Should Rogers and Isak be in your Gameweek 1 FPL squad? We break down the key factors to help settle two of the biggest selection debates.
Morgan Rogers
Ownership: 28% Price: £7.5m Position: MID
Pros:
⚽ G+A potential - Registered 18 goals and assists last season.
🌏 No Europe - Chelsea have no European commitments this season, reducing rotation risk.
🔨 Hard as nails - Rarely misses a minute and has an excellent injury record. Chelsea paid a premium for him, so he should play regularly.
📆 Fixtures - Four of the first five GWs look favourable, and you can always Free Hit the tougher Chelsea and Arsenal away fixtures in GW3.
Cons:
💰 Price - Players like Wirtz, Szoboszlai, Groß, and Le Fée offer set pieces alongside their open-play threat at similar or lower prices.
📊 Inconsistent - Has a history of inconsistent attacking output.
📊 Routes to points - Primarily reliant on open-play returns.
📊 Projected points - Lower xPoints than several midfielders at or below his price.
📊 Ownership - Almost 30% ownership looks excessive and presents an opportunity to go against the field.
🚫 Role uncertainty - New club and manager, with plenty of attacking options, making his exact role unclear.
Verdict: Avoid
Alexander Isak
Ownership: 12% Price: £9.0m Position: FWD
Pros:
🏆 Starter - Nailed to start, barring injury, as Liverpool’s only recognised striker, with no European football until September.
⚽ Proven FPL assets - Excluding an injury-hit last season, when he missed pre-season, he previously scored 211 and 172 points.
⚽ Projected points - Liverpool has the second-highest projected xG this season
⚽ Penalties - Looks likely to be the first-choice penalty taker when on the pitch.
📆 Fixtures - GW2–5: NFO (H), IPS (A), FUL (H), BOU (A).
⏳ Massive differential - Offers significant upside at low ownership.
⏳ Supports early bench boost - Liverpool project strongly for BB1/2, while FH3 drafts without Haaland could make Isak a key differential.
💰 Easy to move away from - Starting with a premium forward provides flexibility to downgrade and redistribute funds if he disappoints.
Cons:
📉 Last season's form - Comes off a disappointing campaign.
💰 Expensive - Requires significant budget commitment.
🩼 Injury-prone - Has a concerning injury history.
🇳🇴 Haaland - Difficult to accommodate both Isak and Haaland without major sacrifices elsewhere.
🕐 Minutes restricted - Liverpool’s limited striker options could see his minutes managed early on, potentially limiting him to around 75 minutes.
Verdict: Buy
