Gameweek one has come and gone and we finally have all 20 teams in action this weekend! That means that some have been making moves to get their Manchester City and Manchester United picks into their lineups while others have just needed to activate said guys from their benches. This is where squad building comes full circle and we have to try our best to avoid knee jerk game week one reaction. If you have Mohamed Salah, you likely had a good week. If you went without Salah, you’re heavily rethinking your decisions but your team was likely planned with at least the first five weeks in mind. There’s no reason to make drastic changes to the plan yet as you can get more data and wildcard in game week three or find other band-aid solutions.
I would like to begin by speaking about a few highly owned game week one disappointments and my feelings on them. Allan Saint-Maximin went without a return playing deeper on the left side for Newcastle in a 4-4-2 and his attacking upside was constricted without Miguel Almirón on the field. I don’t think that a 4-4-2 will be the base formation that Newcastle will operate from this season so I’m not worried about the fate of Saint-Maximin yet, but watch the next few games to see if the 4-2-3-1 or some variation of it returns. Southampton… ugh, I don’t want to overreact about their defensive showing versus Crystal Palace, who had an anemic attack last season, but the Saints went and did it AGAIN versus Brentford with a mostly first-choice squad in the Carabo Cup midweek.Â
I understand that Brentford was expected to be in the Premier League instead of Fulham but shipping in goals to lower table sides doesn’t bode well with a date with Spurs on the weekend. There’s so much to like at Southampton, but I don’t love their center backs until Mohammed Salisu is healthy and ready to go (not sure when that will be). Personally, I can’t move Alex McCarthy and Kyle Walker-Peters yet so they’ll get a bit longer for me to see what happens but game week three wildcarders could see Southampton quickly getting the boot.
A halftime hook for Dele Alli was surprising and with Giovani Lo Celso returning to health along with the arrival of new players will cause some changes in the Tottenham lineup. If you have Dele in your FPL side, there isn’t much time to hold and hope for the best. In draft sides, hold and hope for the best with the knowledge that you may need to divest in shares of Dele sooner rather than later. Liverpool defenders are also getting a bad shtick after allowing three goals to Leeds United but some of those goals were almost otherworldly. Trent Alexander-Arnold had a bad game for sure but that’s not a reason to transfer him out of your FPL team. He’s priced where he is due to attacking returns and the clean sheets are gravy. Keep the faith even with a date with Chelsea on the horizon.
Top Transfer Targets will take a look at the ownership tiers in FPL breaking down the best options in each. The tiers will be broken down as 25-40 percent owned, 15-24 percent, 10-15 percent, under 10 percent. This article will also include players to offload, some due to injury or being dropped by their teams, and others due to performance.Â
Let’s look at this week’s schedule
Saturday 19 Sep
Everton v West Brom
Leeds United v Fulham
Manchester United v Crystal Palace
Arsenal vs West Ham United
Sunday 20 Sep
Southampton v Tottenham
Newcastle v Brighton
Chelsea v Liverpool
Leicester City v Burnley
Monday 21 Sep
Aston Villa v Sheffield United
Wolves v Manchester City
The 40 percent club is made up of Trent Alexander-Arnold, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, and Timo Werner. Mo Salah and Kevin De Bruyne will be included too as no one needs advice that they should add two of the top-scoring midfielders from last year to their teams.
Worth your consideration (16-24 percent rostered):
Raúl Jiménez (FWD Wolverhampton 8.5m, 19.8%): Wolves reminded us that they’re still here with Raul getting out in space versus Sheffield United and a towering header from Romain Saiss. Looking at the upcoming schedule, it’s mouthwatering for the poacher after City, West Ham, Fulham, Leeds, Newcastle and Palace are on the docket. If the forward line of Pedro Neto and Daniel Podence continues, then Wolves could have quite the fluid attack going forward. Wolves are also a bogey team for Manchester City so Raul could get the scoring party started early.
Nick Pope (GK Burnley 5.5m, 16.5%): Coming off a blank to start the season, Burnley will line up against Leicester City to begin their season. Leicester may have put three goals by West Brom but they had a tough time scoring in the first half. It’ll be a tougher challenge against the organized defense of Sean Dyche. Pope is one of the best set and forgets keepers in the game and the schedule only gets better after Leicester.
Solid if not stellar (10-15 percent rostered):
Anthony Martial (FWD Manchester United 9.0m, 15.9%): The biggest winner of Bruno Fernandes and Paul Pogba playing together was Anthony Martial. Martial was one of the top goal scorers in the Premier League after the break last season and I’m backing him to continue. With Marcus Rashford and Mason Greenwood moving to midfield this season, Martial being the lone forward at only 9.0m is a bargain. Kicking off their season versus Crystal Palace should be the perfect cakewalk for Martial to begin his season with a return.
Aaron Wan-Bissaka (DEF Manchester United 5.5m, 12.9%): Staying with Manchester United, we’re going to move to the defense. While the keeper situation isn’t settled yet as David De Gea and Dean Henderson will duke it out but either both will rise to their best and lead to more clean sheets or one will take charge. Wan-Bissaka has also been finding his form when it comes to setting up the attackers and he’s more durable than Luke Shaw making him my pick of the defense.
Lucas Digne (DEF Everton 6.0m, 11.5%): Are Everton good? We’re not sure yet but the answer may be yes after shutting down Tottenham in week one. It is also a good sign that with James Rodriguez joining the fray Digne kept his set plays then a clean sheet on top of an assist to Calvert Lewin is always a wonderful thing.
Dominic Calvert-Lewin (FWD Everton 7.1m, 11.5%): Two chances, one goal. While Richarlison was fluffing his attacking chances for Everton, it was Calvert-Lewin who profited. Playing as a lone forward, there’s a lot of upside for Calvert-Lewin in this Everton attack.
Rolling the dice (under 10 percent rostered):
Rhian Brewster (FWD Liverpool 4.5m, 6.1%): Linked with a move to Sheffield United as the Blades look to collect all the forwards, Brewster is worth the hold in order to get more big hitters into your side. There’s likely a slim chance that Brewster is the next Mason Greenwood but hope is sometimes all that we have to go off of at this point in the season.
Punty McPunterson: Raheem Sterling (FWD Manchester City 11.5m, 4.6%): It’s odd to have Sterling listed as a punt but as de Bruyne’s selection percentages are rising… Sterling’s aren’t. Is de Bruyne really a 25% better pick than Sterling? I’m not so sure especially when Sterling has the better odds of getting a hat trick. If you’re going without Aubameyang this week, sterling is the better pick to try covering that production in my opinion.
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