FPL GW #3: The week before the break.
One last game-week before the international break.
Welcome to the Game-week #2 issue of FPL Unplugged for the 2021/22 season! If you are new here please do consider supporting me by subscribing to my newsletter. Every week, I write about all things FPL. Right from Game-week reviews, Game-week previews, FPL trends, captain picks, Buy/Sell/Watchlist/Hold indicators and much more. Why don’t you come along?
Game-week #2: Review
With GW #2 continued the high scoring start to the FPL season. GW #2 average was 56 points while the highest score was 146 points. The high average is very surprising if we consider that the most captained and vice-captained players actually blanked. Salah was captained by the most FPL managers but only returned 3 points while Bruno returned a measly point in contrast to his GW #1 performance after being booked. What makes things even more interesting is that Bruno was also the highest owned player this game-week. The highest scoring player was Reece James with 18 points after picking up a goal, assist, clean sheet as well as all three bonus points. He is one to watch out for.
Game-week #3: Preview
Game-week #3 comes right before the international break which should be taken into consideration by FPL managers when planning transfers. A saved transfer this game-week means you get two transfers for GW #4 which will definitely put you in a very good position. After a international break, players may return carrying injuries, fatigue or even may have to quarantine. This makes having an additional transfer an additional advantage. Some fixtures to target this Game-week are Spurs vs Watford, Crystal Palace vs West Ham and Leeds vs Burnley. Leicester vs Norwich is another game to look out for but Leicester haven’t quite been strong recently.
Top Transfers in this Game-week:
Said Benrahma
Michail Antonio
Romelu Lukaku
Shane Duffy
Tsimikas
Top Transfers out this Game-week:
Ivan Toney
Ben White
Kelechi Iheanacho
Luke Shaw
Lucas Digne
Buy/Sell/Watchlist/Hold
Buy:
1. Said Benrahma:
With two consecutive 12 point hauls, this was very obvious. Everyone is talking about getting Benrahma in. West Ham look just as good as they were last season and have started the season off in a dominant manner. Only 5% people owned Antonio and Benrahma. This lot is currently sitting comfortably in the top 500k.
2. Raphina:
Raphina gained a lot of popularity in the FPL community last season because of how good he was and how affordable of an FPL asset he was. Raphina is definitely underpriced this season and if you get him in during the right times, he will deliver and Burnley is definitely a great opportunity to have him. Him and Benrahma are great options for you to consider to replace Barnes, Havertz or Mahrez.
3. Livramento:
The perfect player to replace Tsimikas would be Livramento. Priced at 4m, Livramento has managed to bench Kyle Walker-Peters and start games. Southampton might not have the strongest of defences but if you see him play, he is very offensive and has a great cross on him. He might end the season with atleast 5 assists and a few goals here and there. You should get him in place of Tsimikas before his price goes up.
Sell:
1. Tsimikas:
This is a very ironic situation as Tsimikas happens to be among the most transferred in players for this game-week. Although, with Robertson back in training and Chelsea next, Klopp might go with experience. He had a good run but I feel getting insomeone like Duffy or Livramento might be a smart move now.
2. Toney:
Despite his team scoring in both their opening games, Toney has failed to translate his Championship form in the Premier League. Everyone expected him to be the next Bamford and hyped him to level that he was the highest owned forward in the game at a point. His underlying numbers are not good enough too. The problem now would be that there is not another player that you can do a straight transfer in for. So I would suggest switching to a 3-5-2 formation.
Hold:
1. Luke Shaw:
The amount of people binning Luke Shaw really baffles me. He was the highest owned player in game-week #1 and that was for a reason. He earned two bonus points in the game against Southampton despite not scoring, assisting and conceding a goal. That just show how good of a footballer he is. I would suggest holding him for now.
2. Ben White:
He was in this section last week too. People who are transferring him out now may regret doing so as Arsenal games get easier from next GW. Apart from that international break gives Ben White an additional week to recover from Covid. His price drop might be disappointing but I am still very keen on having him in as there are no players at his price point to tempt me into transferring him out.
Watchlist:
1. Mason Mount:
Created second-most chances in the Premier league last season. expected assists tally of 1.41 in the last game. Has a World class striker playing along with him. Has an attractive 7.5m price. Need I say more?
2. Eric Dier:
Against Man City, Tottenham showed that they are capable of keeping a clean-sheet even against the stronger teams. Eric Dier might not carry a goal threat but he is one of those players you can have inyour team just for consistent clean-sheet points. The Spurs’ defence has been reinforced with the arrival of Romero and Dier’s left footedness makes him a guaranteed starter.
Captain Picks
Michail Antonio
Three goals and two assists in 2 games is a very good tally. Considering his form and Crystal Palace’s defensive woes, I back him to score atleast one goal this GW. Making him my top captain pick.
Said Benrahma
Antonio’s partner in crime Said Benrahma has been in the best form of his West Ham career recently. Starting the season off with 2 goals and 2 assist int the first two game of the season. If you wanna captain a player against Palace but do not have Antonio, go for Benrahma.
Bruno Fernandes
The only reason he is not higher on this list is because Wolves have been decent as of late. Despite narrowly losing their opening games, Wolves have managed to put up decent underlying numbers. One could argue they are this season’s Brighton :-) I do believe that even if United manage to beat Wolves, it won’t be as easy as Leeds for them.
Liked this post? Please do consider supporting the newsletter by subscribing and receive an email with fresh and authentic FPL content before every game-week deadline.