The first week of the Premier League proved to be an absolute banger for the fans with some amazing matches, as well as for the majority of the Fantasy Premier League managers too. The average for FPL is over 55 points, which is quite high for the opening game week of a campaign.
Some predictions on the long scale proved to be spot on for the majority of managers. This included getting major points from Erling Haaland, who was captained by a large group of managers. Other highly-picked players like Alexander Isak, Bukayo Saka and even Pervis Estupinan all gave high-point returns.
However, there were a few highly-picked players that failed to impress in the opening matches. They frustrated the FPL community with the lack of goal contribution or doing anything to do to get them over the 2-point mark.
Many FPL managers are thinking about getting these overpriced, underperforming players out and replacing them with those who impressed in the opening game week. This could, however, be a mistake. Here are some highly-rated game-week 1 underperformers you’d want to hold on for a little longer.
Son Heung-Min
Tottenham Hotspur’s star summer signing James Maddison was their star of the show in the 2-2 draw against Brentford on opening weekend. He delivered a thunderous assist for Cristian Romero and also laid it off for Emerson Royal to score his goal – which proved to be the equalizer.
However, the new Spurs captain Son Heung-Min had a frustrating outing with no contribution and having little threat in the final third. This could urge some managers to get rid of the 9.0 midfielder and replace him with an ‘inform’ midfielder.
— FPL Gold Fish- Yaniv Salomon (@SalomonYaniv) August 14, 2023
That could, however, be unnecessarily rash decision-making. Son is the vocal point of Spurs attack and still their most clinical forward. He has some juicy games ahead, including the upcoming one against Manchester United – scoring against them at home last season and managing 3 goals in the 2020/21 season.
After that are games with lowly opponents like Bournemouth, Burnley and Sheffield United. These are matches when he could really come alive and lead from the front. With Harry Kane gone, Son has become Spurs’ biggest attacking threat and deserves a place in your FPl team despite his high rating.
Martin Odegaard
Another expensive midfielder to end up with a disappointing 2-point finish in game-week one was Arsenal captain Martin Odegaard, despite his side’s 2-1 win over Nottingham Forest at the Emirates Stadium. The Norwegian is rated at 8.5 this time, making him an expensive midfielder.
However, Odegaard has too much influence over Arsenal’s game to be discarded so easily already. The Gunners have some promising games ahead, only facing one top-4 opponent in Manchester United over the next month or so.
With Martinelli and Odegaard both having a meh start to FPL, and Pedro looking pretty good, I can see a lot of people scrambling to get Salah in this week
I’m not sure the ‘spread the funds’ strategy every really holds for long in this game
Odegaard had 23 goal contributions (15g, 8a) last season and is still very influential in the attack. Everything goes to him in the attack, as he’s responsible for creating big chances and also take set-pieces. Odegaard is going to get you goals and assists soon with the juicy matches ahead and doesn’t deserve being binned this early after the season he had last time.
Nicolas Jackson
Chelsea’s newest forward Nicolas Jackson is someone who intrigues a lot of FPL managers due to his low 7.0 price, which can be perfect to have him as a second forward alongside Erling Haaland in your team.
Jackson was actually quite lively in the game against Liverpool, despite not being among the goals. He made some great runs and tormented the defenders with his pace, as well as setting up some big chances – including one big scoring chance that Mykhailo Mudryk missed late on.
Promising display by Nicolas Jackson (£7.0m) despite the blank.
Time played (Raw) – 102 mins Shots In The Box – 4 Shots On Target – 2 Non-Penalty xG – 0.53
Even though his underwhelming 2 point start to the FPL career can disappoint some, there is on reason behind replacing him immediately. Jackson will get more chances to score against weaker opponents like West Ham United, Luton Town, Bournemouth and Nottingham Forest in the weeks ahead and still remains a solid pick at 7.0.
Cody Gakpo
Cody Gakpo is an unfortunate victim of Liverpool’s inability to sign a new defensive midfielder, forcing Jurgen Klopp to play him in a midfield role against Chelsea. As a result, he failed to be the major goal threat that the Dutchman is expected to be by many FPL managers.
At 7.5, he isn’t really the cheapest of forwards available either and FPL users might be convinced to bin him if he doesn’t start producing soon. However, Gakpo should be unshackled from the burden of his midfield role once Liverpool sign Romeo Lavia or some other midfielder, which should help move Gakpo into a no.9 role again.
In that position, the Dutchman is a dangerous asset for Liverpool and has the skills to get himself in all the ideal positions to get things done. Gakpo had 10 goal contributions in 17 starts for Liverpool last season and has that efficiency in him to thrive on the quality of the Liverpool attack and get more involved in attacks going forward. So, rather than replacing him, it’d be smarter to keep Gakpo in your FPL team and see the big points come flying in soon.
