Looking at the Gameweek 1 Team of the Week, we see a lot of familiar faces. And Erling Haaland, who scored a goal and got a (for him) modest 7 FPL points, isn’t even in it. Who did make it in, is that other ultra-premium fantasy asset Mo Salah, whose 14 FPL points (1 goal + 1 assist) actually made him the highest-scoring player of the gameweek as well. Behind him, a group of three players scored 12 FPL points (Welbeck and the Arsenal duo Saka and Havertz), while third place with 11 FPL points was shared by another three players: Man City’s Mateo Kovacic, Newcastle’s Joelinton and Brentford’s Yoanne Wissa. The biggest surprise of the weekend was new Man United right-back, who got into the starting eleven straight away and clinched 8 FPL points, courtesy of a clean sheet and 2 bonus points.
Many a fantasy manager will have their eyes on the Etihad stadium on Saturday afternoon, as Manchester City are hosting newly promoted Ipswich Town. The Liverpool versus Brentford game at Anfield a day later will also attract plenty of attention, especially after Salah’s and Jota’s hauls in GW1 at Ipswich. Other interesting fixtures, from a fantasy point of view, include Fulham at home to Leicester, Spurs at home to Everton and Newcastle away at Bournemouth. The clash of the weekend is taking place on Saturday evening, when Aston Villa host Arsenal.
Don’t forget, the deadline for gameweek 2 is set at 11h00 (UK time) on Saturday, August 24th, 2024. The free to play FPL or pay to play games like FanTeam (which has a £200,000 prize fund and a late-entry option) are ideal ways of following the Premier League action.
Most transferred in/transferred out players (as per August 22nd, 2024)
| TRANSFERS OUT | TRANSFERS IN | POSSIBLE REASONS | |
| GK | Pickford (EVE), Raya (ARS), Martinez (AST) | Pope (NEW), Ederson (MCI), Raya (ARS) | |
| DEF | Trippier (NEW), Quansah (LIV), Andersen (CRY) | Mazraoui (MUN), Gvardiol (MCI), Robinson (FUL) | Mazraoui £4.5m price + seeming starter |
| MID | Rodrigo (MCI), Palmer (CHE), Eze (CRY) | Jota (LIV), Salah (LIV), Saka (ARS) | Rodrigo injury, Jota starting forward |
| FOR | Watkins (AST), Toney (BRE), Isak (NEW) | Havertz (ARS), Haaland (MCI), Welbeck (BRI) | Welbeck GW1 haul, Toney transfer rumors |
Premium pick
We know. We are not even two gameweeks into the new season and we’ve already recommended Erling Haaland (£15.0m). There are still plenty of managers who don’t have the Norwegian in their squad yet and while that might be understandable for the season opener at Stamford Bridge, it is much less so for the upcoming GW2 game against Ipswich Town. While we are very much at the start of the season yet and Ipswich, in all fairness, did OK at home against the precise-passing of Liverpool last weekend, we have little hope for the Tractor Boys when they visit the Etihad on Saturday. Last season, no other team scored more at home than Man City and in terms of individual players, only Cole Palmer scored more in front of his own fans than Haaland did. Add to that the fact that last weekend, no team gave up more big chances than Ipswich and we feel the gameweek 1 fantasy premium pick is about as straight forward as they come (as is our captaincy pick later on in this article).
Non-premium pick
We were thinking of doubling up on Man City picks with Phil Foden for our gameweek 2 preview, but we decided to vary a bit and go with Diogo Jota (£7.5m) instead. Now, that might sound as if we are “downgrading” a bit, but nothing could be further from the truth, especially if the Portuguese attacker continues to lead the Liverpool line. And why wouldn’t he, considering his 8-pointer last weekend, courtesy of scoring the opening goal at Portman Road? Jota could be a fantastic out-of-position option, especially at his current affordable price of just £7.5m. Up next are Brentford for the first home game of the season and that’s not at all, because Liverpool have got sweet fixtures for the coming weeks. After gameweek 2, it’s Man United at Old Trafford, Forest at home, Bournemouth at home and Wolves away for the Reds. If you’re confident Jota will keep his place in the squad, which at this moment we believe he will, then he might be one of the best investments you could make at this moment.
The budget enabler
On a slightly shorter time scale, Fulham have also got a few good fixtures coming up. In gameweek 2 it’s Leicester at home for the Cottagers, followed by Ipswich away, two newly promoted teams in a row. That’s why we feel that Rodrigo Muniz (£6.0m) could be an interesting addition to any FPL squad, at least on the short term. As expected, the Brazilian started up front for Fulham at Old Trafford in GW1 and he had a decent outing, despite not scoring. He did, however, get two shots from inside the box, including a bicycle kick that forced a smart save out of André Onana. More interesting though, is the fact that coming opponents Leicester seemed to allow for a lot of space centrally in their match against Spurs, exactly the area in which Muniz operates. We expect him to be a handful for the Foxes backline and we hope for his first attacking return of the season on Saturday.
The differential
Like our premium fantasy pick, we are also repeating last week’s differential fantasy pick, simply because we feel it’s an almost unique opportunity. Kevin de Bruyne (£9.5m) came away without any attacking returns from Man City’s season opener at Stamford Bridge, but he did look very fit and ready to lead his side in another title chase this season. The Belgian completed the 90 minutes and had a couple of decent shots from distance on top of his usual top-shelf playmaking contributions. Man City are now preparing for their first home game of the season against Ipswich Town, which looks like a perfect opportunity for KDB to open his scoring and/or assisting accounts for the 2024-25 season. If he does, don’t expect his ownership to stay under 10% for much longer (currently at 8.3%).
The (vice-)captaincy
We already revealed this at the start of the Gameweek 2 FPL preview: it’s Erling Haaland for Manchester City’s home game against Ipswich Town.
If you are one of the roughly 47% of FPL managers who don’t have Haaland (yet), there are a few good alternatives on offer this gameweek as well. Of course, Mohamed Salah (away at Brentford) is always a good shout, as is Kevin de Bruyne at home to Ipswich. Slightly riskier captaincy picks include Alexander Isak for Newcastle’s visit to Bournemouth, Cole Palmer for Chelsea’s visit to Wolves and Diogo Jota for Liverpool’s home game versus Brentford.
For further thoughts and discussions on the new FPL season visit FISO’s FPL forum.