And just like that, the Premier League season is away.
One Gameweek down, and of course there were many, many fantasy takeaways from the opening set of matches.
Here’s what you need to be across, as we build up to FPL Gameweek 2.
When does FPL Gameweek 2 start?
Saturday 19 August, 3:15am AEST
FPL Gameweek 2 notes
Form over fixtures for Newcastle assets?
Newcastle United put a handful of goals past Aston Villa, in a dominant start to the new Premier League season.
Alex Isak, who was recently featured in our top five strikers piece, was class — 13 fantasy points to kickoff the season in style.
Trippier (33%), Isak (22%) and Botman (20%) all have high ownership percentage.
But do you buy what Newcastle United’s selling and turn a blind eye to the treacherous run of games the club has coming up; Manchester City (A), Liverpool (H) and Brighton (A)?
We suggest keeping a cool head for a few weeks.
Brighton up your team
The Seagulls are set to have another strong campaign in the Premier League and will be involved in plenty of fun, high-scoring games.
Left back Pervis Estupiñán (54%) is deservedly the third-most owned player in the game, behind just Haaland and Saka.
It looks as though Watford transfer João Pedro (27% | £5.5m) is set up to score a tonne of goals up top for Brighton, helped by confirmation he’s taken over Alexis Mac Allister (now with Liverpool) as the team’s first-choice penalty taker.
Left wing Kaoru Mitoma (39% | £6.5m) will continue to be extremely dangerous in the attacking third, while manager Roberto De Zerbi settles on his preferred midfield combination now that both Mac Allister and Moises Caicedo have departed.
Four – or perhaps even five – of their next six fixtures look very gettable; Wolves (A), West Ham (H), Newcastle (H), Manchester United (A), Bournemouth (H), Aston Villa (A).
Not one, but TWO £4.0 goalkeepers
One is rare enough… two is unheard of. There are multiple bottom-dollar keepers starting in the Premier League to kick off the new season; West Ham’s Alphonse Areola (£4.0m | 23%) and Nottingham Forest’s Matt Turner (£4.0m | 14%).
They’re worth keeping an eye on, if you need to generate some bank.
James Maddison an instant hit at Spurs
With Leicester City one of three relegated clubs, Maddison moved on and joined Ange Postecoglou’s Tottenham. And with Harry Kane moving to Bayern Munich, Spurs will need serious output from their recruit.
After pulling off two goal assists last weekend, expect those to continue. Maddison is pulling the strings offensively for Tottenham and looks fairly fixture-proof, boasting set piece duties.
Pre-Gameweek 3 looks like the prime time to assess moving on from either an Arsenal or United midfielder for Maddison, not this week.
Gunner down
Arsenal defender Gabriel (£5.0m | 31%) didn’t start in Mikel Arteta’s XI in Gameweek 1. He’s the third-most owned defender in FPL, so this is a problem for a lot of participants.
The aggressive move would be to transfer him to William Saliba (£5.0m | 21%), ahead of price rises. The patient move would be to give it all one more look and make sure Gabriel doesn’t force his way back into starters consideration.
Kevin De Bruyne injured
The Manchester City midfielder re-tweaked the groin injury that struck in the Champions League Final, which leaves his availability in question for the foreseeable future. The near 12% that own De Bruyne will need to sell.
What also needs to be assessed is the knock-on effect of KDB’s absence. Will Rodrigo (£5.6m | 6%) step up into a more goal-scoring role? And will Phil Foden (£7.5m | 8.7%) be spared of the weekly Pep-roulette he’s been subject to for a couple of seasons now?
Keep close tabs on the midfield minutes in FPL Gameweek 2.
Blues skies ahead
Chelsea defenders have an epic run of games coming up, starting with West Ham in FPL Gameweek 2. The Blues face no team with a Fixture Difficulty Rating above 3 until Gameweek 9.
That means Ben Chilwell (£5.6m | 16%) needs to be on everyone’s radar, as well as Reece James (£5.5m | 18%).
Tyrone Mings suffers serious knee injury
Aston Villa’s Tyrone Mings (11%) faces an extended road to recovery, after confirmation he suffered a severe knee injury against Newcastle United last weekend.
Find a transfer solution for Mings. Tottenham’s Emerson Royal (£4.5m | 1.1%) or Sheffield United’s George Baldock (£4.0m | 15%) look the best options. While listed as a defender, Baldock’s playing as a mid with attacking upside and costs just £4.0 — that’s gold.
Transfer targets under 15% ownership
DEFENDER: Nathan Aké, Manchester City (£5.0m | 6%)
MIDFIELDER: James Maddison, Tottenham (£7.5m | 12.6%) — better timing might be next week, though.
FORWARD: Eddie Nketiah, Arsenal (£5.5 | 4.2%) — while Gabriel Jesus remains sidelined.
