Gameweek 1 Review
Petr Cech was a big disappointment for many Fantasy Football Managers, as well as Arsenal fans, at the weekend with his sloppy display but at least he’ll almost certainly be playing this coming weekend, unlike Thibaut Courtois who upset 160,000 Dream Team managers by getting sent off against Swansea and misses the clash with Manchester City. In Dream Team goalkeeping calamities aside, Yaya Toure and Riyad Mahrez (both 18 points) started the season with a bang from midfield.
There are plenty of decision to make for Sky Sports Fantasy Football managers after a gruelling opening gameweek for most, with the popular picks failing to deliver. None of the most selected 25 players made it into the team-of-the-week, with the likes of Riyad Mahrez (£6m) and Arouna Kone (£6.7m) top scoring. Those considering early changes will want to bear in mind Aston Villa’s clash with Manchester United has been moved forward to Friday night, with the clash pitting together two of just five defences to have kept clean sheets. Whilst waiting for the match to start why not check out for free casino and enjoy playing.
In Telegraph Fantasy Football (TFF), after one round of Premier League matches, players from Manchester City have scored the highest number of Telegraph Fantasy Football points (75) thanks to their 3-0 win over West Brom. West Ham are second on 64 points after their surprise win at the Emirates.
Gameweek 2 Preview
The fixtures for Gameweek 2 are:
Friday
Aston Villa v Man United
(7.45pm Sky Sports 1)
Saturday
Southampton v Everton
(12.45pm BT Sport 1)
Sunderland v Norwich
Swansea v Newcastle
Spurs v Stoke
Watford v West Brom
West Ham v Leicester
Sunday
Crystal Palace v Arsenal
(1.30pm Sky Sports 1)
Man City v Chelsea
(4.00pm Sky Sports 1)
Monday
Liverpool v Bournemouth
(8.00pm Sky Sports 1)
The second gameweek of the Premier League kicks off with Manchester United making the trip to Villa Park in the first Friday night Premier League fixture since Arsenal hosted Newcastle at Highbury in 2003. Wayne Rooney (£10.5m in Fantasy Premier League) will be in many fantasy managers’ sights after notching an assist from a deflected ball last weekend and all signs point to him getting on the score sheet in this fixture. Afforded a starting berth in the central striker position for United, great expectations are rested on his shoulders. Tim Sherwood’s Villa will not be approaching the game with a losing mentality and new signings Rudy Gestede (£6.0m) and Micah Richards (£4.5m) will be looking to build on impressive debuts against Bournemouth last weekend. Some will be fancying Villa to at least get a draw with Man Utd who perhaps were a little lucky to get a win against Spurs due to the own goal.
The most exciting matches of the weekend will be played out on Super Sunday, with Crystal Palace hosting Arsenal at Selhurst Park in the early kick off at 13:30. After an underpar performance against West Ham last weekend which saw Arsenal lose 2-0, Chilean Alexis Sanchez (£11.5m) looks set to make his first start of the season and could prove to be too much for the likes of stand-in goalkeeper Alex McCarthy (£4.0m) to keep at bay.
The late kick off sees one of the biggest games of the season played out at the Etihad, as champions Chelsea travel to face runners-up Manchester City who put in a hugely impressive performance at The Hawthorns on Monday, dispatching West Brom with ease, largely thanks to immense performances from Yaya Toure (£8.5m) and David Silva (£10.0m). Aguero may again start on the bench.
Chelsea come off the back of a poor performance which saw them draw 2-2 against Swansea on Saturday evening and confidence in the Blues to deliver a winning performance will be low. Despite this, Jose Mourinho always has a plan going into the big games and will not go down without a fight. Diego Costa (£11.0m) looks to be fit enough to start the match which could spell trouble for City’s defenders. Recently rated as the 6th best player in Europe by UEFA, Eden Hazard (£11.5m) is unstoppable when he’s on song and could well regain his best form on Sunday. Either way this should be a spectacular game and likely the highlight of the weekend!
The Monday night game sees Bournemouth travel to Anfield in their maiden Premier League campaign, and Eddie Howe will be optimistic he can lead the Cherries to victory over a less than convincing Liverpool who edged past Stoke thanks to yet another brilliant strike from Phillippe Coutinho (£8.0m) in the dying minutes of their match at the Britannia Stadium on Sunday. For all the latest football odds why not check out Bet365.