An eventful week of pre-season action has sent fantasy managers back to the drawing board.

Injuries for Arsenal’s Gabriel Jesus (£8.0m) and Christopher Nkunku (£7.5m) of Chelsea will have dealt serious damage to a lot of FPL forward lines.

There’s a timescale for Jesus’ injury — he will miss the start of the season — but it is less clear how long Nkunku will be out.

As the game’s most popular picks up front so far for 2023-24 behind must-have Erling Haaland, how should fantasy managers now move forward?

Formation

Picking forwards in FPL has seemed challenging throughout pre-season, and now it has become even tougher.

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The pool of viable players for those positions seems to be diminishing by the second, while the midfielder options go from strength to strength. This has left managers considering a change in their formation, with any hints of 3-4-3 being viable quickly disappearing.

Going for a 4-5-1 with Haaland as the only striker remains a less-than-enticing idea, though. This is due to the exposure of selecting two £4.5million non-playing forward options for your bench. Even when picking a good fifth defender to have as your first substitute, a lack of options among your replacements can quickly unravel.

Should Haaland unexpectedly miss out on a Manchester City and play zero minutes, you’d likely be left fielding 10 men for that week.

Therefore, the 3-5-2 formation continues to rise in popularity as a way to maximise midfield options and retain some squad depth. It does still leaves the dilemma of which second forward to field each week, though.

Reanalysing Arsenal

Jesus is going to miss the first few weeks of the season, having undergone a procedure to ease some knee discomfort.

At present, we don’t know how many games he will be out for, but I’d guess we won’t see him start in the Premier League until after the September international break — around Gameweek 5.

The news of his absence has a significant impact on Arsenal’s other FPL picks, as having their players in teams is desirable because of the club’s attractive opening run of fixtures.

Bukayo Saka (£8.5m) was their best-performing FPL asset during the phase of last season when Jesus was out with a knee injury suffered playing for Brazil in the World Cup. He topped the chart for goal involvements in that time with nine and also had five big chances on goal.

For those managers in a quandary on which Arsenal asset to go for with Jesus absent, Saka now becomes the standout pick.

Arsenal statistics from GW17-GW26 when Jesus was injured #FPL

Goal Involvements
🥇 Saka 9
🥈 Odegaard 8
🥉 Martinelli 7

Big Chances
🥇 Nketiah 12
🥈= Saka 5
🥈= Martinelli 5

Points
🥇 Saka 73
🥈 Odegaard 67
🥉 Martinelli 65

— Holly Shand (@HollyShand) August 2, 2023

Martin Odegaard (£8.5m) is the next best option to go for among Mikel Arteta’s men, having netted 67 fantasy points from eight goal involvements during that same 10-gameweek spell last season. It’s now highly viable to double up on the two Arsenal midfielders for their Gameweek 1 home match against Nottingham Forest.

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Odegaard’s fellow midfielders Gabriel Martinelli (£8.0m) and Leandro Trossard (£7.0m) were not previously in my thoughts for Gameweek 1, because of a suspicion they may end up sharing game time. However, with Jesus now out of the picture, there’s a chance that one of them could start the season as the false nine, meaning increased minutes for each.

Eddie Nketiah (£5.5m) is likely to be given an opportunity to start up front with Jesus on the sidelines, having chalked up four goals and two assists when used as the main striker in 2022-23. One poor performance could see him dropped, though, so I’d avoid picking him up in FPL.

Nketiah scored in Arsenal’s final pre-season friendly against Monaco yesterday (Wednesday) and all eyes will now be on the team sheet for the Community Shield on Sunday against Manchester City.

We also need to remember Kai Havertz (£7.5m) is another player capable of leading the line for Arsenal, although he has played more of a deeper midfield role so far since his recent move from Chelsea.

Best forwards

The conundrum of which forward to go with seems even more challenging now, especially with the depleted pool.

Harry Kane (£12.5m) isn’t an option while his Spurs future remains undetermined, and it’s a similar situation for Aleksandar Mitrovic (£7.5m) at Fulham.

With Ivan Toney suspended until January over gambling, Ollie Watkins and Callum Wilson (both £8.0m) are now the most expensive forward considerations after Haaland. Both are highly viable options, given they are the main men at their respective clubs and would take any penalties. Watkins also rarely gets substituted, which is beneficial given the new Premier League rules around playing more added time.

The downside in both cases is the fixture list, especially as both Aston Villa and Newcastle will have European involvement to contend with this campaign.

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Villa are going to have midweek fixtures following Gameweek 2 and Gameweek 3 as they look to qualify for the Europa Conference League’s group phase. Add in three away Premier League fixtures in their first four, and it does give me some concern over selecting Watkins.

Wilson finished last season strongly with 13 goal involvements in the final 10 gameweeks — the most of any player. However, Newcastle have the toughest start in the 2023-24 Premier League, facing four other Europe-qualified sides — Villa, City, Liverpool and Brighton — in the first four matches. He could be fixture-proof, though, having scored in the league against three of those four last season.

Eddie Howe does have a habit of substituting Wilson early for Alexander Isak (£7.5m), though; the latter is not a prominent option in his own right here since when they are used up front together he’d be the wide player and would not be on penalties.

🔥 Here's a #FPL XI of the most in-form players this pre-season!

— Holly Shand (@HollyShand) August 2, 2023

There seems to be plenty of rotation in Liverpool’s front three spots too, which dents the appeal of Darwin Nunez and Cody Gakpo (both £7.5m), although both have been in form during pre-season.

Differential forwards

When it comes to differential picks, Brentford’s Yoane Wissa (£6.0m) is the one to make my latest draft. He’s been deputising for the banned Toney, and managed three attacking returns in the final three gameweeks of last season when his colleague’s suspension began. Although Wissa isn’t on penalties, Brentford do have an attractive fixture list to start the season.

Nkunku’s team-mate and fellow Chelsea newcomer Nicolas Jackson (£7.0m) has also impressed in pre-season, with two goals and three assists. He is unproven in the Premier League but should benefit from some favourable opening fixtures.

At Brighton, Evan Ferguson (£6.0m) and Joao Pedro (£5.5m) are fighting for inclusion, with the latter potentially on penalties if he plays. These two are both rotation risks, but with a lack of options and good opening fixtures, picking one might be worth the punt now.

For those managers searching for a third forward to put on the bench, West Ham’s Divin Mubama (£4.5m) headlines the budget-price candidates. He has scored three goals in pre-season, and David Moyes has plans for the 18-year-old this season.

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Mubama might be more widely used in the Europa League but could see some Premier League minutes as a substitute.

(Top photos: Getty Images)