Fantasy Football Fixture Analysis Gameweek 2
By the time that you read this, things — fixtures — will have happened! Certain players (most probably) brought in double-digit hauls for their owners; several favourites (most likely) got booked. The culprits may well seem obvious now, but it wasn’t even remotely clear on Saturday morning.
Indeed, whilst I’m writing to you from the past — well, that can be said of any given passage, but it’s often fresh off the print — we’ve now observed ~2.105% of the new [F]PL season, albeit not a full Gameweek yet. That leaves us with just under 98% of the season to chase: almost quite literally, then, all to play for! One step at a time, though, or perhaps three to four steps; Premier League fixtures (even in the crowds’ absences) will never cease to function as our guiding lights.
This might just be my first Fixtures article, but you know the drill already. As always, take the bold statements that follow this with a pinch of salt. Then flush them all down your now-briny toilet.
FPL FIXTURE TRACKER
But first up that all important Fixture Tracker itself…
FIXTURE TRACKER LINK
Worth Chasing
The pair of elephants lurking in the room (as per Swirly’s reference last week) both need addressing here, but first off, it’s only fair to feature the best upcoming fixtures of all…
Everton — West Brom (H), Crystal Palace (A), Brighton (H)
You never know how The Toffees will perform in a given match. Again, that can be said of any given team, granted. Given their [outfield] squad, however, this is a baffling bunch. Did any of you see that Spurs (A) result coming? Turns out they are baffling too.
Anyway, caveats aside, this revamped squad (James Rodríguez in with a jerky four-point hit?) now faces three sides that should all be primarily aiming to survive. For a team with Ancelotti’s presumably high ambitions, this lot should yield seven to nine points, ‘should’ being the major operative word. You probably don’t have space for Digne-esque punts, but Fixtures articles don’t care.
Manchester United — Crystal Palace (H), Brighton (A), Spurs (H)
Once more, here’s a team that now faces three sides that should all be primarily aiming to survive. No more digs from now on, no matter how easy the fixture schedulers have made them. I’ll try…
Manchester United are back from their summer holidays. Of course, sadly, not everybody returned on their expected flight; in contrast, The Fridge just feels thankful to be back at all, and likely never wants to leave the safety of his kitchen again. All of the rest should be charged up and raring to go. Solskjær was driving pretty smoothly in the closing stages of the prior season and I wouldn’t be remotely surprised to see him storm towards pole position after their opening set. I’ve just realised that, beyond fridges having wheels, there’s absolutely no need for this F1 analogy.
Manchester City — Wolves (A), Leicester (H), Leeds (A)
More returns from summer, even better players, slightly harder fixtures. Granted, an initial away match at Wolves doesn’t scream out for a big GW2 transfer, yet no PL fixture necessarily stops this machine from scoring half a dozen goals. Leicester folded harder than James Milner’s fresh ironing after the post-lockdown resumption and, quite frankly, Leeds United might as well be carrying the first-time participation badge.
I expect some resilience from each of their opponents here, make no mistake, but I don’t expect much. Pep failed to pull off his three-consecutive-titles trick — he’ll instil his relentless hunger amongst everybody whom he selects to start now — we just need to figure that selection out…
Worth Running Away From
Any takers? Surely not. I’d be saving those ‘calculated gambles’ for much further down the line.
West Ham — Arsenal (A), Wolves (H), Leicester (A)
Another set of overlapping fixtures here. The teams in question, however, couldn’t be much more different — except for their questionable defences. Even then…
Never mind whatever the Newcastle result was — it can only get sadder from here.
Crystal Palace — Manchester United (A), Everton (H), Chelsea (A)
Since the restart, with Norwich out of the picture, no PL team’s looked worse. Only a solitary point claimed against Spurs (which, of course, means almost nothing) in their final eight matches. Things don’t look much better for Mitchell and co. now.
I just remembered that you can use factual stats to consolidate your viewpoints…
West Brom — Everton (A), Chelsea (H), Southampton (A)
One final team with two away trips in their next three matches. Which one has the worst deal? It’s nice to remember that you don’t need to worry about your choice: stick with Pereira; ditch for an emerging option who keeps winking at you; just don’t bring in another squad member from this tragic trio.
Probably Not Worth Losing Sleep Over
Southampton and Liverpool offer plenty of FPL options — you know their names — but it’s a pretty mixed bag for both at present. Leicester are now blessed with a very enticing pair of home fixtures that straddle their dreaded Etihad visit. Spurs cou——
I’m afraid that all that we’ve got enough space for! Good luck with your GW2 plans. I’ll catch you soon.
Thanks for reading Fantasy Football Fixture Analysis Gameweek 2. This article was written by Jamesimmo.
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Had to do the moves now, looks really likely KdB and Bruno will go up in price.
Was Auba one of the sacrifices?
I’d take a -16
:big-lol:
Bully.
I can’t win you will take the -8, -12 or – 16 every week regardless of what anyone says.
Terminator,
Aston Villa, Brighton, Crystal Palace, Everton, Fulham, Leeds, Newcastle, Sheffield United, Southampton, West Ham, West Brom and Wolves have midweek games in the Carabao Cup, and Spurs playing in the Europa League. Don’t you think it is a bit premature to do them now for the sake of – or + 0.1
No, If KdB and Bruno go up in price I won’t be able to afford them.
everyone else is making changes and bringing them in if I don’t now I will get left behind
Well, that’s true and most of the time works well. Nevertheless, it’s risky and could lead to further hits.
I am reformed.
I will finish higher at the end of the season than the bullies here.
Evening all,
Would appreciate some thoughts on what I should do this week. Had a decent GW1 though made the mistake of thinking Saliba would start, now have a lot of options for transfers to choose from:
1) Son >> Fernandes and Van Dijk >> Justin/Coleman/Keane (Everton have great fixtures)
2) Son >> Fernandes and TAA >> Digne
3) Son >> KDB and TAA >> Justin/Coleman/Keane
4) Saint Maximim >> James Rodríguez and TAA >> Castagne/Coleman/Keane/Justin
Option 1 would seem to be the safest and option 4 the riskiest as it would be ignoring Fernandes and KDB, but feel like Rodríguez could our score them over the next few fixtures, he looks very sharp against Spurs and created 5 chances
Veer, you are spot on. Option one is the best one. Rodriguez is a tempting option but will only do that if I activate my WC in the next couple of days.
I had a wildcard team, but haven’t activated it. What do u think ??
What’s the disadvantage of activating it now ??
Phoenix, I like it a lot. Think I will be working in the same direction.
Thank you, do you think Coleman would be the best option for replacing Van Dijk? Or any other defender 5.0 or cheaper?
Yes, Everton have great fixtures coming up, apart from pool in the middle.
Ivanovic to West Brom hahahahaha
Hope he is coming on as an assistant. 😉
How much gas in the tank at 36 years of age :no:
I’d say gasses increase proportionally with age, certainly applies to dogs and grandparents!
Prices for KDB & Bruno may be going up but I think I’ll stay put & save the FT.
Just want to see what the current does in GW2. Maybe change the Captain Auba>Salah.
“I liked (Havertz against Brighton). It’s not a game where you come away and go ‘here are 10 vintage moments’ but I thought there were moments of real quality and calmness. It’s a big ask, there’s a lot on his shoulders for the sum. The fact that he’s young, coming to a different league. He plays the game at such a pace, in terms of his quality. I thought we saw a few glimpses of that. We also saw him sprint back 80 yards to make a defensive interception having given the ball away so everything I’ve seen about him in terms of his character was spot on. His quality is going to come through.” – Frank Lampard
He looked off the pace for me. Basically looked like a player that had not really been training. It’s a bit of a worry as I have him in my team
Yeah I thought he was off the pace too… Don’t know how much one can read into these Frank’s comments but if he’s being truthful then at least Havertz will continue to start in the future, although no doubt if he keeps on playing like that it won’t be too long when he drops to the bench…
In truth I thought the whole team was a bit off the pace. There has been no real pre season so it’s impossible to judge. I mean RLC was even worse.
Hey all do we thk James can hold a regular spot down now ?????
I think he will, had a very good performance
He’s ok for now. There’s no way that Azpil is not going to come in for him though later in the season at certain points