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Greetings all, and welcome to a full, detailed, and indeed hopefully helpful review of FPL Gameweek 2.
It was certainly a high scoring week. I (Joe) know that because everyone around me seemed to be scoring 100+ pts, while I meandered along with my pedestrian 88pts.
Bruno and Haaland – i.e. 2/3 of the most highly owned players (JP being the other), and the two captaincy options – obviously made for the bulk of that.
We also got returns from a ton of other widely-owned fellas though – Raya, Calafiori, Gabriel, Mbeumo, Rogers, Palmer, JP himself, DCL, and so on and so forth.
If only all of the players that loads of us own would score every week, this game would be easy.
Anyway, enough faffing about. Let’s get on with the Gameweek 2 review!
In an incredible stroke of creative genius, I’ve decided to go through all the weekend’s games in order. Crazy, I know, but it just might work.
Here are the main FPL takeaways for every Gameweek 2 fixture.
I wouldn’t read too much into this game for Palace.
City got off to a slow start this season, between GW1 and the community shield, but they’re obviously one of the best attacks in the league, so getting battered by them doesn’t really mean anything.
It’s not exactly great to still have not scored a goal for themselves (this one being an OG) after 2 games. But Everton away, then City, aren’t the easiest opening fixtures. We’ll learn a lot more about them in the next few games – Fulham, Ipswich, Leeds, Forest – against sides far more on their level.
I will also note that their schedule gets very busy, very quickly now. They’ve got a League Cup game after next weekend, and Europa League games consistently thereafter, so they’re basically playing twice a week for ages now.
I would be… concerned about how they balance that with the Prem, since their squad isn’t great, and they could well be a great team to target once the Europa League does start up. Losing these two games doesn’t immediately make that so, however.
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As noted, City’s attack was always going to click sooner rather than later, and here it clicked in style.
I thought no-Haaland was ridiculous before the season, and him grabbing two goals here – ahead of an incredible fixture next week – hardly changed my mind. Given that he has Man U’s crap defence, Sunderland home, then Liverpool’s crap defence coming up too, I’d get him in immediately, if you went without to start the year.
Cherki is unsurprisingly one of the most transferred-in players right now, and I’ve got no problem with it. Benching him for the first game was bizarre, but that’s not happening again any time soon. If you’ve got a City spot free, he’d be my number one target on their team, and one of my top targets overall. I won’t be moving Semenyo to him myself… but I wish I’d just picked him to start with, right now.
I’d also stick by the City defence. They haven’t cleaned yet, but they have held both opponents to less than 1xG… and obviously you have to start them all against Coventry anyway.
I wouldn’t panic on Anderson either. He hit 14 DC’s this week, and has a solid 0.34 xGI/game so far, so attacking returns should come to back up those DefCon points.
(And, again, you shouldn’t be selling any City players before Coventry at home… obviously).
I can’t say Liverpool’s actual production looks any different under Iraola. They started last season all over the place, relying on pretty late goals (in that case, to get wins), and they’re doing the same thing again.
The defence still looks crap. 4 goals conceded in their first 2 games, and they gave up a whopping 2.88 xG to Forest (including a pen, obviously).
Unfortunately, they also play Ipswich next week. I doubt they’ll clean in that game either, based on how rubbish they are at the back and Ipswich scoring 2 goals in both their games so far, but you probably have to just hold onto Virgil anyway and pray.
They looked better going forward in this game than against Newcastle (not that they could’ve looked much worse).
Isak even remembered how to put the ball in the net! Admittedly it was absolutely put on a plate for him, but hey, we don’t care about how easy the chances are in FPL, as long as our forwards score. I’m holding him for Ipswich and Fulham, then will strongly reassess when their fixtures turn drastically.
Wirtz looked better too, and I’d also hold him. He had one goal disallowed, hit the bar with another shot, and got the assist for Munoz’s goal.
Speaking of – I like the look of Munoz quite a bit.
I didn’t actually think he looked that amazing when he came on against Newcastle, but he still got the ‘assist’ (won a pen), and took his goal very well here. He looks very good value at 6.5, particularly as he’s presumably nailed there with Barcola to play on the left. I’d be hesitant about bringing him in though – since again you only get 2 good fixtures – unless you’re planning a wildcard around GW5 or 6.
Finally, Szobszlai is driving me crazy as a non-owner. First he gets bailed out of a GW1 blank by a last minute pen. Then he gets shifted to RB this game after Frimpong went off (which helped his DC’s last season) and promptly hit on DefCons.
Sigh.
Obviously you’re holding him if you’ve got him. And if I’d known the Frimpong experiment was going to last less than 2 games, I’d have got him too. I just wanted to have a little moan.
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(I’ll be saying this a lot, but…) it’s too early to judge Forest yet. Glasner is a good manager, and I’d assume they’ll finish around midtable, and be a solid team.
They did well here… but they also just lost two games in a row to Leeds (including in the League Cup), not scoring a goal either time, so let’s wait and see.
MGW is obviously great, and I’m somewhat wishing I’d taken him over Semenyo for 0.5 less. He gets Spurs at home next, Villa away (meh), but then Coventry home and Palace. If you are desperate to rid yourself of an Mbeumo type, for example (not that I would be), he’d probably be my 2nd choice after Cherki.
I’d also have Neco Williams on the early wildcard watchlist. No clean sheets yet obviously, but he did have an assist here and hit on DC’s, and is only 5.0 (the same price as stupid Van Hecke, for example, who this idiot picked instead).
One for the bench boosters out there… and that’s about it.
Coventry are the worst team in the league right now, and we should target them mercilessly.
Hull haven’t been as bad as we all expected so far… but let’s not get carried away. It’s been two games, and I’d still also have them pencilled in as one of the best matchups around until we’ve seen them prove us wrong a few more times.
Bournemouth have been the unluckiest team so far this season, losing 4pts already in extra time.
It’s too early yet to decide whether losing Iraola has actually affected them or not. They’ve been fine in both games, and had plenty of shots here (15, for a 2.26 xG). I’d still roughly have them pegged as a good-not-great team, and a tricky matchup when they’re at home, until further notice.
It’s too early to actually consider Scott, but he’d be somewhere on my budget midfielder watchlist going forward. He hit a very good 386 DC’s last season, and got 5 attacking returns on a 6.74 xGI. One to keep an eye on, especially if you’re looking to wildcard around GW 7 or so, when their fixtures get better and we’ll have several more weeks of data on him.
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All hail James Tarkowski, our FPL Defensive Lord and Saviour.
You just have to love him.
He cleaned in his first game, and missed his DC’s by 1. He hit on DC’s this game, and got an injury time goal, and got 2 bonus points, good for a whopping 12pts total.
He is currently the 14th-highest owned defender, miles behind the likes of VVD who costs 0.5 more. I am baffled.
Aside from that, I’d only note the return of Garner for Everton. He only got 61mins here, as he continues to work back from injury, but still managed to rack up 10 DC’s in that time. He’ll almost certainly be in my wildcard team, whenever that happens.
I’d love to pile on Spurs, but they weren’t exactly awful here. They actually looked pretty good going forward, and got 16 shots off, with 5 on target. Newcastle got 2 shots on target… and scored with both.
I thought they’d be fine defensively before the season, after their heavy spending there. Obviously, as of now, I was wrong. I still think they’ll gel and be fine before too long, but for now they’re definitely one of the better teams in the league to target, as they were for much of last season.
More on them next week in general, once their latest avalanche of transfer dealings have been settled, and we begin to have some vague idea of who’s actually going to start for them – particularly up top.
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Newcastle are basically the anti-Spurs. They also made tons of signings, most people thought they’d struggle this season, and they’ve actually been fine.
I thought they played very well against Liverpool, and were incredibly unlucky not to win. Now they’ve come and nicked a 2-0 away to Spurs – nice!
They’ve also got a few intriguing FPL options already.
Hall is currently only 5.0 (though will definitely rise), which is cheap in today’s FPL.
He’s hit on DC’s in both games so far, has had 0.34 and 0.35 xGI, and even got 3 bonus points at the weekend. Obviously the latter isn’t going to happen often, but if he’s going to get DefCons and threaten attacking returns, at that price, he’ll be a great pick. They’ve also got good defensive fixtures basically all the way through to Arsenal in Gameweek 11. I like him a lot… and it’s very tempting to bin stupid Van Hecke for him right now.
I don’t know what the hell’s gotten into Elanga, but I like it. He was awful last season, and has been brilliant in both games so far. They’re basically just constantly pinging balls over the top for him, which – given that he’s rapid – is working out very well. Two goals already, super cheap at only 6.1, and their upcoming fixtures are good for attackers too. He’d probably be my top pick among budget mids right now.
Wissa also appears to have been resuccitated. He was excellent against Liverpool (1 xG, 1 assist, and his all-round play was very good), and took his goal brilliantly here. He’s also super cheap, at 6.1, and obviously has those same very good fixtures. I’d just about take him over DCL right now if you had neither, given those fixtures, but wouldn’t actually make that move obviously.
There’s not much I can say here that you don’t already know. Chelsea’s attack is brilliant and their defence is rubbish. 7-5 aggregate score, across their first two games – ridiculous.
All three of the big hitters – Palmer, JP, and Rogers – look great. I still wouldn’t bring them in for Arsenal away (though I’m sure many, many people will), but would gladly load up on as many of them as you can straight after that… particularly as ‘straight after that’ in this case means Hull at home.
The defence will (probably) get better, especially when Caicedo is fit again. For now it’s obviously a complete stay-away though, regardless of fixtures.
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I’d continue to back Brighton as being very good this season. Obviously they dismantled Villa, and they got 14 shots off here, 5 on target, and had a ridiculous 75% of the ball.
I still don’t particularly fancy any of their players in FPL (though congrats to the Gross owners for getting completely bailed out at the end!). But I do think they have to rank as one of the harder matchups to go against right now, especially for your defenders (and let’s not forget they were excellent defensively last season too).
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Leeds are… fine, just like they were last season. A pretty neutral matchup, frankly, who will probably finish mid/lower-mid table again.
DCL rewarded the faithful this weekend, and I’d hold him for the next few weeks. He does hit a rocky run from GW6 onwards though, so that feels like a pretty good time to move him.
Stach is following up his very good 25/26 season in style. His attacking return in the first game was no fluke (11 attacking returns last season), and he’s hit an excellent 16 DC’s in both games so far. He’d be another one very high up in my budget midfield rankings, as we ponder our early wildcards.
On that note, a word for Ampadu. He was my pick of the cheapest (5.5 tier) DefCon midfielders heading into the season, and he’s off to a solid start in that department. 13 in the first game, 10 in this… and sadly absolutely no attacking threat whatsoever.
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Brentford also look like they’ve picked up where they left off last season. After smashing Spurs last week they solid again here, and outperformed Leeds in shots, shots on target, and xG.
I was hesitant on Sangare heading into the season, as I tend to be with all new arrivals into the Prem, but especially when they’re going to be DefCon-based. Well, don’t I look silly. He’s immediately hit on DC’s in both his first 2 games, and obviously got the 2 assists last week. It’s hard to look past him as king of the 5.5ish tier mids right now… although he’s also already risen once, and is just about to again.
James’s beloved Schade is another to keep an eye on. I’d easily have Elanga ranked above him around that 6.0 tier right now, but he’s still one of the best value attacking mids in FPL. 0.52 xG last week, a goal this week, he’s nailed, and he’s racked up 15 and 13 goal involvements in the past 2 seasons.
I’d also keep the faith with Thiago. If he’d scored his pen in GW1 you wouldn’t even be thinking about dropping him. Sunderland home this week is fine, and even his supposedly scary looking upcoming run isn’t actually that bad, since Chelsea and Liverpool’s defences are both crap.
Ugh, what a boring matchup.
I wouldn’t go near any players from either team. I’m particularly glad that I didn’t go for Le Fee, who I was very tempted by. One of the better DC mids last season, he currently has a grand total of 8 across the two games.
Frankly, I think both these teams will be crap this season, and nothing they’ve done in the first two weeks has persuaded me otherwise.
Sunderland massively outperformed their underlying numbers last season, and promptly lost to Ipswich in their first game.
Fulham could be even worse. The Arbeloa appointment was bizarre, they lost their best attacking player, and their 2 goals against Chelsea in GW1 definitely says more about how rubbish Chelsea’s defence/Sanchez is, since they managed a grand total of zero shots on target in this one.
I know it’s early, but both teams would be among my top targets right now, for both attackers and defenders.
Can I just copy and paste what I wrote about Chelsea?
Man U started the season against Hull and Ipswich, and have managed to concede 4 goals across those fixtures. That might be the most impressive achievement of the season so far. Shaw and Maguire are among the top 10 defenders in ownership, and Lammens is 5th for goalkeepers (and is very much on this idiot’s team). Don’t we all feel silly?
Regarding the attackers, we were all thankfully bailed out of also looking silly for picking them here. Bruno obviously smashed it, but Mbeumo and Cunha got 11 and 9pts respectively.
The next two fixtures are definitely tougher – Everton away, then City. If you’ve banked two transfers I don’t hate the idea of binning either of the latter two.
Cunha, especially, I’d be fine to move off. He keeps getting subbed after around 80mins, hasn’t scored yet, and his underlying stats aren’t actually great considering who they’ve played.
I’d definitely lean towards holding Mbeumo, though. He’s played full 90’s in both games, and has racked up 2.7xGI already (0.5 and 1.76 xG in the two games), so we’ve been pretty unlucky not to get more out of him.
Bin all the defenders when you can. All of them!
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Like Hull, Ipswich have had a respectable start. You’d expect them to get battered away to Man U, but they still got 2 goals, and beating Sunderland in GW1 was a very nice result.
That being said, as with all promoted teams I’d still have them ranked as one of the worst teams until further notice, and one to target mercilessly.
Villa definitely looked better than they did against Brighton (not that they could’ve looked much worse).
I thought they were solid defensively. Obviously they’re still pretty shaky going forward (0 shots on target across their first 2 games), but Jackson looked fine on the ball, Garnacho should help, and Manzambi will presumably be worked in soon.
Overall they’re a good defensive matchup right now, but I’d be surprised if they shipped a load of goals again any time soon.
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Arsenal clearly weren’t as explosive as they were against City and Coventry, though I thought the attack looked fine, and generally had more movement in the final third, especially in the second half.
I knew I was jumping too soon on Tzolis, even as I kneejerked like an idiot and brought him in. He promptly got hooked at half time, before he could get sent off. Eze was hardly amazing after he came on for him, but I’d be slightly worried now about whether Tzolis gets the next start.
Calafiori continues to look fantastic. He got another assist here, and is just getting in excellent positions. As long as he keeps playing like this, he’ll keep starting, and should be in everyone’s teams at 5.6.
The defence as a whole looks just as incredible as ever, despite Saliba not being there. 3 games (including City), and 3 clean sheets… although admittedly I’d be wary of bringing anyone in before the league’s best attack right now, in Chelsea.
That being said! I am also on high alert as it pertains to Konsa. Mosquera seemed to go off with an injury. Arteta said after it was precautionary, but obviously they paid all that money for Konsa to start him in Saliba’s absence, and – however unfair it might be on Mosquera – this could just be the point at which they switch.
And, if so, we’re all getting a 4.4 defender on the league’s best defence. Have we ever had a 100% owned player before? Well, we’re about to.
Finally, I wish to God I’d known Saka would be fit to start the season. Injury concerns were the only thing holding me back, and now he’s immediately racked up 20pts in 2 games.
A Calafiori/Konsa/Saka triple-up feels pretty irresistible, as soon as this pesky Chelsea game is out of the way…
(Although, for Saka, it might actually be better to get him in sooner rather than later)
Right, that’ll just about wrap things up for your Gameweek 2 review. I… might have gone a bit long there, but that will come as no surprise whatsoever to the regular readers amongst you.
I’ll be back in a couple of days with… oh, what shall I write about? I know, how about a Gameweek 3 preview! Another crazy idea, but it just might work as well.
(I’ll be back even sooner than that, if you’re a subscriber, with our Midweek Fixture newsletter – arriving in your inbox as soon as tomorrow).
Thanks for reading, everybody, and I’ll see you (kind of) in a couple of days!
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