW1, not after.