Hi all, and welcome to the second edition of our new regular article.
To recap, a day or so before each deadline we want to post all the potentially relevant FPL news from that week. We’ll also give a quick bit of analysis for each item, and say whether or not we think it really matters.
Without further ado, here’s your FPL Gameweek 2 news.
Injuries
We’ve got two big ones this week, unfortunately, plus another that’s potentially impactful.
- Reece James
Well, that was nice while it lasted. Sadly, playing really well then getting injured has been the story of James’ career so far.
He’s done his hamstring, and will be out at least weeks, and potentially months. Clearly you need to sell him. Moving him to Chilwell – my Full 90 FPL co-conspirator James’ new obsession – is the obvious swap, assuming you’ve got the extra 0.1 (Chilly already rose this week).
- De Bruyne
This one’s really gutting from a real-world perspective. First he gets injured in the Champions League final – again – now he gets hurt in the first half hour of the season.
Kev will be out ages, and has already dropped. Fortunately, you can move him straight to any midfielder in the game, except Salah. Your top candidates would be Saka/Odegaard/Martinelli, Rashford, and Maddison in some order.
The trickier question is what happens at City now. I’m just throwing my hands up and admitting I don’t know.
Alvarez is the hot name right now, and he did just play a full 90 and got an assist. But this is Pep, who is the most annoying manager in FPL history by miles. Should Alvarez be a good pick, logically? Sure. But he could have one or two more good games then be randomly benched for no apparent reason, then you’re stuck with his 1pts off the bench.
If you really want to play Pep Roulette, then get Alvarez, assuming you’re happy with a forward. Any midfielders are a risk – we’ve got no idea whether Foden or Grealish will be starting two or three weeks from now. If I had any of them already, I would hold them this week and re-assess.
- Stones & Ruben Dias
Yeah, the guys we thought the most nailed on to start at the back for City are already injured! Probably good news for anyone who owns other City defenders.
- Timber
Well, that didn’t last long.
Timber has done his ACL, so will be out for most if not all of the season.
The only name I would consider in the Arsenal defence right now is Saliba. White is also nailed, but is too expensive at a ridiculous 5.5.
The decision to bench Gabriel in the first game – after he’d basically started every game for two straight seasons – was a real shock. I wouldn’t read too much into him not coming on for Timber – they play completely different roles – but Gabriel not starting would terrify me as an owner.
Technically you can start him in your team, since he’s unlikely to get subbed-on. But if he doesn’t start again this week, I’d 100% bin him. At 5.0, he’s far too expensive to hold.
Transfers
This might as well be called Chelsea’s Latest Moves until further notice. A couple of intriguing transfers did happen which didn’t involve Todd Boehly this week, though.
- Caicedo and Lavia to Chelsea
Fun real-life transfer stories, but not relevant in FPL. Neither are goal or assist threats. The only real impact could be them shoring up the Chelsea defence, but we only care about Chilly anyway right now, and we’re interested in him for his attacking returns, not clean sheets.
- New Chelsea Keeper Incoming
Kepa has gone on loan to Real Madrid, so Chelsea are in the market for another keeper. This being Chelsea, there’s every chance they splurge on someone really young and good, meaning Sanchez’s long-term future isn’t secure.
- Raya Confirmed
We all knew about this already, but it’s official. As I said last week, it basically removes Ramsdale as an option, since he could lose the starting job at any time.
- Olise Stays
Nice story from a real-life perspective, and good news in FPL too. Olise was quietly very good last year, getting 13 goal involvements. He’s only 6.0, will be starting when he’s fit again, and – if Palace play like they did under Roy took over last year – could be a nice budget option.
- Paqueta to Man City
They’re still wrangling over the massive transfer fee, but it seems like this one will happen. This is yet another reason not to get involved in the Man City midfield.
- Liverpool Finally Get A/Their Man
Having been publicly pipped to the post by Chelsea on two defensive midfield targets in a week, Liverpool went with someone who – gasp – hasn’t played in the Premier League!
Per Fabrizio Romano, the deal for Wataru Endo is basically done. I’ve never heard of him, but whether he or Amrabat – who they’re also currently after – starts, it doesn’t particularly matter.
We don’t care about them specifically in FPL. We only care if they can provide at least some protection for a Liverpool defence that looked just as bad in week 1 as it did last season, and give us more confidence – in particular – in holding the super-expensive Trent for longer.
The Champions of Europe… Again
City played in the European Super Cup on Wednesday evening. We are no more concerned about rotation for them than we normally are.
They weren’t very good but they are still the best team in the league.
We are both captaining Haaland and don’t really want to own any of the rest due to Pep roulette.
First Blank Gameweek of the Year!
Wait, what? This is supposed to be the first season in ages without disruption!
Well, don’t worry. It is only Luton and Burnley who don’t play this week because Luton’s stadium (stadium feels generous…) is not ready.
Any Other Business
I said there would probably be more yellow cards this season last week.
Well… I wasn’t expecting that many!
Watching the games, the refs were dishing them out like sweets. I’m not complaining – I dislike players moaning and calling for their fellow pros to get booked as much as the next person.
But every one of those stupid yellow cards that these stupid players stupidly picks up – for holding up their stupid own imaginary yellow cards or stupidly kicking the ball away a few metres because they’re sulking – is costing us -1pt per stupid time!!!