Fantasy Premier League tips: FPL Gameweek 2 highlights Brighton and Brentford assets
Gameweek 2 has been another action-packed round so far, with high-scoring games involving Brighton, Brentford and Liverpool. West Ham also beat London rivals Chelsea 3-1.
The most-captained player in the game, Erling Haaland (£14.0m), saw a rare blank and people who captained Mohamed Salah (£12.5m) instead were also left disappointed as he missed a penalty, although he did score the rebound — which saw him come away with only five points for the week.
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As ever, there were plenty of takeaways from an FPL perspective.
Brentford assets buzzing
Brentford beat neighbours Fulham 3-0 away in a very impressive win, and it was no surprise to see Bryan Mbeumo (£6.6m) reward his owners again, this time with a brace.
He completed the 90 minutes and scored a penalty, but it’s also encouraging he has the highest non-penalty xG (non-penalty expected goals; 1.68) among midfielders, despite two of his three goals this season being spot kicks.
With Crystal Palace (H), Bournemouth (H), Everton (H) and Nottingham Forest (A) among Brentford’s next five fixtures, if you don’t already own the Frenchman, he should be at the top of your shopping list.
His team-mate Yoane Wissa (£6.1m) has also been fantastic value and after two games sits as the highest-scoring forward in the game, with two goals and one assist. Wissa is another player who is a good buy and those with Brighton’s Joao Pedro (£5.6m) in their teams could do much worse than adding the Brentford forward.
Joao Pedro started last week’s season opener but was dropped to the bench against Wolves on Saturday and judging by Roberto De Zerbi’s comments and the fact Brighton have so many good attacking options, it’s probably a good time to move him on. De Zerbi said the young Brazilian “is a great player already but I would like him to improve in mentality. When he loses the ball, he has to work harder, but he is not a complete player yet.”
Brighton scoring for fun
Brighton were fantastic again in Joao Pedro’s absence and have scored four times in both their first two fixtures. They have an array of FPL options, but for me, the top three are Pervis Estupinan (£5.2m), Solly March (£6.6m) and Kaoru Mitoma (£6.6m), who all ended up with double-digit scores in Gameweek 2.
Estupinan is the priority buy as he is only £5.2million and there aren’t many defenders who can match him value-wise. March and Mitoma are great to have but with so many good midfield options in their price range, aren’t as essential. It really depends on who you are selling to acquire them.
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Brighton’s fixtures for the next three gameweeks aren’t the best, coming up against West Ham (H), Newcastle (H), and Manchester United (A), but I definitely would not be looking to sell them as they are long-term holds.
We might see a bit more rotation in their attack after Gameweek 4 when the Europa League group stage starts, but their players are good value for now. If you have deadwood or underperforming assets in your team, I wouldn’t be against transferring these lads in.
Liverpool still looking shaky
Liverpool won 3-1 against Bournemouth at Anfield but it wasn’t the best display and the jury is still out on their assets. They did go down to 10 men after Alexis Mac Allister (£6.0m) was sent off on the hour but still managed to win, so we can’t draw too many conclusions.
Salah’s owners were left frustrated after his penalty was saved, although he scored the rebound, which meant he received minus two points for the initial miss as well as five for a goal.
Mac Allister being sent off (George Wood/Getty Images)Trent Alexander-Arnold (£8.0m) also had another quiet game. With so many good defensive options this season and Liverpool’s upcoming fixtures, it is hard to justify holding on to the right-back. He may well also be injured — so this is one to keep an eye on.
With Newcastle (A), Aston Villa (H), Tottenham (A) and Brighton (A) during Liverpool’s next six league games, it’s hard to see many clean sheets. With just three chances created by Alexander-Arnold and with an xA of 0.08 in his first two games, it might be time to move him on and invest that money elsewhere.
Luis Diaz (£7.6m) scored for the second game running and he is a decent hold if you own him already as I can’t see Jurgen Klopp benching him anytime soon.
The same goes for Salah.
I wouldn’t be rushing to sell Liverpool players, but if you have two free transfers and can use the money to upgrade another spot in your squad, selling them is an option.
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Patience with Spurs and Manchester United assets
Tottenham were great going forward again and managed 17 shots at home to Manchester United, with an xG of 1.91 in a 2-0 win. But they did concede 22 shots with an xGC (expected goals conceded) of 1.94, so were fortunate to get the clean sheet.
Richarlison (£7.0m) again started as their No 9 but blanked for the second game in a row. His new team-mate James Maddison (£7.6m) had a decent game but only created two chances and the big news is he was seen leaving the stadium on crutches. It’s not clear yet how serious his foot injury is, as he had played the full match, but if Maddison is going to be out for some time, a move to Mbeumo, March or Mitoma looks like an easy swap.
If Maddison is fit, though, he is a definite keep. Looking at his fixtures, he would play Bournemouth (A), Burnley (A) and Sheffield United (H) in the next three.
I would keep Richarlison too, if you own him. It’s a classic case of form vs fixtures for the Brazilian as he has been poor in the first two, creating only two chances, with two shots in the box and an xG of 0.17. However, with those kinder fixtures on the horizon, it’s worth giving him a few more weeks.
In the same fixture for the visitors, Bruno Fernandes (£8.5m) and Marcus Rashford (£9.0m) also blanked for a second consecutive game. I advised being patient with them last week as they are proven FPL assets, and I’m going to say the same again this week.
Fernandes had three shots in the box, created four chances, and registered a non-penalty xGI (expected goal involvements) of 1.18, so was very unfortunate not to have logged any attacking returns. He missed a glaring opportunity to score with a header from six yards out. Across the first two games, Rashford has had seven shots from inside the box with an xG of 0.82 and also created three chances.
United have Forest at home next and I think it’s worth giving them both one last chance. Both are nailed-on to start if fit, with Fernandes likely to play the 90 minutes and be on penalties.
(Julian Finney/Getty Images)Watkins appeal dented
Villa bounced back from their 5-1 defeat in Gameweek 1 by handing out a thumping of their own in a 4-0 win over Everton.
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The main takeaways from this game were that Villa are still good and Ollie Watkins (£8.0m) isn’t as good an FPL asset this season. He was surprisingly taken off after 74 minutes, although this may have been due to the game already being won. But, more importantly, he is not the penalty-taker anymore — Douglas Luiz (£5.5m) took and scored the spot kick after Watkins was fouled.
This wasn’t a huge surprise, as Watkins has missed five out of his last nine penalties, but now that it’s confirmed, it does put a dent in his appeal. We also might see more rotation for Villa as their Europa Conference League campaign gets underway on Wednesday.
Villa also have Liverpool (A) and Chelsea (A) in their next three, so a move to Nicolas Jackson (£7.0m) of the latter looks like a good idea for Watkins’ owners.
Chelsea conundrum
Although new forward Jackson has registered back-to-back one-pointers so far, the fixtures for Chelsea look pretty favourable: they play Luton (H), Forest (H), Bournemouth (A), Villa (H), Fulham (A) and Burnley (A) in their next six.
Chelsea haven’t impressed hugely under the new management of Mauricio Pochettino, but didn’t have the easiest of opening fixtures against Liverpool and West Ham.
Jackson has looked sharp in the first two gameweeks and registered xG numbers of 0.53 and 0.79 in those two games. He has the second-highest non-penalty xG among forwards. It’s only a matter of time before he starts scoring, I feel, and with the fixtures coming up, I would be very surprised if he isn’t one of the highest-scoring forwards in the game during that run.
I would also hold fire on Chelsea defenders, unless you own the injured Reece James (£5.5m).
Rico Henry (£4.6m) is a good replacement due to Brentford’s fixtures and you might even want to punt on Malo Gusto (£4.0m) — who is James’ direct replacement. Both options would also allow you a bit of extra money to invest elsewhere in your squad.
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Foden and Alvarez staking a claim
I mentioned in my article last week that Phil Foden (£7.5m) and Julian Alvarez (£6.5m) could be great options and see more game time for Manchester City in the absence of the injured Kevin De Bruyne (£10.3m).
Both have started and played 90 minutes in the opening two games and both picked up attacking returns against Newcastle at the weekend. Foden set up Alvarez for his goal and the former also picked up three bonus points (nine points in total) due to creating seven chances (the most in FPL for Gameweek 2). This may be a sign of things to come as it looks like he will be the main playmaker with De Bruyne out for a few months.
Alvarez has a goal and an assist in his opening two matches and his starting chances look as good as ever.
City’s fixtures are very kind for the next five, as they come up against Sheffield United (A), Fulham (H), West Ham (A), Forest (H) and Wolves (A). This means Foden and Alvarez are great upside picks — but they do still carry the risk of being benched at any time, with the Champions League starting the midweek after the West Ham trip. When they are on the pitch, though, they are among the best assets in the game.
If you are happy to risk it, Alvarez could be a good option for those of you who own Joao Pedro or Watkins.
(Top photos of Estupinan, left, and Mbeumo: Getty Images)
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