EPL Preview - Hull City and Leicester City

To build up to the new Premiership season, we’ll be looking at each team’s chances and highlighting the key players who could help your Fantasy team. Up next are Hull and Leicester.

Hull City

Hull supporters will have been delighted with their team’s performances last season as they comfortably avoided relegation, had a trip to the FA Cup final and qualified for Europe for the very first time. Their Europa League adventures may well interfere with their league form but Steve Bruce has followed up his January spending with more shrewd signings.

Their squad doesn’t boast any elite fantasy options but there are a few players that could offer some value.

Key man

Curtis Davies (defender) – The Hull captain had an impressive season as part of the Tigers’ back three last season and will be key to their chances again. He led them to 10 clean sheets and with a handful of goals to his name, he offers some fantasy value.

New Signings

Robert Snodgrass (midfielder) – The creative Scottish midfielder arrives at Hull on the back of relegation at Norwich but could prove to be an excellent signing. He has scored 6 goals in each of the last two seasons and two seasons ago also added 9 assists. If he can get close to that level of form, there will be few midfielders in the Premier League who can match the value for money.

Tom Ince (midfielder) – Ince turned down Inter Milan to stay in the Premiership with Hull and could form a potent duo with Snodgrass and supply plenty of chances for Shane Long and Nikica Jelavic. Ince, the son of former England captain Paul, still lacks Premier League experience but could have a breakout season and bring goals and assists from midfield.

Other signings – Harry Maguire (Sheffield United), Andrew Robertson (Dundee United).

Busts

Nikica Jelavic (forward) – The Croatian striker had a prolific start to his Premier League career with Everton but has struggled for goals for the past two seasons. With the arrivals of more attacking midfielders in Snodgrass and Ince, it would not be surprising to see Shane Long deployed as a lone striker especially away from home.

Departures

Matty Fryatt (Nottingham Forest) and Robert Koren (Melbourne City).

Leicester

Leicester City romped to the Championship title last season but will find the going much tougher in the Premier League. Last season they played an attacking brand of football and it will be interesting to see if they can translate this onto the bigger stage. Only one of their squad, new signing Marc Albrighton, played in the Premier League last season.

In fantasy terms, they should be watched in the early weeks of the season to see how they fare. If they look to be a side capable of finishing mid-table then there are players amongst the squad that could prove cheap additions to your roster.

Key men

David Nugent (forward) – The once capped England striker has another chance to prove himself in the top division. Only 9 of his 122 career league goals have been in the Premier League for Burnley and Portsmouth but Nigel Pearson will be looking to his main striker to score the goals to keep them up. Like many of his teammates, keep a watchful eye of his first few appearances before adding him to your fantasy squad.

New signings

Leonardo Ulloa (forward) – The Argentine forward signs from Championship side Brighton and brings a good record of goalscoring but again no Premier League experience. As Leicester’s record signing, Ulloa will be given his chance but may start the season behind last season’s successful strikeforce of Nugent and Jamie Vardy.

Other signings – Marc Albrighton (Aston Villa), Matthew Upson (Brighton & Hove Albion) and Jack Barmby (Manchester United).

Sleepers

Kasper Schmeichel (goalkeeper) – The Danish goalkeeper comes with the finest pedigree, his father Peter was arguably the best goalkeeper ever but he has yet to step out from the shadows of his famous name. Schemeichel boasts fine shot-stopping ability and if the defense in front of him proves to be solid then he could be a decent back-up fantasy option.

Departures

Lloyd Dyer (Watford), Zak Whitbread (Derby County), Neil Danns (Bolton Wanderers), Sean St Ledger (released).