Aryaman S

FPL GW2 Review: Cody Gakpo and Senesi Shine As Gordon and Wirtz Flop

Fantasy Premier League

Gameweek 2 of FPL brought a mix of high-scoring hauls and frustrating blanks. Football and FPL in general has been a slow start this year as compared to last year. Lot of us were also disappointed by Defcon rule as barring a few players it has not been the gamechanger we expected. Almost every player has blanked for managers, let us have a recap of the winners and losers from a FPL perspective.

Winners

Joao Pedro: The Brazilian was the star in the attacking department racking up a massive 15 pointer, he would exploit West Ham’s vulnerabilities on corners by scoring and assisting from a resulting corner. He also whipped up a delicious cross for a Pedro Neto tapin. His new position at the number 10 was certainly a boost and helped him snatch up all 3 bonus. We will have to wait and see if Maresca decides to use both Delap and Joao in their upcoming fixtures.

Dango Ouattara: Brentford’s new signing from Bournemouth was an instant success, he would score the only goal in their 1-0 win and had 15 defcon contributions earning him 2 points and 3 bonus for a 13 pointer. Only Garner had more defcon contributions than Dango this week. He also racked up an impressive 0.79xGI, making him a good option at £6.0m.

Senesi: Bournemouth despite losing their entire backline from last season have looked solid this season Andoni Iraola’s side still look like a tough opponent to face. Senesi has also been one of the few defenders who has reached the Defcon threshold in both matches, he came away with a 9 pointer and 1 bonus.

Timber & Calafiori: The Set Piece kings struck again scoring twice from a corner and both times it was the Dutchman Jurriën Timber. He also set up the assist for the Saka goal, returning with a massive 24 pointer the second highest single gameweek score from a defender. Calafiori who scored from a corner last week would setup an assist for Timber from a corner and also for Gyökeres’ first goal for the Gunners. He would earn 13 points and earn 1 bonus point making him the player with the most points in FPL so far.

Mo Salah: The FPL king made us wait again till injury time this time in the 100th minute, he would cutback the ball and after a dummy by Dominik Szoboszlai, the 16 year old wonderkid Rio Ngumoha scored the winner. He came away with a 5 pointer and was one of the only premium midfielders that delivered a return this week.

Cody Gakpo: The Dutchman yet again delivered after last week’s 7 pointer, providing two assists for his fellow countryman Gravenberch and yet again linking up with Ekitiké. He came away with 10 points and is now the third highest midfielder for points. He is proving to be the best Liverpool midfield asset at just £7.5m. If he nails the LW spot and becomes a regular starter, he will become a mainstay in lot of teams.

Here is the Team of the Week

Losers

Bruno Fernandes: Commanding the fourth most expensive price tag for a midfielder at £9.0m. Bruno was the safe route into the Manchester United team with him being on penalty duties and their talisman. Against Arsenal last week and his opponent this week, he consistently played a deeper role in midfield. A reckless challenge from Bassey earned him a penalty, but he sent the shot over the bar, which cost him 2 points. He was able to make up for the mistake, as his 13 defensive contributions rewarded managers with 2 points.

Rogers and Watkins: The Villa duo had an amazing pre season and looked to be great picks into Unai Emery’s side. What has transpired so far has been shocking, alongside Wolves they are the only team to not score a goal yet. After a nervy affair against Newcastle they would travel to a weak Brentford side that lost 3-1 to Forest a week before. It was the same result as last week, Watkins struggling yet again mustering up 0.45 xGI and Rogers on 0.22 xGI. Managers have kept faith in them due to them having the best fixture run but with performances like these should it be time to pick better players over their fixtures.

Florian Wirtz: The German wunderkind and the holder of the British transfer record has been very disappointing, he has so far come away with 0 returns. He was widely considered underpriced at £8.5m, but now, with his value dropping to £8.4m, it appears he has not adjusted to the Premier League at all. The German only managed 0.14 xGI against Newcastle and was subbed off for Conor Bradley. It seems like Cody Gakpo was the better option for our teams rather than Wirtz. The German has lot of potential and could explode, the question is should we hold or move on?

Anthony Gordon: In Isak’s absence, the English forward looked like he would be the one to carry the Newcastle attack, last week he was shut down by a resilient Villa side but did show his game changing potential as he drew a red card after Konsa made a last man challenge on him. Unfortunately he changed the game for the opponents by getting sent off after a very harsh and unnecessary challenge on Virgil Van Dijk. He will now be suspended for 3 matches and earned managers -2 points this week. He has now failed to score in 22 consecutive games, he is a sell at the £7.5m there are numerous better options.

Ballard: After becoming the highest scoring defender in GW1 history Ballard went off injured after 9 minutes. He was the most transferred in defender after his 17 point haul, lot of knee jerk reactions from managers who were points chasing and it ended up with him getting a single point. A reminder that in FPL last week’s points mean nothing and it is consistency that shoots us up the ranks.


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