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We take a closer look at potential FPL breakout stars for the coming season, counting down the top five players who could explode this year.
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<h2>5. Julian Alvarez &#8211; Manchester City (£6.5m)</h2>
Manchester City forward Julian Alvarez is a man with bags of potential.
The 22-year-old scored 34 goals in 47 league games for River Plate, and is nicknamed &#8220;El Arana&#8221; (the spider) because he is &#8220;so good on the ball it seems like he has more than two legs.&#8221;
He also scored on his debut for Argentina, and with lightning pace to compliment his appetite for goals, Pep Guardiola could have a future superstar on his hands.
Generally speaking, a quality forward playing for City, priced at just £6.5m, would be a no-brainer.
This is not the case however, largely due to the wealth of attacking options Pep Guardiola has at his disposal.
The Summer signing of Erling Haaland (£11.5m) is also detrimental to his chances of game time, but this doesn&#8217;t mean Alvarez can&#8217;t have an effective season.
In fact, during the Community Shield against Liverpool, it was Alvarez who came off the bench to score City&#8217;s only goal of the game.
He replaced Riyad Mahrez (£8.0m) on the right-hand side for City, and looked far livelier than their other wide options during his cameo.
His versatility could be useful in FPL terms, as it should lead to him getting a greater number of minutes, all across the front three.
If Mahrez doesn&#8217;t look sharp, Alvarez could make the spot his own, and we might just have ourselves a bargain forward for one of the most attacking sides on the planet.
<div id="attachment_47923" style="width: 1034px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-47923" class="wp-image-47923 size-full" src="https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/Julian-Alvarez.jpg" alt="" width="1024" height="683" srcset="https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/Julian-Alvarez.jpg 1024w, https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/Julian-Alvarez-300x200.jpg 300w, https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/Julian-Alvarez-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/Julian-Alvarez-610x407.jpg 610w" sizes="(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" />Julian Alvarez celebrates scoring in the Community Shield. Picture by Getty Images</div>
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<h2>4. Brennan Johnson &#8211; Nottingham Forest (£6.0m)</h2>
It could be an exciting season for Nottingham Forest, who have a number of players on the periphery of becoming explosive FPL assets.
21-year-old Brennan Johnson is one of two budget FPL forwards at Forest, alongside new signing Taiwo Awoniyi (£6.0m).
Both will be looking to make their mark on the Premier League, but it&#8217;s Johnson who offers some additional promise.
Firstly, he looks to be first choice penalty taker, which as we all know is absolutely huge for FPL, usually adding 3-5 goals to the player&#8217;s tally each season.
Secondly, he put up some seriously impressive numbers last season, and was both the club&#8217;s top scorer and top assister.
He managed 18 goals and 10 assists, which for a player of his age is a phenomenal effort.
Whether this form will translate to the Premier League is the big question, but Johnson is no stranger to the big stage.
Despite his tender age, he has 13 caps for Wales, and a couple of international goals too.
This leads me onto the final selling point &#8211; which is Johnson&#8217;s relationship with newly signed wing-back Neco Williams (£4.0m).
The pair play together on the right-hand side for Wales, and have formed an excellent partnership, linking up for several goals.
Now that Williams has joined Forest, Johnson will be hoping to replicate this understanding in the Premier League, and the creativity of Williams should have a positive impact on his output.
Speaking of Neco Williams, keep reading for the top three&#8230;
<div id="attachment_47288" style="width: 1034px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-47288" class="wp-image-47288 size-full" src="https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/Brennan-Johnson-medium-Getty.jpg" alt="" width="1024" height="728" srcset="https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/Brennan-Johnson-medium-Getty.jpg 1024w, https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/Brennan-Johnson-medium-Getty-300x213.jpg 300w, https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/Brennan-Johnson-medium-Getty-768x546.jpg 768w, https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/Brennan-Johnson-medium-Getty-610x434.jpg 610w, https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/Brennan-Johnson-medium-Getty-400x284.jpg 400w" sizes="(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" />Brennan Johnson. Picture by Getty Images</div>
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<h2>3. Neco Williams &#8211; Nottingham Forest (£4.0m)</h2>
Surely a £4.0m defender is only good for sitting on your bench, right?
This one is different.
What sets Neco Williams apart from other FPL wing-backs, is that he&#8217;s so much more than just a defender who occasionally gets forward and sticks a cross in.
The Welshman has played as a winger for both club and country, registering several crucial goals and assists in the process.
At Liverpool, he was viewed as the long-term understudy to Trent Alexander-Arnold (£7.5m) largely due to his proficiency going forward from right-back, rather than his defensive ability.
In fact, last season, Williams had the highest assists-per-90 of any player in the Premier League!
This freak statistic is the result of Williams picking up an assist during a substitute cameo, but trivial or not, it adds more weight to the idea that he can produce attacking returns &#8211; even with a short time on the pitch.
He is also a relatively two-footed player, capable of shooting and crossing on his left foot as well as his stronger right.
Williams has shown the ability to beat his man with clever dribbling too, allowing him to get into dangerous positions in and around the box.
Having left Merseyside in order to become a first-team regular, and given the £17m transfer fee Nottingham Forest paid for him, you would expect him to be nailed on to start.
I am confident enough in his ability to produce attacking returns that I wouldn&#8217;t be against starting him in Gameweek 1 &#8211; when <a href="https://www.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/fixture-ticker">Forest travel to Newcastle</a>.
<div id="attachment_47548" style="width: 1034px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-47548" class="wp-image-47548 size-full" src="https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/neco-williams.jpg" alt="" width="1024" height="683" srcset="https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/neco-williams.jpg 1024w, https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/neco-williams-300x200.jpg 300w, https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/neco-williams-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/neco-williams-610x407.jpg 610w" sizes="(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" />Neco Williams. Picture by Getty Images</div>
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<h2>2. Leon Bailey &#8211; Aston Villa (£5.0m)</h2>
Aston Villa&#8217;s Leon Bailey is yet to have his breakout season in the Premier League, but he certainly has the pedigree from his time in the Bundesliga.
He picked up 28 goals and 21 assists during his four year stint at Bayer Leverkusen, and at the age of 24, he is primed to build on that this season.
Villa paid £30m for the Jamaican winger last year, and he is finally beginning to show the kind of form that earned him that price tag.
Bailey has three goals and two assists in preseason, which is far more attacking returns than any other Aston Villa player has managed.
Manager Steven Gerrard has recently singled him out for praise off the back of these pre-season performances.
&#8220;He showed energy, speed, and a hunger to cause problems. He’s come back in pre-season a different player. He is sending a massive signal to me that he wants to be in our 11.”
In addition to his red-hot form, Bailey&#8217;s fixtures look great early doors.
Aston Villa face Bournemouth, Everton, and Crystal Palace in their first three, and if Bailey can notch some attacking returns in these games, it could give him the confidence to go on and have a very strong season.
Importantly for us, his FPL price of just £5.0m is ridiculously low.
For context, this is the same price as players like N&#8217;golo Kante and Oriol Romeu, who are primarily defensive midfielders, with little to no attacking threat for FPL.
The only caveat with Bailey is his game time. Injuries have plagued his Aston Villa career so far, and you wouldn&#8217;t be surprised to see him become the victim of an early substitute, especially given the range of attacking options Villa now have at their disposal.
Regardless, Bailey looks like an exciting pick, and one who could make a mockery of his FPL price tag in the opening weeks of the season.
<div id="attachment_47909" style="width: 1034px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-47909" class="wp-image-47909 size-full" src="https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/Leon-Bailey.-Picture-by-Getty-Images.jpg" alt="" width="1024" height="683" srcset="https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/Leon-Bailey.-Picture-by-Getty-Images.jpg 1024w, https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/Leon-Bailey.-Picture-by-Getty-Images-300x200.jpg 300w, https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/Leon-Bailey.-Picture-by-Getty-Images-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/Leon-Bailey.-Picture-by-Getty-Images-610x407.jpg 610w" sizes="(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" />Leon Bailey. Picture by Getty Images</div>
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<h2>1. Darwin Nunez &#8211; Liverpool (£9.0m)</h2>
Not many FPL managers were considering Darwin Nunez this time a week ago, but his performance against Manchester City in the Community Shield will have turned more than a few heads.
Nunez came off the bench in the 59th minute, won his side a penalty &#8211; which was converted by Mohamed Salah (£13.0m) &#8211; and then proceeded to score a goal of his own.
In FPL terms, he&#8217;d have a goal, assist, and likely bonus points &#8211; all in just 30 minutes, against the best team in the league.
Whilst we don&#8217;t want to read too much into one game, it&#8217;s still the most recent example we have of the form of these players, with just a few days until the start of the season.
It was an extremely impressive cameo from the Uruguayan, which displayed all the hallmarks of a goal-hungry number nine.
His pace, strength, and intelligent movement was a constant threat to Pep Guardiola&#8217;s side.
This performance is made all the more impressive by City&#8217;s immaculate defensive record last season.
The Citizens had the most clean sheets in the league (21), conceded the least goals (26) and had the lowest expected goals conceded (29.5).
If Darwin is capable of terrorising that City defence, just imagine what he could do to Fulham in Gameweek 1.
Under Marco Silva, the Cottagers are renowned for an all-out-attack style of play, with very little impetus placed on keeping clean sheets.
This fixture will no doubt have Nunez licking his lips, and I would expect him to start at Craven Cottage given the injury to Diogo Jota (£9.0m). 
Right now, the spot is Darwin&#8217;s to lose, and the big man could be set for an explosive season.
In fact, he actually scored four goals in just 45 minutes of action during Liverpool&#8217;s pre-season match against RB Leipzig, which gave us a glimpse of the haul potential he possesses.
Liverpool have not had an out-and-out number nine since the arrival of Jurgen Klopp, and if things click into place, the goalscoring numbers for Nunez could be off the charts this season.
<div id="attachment_47772" style="width: 1034px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-47772" class="wp-image-47772 size-full" src="https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/Darwin-Nunez.jpg" alt="" width="1024" height="822" srcset="https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/Darwin-Nunez.jpg 1024w, https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/Darwin-Nunez-300x241.jpg 300w, https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/Darwin-Nunez-768x617.jpg 768w, https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/Darwin-Nunez-610x490.jpg 610w" sizes="(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" />Darwin Nunez. Picture by Getty Images</div>
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<h2>Do you Agree?</h2>
What are your thoughts? Comment on this article and let us know who your top five would be.
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