FPL GW 2: Team Selection

FPL GW2 is here, with another set of fixtures that bring with them hope for me and my team. While watching the games, I only had one thing in mind - “I wish I would have gone with my Wood draft” or something along those lines. Talking in hindsight? That’s when I knew that FPL was well and truly back. A disappointing Gameweek 1 is done, and it's time for me to pick my team for Gameweek 2. 

GW1: 46 Points (Rank: 6.9M)

Gameweek 1 was quite disappointing for me. I ended with 46 points, well below the average 54 points. My captain, Salah was one of only 3 players to return in my starting XI. A last-minute goal against Bournemouth ensured he continued his opening day scoring run. Other than Salah it was Robert Sanchez from Chelsea who kept a clean sheet and also got bonus points from saves which ended in an 8 point tally. Porro from Tottenham also kept a clean sheet against Burnley with a 6 pointer. Other than these three, everyone else just got points for starting. Diouf also got a -1 for conceding 3 goals against newly-promoted Sunderland. 

More than my starters, it was my substitutes that truly hurt me. It felt so gutting to have left Rogers and Gudmundsson on my bench with their 3 and 9 pointers respectively. In my defence, who knew Leeds would end up winning AND keeping a clean sheet against Moyes' Everton?

My takeaways? Liverpool looks fantastic in attack but a little weak in defence. City could be onto something with the signing of Reijnders. Arsenal had trouble doing much against United but came away with yet another set-piece goal. Despite their loss, United looked very promising against Arsenal. Cunha and/or Mbeumo could be in most FPL teams post-September. Sunderland could be the dark horse this year. West Ham looked really poor and disorganized. Leeds had an energy and purpose around them. Wolves are going down for sure.

You know what’s worse than a bad gameweek? It's when your friends outscore you in the mini-leagues. That’s when it becomes a humbling experience. Did I constantly check others’ scores? Yes. Am I in the bottom 3 of all my leagues? Also, yes. 

GW2: Transfers

However, I am not too put off by last week. Ultimately it’s just the first week and there’s such a small pool of data to base decisions off. Out of the entire 38 GW FPL season, a GW only constitutes 2.632%. I made my decisions keeping a 6-game window in mind and I will stick to the plan. 

A lot of people will be rolling their transfers for this week. I am going against that trend. I decided to switch Wirtz (8.5M) for Semenyo (7.1M). The Liverpool attack looked very threatening against Bournemouth. Apart from Salah, I thought Wirtz would play a more influential role. However, he was carrying the ball more often. Ekitike looks like a better buy for 8.6M as of now, but I do think Wirtz will come good with a couple of matches under his belt. I don’t want to waste my time waiting for those returns during tougher fixtures like Newcastle (away) and Arsenal (home). On the other hand, Semenyo has Wolves at home, Tottenham away and Brighten at home for his next 3 games. I do think that he will return more points than Wirtz for this time period. He looked incredibly quick in the first gameweek and took some really important shots and scored both of Bournemouth’s goals. Given his imminent attacking threat, I think he will have an even more explosive season this year. This may be a bit of a kneejerk transfer but I definitely am more confident now.

Moreover, it also leaves me with more money in the bank. This allows flexibility later on, where I can look to upgrade Joao Pedro to Ekitike, or Dewsbury-Hall to Reijnders, or get Gakpo too. These are all potential transfers that I am looking at. 

GW2: Team Selection

I'm hoping for a better score this time. Sanchez starts again with a relatively easy fixture away at West Ham, who looked all over the place versus Sunderland.

I'm not particularly happy with the defenders starting this GW. Andersen faces a tough game against exciting United, Murillo faces a resurgent Crystal Palace and Pedro Porro is up against the giants Man City. I do not particularly expect a clean sheet from any of these 3 but I do think Andersen and Murillo will be good for DEFCON points. Out of the 2, Murillo has a higher chance of keeping a clean sheet with Forest's wall-like defence.

Coming to midfield, Salah is up against Newcastle at St. James' Park. The ongoing transfer saga between the clubs for the signing of Alexander Isak has added so much tension to this game. Liverpool will play to show Newcastle why Isak wants to join them, while Newcastle will be aggressive to show that they are not ones to back down and to be taken for granted. This will be a must-watch with the atmosphere soaring in the stadium. I am confident in Salah to return with a goal involvement this game and I am considering to captain him. As of now, I am captaining Semenyo against a very weak Wolves side at home. The captaincy decision is one that is subject to change pre-deadline, as I am still in two minds about it.

Palmer, Dewsbury-Hall and Rogers round up the rest of my midfield with favourable fixtures. I will be expecting more of an involvement from Palmer this week, given his quiet performance last time round. If that does not change, I could look to move him on and invest in other players.

Watkins and Joao Pedro will be my starting forwards. I truly believe in these 2 to be essential for most of the season, especially Watkins. Aston Villa are a well-drilled side with Emery at the helm looking to break into the top 7. Watkins is their key figure upfront and forms a dangerous partnership with Rogers. Hence, they are a mainstay in my team. Pedro's fixtures are just too tempting to ignore, especially given his Club World Cup performances. Last week confirmed my suspicion that JP is more likely to be a 65-minute man, with Delap coming on from the bench. Just like Palmer, GW2 and GW3 would be pivotal in deciding Joao Pedro's future in my FPL team.

I expect a high-scoring gameweek and am pretty confident in this team. Onward and upward.