The first week of Fantasy Premier League is a wrap, so it’s time to deliver some FPL tips and advice ahead of gameweek 2.
We run through some cheap players who have emerged as potential targets this week, as well as the ones that should be ruled out of contention.
We also look at the virtue of patience when it comes to transfers, what to do with premium players, and captaincy.
FPL GW2 deadline: Saturday, 24 August, 11:00 BST
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Cheap players to consider (and avoid)
Noussair Mazraoui (£4.5m) has been transferred in more than any other player so far this week after he started in Manchester United’s 1-0 win over Fulham. The Morocco defender picked up two bonus points to earn eight overall. It seems clear he will be the starter at right-back going forward and his cheap price makes him attractive, but buyers beware: they travel to Brighton and host Liverpool in the next two weeks and I would expect them to concede in both games.
Speaking of Brighton, Yankuba Minteh (£5.5m) looked lively in the first half of Saturday’s 3-0 win over Everton. He completed three key passes, one of which assisted Kaoru Mitoma’s opener. The winger came off with a head injury just before halftime, but manager Fabian Hurzeler is “quite confident” he’ll be ready for GW2.
Morgan Rogers (£5m) completed the full 90 minutes of Aston Villa’s 2-1 win at West Ham, which is an encouraging sign. The 22-year-old was able to contribute in attack, taking two shots and making two key passes. One to keep a close eye on.
As for players who can be disregarded, Jarell Quansah (£4.4m) was a punt that went wrong for a number of FPL managers. He was subbed off at halftime of Liverpool’s 2-1 win at Ipswich and his place in the starting XI looks lost. Consequently, the centre-back’s price has already dropped. If you still have him, it’s probably best to just hold for the moment, unless you have no one else to come into your lineup. The only replacements now are £4m defenders and there aren’t a great deal of them worth buying.
One such defender we had hoped would be a good pick in that bracket was Valentin Barco (£4m), but the left-back didn’t play a minute at the weekend – a big blow to the 23 percent of managers who put him in their team. What’s more, he’s on the verge of completing a loan move to Sevilla. Definitely one to avoid.
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Be patient, don’t kneejerk
Without fail, the first gameweek of every new season imbues a sense of panic and worry in the majority of FPL managers. Nothing makes you want to rip up your team after one week like a poor points return, but remember: it is just one week. There are still 37 to go.
I reminded myself of this after watching Eberechi Eze (£7m) come away from Crystal Palace’s 2-1 defeat to Brentford with just two points, while Bryan Mbeumo (£7m) returned a tidy nine-pointer.
I’ve no doubt that many of those who own Eze are considering swapping him out for the Bees attacker, especially as they’re the same price. Mbeumo is a great asset after all; he’s inexpensive, puts up good numbers and will be his side’s primary forward if and when Ivan Toney is sold before the transfer window shuts, as expected.
But nothing from that game suggested selling Eze is the right move in any universe. The 26-year-old was the best player on the pitch, taking more shots (7) than any other player across the Premier League this weekend, he’s on lots of set pieces, and had a brilliant goal incorrectly ruled out. Additionally, if Odsonne Edouard held his run for just a second, he wouldn’t have been offside and Eze would have an assist.
Brentford’s upcoming fixtures are a bit of a nightmare as well. They travel to Liverpool and Man City in two of the next three gameweeks, with Southampton at home sandwiched in between, and Spurs away in GW4. I wouldn’t put it past him getting a haul against the Saints, but he’s not a priority transfer for me right now with that fixture list.
Keep the faith in Eze.
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Stick or twist? It depends
One player I regret putting in my team for GW1 is Son Heung-min (£10m). I got it in my head before the deadline that I needed the Spurs winger; their matchup with Leicester City was too good to pass up.
After having Mo Salah (£12.5m) almost all summer long, I initially swapped him out for Diogo Jota (£7.5m), before eventually buying Son. Those decisions cost me a lot of points, as both Liverpool attackers returned while the Korean winger blanked.
More than anything, it was the performance that worried me. Tottenham dominated the first half, but Son only got one shot off. He didn’t even manage that in the second half, when he was virtually anonymous.
Meanwhile, Bukayo Saka (£10m) put in a typically brilliant display for Arsenal, scoring one goal and assisting another in their 2-0 win over Wolves. It would be the simplest thing in the world to swap Son for Saka, but I’m going to exercise the patience I preached above and not do that.
Why? I bought Son for a reason, which is that he’s always been a great asset in FPL and Spurs’ opening two fixtures would see them face relegation contenders. While I’m not overly optimistic after the draw with Leicester, I equally wouldn’t be surprised if Son returned against an Everton defence missing Jarrad Branthwaite and a number of other defenders. Meanwhile, Arsenal face a tough trip to Villa Park.
In the same vein, I’m surprised to see so many managers ditch Cole Palmer (£10.5m) after one week. Were these people somehow shocked by him not getting a goal or assist against Man City of all teams? It seems likely they have converted to Jota or Saka in the main, but Chelsea’s fixture list looks pretty good for the next six gameweeks. I would not be in the least bit shocked if he gets multiple double digit returns over that period.
What I think is probably going on here is that the many millions of FPL managers started the season without Erling Haaland (£15m) now realise he faces Ipswich Town at home this weekend, easily the most attractive captaincy option in GW2. In which case I have to wonder why they didn’t have him to begin with. That segues nicely to my next point.
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Don’t move mountains just for captaincy
I realise this week’s column may come across as a plea for inactivity. But sometimes that is the best course of action this early into the campaign.
As I mentioned above, Haaland is the best man for the armband this week. That’s why I had him from day one, knowing I would want him for this specific game.
That meant I, like many others, went without Salah, who was one of the best captaincy picks in GW1 as Liverpool faced Ipswich, and so it proved with his 14-point haul.
It would appear that a significant number of managers are now carving up their team just to get Haaland in, and taking hits to do so. I just think it’s a bit silly to willingly remove points from your team after getting the jump on Haaland-only owners, particularly if this means selling the Reds winger.
I think this is especially true when you look at Liverpool’s next five fixtures, which all present Salah with the potential for big returns. Hitting him out now seems like cutting off your nose just to spite your face.
Those captaining Haaland who don’t own the Egyptian would have known that they were likely to find themselves behind the eight ball after the opening weekend, but were fully aware of the opportunity to make that ground up in GW2.
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