Review of Game Week 2

GW Points: 74
Overall Points: 154
Overall Rank: 13,664

Overall I’m very happy with my start to the season. After two game weeks, the team is sitting approximately 13,000th on the leaderboard, which is a very steady start. It’s not overly remarkable but a good position to be in after just two weeks. I’ll go over each player individually below but overall I was let down by a poor Chelsea performance, however, I mainly picked Jackson and Colwill based on their fixtures from game week 3 onwards. It would have been nice for them to get off to a better start but it wasn’t to be. Other than that though it’s largely gone to plan. In terms of captain choice, I got it right for game week 1 but picking Salah didn’t really pay off for game week 2. Luckily Haaland was the only other player I’d considered as a captain choice and he scored less. 

Here is my breakdown of each player:

Johnstone: I’m not unhappy with 10 points from 2 games for Johnstone. He stays in the team for now.

Saliba: Happy with 12 points from two games. Stays in my team.

Estupinan: Very happy with Estupinan, top scoring defender after two game weeks. A great opening pick. Tough fixtures on the horizon but he stays in until he gives me a reason to take him out.

Colwill: Not happy with 4 points from two games but he was picked for fixtures beyond game week 2. Stays in the team for at least another week.

Saka: Can’t argue with 18 points from two games. Stays in my team.

Diaz: Great start in my team with instant returns. Did go off with a slight injury and has a difficult fixture at the weekend. I take him out, mainly because I want a player in with a better fixture this weekend. 

Mitoma: Delighted with his start to the season. Stays in my team until I’ve got a good reason to move on.

Fernandes: Hasn’t got off to the best start but has still racked up 10 points. Stays in my team with a good fixture at the weekend. 

Haaland: Didn’t captain him against Newcastle and that panned out OK. Won’t risk it again this weekend. Obviously stays in my team due to how explosive his point scoring can be and his high ownership.

Salah: Slightly disappointed with his return against Bournemouth. I could be losing my mind but I’m tempted to take him out just for 1 game week for someone like Sterling who has a good fixture at the weekend.

Jackson: Similar to Colwill, I’m not happy with how he has started the season but I did pick him based on Chelsea’s fixtures after game week 2. Despite a poor start, I’m not going to take him out with Chelsea playing Luton at the weekend.

Player watchlist

Given the new rules, I think it’s important to have a watchlist of players who could potentially be bought in for game week 2 and beyond. Here are the players who caught my eye:

Eze – still looks like a bargain after getting points against Arsenal despite Palace losing 1-0. Could be a good time to bring him in with Palace having an EFL Cup fixture this week.

Mbeumo – fantastic return last week, he appears to have stepped up in Toney’s absence. Tempted to bring him in with Brentford having an EFL Cup game this week. 

Sterling – good value at 3.5m, has picked up a good number of bonus points and has brilliant fixtures on the horizon.

Maddison – might be carrying a slight injury but has made an impressive start to the season. 

Henry – could be a good cheap alternative for Colwill should I need to move him on. 

Sanchez – if his value gets close to Johnstones, I may switch them. I’d rather have a Chelsea keeper over a Palace keeper if he looks like the number 1 choice for the season.

Flekken – should have a solid season and is another good budget option. 

Plan for game week 2

I’ll confirm my transfers later in the week but I’m currently caught in two minds with additional EFL Cup fixtures thrown into the mix. I’m very tempted to be quite aggressive with my transfers and bring in Sterling and either Mbeumo or Eze. My problem is who to take out. Liverpool players are the obvious choice as they have the most difficult fixture this weekend, playing Newcastle. I could easily take Salah and Diaz but I think it’s a massive risk and I’ll ultimately want them back in for game week 4. However, with more transfers this season, it does make sense to take a risk now and again. 

I’m certainly tempted to take out Diaz – mainly due to the difficult fixture but also because he went off as a precaution with a slight injury. This hasn’t been mentioned since so the chances are he’s fit for the weekend, however, someone like Sterling looks a more desirable choice considering Chelsea play Luton. This is a good enough reason on its own but there’s also a chance Sterling could get game time in the EFL Cup. I think it’s very unlikely that he plays in this extra fixture but stranger things have happened.

I also like the look of Mbeumo or Eze for game week 3. They face each other but should rise in value at the end of the game week. The only player I can see to take out is Salah though, due to Liverpool’s fixture against Newcastle. I considered Fernandes but Man Utd have a good fixture against Forest and will be looking to redeem themselves after a poor start. Both could also have additional minutes in the EFL Cup but again I think it’s unlikely. 

There’s no one else that I’d like to move on at this stage or anyone else I’m desperate to get in my team. If I were to make both changes above, my hope would be that Diaz and Salah have a quiet game against Newcastle and Sterling, Mbeumo or Eze can get a decent return in their fixtures. However, it’s a very close call. It could easily go the other way as Salah and Diaz to a certain extent could well be worth having regardless of who they are playing. I’d also want at least one of them back in for game week 4 so it’s not a straightforward decision.

When it comes to the EFL Cup in general, I don’t think I’d be bringing in players simply because of these fixtures. Selection in these games will be a lottery and we may find that the big clubs rotate massively. If I didn’t already own the likes of Colwill and Jackson, I’m not sure I’d be bringing them in specifically, although I’m glad I’ve got them both going into this weekend. 

As you can probably tell, I’m still very undecided on what to do for game week 3. Part of me wants to go for it and exploit the transfers available but the other part thinks I should just stick to the team I’ve got. It all really hinges on how well I think Liverpool will do against Newcastle. I’m definitely leaning towards swapping Diaz for Sterling, but it will then be a case of either using or losing my second transfer for game week 2. 

If you wanted to check out the upcoming fixtures, you can do that here for the big teams (all collated manually so may not be 100% accurate). I’d also be interested to hear how everyone else has got on so far and happy to answer any questions in the comments below.