What an interesting opening weekend to the new Premier League season. West Ham brushed aside Arsenal, Swansea earned a convincing draw away to the Champions and Leicester appeared to carry their momentum over from last season to thrash the Black Cats 4-2 at the K.P.
Whether you spent three months tinkering away at the well-balance, defensively rotating Fantasy Premier League team or a couple of days studying the stats and loading up on certain players for your Daily Fantasy Football team. Your preparation can more likely be epitomised by the question: “Why didn't I choose Mahrez?”
With redemption thick in the air we now approach Gameweek 2, where we'd like to think one player valued over 9.0m might conjure up a little more than 5 points. Either way, here are our Gameweek 2 Daily Fantasy Football tips, focusing on FPL and the daily games provided by
Mondogoal &
FantasyBet.
Fixtures
Friday 14th August
Aston Villa vs. Man United
Saturday 15th August
Southampton vs. Everton
Tottenham vs. Stoke
Sunderland vs. Norwich
Swansea vs. Newcastle
Watford vs. West Brom
West Ham vs. Leicester
Sunday 16th August
Crystal Palace vs. Arsenal
Man City vs. Chelsea
Monday 17th August
Liverpool vs. Bournemouth
Clean Sheet Potential
The bookies across the country are indicating that Man United, Liverpool, Spurs, Arsenal and Southampton are the five most likely teams to keep a clean sheet during Gameweek 2. With that in mind, you could certainly do a lot worse than just selecting defenders from the teams above � should it work for your fantasy team(s) financially.
Goalkeeper Tips
De Gea, Lindegaard and Valdes all looked on from the stands last weekend as Manchester United picked up their first clean sheet and three points of the season, courtesy of a Kyle Walker opener. New-boy
Sergio Romero (FPL: 5.0M, Mondogoal: 9.7M, FantasyBet: 5.0M) had a very convincing debut despite worries over his consistency post-signing. Manchester United kick off what will be a long weekend of Premier League action as they travel to Villa Park this Friday. Although Sherwood's boys managed a 1-0 victory in their opening fixture against Bournemouth, we fail to see a similar outcome and no doubt the United defence is relishing the opportunity to face a Benteke-less Villa attack.
Southampton didn't have the start to the season they would have expected after narrowly avoiding defeat to Newcastle, thanks to a late Shane Long header. A week and one Oriol Romeu later, it seems that Ronald Koeman is looking to reassemble the defensive fortress that saw them keep 12 clean sheets last season. Standing in Fraser Forster is former Netherlands international
Maarten Stekelenburg (FPL: 5.0M, Mondogoal: 3.5M, FantasyBet: 5.0M) who provides an inexpensive route into the Saints defence. This weekend Southampton will be hosting Everton who last year recorded their worst Premier League season since 2003/04. The Toffees picked up an unconvincing opening day draw to new-boys Watford and to make things worse, they haven't scored against Southampton in their last three visits to St. Mary's.
The Baggies were handed a 3-0 drubbing against Manchester City thanks to a couple of Yaya Toure goals and an impressive performance from midfield magician David Silva. Tony Pulis will no doubt be looking to put this behind him with a defensively organized performance against the Hornets.
Boaz Myhill (FPL: 4.5M, Mondogoal: 8.8M, FantasyBet: 4.5M) known for his huge point hauls towards the end of last season looks set to remain between the sticks until Ben Foster returns from injury. The keeper looks a popular candidate for a clean sheet this weekend and will no doubt clock up some saves along the way with Troy Deeney hungry for his first Premier League goal.
Defender Tips
A disappointing result for Bournemouth last weekend as they failed to capitalise on a number of chances in their 1-0 defeat at home to Aston Villa. Things aren't looking up for Eddie Howe's men as they travel to Merseyside to take on Liverpool. After failing to score against fellow relegation candidates on home soil, Bournemouth have been tipped by the bookies as the team least likely to score this weekend.
Nathanial Clyne (FPL: 5.5M, Mondogoal: 7.4M, FantasyBet: 5.5M) is the stand out choice after an impressive campaign with Southampton last season. The right back isn't the most consistent source of attacking returns, but has averaged three assists per season in the Premier League and also cropped up with two goals last year.
Joe Gomez (FPL: 4.6M, Mondogoal: 6.6M, FantasyBet: 4.5M) had an impressive Liverpool debut last weekend with a clean sheet and an assist. We expect him to retain his place for a successive week and if he does he's a wallet-friendly way in to the Liverpool back line.
Last season it become a rule of thumb to not include a Spurs defender in your team because they were just too inconsistent. The addition of
Toby Alderweireld (FPL: 5.0M, Mondogoal: 7.4M, FantasyBet: 5.0M) seems to a have strengthened things considerably after a solid defensive display in their 1-0 defeat to Manchester United last weekend.
Kyle Walker (FPL: 5.0M, Mondogoal: 7.0M, FantasyBet: 5.0M) was the first player to find the back of the net this Premier League campaign, though unfortunately at the wrong end of the pitch. The defender will no doubt be looking to make amends for his own-goal so expect to see him bombing down the right flank a little more often than usual. Hugo Lloris played a full 90 minutes for the U21's midweek, so his return could be on the cards and further increase Spurs' clean sheet potential. Visitors Stoke have made some impressive signings this summer including the recent addition of Xherdan Shaqiri. However, it could take a while for these new attackers to gel without a pre-season under their belt.
Elsewhere, we also saw impressive debuts from a number of defenders who look full of potential for this coming season.
Matteo Darmian (FPL: 5.6M, Mondogoal: 8.9M, FantasyBet: 5.5M) was singled out as a star performer in United's 1-0 victory over Spurs. The Italian fullback seems to have settled quickly and looked faultless in defence as well as promising in attack. As mentioned previously, Manchester United have the easier task this weekend of facing Aston Villa; a side they are undefeated against in their last 20 away matches.
Cedric Soares (FPL: 5.0M, Mondogoal: 6.3M, FantasyBet: 5.0M) looked impressive during his first 45 minutes of Premier League football and managed to conjure up his first assist of the campaign. With Caulker, Bertrand and Gardos all side lined it looks likely he'll make his first full appearance this weekend at home to Everton.
Reece Oxford (FPL: 4.0M, Mondogoal: 6.6M, FantasyBet: 4.0M) made a name for himself with a solid display against some of the best attacking talents in the division. The 16-year-old is listed as a defender on fantasy football sites but actually plays as a holding midfielder making him a solid OOP (out of position) player. This week the Hammers host top of the league Leicester (albeit after just one week) and another star performance from Oxford could stunt the Foxes' momentum just like it did Arsenal's.
Attacking Potential
Another look at the bookies odds suggests that Liverpool, Man United, Tottenham, Arsenal and Swansea are the 5 teams with the highest chance of scoring. In addition, West Ham and Southampton come in at joint 7
th place with Man City bridging the gap at 6
th place. Formulating the basis of your attack around these teams seems the logical way to go. It's also worth considering doubling up on Liverpool attackers in the daily game.
Midfielder Tips
Philippe Coutinho (FPL: 8.0M, Mondogoal: 12.6M, FantasyBet: 8.0M) was one of six midfielders to reach double figures last weekend after smashing home a late winner in Liverpool's 1-0 victory over Stoke. Speculation suggests that the Brazilian will start further up the park this weekend in place of Adam Lallana to accommodate a change of system up front. Visitors Bournemouth travel to Anfield looking to overcome an unlucky defeat last weekend but this job looks beyond the Cherries. Having some attacking coverage from Liverpool this weekend looks vital and Coutinho seems the only suitable candidate for the job now that Henderson is playing deeper and no longer the nailed on penalty taker.
What looked like such a promising year for Arsenal has been somewhat halted with a shock 2-0 defeat at home to West Ham. Arsene Wenger's decision to leave Theo Walcott out the starting line up despite his performances in pre-season raised some eyebrows, and also damaged several daily fantasy football sides along the way. It's hard to vision Arsenal going goalless two weeks in a row and for that reason we're opting for
Santi Cazorla (FPL: 8.5M, Mondogoal: 15.4M, FantasyBet: 8.5M) in the midfield. Despite offering less attacking potential than the likes of Walcott, Ozil, Ramsey & Oxlade-Chamberlin, one thing Cazorla ensures is game time. In addition to playing a full 90 minutes, he's also the team's penalty taker and still finds himself involved in the majority of Arsenal's attacking play. His price on Mondogoal leaves a lot to be desired and for those of you with a tighter budget and more hedonist approach to team selection, you might want to look towards his teammate
Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain (FPL: 6.0M, Mondogoal: 8.0M, FantasyBet: 6.0M). Chamberlain is a budget choice and one that's tipped to push Ramsey out of the starting line up this weekend. The speedy English winger was busy in front of goal last weekend but failed to record a single shot on target, but it wasn't exactly the finest 90 minutes in front of goal for any of Arsenal's players.
Sunderland play hosts to the Canaries this weekend and both teams will be looking to get back on track after disappointing opening day defeats. Neither team seemed to have a problem finding the back of the net, but both seemed at sixes and sevens defensively. With each team hunting for their first win of the Premier League campaign, this fixture could well come down to which side scores the most goals.
Wesley Hoolahan (FPL: 5.0M, Mondogoal: 8.9M, FantasyBet: 8.9M) looked impressive for City last week and picked up the assist for Redmond's goal. The Irish midfielder is also the clubs penalty taker and after seeing some of the dodgy tackles from Cattermole and Kaboul last weekend, it wouldn't be a surprise to see Hoolahan line one up from the spot. For the home side, Sunderland new boy
Jeremain Lens (FPL: 6.5M, Mondogoal: 7.6M, FantasyBet: 6.5M) looked promising in their 4-2 defeat against Leicester. The Dutch international picked up an assist on his debut and is even more nailed on now due to the recent news of Adam Johnson's injury. Please note that Lens is listed as a forward to Mondogoal.
Now what would a Gameweek 2 tips article be without a good old jump on the bandwagon?
Riyad Mahrez (FPL: 5.6M, Mondogoal: 8.4M, FantasyBet: 5.5M) terrorized Sunderland at the weekend and netted a double � could have easily been more. This week he visits the Boleyn Ground and if Leicester can carry over their momentum, he looks set to keep adding to his tally. Another debutant-come-bandwagon is
Dimitri Payet (FPL: 7.5M, Mondogoal: 14.3M, FantasyBet: 7.5M) who looked an enigma for West Ham during their surprise 2-0 victory over the Gunners. Payet arrived with a lot of expectation on his shoulders having tallied up 17 assists in Ligue 1 last season. He already has one Premier League assist to his name - which no doubt will be the start of many this season.
Forward Tips
Continuing on with the Liverpool theme to this article (the odds are just too good to turn our eyes away from them) comes a tip that's no doubt prevalent across the FPL and DFF world.
Christian Benteke (FPL: 8.5M, Mondogoal: 7.5M, FantasyBet: 8.5M) makes his Anfield debut and we doubt he'd of chose a better fixture for it. If his replacement striker can score against the Cherries for his old club, then surely he will have no trouble for his new club? Rumour also has it that
Roberto Firmino (FPL: 8.5M, Mondogoal: 8.3M, FantasyBet: 8.5M) will make his Premier League debut alongside Benteke, with Coutinho moving forward to centre attacking midfield as support, like we previous mentioned. We wouldn't recommend Firmino as a logical choice for your FPL team, but within Daily Fantasy Football � if he starts � he could be a huge differential.
A moment of magic from
Harry Kane (FPL: 9.5M, Mondogoal: 10.6M, FantasyBet: 9.5M) was all that was missing from Spurs' performance last week and he'll no doubt be eager to kick-start his goal scoring this weekend. The England striker emerged on the scene last season with 21 league goals and many have him poised to do the same again this year. Visitors Stoke looked lacklustre in their opening day fixture against Liverpool, and with several Stoke defenders out injured, this weekend the weather forecast indicates a 75% chance of a Hurrikane in North London.
After an impressive draw against Chelsea, the Swans will be looking to carry their momentum through to their first home fixture of the season against Newcastle. Despite straying offside more often than Kaboul made errors last weekend � ok, maybe not quite that much �
Bafetimbi Gomis (FPL: 7.0M, Mondogoal: 10.2M, FantasyBet: 7.0M) eventually managed to get his name on the score-sheet. After adequately filling the boots of Wilfried Bony when he moved to Man City's bench, the French striker looks set to build on his seven goals from last season. Also, deserving of a mention is
Graziano Pelle (FPL: 8.0M, Mondogoal: 6.5M, FantasyBet: 8.0M) who delivered the goods last weekend with a goal. This weekend the Saints play hosts to Everton, who as we mentioned earlier, are experiencing problems both on and off the pitch.
