Fantasy Football Tips Gameweek GW2

Welcome to Fantasy Football Tips Gameweek GW2

Just like that, we’re into the 2022-23 season and Gameweek 2 has come along already. We are 2.63 per cent of the way through the campaign and so it’s definitely too early to feel any down-heartedness if you made the wrong calls on the likes of Haaland v Kane and going super cheap at the back with all faith in Leicester’s defence. Whilst the former will be easier to sort than the latter, I look at my 250k rank, reflect on the fact that it’s not far off from how I actually finished last season and prepare myself for the inevitable rollercoaster of green and, of course, red arrows over the next 37 gameweeks.

Due to a lot going on in my life outside of FPL over the course of the last season – it turns out it’s not so easy for the stork to come and deliver – I’m determined to use the game as a focus over the coming nine or so months, rather than a second thought. Unsurprisingly, a game that already has eight million players signed up – and therefore much greater competition than the old days – requires research, effort and, most crucially, keeping interest.

I’m joined in this article by the wonderful Matt who, I’m sure, won’t mind me saying that he too finished the last season with a rank he wasn’t pleased with. But, that’s the wonder of FPL – you’ve got the summer to wipe the slate clean and you all start together in the same boat once again. So, to mix it up a bit, I’m guiding you through the goalkeepers and midfielders, and Matt is talking all things defenders and forwards as we both try to help your team to the hallowed green arrow(s).

Goalkeepers

(Photo by Julian Finney/Getty Images)

With a surname like you would expect from a Last of the Summer Wine character – yes, I’m really showing my age there, as I make a reference to something that finished 12 years ago – Aaron Ramsdale is my first pick.

With very little work to do against Crystal Palace, a clean sheet earned the 14 per cent of FPL managers at the time a nice six points. Now, an extra 51,755 have put their faith in him ahead of Arsenal’s game against Leicester, raising that ownership to 15.2 per cent. That number will no doubt go up in the coming weeks with the likes of Bournemouth, Fulham and Villa taking up Gameweeks 3 to 5.

Up until last season, Arsenal had failed to keep a clean sheet against Leicester in nine consecutive fixtures, as they had to look back to 2017 for the last time nothing was conceded. In the last campaign, however, Ramsdale rewarded managers with a decent number of points on two occasions as the North London side took two 2-0 victories. Whilst the Foxes will be looking to rebound from the 2-2 draw with Brentford – and Vardy has scored 11 in 14 against them – Mikel Arteta and his interesting drawings seem to have shored up the defence in front of the ₤5m ‘keeper.

Next in line on the roll call is the slightly more expensive Ederson. Whilst time may tell that you wish to have three Man City outfield players, the reason I have picked the Brazilian shot stopper is a sure-fire selection in the minefield that is Pep’s notorious rotation conundrum. As the ₤5.5m player comes in more expensive than the likes of Kyle Walker and Nathan Ake, but cheaper than Reuben Dias and Joao Cancelo when it comes to potential Man City clean sheet points. With John Stones waiting in the wings and Aymeric Laporte set to return in September, you can already see the lottery that is Man City’s defence. And don’t even get me started on their midfield!

Anyway, back to Ederson and you have to look to mid-October for the first real challenge that comes the way of Pep’s men, as it’s Liverpool and then Arsenal in Gameweeks 11 and 12. Before then, there is of course Bournemouth this week, with Crystal Palace, Nottingham Forest, Aston Villa, Wolves and Southampton joined by Newcastle, Spurs and Man United who may be more formidable opposition. The Cherries, alone, have never beaten the Cityzens in their entire history and, judging by Pep’s insistence on perfection, conceding any goals – which has happened the last three times the sides have met – would not be good enough.

A cheaper option is Brighton’s Robert Sanchez, who was a popular option last season as well. The ₤4.5m man between the sticks certainly helped his side to their win at Old Trafford, as his five saves and one bonus sorted the Spaniard out for four FPL points. Owned by 11.2 per cent of managers at the time of writing, he has Newcastle coming to the Amex – a side who have only scored twice in the five times they have visited. After that, it’s a decent run of fixtures up to Gameweek 9, when there is the unenviable task of travelling to Anfield.

Finally, I will just give a quick mention to the bargain basement – said in the most respectful way possible – Danny Ward, who has found himself Leicester’s surprise number one goalkeeper. He won’t be costing just ₤4.0m for too long, as the best part of 100,000 FPL managers have snapped him up since the first deadline on 5 August. Of course, his price is the overriding factor of how he’s now the most-owned shot stopper, now in 26 per cent of teams. As a substitute ‘keeper who can come in as and when needed, he’s ideal as it looks like Brendan Rodgers won’t be splashing out for a replacement any time soon – instead just wanting to bring in a third-choice for support.

Defenders

Zinchenko (£5.1) vs Leicester (H) – The new Arsenal signing had a positive debut securing a clean sheet and bagging an assist. This means he started the season with 12 pts and being owned by 21.9% of managers shows he is a popular choice. Zinc was more advanced than White; what seemed to happen is Zinc attacked and joined the midfield with White moving left to create a back three. This suggests to me that when Tomiyasu returns Arteta has the option to move to a wingback formation playing White, Saliba and Gabriel as 3 CB’s which should only enhance their clean sheet possibilities. Another debutant was Saliba (£4.5) and while he didn’t have quite as good an FPL debut as his teammate, I would argue he had a better football debut. One of the best defensive performances of the weekend, he won the majority of his battles and looked a solid player; I was extremely impressed by him. White will find it hard to be the starting CB if Arteta decides to stick with a back four. I would say they will stick with their current formation for the majority of games so in the coming weeks when players start to return and Europe starts, I would be wary of rotation. That being said I would take advantage of the injuries right now and snap up this 4.5 defender who is only owned by 4.2% so is a great differential. All this being said I did feel that Arsenal were lucky to keep a CS as Palace’s Edouard and Eze both missed big chances with Ramsdale having to make some vital saves. Just something to think about as the likes of Vardy, Maddy and Dewsbury-Hall could exploit Zinc’s attacking adventures.

City defence vs Bournemouth (H) – I honestly think you can’t go wrong with any of the City defence. Swirls has already told you about most of their merits and how good Ederson is so I won’t waste too much of your time. I think if you don’t have a City defender, you’ve disadvantaged yourself already. In fact, I have two defenders in Cancelo and Walker which saw me get two clean sheets and a bonus point. I would rank the defence as Cancelo, Dias, Ederson, Walker, and Ake in that order of preference. Reasons for this are based on who I think will get bonus points and attacking returns. Cancelo and Dias speak for themselves as they both get forward, Cancelo is basically a midfielder! Ederson can assist too and will not get rotated which cannot be said about Walker or Ake who have Stones and Laporte to contend with when the latter returns. Now I think you need City cover at the back as they gave up 0 big chances against West Ham and had 0.3 xG conceded so they are still one of the best defences in the league and this should mean having one or two of their defenders this week will be a good thing coming up against newly promoted side Bournemouth as home.

Aaron Cresswell (£5.0) vs Forest (A) – You are probably wondering “Why the hell is he tipping West Ham? Their defenders only scored 1 point each!” Well, it probably is strange, but it is largely due to the opposition that I am tipping the Hammers to bounce back. David Moyes’ side come up against newly promoted side Nottingham Forest this weekend and if Forest has another performance like they did last weekend, Cresswell and co. will have a doddle at the back. Forest had the worst xG in the league last game with only 0.3. They had 1 solitary shot on target, 1 corner and only 38% possession. These stats do not make for great reading if you are a Nottingham fan but the truth hurts! If you are looking to replace anyone then Cresswell is probably the best option due to being on some set pieces, has an eye for goal and gets involved in the attack a fair bit!

Midfielders

(Photo by Sebastian Frej/MB Media/Getty Images)

Have you all got Salah? Yes? Good, you’re in the 62.4 per cent of managers and, to be honest, I like to think the FF247 website readership wouldn’t be so risky as to go against a player of such points potential. So, skipping past the obvious, my first pick is actually a player who comes in a solid ₤7.0m cheaper. Gabriel Martinelli had a great pre-season and he’s continued that form into the league, having scored in the 2-0 win at Selhurst Park, the first goal of the new campaign.

Previous seasons have seen the 21-year-old a rotation risk, with Emile Smith-Rowe the greatest competitor for a place in the starting line-up. ESR, as we know him, is sidelined through injury and it’s fair to say that the Brazilian is relishing the opportunity – linking up nicely with Gabriel Jesus, who labels him as “an animal”, if the Daily Mail is to be believed. So he probably doesn’t.

On the back of finding the back of the net against Crystal Palace, Martinelli will be hoping to continue that run – and further cement his starting place – against Leicester, who have already shown they are vulnerable at the back. Letting in two goals against Brentford isn’t the best way to start the season for the Foxes and there is also that aforementioned run of 2-0 losses they have sustained against the Gunners. Maybe Jesus will join him on going for a walk on the wild side this gameweek?!

Luis Diaz was unlucky to not come away from Craven Cottage with more than the two points he ended up with. Whilst Jurgen Klopp was disappointed with the player – and, no doubt, a few FPL managers too – he still showed himself as lively and managed to hit the crossbar five minutes before half time, with an effort provided by Nunez also stopped by Marek Rodak.

In just 957 minutes played last season, after the Colombian joined at the end of January, he picked up 64 points – predominantly from four goals and three assists. Not bad work for a winger who will need to be prepared to share the goals with the likes of Nunez and Salah. This gameweek could well be the beginning of that as Crystal Palace come to Anfield for the Reds’ first home fixture of the new campaign. Now in 20.4 per cent of teams, FPL managers will no doubt be hoping for that to happen too, as the likes of Bukayo Saka and Dejan Kulusevski – who are the same price and registered six and 13 points respectively in Gameweek 1 – vie for your attention.

Liverpool previously had the Eagles as a bit of a bogey team up until 2017; however Klopp has since turned that around to be a run of 10 straight wins when it comes to Premier League meetings. In that time, an impressive 30 goals have been registered and so it’s fair to say that Patrick Vieira and his side could have their work cut out this weekend.

After such an impressive preseason, where he scored thrice, it was then rather disappointing to see Leon Bailey then blank against new boys Bournemouth as a very lacklustre Aston Villa side went down 2-0 at the Vitality Stadium. Being an optimistic Villa fan, I’ll put that down to the fact that we don’t have the best record against the Cherries and, of course, we’ll do better against Everton. Well, we need to anyway – it’s these fixtures that we need to get the points in. Of course you can’t expect a ₤5.0m midfielder to either score all the time or to keep up the same form against theoretically tougher opposition.

Everton sustained a lot of pressure in their game against Chelsea and still managed to only concede a penalty that Jorginho duly converted, and so it won’t be a walk in the Villa Park for the home side this weekend. That said, Bailey was the star man the last time the two teams met at the same location, as he scored one and ‘assisted’ his now teammate Lucas Digne’s own goal. Could it all be a bit of history repeating?

A player who comes in cheaper still than Bailey is Andreas Periera of Fulham. The ₤4.5m asset, who moved from Man United in July, shone against Liverpool – no doubt driven by his Red Devil roots. His price suggests a place for your substitutes bench and, on the basis he’s a regular starter and will get in and among the points, you can look no further for a number one when the dreaded rotation or random last minute injuries suddenly start creeping in. You know it’ll happen!

The newly-promoted squad will be looking to build on their 2-2 draw with Liverpool as they travel up the M40 to face Wolves this weekend and, with Aleksandar Mitrovic hitting the ground running, within an attack-minded team, those additional points for Pereira could be as soon as Gameweek 2.

Fully conscious I am sharing this article with Matt, who famously loves his differentials, I will finish the midfielders with one of my own. Phil Foden may have missed out on the assists as Man City overcame West Ham 2-0 last weekend, however he showed himself to be very handy in getting balls in for the new golden boy, Erling Haaland. Whilst the 22-year-old from Stockport is a Man City midfielder – and therefore a high rotation risk – he does have a goal and an assist in just two ties against Bournemouth, who are the Cityzens’ opposition for Gameweek 2. Costing ₤8.0m, he is in just 6.4 per cent of FPL squads and could well reward those brave enough to pick him over the more popular selections.

Forwards

Let’s start with the best striker in the game! It is obvious who that is so I shouldn’t even need to state his name, Ha…Mitrovic (£6.6). That’s right the Serb in the capital. The man that goes up and down the leagues like a yo-yo along with the team he plays for. They both made their return to the Premier League last weekend and what a way to announce their arrival. A 2-2 draw against Liverpool in a match where they were leading twice and were by far the better team. A large part of how they controlled the game was their midfield but also Mitrovic up top. He was clinical, the main man and an absolute nuisance to Van Dijk and the Liverpool defence. He showed his strength to bully and tower over Trent for the opening goal, showed speed, quick feet and intelligence to draw VVD into a silly tackle inside the box to win a penalty. Basically, he started the season well and coming up against Wolves in the next game could be a great way for him to build on his 3 shots in the box, 1 clear chance and 2 goals in GW1. He also nabbed all 3 bonus points without collecting a yellow card which is a big plus for any of his 13.4% owners.

Now I suppose I better mention the second-best striker and the one everyone will likely own by deadline GW2, Erling Braut Haaland (£11.6) a debut where he played 77 minutes, had 5 shots all in the box although only 2 of those were on target… but both ended up in the back of the net so I guess you could say he’s pretty clinical. He had 4 big chances and ended the match with an xG of 1.68. I saw highlights and if Haaland continues in the same way and the link up with KDB gets stronger, I can only see more goals and more importantly FPL points in his future. The Norwegian ended up on 13 points to tie for top forward spot after one week. Looking so strong up top already and with the talent that is playing behind him, I have no doubt he will bully the smaller teams in defence and who better to test that theory than Bournemouth. A team whose manager is already saying don’t have the correct defenders and will struggle. Now they have signed a new Argentinian CB from Holland so could be a small bit stronger, but I still wouldn’t back against the Tremendous Nordic Meat Shield* this weekend.

*

👋GREETERS GUILD👋 ‘Welcome to Training Camp!’ @ManCity #troyhawke #greetersguild #justiceforjan pic.twitter.com/3hetCiOpCS

— Troy Hawke (@milocomedy) July 17, 2022

While Haaland is owned by 54% and it will likely be more by the time you read this, he is not the highest owned. That honour goes to Gabriel Jesus (£8.0) at 72% and while 250k of managers have sold him I think this could be a mistake. The Brazilian was also making his debut for Arsenal last weekend, and he passed my eye test. He was lively up top and was pressing from the front similar to how Bobby does for Liverpool (just not as well 😉 ) He looked very impressive and if it wasn’t for mistakes from his teammates he could have had goals or assists on his debut. Alas, he ended the game having only had 1 shot in the box. I wouldn’t panic and sell as he comes up against Leicester this weekend who conceded two goals to Brentford after being 2 nil up. They are in a flux at the moment, and it feels like they are going backwards, selling players, not buying anyone. Something just feels off at the King Power so hopefully Jesus and co. can capitalise in the capital and score big.

Let’s stick with this team of debutants by discussing Darwin Nunez (£9.0). What a debut from the Uruguayan! The striker got a goal and assist from the bench. He was clinical and direct providing a spark for Liverpool in a game where they were struggling. He linked up well with Salah with each of them scoring and assisting the other so hopefully that will continue! Darwin could have scored more as he missed 2 big chances so he is going to be amongst the goals when on. In fact, he had the highest non-penalty xG of any player across the league in GW1 and had the highest xA across the league. All this and yet he only played 39 minutes! 9 points, including a bonus point with less than a half played is brilliant and coming up against Palace this weekend, Klopp will be looking for his side to make a statement after a whimpering draw so could Viera’s men bare the brunt of a backlash? I bloody hope so!

My final tip is an odd one but who cares? My pick is Danny Welbeck (£6.5) who ended last season with a run of 7, 11, 5, 7 and 11 points and started this season with 7 points after grabbing an assist. He is only owned by 0.8% of players. Pundits and twitter have been saying United should have picked him up this summer as he was the best United player on the pitch at the weekend… it was just for Brighton. He could be a sneaky 3rd striker if you are looking to move away from the big at the back formation or if you are looking to downgrade a 2nd striker and upgrade to Haaland. (Basically, I just have to throw a differential in there for you all… it’s my trademark!)

Thanks for reading Fantasy Football Tips Gameweek GW2. This article was written by Swirly and Matt.

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