Time to choose your tactics. Do you go gung-ho or park the bus?

Having assessed the Premier League players who shone at the Euros and given our predictions on who's most likely to shine from the newly promoted clubs, it's now time to take a look at the stand-out defenders and strikers for the upcoming fantasy football season.

Starting with centre-backs, where it's all about clean sheets.

Manchester United kept 20 of them last term, which was a league high despite their central defender Nemanja Vidic missing most of the season.

Vidic's return of four clean sheets in his six appearances last year demonstrates just how dominant a force he is.

Sir Alex Ferguson stated this week that the Serbian would be fit for the start of the season, adding extra strength to a defence that already features the likes of Phil Jones, Chris Smalling and, of course, Rio Ferdinand.

Across the other side of Manchester, City also kept a very impressive defensive record last time out.

While Joe Hart was vital to ensuring that they let in fewer goals than United over the course of the season, it was Vincent Kompany who proved to be the linchpin in the centre of defence.

The Belgian played 31 times last season and recorded 15 clean sheets, meaning City managed to obtain only two further shutouts in their other seven games without their captain.

For more affordable centre-back options, Newcastle's Fabricio Coloccini is excellent value at £3.7m, having tallied 13 clean sheets last season.

Elsewhere, Liverpool's Daniel Agger earned 27 fantasy football points in 23 appearances at the heart of an impressive Liverpool defence and possesses a reasonable goalscoring threat to boot.

With Brendan Rodgers now in the Anfield hot-seat, Liverpool defenders may well be valuable picks.

Rodgers' teams are adept at ball retention and tend to concede few goals, meaning there may be good value in their full-backs.

Glen Johnson, priced at £4.2m, is potentially a decent point-scorer both defensively and going forward.

Merseyside rivals Everton have always been defensively unforgiving under David Moyes, despite their full-backs being given license to get forward.

Leighton Baines always gets plenty of plaudits for his attacking ability and 42 fantasy football points last term suggests he is very good value at £4.5m.

On the other flank, Tony Hibbert is a safe bet at £3.8m.

He's one of the first names on the team sheet at Goodison Park, offers the odd assist and should reap the benefits of Everton's miserly defensive record.

Indeed, only the two Manchester clubs conceded fewer goals than the Toffees last season.

Whilst defenders can provide a steady stream of points in the fantasy football game, it's the strikers that can potentially make the real difference.

Emmanuel Adebayor is on the verge of making his loan move to Tottenham permanent, and the Togolese striker is a possibly explosive pick at £6.9m.

Adebayor is likely to be the focal point of Spurs' attack and will look to benefit from the service of the likes of Gareth Bale, Aaron Lennon and Rafael van der Vaart, while the appointment of Andre Villas-Boas points to an attacking intent, given his history with Porto and Chelsea.

Another likely source of goals comes in the shape of Darren Bent, who also comes in at £6.9m.

Bent scored 31 fantasy football points last year, despite missing half the campaign through injury.

With Paul Lambert now Aston Villa manager, expect more attacking verve from the Claret and Blue.

If you're looking for something of a gamble, QPR's unpredictable striker Djibril Cisse is an interesting choice at just £5.7m.

The former Liverpool man scored six goals in eight games after his January move to Loftus Road, but stained his record with two senseless red cards.

If he can keep his temper under control, he has the potential to score plenty of goals.

Mark Hughes has been on something of a summer spending spree, so expect Cisse to be itching to take advantage of the talent behind him.

A potentially interesting pick is Liverpool's new striker, Fabio Borini.

At £6.2m, he's not expensive and could be the man to finally put away the endless stream of chances Liverpool tend to create but failed to convert last season.

One player who didn't misfire last term though was Wayne Rooney.

The England striker had an outstanding season, netting 27 times and providing five assists for a total of 91 fantasy football points.

At £8m, sacrifices will have to be made elsewhere, but Rooney is United's goalscorer and talisman, so should guarantee a hefty return.