Good afternoon Hive Fantasy Premier League users. I will be doing a preview of Gameweek 2 after the interesting Gameweek 1 that didn't teach us that much really other than every team is a bit rusty. Liverpool did not look great. Man United certainly did not look great. Aston Villa who are meant to be challenging for Europe this season had a horror show against Newcastle. Actually come to think of it the only 2 teams that looked really good were Newcastle and of course Man City. Now it is worth noting that Manchester City are not firing on all cylinders yet but they are still better than most Premiership clubs in 2nd gear. Newcastle though were excellent and I do not think Eddie Howe gets the credit he deserves as due to FPP regulations Newcastle cannot really spend how they want to spend quite yet. At the other end of the table we found out that Wolves are not bad. Luton were a little na茂ve and them and Sheffield United will have a hard time staying in the Premiership.
Anyway with Week 1 out of the way we are onto Gameweek 2 preview. Please note that Luton Town versus Burnley is postponed this week so make sure to take these players from your line ups. I doubt any of your have any Luton Town players in your line ups but it has to be said as a precaution.Let us start off with the Friday night game
Sheffield United got a taster of life back in the Premier League last week with a defeat to Crystal Palace. If they want to staying the Premiership then they need to be defeating the bottom half of the table teams. Nottingham Forest are their rivals in this regard. With a hope that Forest will push on this year , they are still in danger. Taiwo Awoniyi [FWD] is one to watch after a good start for Forest but it doesn't bode well for Sheffield United when their keeper Foderingham [GK] was their number 1 points player last week and this was even after goals conceded. Forest don't have a bad squad. The 150 signings last year are not embedded in so they have a better chance of survival this year than last when they got out by the skin of their teeth. I expect a Nottingham Forest win in this game. Anything else will be a disaster for Forest even this early on.
Fulham accumulated some healthy FPL points in Gameweek 1 after their 1 - 0 win over Everton last week. Leno [GK] was their highest points tally at 12 with his clean sheet.They had a turbulent pre season with their star forward **Aleksandar Mitrovi膰 [FWD] **throwing his toys out of the pram telling them that he would not return so they played Raul Jimenez up top. They face a similar side to Everton last week with Brentford set up similarly with their low block. Brentford are not bad having salvaged a draw against an attacking Spurs team last week. Mbeumo [MID] is very very dangerous and Wisse [FWD] has already got off to a good start. Some of these players need to be watched in the coming weeks. They are standing in for Ivan Toney so these two is where the goals are going to come from. I may pull the trigger on Mbeumo this week if he scores well in this match. I predict a Brentford win here but not by much.
It was either Man United were very bad or Wolves were not as bad as expected. I am not so sure but a couple of players stood out for Wolves in last weeks game against United. Cunha [FWD] is a baller but I am not sure if he will play against Brighton. I am surprised that Brighton have any players leaft after Chelsea are finished with them but as even they always have players to take the place of the 拢100 million pound player that has left the building. Evan Ferguson [FWD] is only 18 and already looks like he has been playing Premiership football for years scoring another goal last week. What a player this guy is. Solly March [MID] as per usual is coming up with the goods having scored 9 points last week. I am surprised more Hive users do not have this guy in their team. A Brighton win here is on the cards I reckon. Brighton just have the fire power.
Liverpool got off to a dodgy start last week against Chelsea with their midfield still waiting to be upgraded after Chelsea swooped in for their two top midfield targets. I would say they are not happy campers about this as they need a holding midfielder really badly. Jokes on Twitter are that they should sign Henderson or Fabinho from Saudi Arabia but they need to upgrade fast or it will be another disappointing year for the reds. Liverpool were wishy washy last year because Fabinho's legs were gone but they still have not got in his replacement. This heavy metal football seems to have turned into to something else. I still reckon they miss Mane as a sort of competitor to Salah. Salah [MID] who was hooked off last week because of his poor display is a worry. But if you look how many points [5] he scored he wasn't that bad. That is the thing about Salah,He plays bad but ends up being one of the best of FPL last year. Experts are saying if he loses his pace then he is a goner. Maybe so. Anything other than a win at home will be worrying for the reds. The good news is the Luis Diaz [MID] is back scoring with 8 points last week.
Solanke [FWD] was the highest earner for Bournemouth last week and one could argue he would be a nice back up striker to have on your team.
The late game on Saturday night is going to be a great one. Spurs at home against United. It is Big Ange's first home game at Spurs and he is at the moment transitioning from a low block team under Conte to an all out attacking team with 4 players making their Spurs debut last week. Bissouma [MID], Maddison[MID] and Udogee [DEF] look like class acts already and Spurs are starting to look like a serious outfit if Ange gets more time with them on the training ground. They have not clicked yet but Ange's team's have always been known for their slow enough start. Richarlison did not fire in the first game and it took goals from Romero [DEF] and Royal [DEF] to get the draw against Brentford but the good news is that United looked off the boil last week so they are not firing on all cylinders either which makes for a good encounter. Varane [DEF]
is a selection that most people did not go for over his injury prone record but after his 14 points last week he may be one to think about in your transfers. Wan Bissaka [DEF] has looked like he has a new lease of life after he played very well against Wolves last week. Judging by the points in all the games last week , a 5 man defence may be the way to go this year as these two teams only had goals from defenders last week.
If last week was anything to go by then we look like we are going to have a game on our hands on Saturday evening. First of all what a great time to have a game on. 8pm on a Saturday night. Hook it to my veins. The FPL Discord will be hopping that night. Man City are in second gear but still doing well although there is an issue with De Bruyne's injury. Who can replace him? The truth is City actually don't have a similar style player so they may bring Foden back into the mix and play him deeper. It will be interesting. Haaland scored 2 easy goals but got a telling off from his manager for shouting at Bernardo Silva to play him in through the Centre. This was not Pepe's instruction so he made it be known to Haaland in public view of the cameras. Haaland and Rodrigo scored 13 points last week. Every Hive user and his dog had Haaland as captain this season as he is a points machine. Also every Hive user and his dog have Trippier on their team because he is a dead ball specialist who scores from defence. Newcastle look good. Very very good. So this game will be interesting. No dount Howe will have a plan to keep the Norwegian viking quiet. A draw for me here as I think both teams will be cagey enough here.
Villa versus Everton is on Sunday and Villa need to get back to winning after their disastrous start to the Premiership season against Newcastle last week. Villa were bad, very bad and it even grew worse when Tyrone Ming's leg snapped in two which made many stomachs churn last week. Villa who are expected to do well this year need to start gelling and quick but the good news is that they play Everton on Sunday who are hotly tipped to be finally put out of their misery this year. We will see how Aston Villa do against a low block. Maybe it will suit them better than the Newcastle game. Everton lost to Bournemouth last weekend which tells its own story. Their highest points tally was Jordan Pickford [GK] with 2 measly points. Villa hang their hat this year on Ollie Watkins[FWD ]to continue his run of form. With 5 points last week after a loss he will be looking to get the win here for Villa but after last weeks struggles the jury is still out on Villa.
A local derby this and if West Ham hate anyone more then Spurs , it is Chelsea. West Ham drew last week and look to get off to a better start than last season. But they cannot spend their Declan Rice money as everybody knows that they are loaded and are raising their prices. Bowen [MID] who started very slowly last season bagged 9 points and looked dangerous. Maybe a thought for a midfielder as West Ham hope to add to their squad which is not all that bad if they get McGuire and McTomany in. Soucek played well also last week in the absence of Declan Rice.They switched positions last year on Rice's request which was not a good option. Now that Rice is gone , he is back to where he likes to play which is suiting the team as well. FPL experts are transferring Chilwell [DEF] into their teams this week after it turned out that Poch fancies him. We never knew what team Chelsea were going to put out last week so it was best not to pick their players but after seeing their first team , the cunning users started transferring some of the players in after week 1 with Chilwell being a top points scorer. This will be an interesting one. I predict a West Ham win here. Don't ask me why. I just detest Blue Fulham with the ex Spurs demigod.
Arsenal Arsenal Arsenal every Hive user has players from Arsenal. The Saka's , the Martinellis, the Salibas. Saka [MID] scored 10 points last week so he is worthy of the Fantasy League Team and is a quality player. Arsenal have the squad to pick apart Palace this Monday night although Palace are coming off the back of a win. Again Palace relied on their defenders to score with Anderson[DEF] leading their points for them. If Arsenal's super sub Eddie Nketiah[FWD] can keep scoring until Jesus comes back then Arsenal are looking good. However they will never get as lucky as last year and these kind of games are what will trip them up this year. Palace are not lacking quality players such as Eberechi Eze[MID] who is looking to continue his great form.
So there we have it . Who is excited?? I know I am. It will be a really interesting Gameweek this week and some promising players are coming to the fore. Will you use your Bench Boost of Treble Captain this week?? Does anyone not have Haaland as captain? Share a comment below with your opinions on this Gameweek.
All images of team selections are source from FPL website
