FPL Updates Gameweek 2 – Fantasy Premier League Tips

How great is it to have FPL back in our lives? The ups, the downs (mainly the downs), the should’ve and could’ve been. The amount of dilemmas managers were pondering over during the last few hours before the deadline and for the site to crash during the final minutes! Gameweek 1 is always a rollercoaster.

It was a week for the defenders, specifically the left backs with 7 of them scoring double digits. The forwards were a massive let down with not a single one of them registering a double digit score, unlike every other position. At a glance we can see investing in the defenders and midfielders is better value than the forwards but will that still be the case in the coming weeks?

Looking at our score, it was a disappointing week as we scored 56. However, it was 2 points above the average so there are some positives to take away but if I’m being honest we didn’t have much luck. Apart from two players in our XI no one managed to score higher than 5 and with a couple of 50/50 decisions going against us we have to take our points and back our initial choices.

Patricio’s Premier League debut helped his side to a point as he picked up 3 saves but it wasn’t enough to keep out Richarlison who scored twice against him. Wolves only conceded the joint 2nd least amount of shots with 6, telling us their home defence isn’t that bad. On the bench Fabianski’s side conceded three times the amount of shots when they travelled to Anfield. At least we’ll see plenty of saves from the Pole!

Ben Davies’s 2 pointer was rather disappointing as he was the only defender in the Spurs backline not to either score or assist. He whipped in a few dangerous crosses, one of which deserved to be an assist so I’m not too worried just yet about his spot in the team. Trent Alexander-Arnold picked up our first points with a clean sheet at home to The Hammers. It was tough deciding between Robertson and Alexander-Arnold but the £1.0m difference edged me towards the English right back and it cost us 6 points with the former picking up an assist and a couple of bonus points. It is slightly frustrating but hopefully Trent can pay us back soon. Last but not least, my favourite performance of the week goes to Benjamin Mendy, who scored us a whopping 15 pointer. The left back (is he even a left back?) bombed up the wing and ended up playing central at some points scooped up a mega haul including maximum bonus points, 2 assists and not to forget a clean sheet too. Legend!

In the middle of the park there were mixed results. Man City’s new signing Mahrez scored a measly 1 point. The Algerian was hooked off in the 59th minute, a FPL managers nightmare! A minute longer would’ve seen him score 2 more points. There were promising signs throughout the game as he took a number of set-pieces, one of which he nearly scored from. Although it is worrying to see Pep take him taken off so early. Diogo Jota drew the foul for Neves’ free kick saw him score 5 points for the side. The Wolves midfielder wasn’t as involved as I would’ve hoped but it was his first game in the league so I’m hoping it was just a once off. There’s plenty of options in this price bracket if he can’t find form. One of my punts, Lucas Moura, didn’t pay off this week as he picked up a knock in the 67th minute. Son has now headed off to the Asian games to try avoid military service and Lamela is only just returning to training we should be able to get a few more starts out of the Brazilian. Captain Salah scored his first goal of the new season starting his defence of the golden boot. Some say it was a tap in but it was a poachers goal and he was in the right place at the right time to tap it home. Surprise, surprise no bonus points! In my opinion my most unlucky and also annoying picks has to be Sigurdsson. After Jagielka picked up a straight red card, Marco Silva chose to sacrifice him in order to sure up their defence and bring on Holgate in the 43rd minute of the first half. Meanwhile, his teammate Richarlison went on to score a brace. Painful!

Upfront Zaha scored our team’s second goal of the week. A yellow card meant he was the team’s third player to score 5 points. He missed a massive chance earlier on in the game and should’ve had a brace at minimum. Aguero rounds out the team with a disappointing blank away at the Emirates. He missed a clear one on one chance where he could’ve squared it to the ginger prince for a guaranteed assist. I’m not overly annoyed as I didn’t buy the Argentine for this game, it was more a long term buy and anything from this was a bonus.

Like most bosses this week, points were left on the bench. Cedric was denied a 6 pointer as he was hauled off in the 55th minute of the game. Fulham’s Kamara only managed a short cameo but the real pain came from Wan-Bissaka. I never planned to start him like most owners but seeing the points on your bench is always hard. A clean sheet, assist and maximum bonus meant a dozen points were lost!

Moving onto next week’s side I’ve decided to bank my transfer. There’s plenty of bandwagons I could’ve jumped on but I’ve decided to stick with my initial choices and get some more information next week before committing to any other players. I’m lucky to have no injuries to force my hand so I’ve decided to roll it over for a potential big move next week.

Fabianski gets the nod over Patricio due to him having the home fixture and the potential of some save points from an attacking Bournemouth side. There’s not too much between the two but I’m sticking with my rotation plan.

The back 3 is unchanged and these three wing backs are very unlikely to be dropped at any stage. All three of them come from top 6 sides where we see the most clean sheets each and every season. Mendy looks a bargain at this moment in time and won’t be leaving the side anytime soon. Ben Davies faces Fulham at home and I can sense a big score coming his way. With Pochettino mentioning possible rotation for his squad down the line and the Danny Rose sale falling through, Davies might only be a short term pick if he doesn’t show his worth. Alexander-Arnold’s place is also safe until there’s any sign of rotation. With Wan-Bissaka and Cedric keeping my bench warm, I don’t feel worried if rotation hits our backline as these two are both capable of scoring well at their cheap prices.

The news of KDB’s knee injury was massive news for FPL managers as it benefited certain players but also meant there would be less creativity in the side. For Mahrez’ sake it should mean he will have more set-pieces to his name which is good news for owners. With a plum fixture against Huddersfield this week, I’m hoping for big things. Jota travels to Leicester City this week and I’m hoping he can show why he deserves to stay in our side. I’m currently unsure on his future and keeping an eye out on his £1.5m cheaper teammate Neves but there’s plenty of alternatives if he doesn’t impress. Lucas Moura faces Fulham at home and if he fails to impress it’s hard to see him stay as he faces Man Utd and Liverpool in his next 3. Lamela has returned to training but I don’t see him replacing Lucas this week. Sigurdsson will hopefully have his first full gameweek and he faces a Southampton side who conceded the 4th most shots inside the box last week. Baines seems to be sharing most set-pieces which isn’t good news and if he manages to keep new arrival Digne on the bench, Glyfi’s price tag won’t be as appealing. Mo Salah has a Monday night game at Selhurst Park but his teammate Mané who’s priced £3.5m cheaper is very tempting to double up on. Liverpool’s fixtures do stiffen up in a few weeks but we know the Egyptian King is fixture proof.

The forward line is self explanatory with Aguero having a juicy fixture in Huddersfield and Zaha comes up against Liverpool. Crystal Palace are Liverpool’s bogey team and it could be a high scoring game on Monday night but I won’t be too worried if he fails to deliver as his long term fixtures are phenomenal.

The armband was a tough decision this week, which isn’t a bad thing as is shows we have plenty of candidates to score big. Salah or Aguero? The question on many managers lips this week. Play it safe with a guaranteed start in Salah along with his immense consistensity or take a slight risk in the hope of an Aguero explosion like we’ve see in the past against easier opposition. After our shaky start I’ve decided to go with Aguero. Huddersfield’s centre half Zanka has been ruled out which helped the decision but even though The Terriers frustrated City with a goalless draw last season at The Etihad, I can’t see their bus stopping City this season. Bring on gameweek 2!

Written by FPL Junior (@FPL_Junior)

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