FPL tips: Fantasy Premier League transfer tips for Gameweek 2
The Premier League is back and it did not disappoint with lots of goals and drama unfolding across the opening weekend. More importantly, Fantasy Premier League is back and the season-long wagers are off to a flying start, or are they?
Perhaps you were one of the people examining their FPL team’s score as each minute passed in hope of seeing their total sky-rocket in real-time. However, at the end of the final game on Sunday, you’re mid-to-bottom of your table and your starting XI is littered with dreary ones and two’s. So what do you do?
Well, considering you only get 1 free transfer a week you need to make it count if you’re going to climb that table anytime soon. That’s where we come in. Here are eight transfers you need to make before the Gameweek 2 deadline arrives.
FPL Gameweek 2 key info
| FPL Gameweek 2 start date | FPL Gameweek 2 kick-off time | FPL Gameweek 2 deadline |
| 13/08/2022 | 12:30 | 11:00 |
Goalkeeper
IN: Aaron Ramsdale
Club: Arsenal
Price: £5.0m
GW1 points: 6
GW2 opponents: Leicester
Arsenal’s 2-0 win over Crystal Palace was not the busiest of days for Aaron Ramsdale, thanks to a man-of-the-match performance from William Saliba, but when called upon he made some big saves to ensure the Gunners began 2022/23 with a clean sheet. This weekend, he’ll be facing Leicester City, a side Arsenal have seen favourable returns from in their two most recent fixtures, winning 2-0 home and away last season. With Saliba encapsulating the energy of Gandalf the White and Ramsdale proving he has some of the sharpest reflexes in world football week on week, Arsenal seems like the best bet for a clean sheet if you have £5m to spare.
Out: David de Gea
Club: Man Utd
Price: £5.0m
GW1 points: 1
GW2 opponents: Brentford
Graham Potter’s Seagulls had their bellies full of scraps last weekend due to the poorly organised Red Devils, who were incredibly easy to break down, lacked shape and cohesion in build-up play and defence and, when coming up against a well-drilled, well-coached side like Brighton, were properly found out. That’s exactly what they’re going to come up against this week in Thomas Frank’s Brentford side.
The Bees got stung early by Leicester and were 2-0 down moments into the second half. While United were desperate for a comeback reminiscent of the Ole Gunnar Solskjaer reign against Brighton, Brentford was doing just that and fought their way back into the match to draw 2-2. This passion and team spirit may well be the difference come Saturday. It will also be another big test for 5’9″ Lisandro Martinez who may struggle with the physicality of Brentford’s main man, Ivan Toney.
Defender
IN: Lucas Digne
Club: Aston Villa
Price: £5.0m
GW1 points: 1
GW2 opponents: Everton
Lucas Digne did not have the most fruitful of performances last time out, only picking up a point in a 2-0 drubbing at the hands of newly promoted side Bournemouth. But this weekend he faces his old club Everton, where he knowingly didn’t have the cleanest of breaks from last year. Digne took that bad blood into the following fixture against the Toffees and put on a man-of-the-match performance topped off with an assist, just for good measure.
This will not be a fixture Aston Villa manager and Liverpool legend Steven Gerrard will want to lose for obvious reasons. Even more so after his Villa side controlled large parts of the game against Bournemouth and were getting into the right areas, only to be let down by their lack of quality in the final third. Gerrard will be hoping their intent is exemplified by the dangerous, in-swinging crosses of Lucas Digne, who will be wanting to add a few more insults to injury-ridden Everton.
Out: Emerson Royal
Club: Tottenham
Price: £5.0m
GW1 points: 9
GW2 opponents: Chelsea
This may come as a shock after Emerson Royal came away with two assists and a total of nine points after Tottenham’s 4-1 thrashing of Southampton but we have our reasons and here’s why. Tottenham play Chelsea next, away from home. The last time Tottenham beat Chelsea inside 90 minutes was in the EFL Cup semi-final in 2019, when Mauricio Pochettino was in charge – but even then they still went out on penalties after losing the return fixture. Since then the two teams have met 11 times across all competitions, with Chelsea on the winning side on nine occasions, with two ones (one resulting in a Tottenham penalty-shootout victory). In fact, Tottenham haven’t scored in their past six games against Chelsea, including all four matches last season.
Although Emerson may look like an attractive option and Conte-ball may well be underway, the London derby is a different kettle of fish and it has not been kind to the Lilywhite side of the capital for quite some time.
Midfielder
IN: Jack Harrison
Club: Leeds
Price: £6.0m
GW1 points: 6
GW2 opponents: Southampton
Jack Harrison was a constant threat against Wolves, repeatedly forcing the opposition into making mistakes time and time again, but you don’t get points for pressing, you get points for goals and assists and that’s why he should be in your squad. He frequently found space down the left flank and tended to put a wicked ball into the box more often than not. If it weren’t for some shoddy finishing from the Leeds strikers he could have had three or four assists last weekend, finishing the game with the most chances created (seven), most Big Chances Created (two) and the joint-most assists (one).
Jack Harrison created more chances (7) than any other player in GW1 of the 2022/23 Premier League season. 🍽
— Squawka (@Squawka) August 8, 2022
How Jack Harrison’s FPL GW1 brought 6 points:
- 2 points for 90 minutes played
- 3 points for 1 assist
- 2 bonus points
- -1 point for a yellow card.
Out: Bruno Guimaraes
Club: Newcastle
Price: £6.0m
GW1 points: 3
GW2 opponents: Brighton
Bruno Guimaraes has been selected by 10.5% of FPL players and while he ran the show against Nottingham Forest he only picked up a measly three points. It’s no secret that wingers tend to get more points than central midfielders in FPL and that’s because there’s more chance of them getting a goal or assist if they’re in or around the box, not in and around the halfway line. Bruno ended the game with most completed passes (63), joint-most chances created (three), most dribbles completed (five) and most duels won (12). A dominant performance like that and he wasn’t even in the running for a bonus point.
So we’re suggesting, if you’ve got Bruno (or £6m to spare) that you switch him out for Harrison, especially with Leeds set to play Southampton next time out.
Forward
IN: Darwin Nunez
Club: Liverpool
Price: £9m
GW1 points: 9
GW2 opponents: Crystal Palace
The proclaimed wonderboy was introduced shortly after half time to rescue Liverpool from an embarrassing opening weekend defeat to newly promoted side, Fulham and he didn’t waste any time getting involved. A corridor of death ball by Salah was a clear example of how fast Darwin is over 5-10 yards and when the first back-heel flick didn’t rustle the net, a carbon-copy three minutes later did when he neatly guided it past Marek Rodak. In the 39 minutes he spent on the pitch, Darwin had four shots with three on target, created two chances and created 1 Big Chance, recording one assist.
Darwin Núñez had more shots on target (3) than any other player during GW1 of the 2022/23 Premier League season.
He only played 39 minutes. 🧉
— Squawka (@Squawka) August 8, 2022
Liverpool’s next opponent is Crystal Palace, a side they have torn to pieces at home in recent meetings, winning their last four fixtures and scoring 11 goals during that time without reply. Don’t miss out on the evolution of Darwin or your theory of winning an FPL league may become extinct sooner than you think.
Out: Harry Kane
Club: Tottenham
Price: £11.4m
GW1 points: 2
GW2 opponents: Chelsea
Harry Kane will face Chelsea at Stamford Bridge this upcoming weekend and this fixture has not been kind to the Englishman. With Erling Haaland going up in price (£11.5m — £11.6m) and Kane going down in price (£11.5m — £11.4m) you may be thinking about recovering some losses so you can afford to bring the Manchester City star into your team the following week.
Tottenham put four past Southampton without a single goal contribution from Kane, which is partly down to them having an extra man to carry some of the goal contributions in the shape of Dejan Kulusevski. Since joining in January, Kulusevski has contributed with six goals and nine assists and he doesn’t seem to be slowing down. Kane will be hoping Kulusevski can take this form into the game against London rivals Chelsea, a fixture in which he has a five-game goal drought in the Premier League.
