Another high-scoring gameweek has come to an end, with those who captained Sergio Aguero the winners heading into week 3. Plenty of fantasy managers banked their free transfer after a solid first weekend, but a few problems have now presented themselves for many. As the transfers rack up, here are some low-owned picks with potential.
ALEKSANDAR MITROVIC – £6.5m – TSB: 6.0% – Burnley (H)
After two consecutive blanks for pre-season favourite Joshua King, fantasy managers are beginning to look for similarly-priced alternatives. One such option is Fulham striker Aleksandar Mitrovic, who has impressed in the promoted side’s first 2 league games. Mitrovic was unlucky not to score against Crystal Palace on the opening weekend, with a fine performance from keeper Wayne Hennessey keeping the Cottagers out. After the game, Mitrovic admitted that he still wasn’t quite up to speed and didn’t feel as powerful as the game reached its latter stages. This was to be expected, with the Serb having only joined Fulham recently and after a large portion of his summer was spent at the World Cup in Russia. Mitrovic did get a well-earned goal in gameweek 2, equalising in an eventual defeat to Tottenham. Yet again, he had plenty of chances, hitting the post once and keeping the Spurs backline on their toes. Fulham face off against an out of form Burnley side in gameweek 3, and Mitrovic looks set to profit.
THEO WALCOTT – £6.5m – TSB: 3.1% – Bournemouth (A)
Another gameweek 1 favourite being sold rapidly is Wolves midfielder Diogo Jota. Many managers are looking to Everton midfielder Richarlison as his replacement, but seem to be ignoring Theo Walcott as a cheaper pick from the Toffees. Richarlison has been in sparkling form, with 3 goals in his first 2 Everton games, but Walcott was the big attacking threat against Southampton last weekend, with a goal, an assist and 3 bonus points to his name. Walcott had a goal disallowed and swept wide a great opportunity too – not great reading for his owners, but he’s clearly getting in the right areas to pick up returns. Bournemouth visit Goodison Park in gameweek 3, and with both defences poor, expect Walcott and co to get plenty of opportunities.
ALVARO MORATA – £9.0m – TSB: 4.0% – Newcastle (A)
Alvaro Morata came to Chelsea last season with a big reputation but had a very disappointing campaign. After a promising start, his form dipped and he missed a staggering amount of chances as the season went on. New Chelsea boss Maurizio Sarri claimed Morata needed a goal for his confidence, and against Arsenal in gameweek 2 Morata duly obliged. Since then, Morata has come out and claimed he wants to score 30+ goals in all competitions this season and that Sarri’s style is much more suited to his strengths – this supports the suggestion that Morata is very much a confidence player. Newcastle, Bournemouth, Cardiff and West Ham are the next 4 in Chelsea’s schedule, giving Morata an excellent chance to build upon his first league goal of the season and repay Sarri’s trust in him. For those wanting to wait and see on Morata, a cheaper route into the Chelsea attack is Pedro (TSB: 6.8%).
DANNY INGS – £5.5m – TSB: 3.5% – Leicester (H)
An ‘almost pick’ in last week’s differential article was Danny Ings, who has had a lively start up front for new club Southampton. Ings has had 9 shots and 5 attempted assists for the Saints in just 124 minutes of action, scoring once against Everton with a fantastic Jordan Pickford save denying him another. Ings has been notoriously injury-prone over the past few years, but his lowly price of £5.5m lessens those concerns, especially as this frees up cash for the premium defenders and midfielders many managers are trying to shoe-horn into their squads. Ings faces Leicester, Crystal Palace and Brighton in his next 3 so might be worth jumping on with Southampton looking for their first win of the season.
NACHO MONREAL – £5.5m – TSB: 0.8% – West Ham (H)
Ryan Fraser (TSB: 4.0%), James Maddison (TSB: 2.0%) and many other players had the potential to feature in this article. But what’s FPL without a punt? Arsenal have looked ropey defensively in their first 2 games in defeat to both Manchester City and Chelsea, so by no means are their defensive assets on too many radars at the moment. However, Arsenal now do not play a top 6 side until gameweek 11 and have the most favourable fixture list of any side until then. With Sead Kolasinac and Ainsley Maitland-Niles on the treatment table, Nacho Monreal might be worth a look at less than 1% ownership. The attacking left-back scored 5 goals and assisted 2 more in the league last season and should nail down a place for quite some time as the only fit left-back for the Gunners. Arsenal are still finding their feet under Unai Emery so improvements are expected in the coming weeks, and while Monreal is suspect defensively, he will get forward and be in with a shout of attacking returns.
Good luck all.
Written by FPL Forum (@FPLForum)
