We’re half way through the overhaul period, so we have to tough out just two more weeks before we can completely change our side. However, there’s still a couple of opportunities to make a worthwhile transfer for captain days or to sneak in a few extra games.
Goalkeepers
There weren’t many points going round at this end of the park this week and pretty much all of the premium options blanked. Dean Henderson £6.4m top scored with an 11 pointer as he notched up 4 saves and a clean sheet. The only other clean sheet came for Pickford as Everton are yet to concede this season. The Everton defence have been a solid pick so far and will be a popular choice for captaincy this Friday. If injury keeps Lucas Digne out then Pickford could be a very highly captained. Rui Patricio picked up the first penalty save of the season. 6 keepers made Tier 1 save bonus while 4 made Tier 2, meaning half of keepers achieved bonus points.
Defenders
It was pretty bleak at the back with their being just 2 clean sheets across the 20 teams. Lucas Digne £8.6m opened his assist account for the season and picked up a Tier 1 tackle bonus. The popular Frenchman could be a popular option on Friday night if he’s fit. The Sheffield United backline proved great value this week with their 1-0 win against a poor Crystal Palace side.
O’Connell £6.7m picked up MOTM, while Stevens £7.4m earned Tier 1 tackle bonus. Their next 2 fixtures aren’t as easy but they don’t look bad defensively. AWB £8.6m conceded and was booked yet scored 7 points as he hit 2 bonus tiers including 7 tackles! With Palace up next and great fixtures to come he should be a popular pick after The Overhaul. The whole Man Utd defence picked up bonus points against Wolves and the same thing occurred when they faced Leicester. It’s clear Wolves sit back and let the opposition keep possession, so keep that in mind when thinking about captaincy. The Manchester City backline also all picked up passing bonus against Spurs and Zinchenko £8.2m still looks nailed with no sign of Mendy.
Pereira, AWB and Pieters all hit tackle bonus for the second week in a row. It was a low scoring week for the defenders as there wasn’t a single goal and just the 1 assist made. A late clanger from Adrian cost the popular Liverpool defenders a clean sheet.
| Tackles Tier twice | Pass Tier twice |
|---|---|
| Perieira £8.5m | Alderweireld £9.8m |
| Pieters £6.4m | Laporte £10.3m |
| Wan-Bissaka £8.6m | Robertson £10.2m |
Midfielders
Gameweek 2 saw the emergence of quite a few mid priced midfielders. 29 players scored 4 or more points! Bernard £7.7m was the highest scorer with a goal, MOTM and Tier 2 tackle bonus. It’s unlikely to see him carry that on but his fixtures still remain good for the foreseeable future. Another cheapie Harry Wilson £7.3m made his debut for Bournemouth and scored, picked up MOTM and SOT bonus. His fixtures make him a potential enabler. There were questions over Arsenal’s new signing Ceballos £8.3m but he answered them emphatically in GW2 with his first start. He made 2 assists, hit 63 passes, was MOTM and was a tackle off bonus. He’s got two tricky games to come before a great run after the overhaul. De Bruyne continues to justify his £11.2m price tag with a couple of assists and a MOTM in his stellar performance against Spurs. He looks a great a great captaincy for Sunday if you don’t own Kane or Sterling and a great option to bring in on Sunday for an Arsenal player. Mount £7.3m hit SOT bonus for the second week running and looks nailed on Lampard.
Norwich have a bunch of budget midfielders that can be fantastic enablers this season. Leitner £6.1m made a whopping 91 passes against Newcastle as he started for the first time this season and Pogba was the only other midfielder to hit Tier 2. Trybull £5.9m hit Tier 1 passing and Tier 2 tackles for 7 points, while £5.8m Cantwell assisted twice. All 3 are owned by under 1% of managers. Ndombele £8.9m hit a second 8 pointer on the bounce with 4 tackles against Man City and an assist. Mountiho £8.2m is the only player to achieve tackle bonus twice.
| Pass Tier 1 | Pass Tier 2 |
|---|---|
| Ceballos £8.3m | Leitner £6.1m |
| Elmohamady £6.9m | Pogba £11m |
| McTominay £6.8m | |
| Trybull £5.9m |
| Tackles Tier 1 | Tackles Tier 2 |
|---|---|
| Doucoure £8.1m | Bernard £7.7m |
| Lundstram £6m | Ndombele £8.9m |
| Mountinho £8.2m | Trybull £5.9m |
| Ndidi £8.1m | |
| Praet £7.6m | |
| Pulisic £10.1m | |
| Romeu £8.2m |
Strikers
There’s only 1 man to start with and that’s the hat-trick hero Pukki! £7.8m is incredible value and he’s already up to 30 points. Like myself I expect many avoided him until after The Overhaul due to tough fixtures and he’s shown us what he can do. He’s up to 11% ownership and unsurprisingly the most transferred in player. I think if you don’t own him you’ve missed the boat and there’s no captaincy day worth bringing him in. Mane returned with a bang notching up a massive 17 points for a goal, an assist, SOT bonus, tackle bonus and MOTM! A 0.7m difference between him and Salah will be questioned during the overhaul. Barnes £8.9m continues to be in the goals and hit Tier 2 SOT for the second week running. He has 2 tricky games followed by a great run of games making him yet another option for our Overhaul teams but is unlikely to be a captain option as Burnley play every single Saturday.
20% owned Aubameyang scored on Sunday and he would have been a popular captain on Saturday. He was booked but picked up SOT bonus. There’s a potential move for a Man City player on Sunday for owners as you can sell him after Liverpool and get 2 plum fixtures for City. Martial £9.6m looks very good value and the forward scored on Monday in the single game for 6% of players. Sterling, Aubameyang and Barnes all hit SOT bonus for 2 weeks running.
Captain Conundrums
Last week Mo Salah was the highest captained player at 18% and blanked. 7% of managers backed Kane and all he could muster was a shot from the halfway line. Meanwhile Aguero, Sterling and Aubameyang all scored once and were captained by 6%-7% each.
Friday: Friday Night Football Sees Aston Villa host Everton. The highest owned player Villa player is Grealish £7.9m but McGinn £7.4m looks an equally or even better option for a bit cheaper. The Everton defence are yet to concede and any of their backline looks a good pick. Digne owned by nearly 15% of managers looks the best pick but is an injury doubt, but if he’s in the lineup he’s a solid pick. Pickford £7m is another good option with an extra 2 points for a CS and the lower save points threshold. Sigurdsson £9.9m is a pricer option and has been very unlucky to just come away with 6 points in the last 2 gameweeks.
Saturday: The 2 games that standout to me are Man Utd vs Palace and Liverpool vs Arsenal. Palace look terrible at the moment and are a different side without AWB. Saying that the new Man Utd right back looks a brilliant option or even Maguire who should pick up passing bonus. Each are heavily owned at nearly 25% and 29% respectively. Anyone who bought a Man Utd attacker on Monday night for an extra game will be heavily considering giving them the armband, Rashford and Martial will see plenty of chances to score. If you don’t own any of those lads, the likes of Salah, Mane and Aubameyang are good options. This could be a high scoring affair and end to end football.
Sunday: It’s a toss up between Kane or Sterling and KDB for me. We’ll get to see Man City team sheets and Kane is nailed as it gets. If you only own 1 of the 2, captain them.
Written by FPL Junior (@FPL_Junior)
