FPL — Gameweek 2 in Review
United Becoming a Force
Two weeks in and it seems not only is there no stopping Manchester United going forward, but also it seems impossible to penetrate their back line. Whilst in the top 1000 teams alone 93% of them have Lukaku (11.7m), it appears most are now paying particular attention to their flourishing midfield assets — both Pogba (8.1m) and Mkhitaryan (8.1m) hauling double digits away at Swansea.
After 2 clean sheets it’s also worth paying close attention to their enigmatic defence, who have some pretty easy games for the next 6 weeks. Both Jones (5.0m) and Bailly (6.1m) feature in the top 10 transferred in defenders and look safe to retain their starting positions, but with a bevy of options its best to be weary when doubling up. My differential pick from last week, Valencia (6.5m) only returned a defensively sound 6pts, with international duties on the horizon, I would hazard a guess at rotation, so best stay clear.
City Stutter at Home
After leaving it relatively late in GW1, City struggled at home against The Toffees. With such great firepower in KdB (10m), Sane (8.4m) and David Silva (8.0m) I would guess this is only a momentary blip. This hasn’t stopped the wheels coming off the bandwagon however, as both De Bruyne and Jesus (10.4m) feature heavily in the transferred out table and have both already dropped 0.1m each this past week.
Early draft teams featured many of the City lineup, including many choosing the newly signed Walker (6.5m) — who although pricey offered explosive returns in his wing back role. However now suspended for GW3 and then back for the home game against the ever attacking Liverpool — my advice would be to stay clear.
Goalonso Proves His Worth
It was hard to get Alonso (7.0m) in many team selections, his (warranted) high value meant skimping on either Defenders (there has been only one 4.0m defender start so far — Mbemba) or Midfielders (Loftus-Cheek, Carroll etc.). Also, after a shocking Gameweek 1, people were shipping Chelsea players like rats off a sinking ship.
But, like all good stories, there was a twist in the tale, as he provided 2 goals against a usually defensively sound Spurs. It is now proving quite the conundrum for those without the Spaniard as he provides potentially explosive returns both at the back and going forward. Having had him since the start, I am happy he saved my Gameweek 2 — but for that price, he will need to continue in similar steed to continue in my team (the same cannot be said for De Bruyne 😡)
Bargain Hunting Begins
With Monday night bringing an end to Gameweek 2 it also began the start of the bargain bin. Last year saw the early rise of players like Etienne Capoue and it looks as though this year is already providing some early enablers. The fairytale start for West Brom continues with 2 wins out of 2 with newly signed Ahmed El-Sayed Hegazi (4.7m) providing fantastic returns in both starts — he has fantastic fixtures all the way up to GW10 and is cheap as chips.
One of my differential picks from last week Aaron Mooy (5.6m) looks set to continue in Huddersfields 100% start providing a goal and assist in his last 2 games. The same can be said for Watfords Richarlison de Andrade (6.0m) who has some peachy fixtures incoming and provides a cheap option to allow for those more pricey premium midfielders.
