Mitrovic on Fulham bench as Aubameyang starts for Arsenal

Aleksandar Mitrovic (£6.0m) does not start for Fulham this afternoon.

That is a blow to the 25.2% of FPL bosses that selected the Serbian striker in their initial squads.

That figure is correct as of the Gameweek 1 deadline, making the Fulham hitman the third most-selected forward in Fantasy Premier League.

Only £9.5m Chelsea forward Timo Werner (49.7%) and Southampton’s £8.5m striker Danny Ings (25.6%) are in more GW1 squads.

Mitrovic managed two 90-minute outings for his country in the recent international break but has lost out to Aboubakar Kamara (£5.0m MID) for the lone striker spot in Scott Parker’s XI.

Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (£12.0m) does begin for the visitors at Craven Cottage, in his now-customary role on the left of Arsenal’s front three.

New recruit and ex-Chelsea man Willian (£8.0m) will operate on the other side of frontman Alexandre Lacazette (£8.5m).

That means both Eddie Nketiah (£6.0m) and Bukayo Saka (£5.5m) are on the bench for Arsenal’s first fixture of the new Premier League season.

Kieran Tierney (£5.5m) will operate as part of Mikel Arteta’s back three, with new signing Gabriel (£5.0m) set to begin in the centre of that trio with Rob Holding (£4.5m) on the right.

David Luiz (£5.5m) misses out with a neck injury, while William Saliba (£4.5m) is not part of the matchday squad.

Two £5.0m defenders in Hector Bellerin and Ainsley Maitland-Niles take up the wing-back roles, while Mohamed Elneny (not yet priced) is initially favoured over Dani Ceballos (£5.0m) in central midfield.

Bernd Leno (£5.0m) is back from injury to re-take the No 1 jersey, with Emi Martinez (£4.5m) not part of the squad amid ongoing uncertainty over his future at the Emirates.

Between the sticks for Fulham, Marek Rodak (£4.5m) retains his place as new loan signing Alphonse Areola (£4.5m) makes do with a bench spot.

Joe Bryan (£5.0m) also holds off competition, in the form of Antonee Robinson (£4.5m), to begin at left-back. On the other side of Fulham’s defence, the unpriced Denis Odoi will face down Aubameyang.

New right-back Kenny Tete only joined the Cottagers on Thursday. Fellow new recruits Robinson and Mario Lemina (£4.5m), along with loan returnees in Andre-Frank Zambo Anguissa (£4.5m) and Jean-Michael Seri (£5.0m), all miss out on Parker’s matchday 18.

Parker to BT: “A lot of the players we have brought in are not ready, they’re not physically ready…These boys who they are playing today, I have full trust. I have no doubt they’ll put in a performance today” #FFC

— Peter Rutzler (@peterrutzler) September 12, 2020

Interest in Fulham assets apart from Mitrovic is limited, though midfielder Harrison Reed (£4.5m) is at least starting for those using the budget enabler in their FPL squads.

Fulham XI (4-2-3-1): Rodak; Bryan, Ream, Hector, Odoi; Cairney, Reed; Cavaleiro, Onomah, Kebano; Kamara.

Arsenal XI (3-4-3): Leno; Tierney, Gabriel, Holding; Maitland-Niles, Xhaka, Elneny, Bellerin; Aubameyang, Lacazette, Willian.