Kops Fantasy Football Tips Game-week 2

Kops Fantasy Football Tips Game-week 2

So what if anything did we learn from GW1? Not a whole lot really! Chelsea were by far & away the most impressive of the would-be title contenders while David Moyes is apparently a better manager than Louis van Gaal! In the world of fantasy football it really is too early to draw any meaningful conclusions. There has been much talk of taking early hits and even some talk of playing wildcards but our advice to you is not to panic, remember that you picked your original 15 players for a reason and as such you should try to give them time, by all means make your weekly transfer but don’t go mad. However you decide to play it we have below outlined a number of players whom we feel will deliver over the coming weeks.

Goalkeepers

Thibaut Courtois may not have kept a clean sheet on his competitive debut, but at least we now know who Jose’s number 1 is and as Jamie & Gary pointed out on Monday night, this is hardly surprising given the fact that Courtois is 22 while Cech is 32. Granted he may have conceded against Burnley but he looked assured and confident, although this shouldn’t surprise us as he constantly impressed for Atletico Madrid over the past three seasons. At £6.0m he’s not cheap but he might just be the safest route in the Chelsea defence. Against Burnley, Jose selected his back 4 from last season but I don’t believe he bought Luis to sit on the bench and therefore we are likely to see an element of rotation over the coming weeks, but now that Courtois has been given the gloves he’s highly unlikely to be rotated.

Eric Dier’s debut goal for Spurs has seen over 90k fantasy managers transfer him into their squad, however I still feel that Hugo Lloris is the best route into the Spurs defence. With Jan Vertonghen missing the West Ham game it’s unclear who the first choice centre backs are, despite Danny Rose starting the game at left back we’re not sure if he is now first choice, while Kyle Walker who we assume is still the first choice right back is currently injured. So as you can see there is much uncertainty surrounding the defence, making Lloris for me the best option.

Last week we tipped Allan McGregor and the Scot certainly didn’t let us down as he stopped a penalty and finished up with 14 points. Now he’s obviously not going to stop a penalty every week but Hull showed enough at the back to suggest that they will be a solid unit as the season progresses. On the basis of GW1 it would appear as though there are a number of cheaper routes into the Hull defence, McGgregor is £5.0m, but with the possibility of Europa League football over the coming months there is every chance that Bruce will rotate a number of his defenders and this might make McGregor the safest route into the Hull defence. It’s also worth noting that Hull’s next four fixtures are Stoke, Villa, West Ham & Newcastle and we wouldn’t be at all surprised if Hull were to keep at least two clean sheets from those four games.

Tim Krul and Fraser Forster both conceded two goals last weekend but I certainly wouldn’t let this deter you from bringing either of them into your squad. Playing the reigning champions on the opening day of the season was never going to be an easy task for Newcastle but they acquitted themselves well and looked like they will be far better at the back this season as compared to last. Like Newcastle, Southampton were handed a difficult start to the season as they travelled to Anfield but just like the Geordies they were impressive in defeat. Despite losing two of their first choice back four from last season they coped with most of what Liverpool threw at them, although it must be said this wasn’t much! After a difficult opening fixture both sides have a decent run of fixtures and for any of you who might be tempted to WC in the coming weeks Newcastle & Southampton rotate quite nicely up until the January WC!

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Defenders

It was predominantly the cheaper defenders who caught our attention during GW1 and our first two defensive tips this week both scored last Saturday and they are James Chester of Hull and Southampton’s Nathaniel Clyne. Clearly both players grabbed the headlines as they scored their respective side’s only goal of the game, but more importantly, and the main reason I’m tipping the two is because both Hull and Southampton looked solid at the back. Coming in at just £4.0m Alex Bruce proved quite popular and many managers breathed a sigh of relief when his old man Steve named him in the first XI on Saturday, unfortunately he was then substituted with a back injury at halftime. As a result of this injury to Bruce I feel that Chester is now the best route into the Hull defence although young Andrew Robertson impressed on his debut and could be one to keep an eye on. I realise it’s only one game, but on the basis of Sunday’s game against Liverpool, Southampton will do ok this season and will be good value for a number of clean sheets, particularly over the coming weeks when they’ve got a decent run of fixtures. Judging from the Liverpool game Koeman has given his fullbacks a licence to get forward with this best highlighted when Clyne scored Southampton’s equaliser and it’s because of this I fancy Clyne or even Ryan Bertrand to be among the fantasy points over the coming weeks.

A couple of full-backs who impressed in GW1 were Sunderland’s Patrick van Aanholt and Stoke’s Erik Pieters. Defensively Sunderland didn’t exactly impress against West Brom but you would hope that this is something they will improve upon over the coming weeks. It was going forward that van Aanholt caught the eye and he was rewarded with an assist for Sunderland’s second goal, although this shouldn’t have come as much of a surprise given his attacking stats with Vitesse Arnhem last season and at £4.5m he could provide a decent ROI over the coming weeks. Much was made of Stoke before the season kicked off last weekend, so perhaps it came as a surprise when they lost 1-0 at home to Villa of all teams! Despite this loss to Villa I still feel as though it’s hard to ignore their defence given their upcoming fixtures and it was Pieters who stood out against Villa. This is emphasised by the fact that he picked up two bonus points despite not keeping a clean sheet nor picking up a goal or an assist. Should the Stoke defence be of interest to you but you can’t afford Pieters at £5.0m it is worth noting that Marc Wilson got the nod ahead of Robert Huth at centre back and he’s priced at just £4.5m.

Perhaps unsurprisingly none of the £4.0m defenders particularly impressed during the opening game-week, but did we really expect them to? Alan Hutton and Villa picked up an unexpected clean sheet and of all the £4.0m defenders he is perhaps the most assured of his spot, it’s just unfortunate that from GW4 Villa’s fixtures are horrendous. Andre Wisdom played the 90 minutes against Sunderland and with Cristian Gamboa unlikely to make his debut until after the international break this probably means that at the very least Wisdom will start the next two games. With Davide Santon side-lined until at least the middle of November Paul Dummett got the nod at left back and like the rest of his Newcastle teammates he acquitted himself well against the champions and with Newcastle having a number of decent fixtures over the coming weeks he could be worth some consideration.

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Midfielders

Ahead of last Saturday’s deadline there was a lot of talk surrounding the quality of midfielders available to us fantasy managers this season and it came as little surprise when three of the most talked about midfielders delivered, of course I’m talking about Arsenal’s Aaron Ramsey, Liverpool’s Raheem Sterling and Chelsea’s (not Arsenal’s!) Cesc Fabregas. Arsenal laboured to an opening day victory against managerless Crystal Palace and if I’m being honest Ramsey wasn’t that impressive but the youngster has developed the knack of being in the right place at the right time and he proved this on Saturday with a very late winner. Once Mesut Ozil returns Ramsey is likely to play from a deeper position but as I’ve mentioned before this will allow him to make his runs from deep and I firmly believe that the Welshman will finish the season in double figures. Just like Arsenal, Liverpool also laboured to a win on the opening weekend of the season, however unlike Ramsey, Sterling gave us one or two brief glimpses of his talent. He took his goal with aplomb and he regularly received the ball in a central position when Sturridge had drifted out wide. There’s no doubting that Sterling will be a central figure at Anfield this season and at just £8.5m he could turn into a fantasy bargain. Unlike Arsenal & Liverpool, Chelsea did impress in beating Burnley on Monday night and Fabregas played a key part. In similar games last season Chelsea would’ve struggled after going a goal down but not on Monday night, they remained composed & fluid, with Fabregas dictating the play. He may have lined up in the double-pivot role beside Matic but as his pass for Chelsea’s 2nd goal demonstrated he will get forward in support of the play at every opportunity and at just £9.0m he could prove to be superb value for money. Andre Schurrle also caught the eye on Monday night and he could yet prove to be quite a cheap route into the Chelsea attack although he is likely to be rotated more than the likes of Fabregas & Eden Hazard.

David Silva didn’t appear in quite as many pre-season RMTs as the aforementioned Ramsey, Sterling & Fabregas and despite scoring once and picking up two bonus points the other three are leaving him in their dust when you look at this week’s transfers in. While I accept that City have a tough run of fixtures over the coming weeks it must be remembered that City have won the league twice in the last three seasons and therefore are more than capable of beating any team in the league and with Sergio Augero nearing full fitness he could prove to be a great foil for Silva. As I have mentioned in the introduction, I would suggest you try not to make any rash transfers after just one game-week but it was interesting to note that Silva completely outshone Yaya in the Newcastle game and it will certainly be worth keeping an eye on these two over the coming weeks.

The darling of fantasy football is back. Of course I’m referring to Gylfi Sigurdsson, or Siggy to his friends. When the Icelandic international re-joined Swansea earlier this summer he immediately guaranteed himself a spot in quite a few fantasy teams, following his goal & assist against United in the season’s opener he quickly became the season’s first fantasy bandwagon and his price has already increased to £6.1m and I wouldn’t be at all surprised should this increase again before GW2 commences. Obviously he’s not going to pick up 13 points every week but at £6.2 or £6.3m he represents excellent value for money, particularly when you look at Swansea’s upcoming fixtures. What has become clear following pre-season and the United game is that Siggy’s best position is certainly in ‘the hole’ and should Monk decide to push him out wide to facilitate two front men fantasy managers will begin to worry but following Saturdays display this is unlikely to happen anytime soon.

A couple of new additions to the Premier League who impressed on their debuts were Southampton’s Dusan Tadic and Newcastle’s Remy Cabella, unfortunately both suffered debut defeats. As I have already mentioned above, Southampton, despite the recent departures played some good football and had Liverpool on the ropes for long periods of the match. Tadic has settled in well at St. Marys and is already linking up well with his teammates, highlighted by a sublime back heel to Clyne for Southampton’s equaliser. With Southampton having a great run of fixtures between now and the end of November, Tadic’s bandwagon might be just around the corner. Some suggested that Cabella might be a replacement for Yohan Cabaye but if his display against City is anything to go by I’m not so sure if this is the case. Against City he took up a much more advanced role than Cabaye, although he will certainly provide the same level of creativity and goal threat as his compatriot. Newcastle have a relatively easy run of games over the next seven game-weeks and the stage is set for Cabella to make himself a Geordie hero.

A couple of cheapish midfielders who caught the eye in GW1 were Southampton’s James Ward-Prowse (£5.0m) and Hull’s Tom Ince (£5.5m). Ward-Prowse turned in an industrious display on the right side of a front three and he also shared corner kick duties with Tadic. McGregor & Chester grabbed the headlines for Hull but Ince looked lively and to be honest he should have scored when one-on-one with Robert Green and perhaps most significantly he was fielded in an advanced role in support of Nikica Jelavic.

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Forwards

Dzeko or Jovetic, Jovetic or Dzeko? This was the question a number of fantasy managers were asking themselves as the deadline loomed last Saturday morning. The question they are now asking themselves is, how do I fit Kun Aguero into my team? The Argentine entered the fray after 83 minutes against Newcastle and wasted little time in opening his account with an extremely well taken goal seven minutes later. We’re all well aware of Aguero’s goal scoring capabilities, he’s scored 76 goals in 123 appearances since joining City back in 2011. The issue is his fitness, last season he only made 23 league appearances. There’s no denying that City have a number of difficult fixtures on the horizon, but I wouldn’t let that put you off Aguero as he has shown on numerous occasions in the past that he’s a big game player. The question is, do you bring him in now and hope he starts against Liverpool or do you wait until he’s proved his fitness and while you dither he scores two or three? The choice is yours!

Diego Costa did exactly what all strikers want to do on their competitive debut, he scored a goal. The longer a striker goes without a goal at a new club the more difficult it becomes, but Costa no longer has to deal with that pressure. Granted his goal wasn’t a thing of beauty, but he was in the right place at the right time and he showed plenty of composure. He should have finished the Burnley game with more than six points as he was booked for taking a dive when in fact it was a clear penalty. Chelsea played some wonderful football in the first half against Burnley and if they can continue to play such football over the coming weeks and months, Costa will undoubtedly remain amongst the goals.

Let’s call a spade a spade, United were crap against Swansea! In the first half they lined up in a 3-5-2 formation with van Gaal reverting to a more traditional 4-4-2 in the second half, but to be honest it didn’t make much of a difference. Frankly, if Wayne Rooney hadn’t scored I’m not sure if I would’ve included him this week, but he did so here he is. You would have to assume that van Gaal will have taken out his hairdryer during the week and as a result we will see an improved United side this weekend and should that happen I’d fancy Rooney to get his name on the score sheet once more. Just like United, Liverpool were anything but impressive and they were perhaps fortunate to take the three points against Southampton. It was Daniel Sturridge who scored the winner with perhaps his only chance of the game. In fact Sturridge was anonymous for the majority of the game but like all good strikers he took his chance when it came. Hopefully as Liverpool’s new signings bed in we will see more fluid and accomplished performances from last season’s runners up and if this happens I expect to see more from Sturridge.

I’ll finish up this week with a quick mention of three cheap strikers who found the back of the net last weekend, Everton’s Steven Naismith, Aston Villa’s Andreas Weimann and West Brom’s Saido Berahino. Naismith finished last season in goal scoring form and he would appear to have picked up where he left off. The injury to Ross Barkley might allow for Naismith to have an extended run in the side and if this turns out to be the case he is possibly the best value out of all the cheap strikers. Weimann is anything but prolific, he is however guaranteed to start for Villa and his opening day goal will have given him plenty of confidence. After two goals on the opening day of the season the Berahino bandwagon has already left the station. He’s unlikely to repeat his opening day salvo many times over the course of the season but he has scored seven goals in eight games for the England U21’s so he is certainly worth monitoring.

Thanks for reading Kops Fantasy Football Tips Game-week 2. This article was written by Kop Warrior

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