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By
PaulT
Hi Everyone, and welcome to this week's preview.
Game week 1 is gone, and the successes and failures are still raw with us all. The lucky managers who triple captained Luke Shaw (yes someone did!) and benefited from Watford's Pereyra having a storming two-goal performance are still basking in the glory of their excellent start to this seasons adventure, while others are tearing their hair out after leaving Neves on their bench. Personally, having captained Kane for GW1, the less than impressive performance from the WC Golden Boot winner did my own team no favours, but as I was reminded (after submitting my team obvs) Harry doesn't score in August, so I only have myself to blame. The #FPL roller-coaster is back and we're all along for the ride again...
I said in the preview last week that we would look at the big movers on deadline day, and there was quite a flurry of activity, if you're an Everton or Fulham fan. Bernard coming in on a free and Mina and Gomes coming in from Barcelona gives Everton a much stronger team. Fulham splashed big money on Anguissa from Marseille and Joe Bryan from Bristol City. The signing of Bryan could free up Sessegnon to be a creative force on the left, and at £6.5m he could provide FPL bosses with a variable option for your team/bench.
The big point scorers from the weekend past were fullbacks, such as Shaw (11pts) but there were also strong performances from the likes of Liverpool's Robertson (11) and Mendy (15) from City. But for value for money Crystal Palace's Wan-Bissaka returned 12 points for the minimum outlay of £4m. With two goals, Sadio Mane (16) stole the thunder from Mo Salah for once, whilst the impressive showings from Neves (12), Richarlison (14) and Pereyra (16) give everyone food for thought when looking at GW2 transfers. Big money forwards had a lean week, with 8 out of the ten most expensive options not performing in the season opener. Josh King of Bournemouth was the highest scoring forward and again at £6m gave a comforting price to points ratio, compared to the other forwards in GW1.
Judging by the fixtures this weekend, some matches look to be odds-on to yield big points. After a good start at the Emirates on Sunday, Man City go into the weekend at home to Huddersfield and we would expect the champions will dominate. The big dilemma in the community this week was who gets the captains armband. For me, I would look to Aguero and with, Kevin de Bruyne out for an undisclosed period with a knee injury sustained in training, I am also leaning towards one of last weeks scorer's who performed well, Bernardo Silva to take advantage of what looks like a clear mismatch at the Etihad.
Spurs welcome newly promoted Fulham to Wembley on Saturday (their home for a little bit longer now) and after a solid away win on the opening weekend, Poch will be looking to build on this with a solid performance. Fulham didn't impress, falling to a beat Palace at home and their defence should find itself under real pressure from big hitters like Kane, Eriksen and Alli. As is often ignored, Spurs defence is solid and I don't expect Fulham will cause too many problems. Last weekends scorer Vertonghen and the improving Davinson Sanchez could bring points at both ends of the field but it's Eriksen who is likely to be the one that makes the team tick. Eriksen delivered five key passes, three crosses from open play and took five corners in GW1. Never far from the action and sure to be amongst it on Saturday.
The highest profile game of the weekend is at the Bridge. Chelsea vs. Arsenal is always a game circled on the calendar and given the varying fortunes of the two sides on opening day - we could see a classic game here. Jorginho was impressive on his debut and Kante picked up where he left off in the World Cup. Sarriball is in full effect and these two players will be vital cogs in the team this season, so if you have them in your team expect big numbers from them if Chelsea is successful. Arsenal will be disappointed to open the season with a loss but they were against the juggernaut that is City so will hope to regroup in another massive match. Aubameyang is owned by 18.2% of teams - those FPL bosses are patiently waiting for him to find his late-season form from last year. Away to Chelsea would be the perfect place to start.
Finally, a game that might not immediately jump out is Leicester vs. Wolves. Leicester have good attacking players. The likes of Vardy, Maddison, and Ghezzal could find themselves taking advantage of a Wolves backline that seemed quite open in the season opener vs. Everton. The game has all the potential to be open, with Wolves strength in attack and the set-piece potential of Ruben Neves giving a real threat. A hidden gem of a game that could find points for those benchwarmers or cheaper options in your squad.
Good luck for the GW ahead,
LET'S GO!
PaulT
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