Preview of ALL #FPL #GW2 fixtures in 1 SIMPLE THREAD? Let’s do it!
1) MAN UNITED v Palace
Only 1 place to start this week, as Man United begin their league campaign at Old Trafford against Palace. Palace upset the odds and #FPL managers everywhere by holding out for a 1-0...

...against Southampton, but relied heavily on the heroics of Guaita (£5.0) to keep a clean sheet. Palace’s xGC against Saints was 1.48, so no surprise that United’s front 4 of Martial (£9.0), Rashford (£9.5), Greenwood (£7.5) and Fernandes (£10.5) are all popular transfers..

..in for #GW2. The best United attacking asset? Post-restar, interestingly, Martial had the highest non-Penalty xG (3.71), ahead of Rashford (3.38), Bruno (2.68) and Greenwood (1.45) post-restart. However with pens included, Bruno easily has the highest xG (4.99), ahead..

..of Rashford (4.14). It’s hard to argue against a Martial/Bruno double-up, with Palace, Brighton and Newcastle in the next 3. If you can only pick one, with the number of penalties #GW1 and as mid, Bruno makes a strong case for a transfer IN this week and even captaincy..

..(discussed further below). At the back, United had the 2nd lowest xGC (goals conceded) post-restart (7.94, only behind Wolves). Maguire (£5.5) had a difficult holiday but Ole has confirmed he will keep the captaincy, so he should remain nailed, although Wan-Bissaka (£5.5)..

.. had a higher xG and xA (0.37 and 0.63) compared to Maguire (0.07 and 0.17) post-restart.

2) WOLVES v Man City
City assets seem to be less popular than United assets this week, presumably based on the supposed difficulty of their fixtures. City face Leicester, Leeds, Arsenal..

..West Ham and Sheff Utd up to GW7. But apart from their loss at Wolves (where Ederson was sent off after 12 min) and Leeds just being promoted, City won all of these corresponding fixtures last season. Their post-restart form also suggests that City assets can and will score..

.. against any team – Sterling (£11.5) had the highest xG of any mids post-restart at 6.04 while KDB (£11.5) had 5 goals and 5 assists in just 9 games. If you’re happy to play the more advanced level of Pep Roulette, reports indicate that Aguero (£10.5) may be available, but as..

..usual, Jesus (£9.5) is also available and he had the 2nd highest xG of any forward post-restart, so proceed at your own risk.

Former Bournemouth man Ake (£5.5) is the most owned City defender, although it remains to be seen if he is nailed – Pep may choose to rotate him with..

..Laporte (£6.0) and Fernandinho (£5.5, now reclassified as a defender). Wait and see for now.

Wolves on the hand looked like a team reborn in #GW1, free of the knowledge they no longer need to play Europa League on Thursday nights. Jimenez (£8.5) had the highest non-Pen xG..

..of #GW1 with 0.92 and could have scored 2-3 goals, while Saiss (£5.0) had the highest non-Pen xG among defenders (0.61) and could have had a 2nd goal but he hit the post. With their amazing fixtures from #GW3 onwards (West Ham, Fulham, Leeds, Newcastle and Palace), you could..

..get ahead of the curve and transfer Wolves assets in this week.

3) ARSENAL v West Ham
Aubameyang (£12.0) will likely be the most popular captaincy choice this week (more on that at the end of thread) despite his stats against Fulham not exactly being world-beating: 3 shots..

.. in total and 1 goal. But Auba always has the ability to score a goal out of nothing, he’s on pens and West Ham have started their annual crisis early this season – so proceed. Willian (£8.1) was part of the first price rise this season after a man of the match display..

.. against Fulham – he even almost scored a goal but his free kick hit the post. Defensively Arsenal were untroubled by Fulham and Gabriel (£5.0) has been a popular transfer in after scoring on his debut – but with fixtures against Liverpool, City and United in the next 6..

..unless you’re playing them as part of a rotation, Arsenal defenders might not be the best option.

West Ham were awful against Newcastle and now embark on a horrible fixture run, where they face 6 of the top 8 (Arsenal, Wolves, Leicester, Spurs, Man City and Liverpool) from..

.. GW2-GW7 – they lost ALL of the corresponding fixtures last season. Unless they put in a massively improved performance against Arsenal, it might be time to say goodbye to Antonio (£6.5) and Soucek (£5.0).

4) CHELSEA V Liverpool
The big match this #GW2. Chelsea were..

.. distinctly average against Brighton and the 3-1 score flattered them, with their 3 goals being: a penalty, a Reece James (£5.0) banger (his first goal in 25 league games) and a deflected Zouma (£5.0) shot. Werner (£9.5m) put in a decent shift, earning himself an assist by..

.. winning a penalty, but only had 1 shot on target in 90 min and picked up a knock (although he was quick to say in the post match interview that he will be fit for Liverpool).

Other debutant Havertz (£8.5m) was poor, managing 0 shots and just 1 key pass in 80 min. For now..

..the pre-season chatter about us all having triple Chelsea attack by #GW3 seems very unlikely – Lamps may need more time to figure out how to fit in all the new signings, and the Liverpool match will give us a better idea of how much work needs to be done.

Defensively..

..Trossard’s equaliser against Chelsea in #GW1 was the 19th goal that Kepa has conceded from outside the box – more than any other PL keeper in the last 2 years. That makes good reading for Salah (£12.0) and Mane (£11.9), who had 9 and 5 shots respectively in #GW1, and..

.. are possible differential captaincy options this week, with everyone else going for Auba/Bruno. Let’s not forget that Chelsea had the 3rd worst defence post-restart of all non-relegated teams.

Managers with double Liverpool defence might be getting nervous, but Leeds’ 3..

..goals in #GW1 were from just 6 shots (50% conversion rate), which is unlikely to be repeated. Going forward, VVD (£6.5) scored and had a 2nd goal disallowed for a push, while Robertson (£7.0) and Trent (£7.5) both had 9 crosses, with Robbo taking 5 corners and Trent taking 4..

...Maybe hold steady for now unless on a wildcard.

5) EVERTON v West Brom
Calvert Lewin (£7.0) is the 2nd most transferred in forward this week after 8 points in #GW1. But points do not tell the full story – DCL scored with 1 of his only 2 shots. Richarlison (£8.0) might be..

.. the better long term pick, with 7 shots in #GW1, 5 in the box. That said, with fixtures against West Brom, Palace, Brighton, Saints and Newcastle in the next 6, you probably can’t go wrong with either man. Also with Siggy no longer nailed – who’s on pens? Maybe Richarlison.

James Rodriguez (£7.5) had a good debut with an xA of 0.59 and 5 key passes, joint highest in #GW1. He also managed 3 shots, 2 in the box. Could be a useful mid-priced midfield enabler.

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