Cianan’s Column: No need to panic ahead of FPL GW2

Don’t worry – you’re not alone. Thousands, if not millions, of Fantasy Premier League (FPL) players are feeling jittery following the conclusion of the first gameweek, the point in the Fantasy season where it’s easiest to feel like you’ve made mistakes, whether you suffered a harrowing one-pointer with Frimpong, missed out on Rejinders’ haul, or omitted Arsenal defenders from your starting squad.

If you’re clever about it, mass panic can be a great advantage – provided you keep a cool head. Take Villa’s talisman Watkins, for example. A premium asset at £9m, well over 150,000 players have already jumped ship, despite only one blank gameweek, and now he faces a Brentford (A) side that looked very poor on the weekend. You can easily see him punishing his sellers next week – and the same applies for Arsenal’s Gyökeres, who has an ideal fixture against Leeds at home, which has potential, even if his first Premier League game was a slow one. A lot of power comes in rolling a transfer into next week – not only the ability to make more than just direct swaps (without taking points hits), but a lot more information with which to make changes.

Ekitike has hit the ground running for Liverpool and has already seen a price rise to £8.6m. Yet, the potential signing of Isak from Newcastle could threaten his minutes, or he could be shifted out to the left (where he could be far less productive), harming Gakpo. As we learn more over the following weeks, informed decisions become far easier, so waiting is wise, given Liverpool’s tough next two fixtures (Newcastle (A) and Arsenal (H)). All of Liverpool’s attacking assets, including Wirtz, sit firmly in ‘don’t buy, don’t sell’ territory – the best time to transfer them in is likely GW4 against Burnley (A). The same applies to their defenders, aside from Van Dijk, who will doubtless deliver monster hauls when the cleansheets come with his impressive DEFCON numbers.

The elephant in the FPL room is Rejinders, who proved to be the best £5.5m midfielder last week (his price has risen by £0.1m since). He is a very tempting option. However, regardless of his incredible 10-point performance against Wolves, the same drawbacks that put many managers off him pre-season still apply: Pep roulette, consistency concerns, and the threat of a different style of play after the return of Rodri to the City lineup. He is a great value player with an understandable amount of hype surrounding him – if I were to transfer someone in this week, there aren’t any better options, but do keep in mind his flaws and that he won’t be pulling this off every week. I would also steer clear of an Anderson (Nottingham Forest) to Rejinders swap, given the former had an impressive six-pointer himself with good underlying data, and the latter being £0.1m more expensive, which might force you into unnecessary early points hits.

Manchester United are going to be interesting to watch this year, as they appeared promising against Arsenal. With Fulham (A) next, it’s a brilliant test to see if they can convert promise into points, allowing managers to flock to their best attacking assets, Fernandes, Mbuemo, and Cunha, for their game against Burnley (H) the week after. Fernandes looks like he could be dynamite this year, despite his two-pointer against Arsenal. He was a single DEFCON away from securing those bonus points and created the joint-most chances of the gameweek (five), sharing that accolade with Spurs’ new signing Kudus, who grabbed two assists against Burnley. However, Spurs have an immensely tough game away at Manchester City up next, so again, perhaps it’s worth waiting another week before rushing into any decisions.

The popular £7.5m forwards proved largely unfruitful in GW1, aside from Wood, who had a strong opening game against a shaky Brentford. Solanke’s minutes don’t look assured, given Richarlison’s brilliant brace, and he seems like a poor option to hold against Manchester City. Pedro and his Chelsea compatriot Palmer retain high ownership, so poor results don’t pose significant risks, plus their fixtures until GW7 remain exceptional, so holding them is the best option right now. The striker to watch is Larsen, who could prove useful to free up funds with Wolves’ surprising positive attacking performance and his cheap £6.5m price point.

Rapid Recommendations

• Unless you’re going to benchboost in GW2, don’t sell Konsa! He’s only got a one-match ban and has a great fixture run from GW3-GW8.
• The fixture run for popular West Ham assets (Wan-Bissaka, Bowen, Diouf, etc.) isn’t great. Although their 3-0 defeat to Sunderland this weekend was harsh, the long-term prospects don’t look great, so it’s worth considering moving these assets on.
• Haaland is worth the cost, but the investment in him and Salah remains too expensive overall – that could be an aggressive risk come your wildcard window. If you have one of them, stick to them. It’s likely they will rotate between who does better from week to week.
• Marmoush’s benching is a catastrophe due to his high cost. Pep roulette ruins his value, especially given Man City’s arsenal of quality attacking options.
• Everton were unlucky not to keep a clean sheet against Leeds, and those point hauls will come for the likes of Tarkowski and Pickford.

The Boar Standings

1st: parths11 (72) – managed by Parth Malik
2nd: Neves Say Never (71) – managed by Anna Bickerton
3rd: Ed City, No Pity (70) – managed by Edward Croisdale-Appleby