Burnley players captained Erling Haaland in FPL Gameweek 1... but James Trafford was brave

Burnley goalkeeper James Trafford backed himself to score FPL points in their Premier League opener against Manchester City, while three of his teammates captained Erling Haaland.

Vincent Kompany's side fell to a 3-0 defeat on their much-anticipated return to England's top flight, as goals from Haaland [2] and Rodri sealed all three points for the reigning champions.

The Norwegian forward, who was captained by a record 73 per cent of Fantasy Premier League managers ahead of Gameweek 1, recorded a very respectable 13 points on Friday.

More than 5.7 million managers gave Haaland the armband, with 195,788 using him as their triple captain as he extended his points total against promoted teams to 60.

In fact, three of those people who captained City's record-breaking striker was Burnley trio Josh Brownhill, Jack Cork and Arijanet Muric.

Brownhill also decided to splash £5.5m on defender John Stones, who missed out through injury, while teammate Cork gave Kevin De Bruyne a place in his starting XI.

Burnley goalkeeper James Trafford, however, was one of the few who decided to leave out Haaland.

In fact, much to his credit, the Cumbrian shot-stopper made himself vice captain before going with a back four of Trent Alexander-Arnold, Reece James, Lewis Dunk and Pervis Estupinan.

Here is Trafford's team from Gameweek 1 in full thanks to FPL Focal.

O'Shea stuck Haaland last on his bench, Trafford refused to own him entirely. 👏 pic.twitter.com/9FnlfplIyx

— FPL Focal (@FPLFocal) August 13, 2023

A list of verified teams made by Premier League players was released on fplbot last week, and there are some great names involved.

Arsenal goalkeeper Aaron Ramsdale has decided to name his team 'Saka Potatoes', while Rob Holding and John McGinn gave their squad the names 'No Holding Back' and 'Meatballers' respectively.

Bournemouth midfielder David Brooks, meanwhile, has paid tribute to a former Ajax, Real Madrid and Inter Milan midfielder with the name 'Tinchy Sneijder'.

In terms of overall scores, Newcastle full-back Kieran Trippier is flying high with a total of 73 points, as is Bournemouth forward Antoine Semenyo, who has also notched 73 in Gameweek 1.

Brownhill, Cork and Muric CAPTAINED Haaland against them 😂

source: https://t.co/9D2TF8Ff9J pic.twitter.com/QsdH45Wh6f

— FPL Focal (@FPLFocal) August 13, 2023

But for the first time in 20 years, Spurs manager Ange Postecoglou will not join his mates' Fantasy Premier League group – and he's genuinely "gutted' about it.

Speaking at his pre-match press conference ahead of Sunday's game against Brentford, the former Brisbane Roar boss opened up on the FPL news.

"I've got a few friends coming to the match. It's fair to say I've been inundated for tickets but it's great because they've been along for the journey," he said.

"We all had those dreams and we're all living it together because for me they're just part of it as well because I wouldn't be sitting here today without them.

"They're all going to be here and for the first time in I reckon 20 years I've had to pull out of our fantasy Premier League group as well which I'm gutted about and if they try to grill me for information they're getting nothing out of me.

"I don't need to play now because I am a Premier League manager. There you go, it's not a fantasy anymore!"

And to think; if he did join the Fantasy Premier League ranks this season, then he could have created the best FPL name in recent memory –– 'Haven't got a Postecoglou'.