The Scout looks at players with favourable early fixtures for Fantasy Premier League managers to consider in their squads.
Joshua King (BOU) £6.5m
With the start AFC Bournemouth have, the forward has the platform to carry his end-of-season form into 2018/19.
The Cherries have an outstanding opening run of matches to boost their potential in Fantasy.
They face only one of last season's top six teams in the first 10 Gameweeks, when they travel to Chelsea in Gameweek 4.
AFC Bournemouth's first 10 matches
| GW | Opponent | Venue |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Cardiff | H |
| 2 | West Ham | A |
| 3 | Everton | H |
| 4 | Chelsea | A |
| 5 | Leicester | H |
| 6 | Burnley | A |
| 7 | Crystal Palace | H |
| 8 | Watford | A |
| 9 | Southampton | H |
| 10 | Fulham | A |
Recapturing form
That schedule can help King reach the heights of two seasons ago.
In 2016/17 he got 16 goals, three assists and 178 FPL points.
But he managed only eight goals and four assists last term after being reclassified as an FPL forward.
Fine finish
Encouragingly, though, for FPL managers, King's season of two halves ended strongly.
In the first 19 Gameweeks, he produced two goals and one assist and played a part in 23 per cent of AFC Bournemouth’s goals when selected.
But from Gameweek 20 onwards the Norwegian's form improved.
From then on King got six goals and three assists and was involved in 50 per cent of the Cherries' goals.
King's season of two halves
| 2017/18 | GW1-19 | GW20-38 |
|---|---|---|
| Goals | 2 | 6 |
| Assists | 1 | 3 |
| % of goal involvement | 23% | 50% |
By contrast, team-mate and fellow striker Callum Wilson managed only one goal from Gameweek 26 onwards.
Budget opener
King started last season at a price of £7.0m.
After returning 110 points he could drop in cost for 2018/19.
If available at £6.5m or under King can be a vital cut-price option who allows funds to be freed up for big-hitters in attack.
Also in this series
Part 1: FPL early ones to watch: Begovic
Part 2: FPL early ones to watch: Mee
Part 3: FPL early ones to watch: Coleman
Part 4: FPL early ones to watch: Van Aanholt
Part 5: FPL early ones to watch: Otamendi
Part 6: FPL early ones to watch: Sane
Part 7: FPL early ones to watch: Hazard
Part 8: FPL early ones to watch: Gudmundsson
Part 9: FPL early ones to watch: Zaha
Part 10: FPL early ones to watch: Sigurdsson
Part 11: FPL early ones to watch: Firmino
