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Every Wednesday, our panel of Fantasy Premier League experts look back at the previous Gameweek and ahead to the next one.
Following a thrilling opening weekend, which saw 31 goals scored, here’s what they had to say.
Paul Pogba at just 8m looked like an inviting buy and proved as much. It was always a bit of a gamble but I do think we’ll see a far more influential Pogba in Manchester United’s final third this season.
Henrikh Mkhitaryan is also a great option but is 0.1m more expensive already and susceptible to rotation, particularly for testing away fixtures.
Wayne Rooney justified his selection in my team over the weekend with his goal and three bonus points against Stoke. It could be the first of many, as in the past he has proven to score in ‘purple patches’.
However, it remains to be seen if he can maintain his goal scoring form with Everton’s tricky upcoming fixtures.
Steve Mounie really announced himself on Premier League stage with aplomb. Two goals for Huddersfield on his league debut and could’ve/should’ve had a hattrick. We spoke about Mounie in pre-season and I’m confident he’s the most popular Beninese striker Huddersfield have ever had.
The 6ft 3in club record signing from Montpellier scored six of his 14 goals in Ligue1 last season via his head and stuck close to this statistic with the first of his goals coming from a great header. I think we can all agree that Huddersfield won’t score three in every game, however GW1 did show that when they do attack- Mounie will be the spearhead they will look to utilise.
Rooney helped his team to three points.
When Leicester pulled off the seemingly impossible dream of winning the Premier League in 2015/16, Jamie Vardy was central to their success. At the Emirates against Arsenal he was fired up and raring to go.
Two goals was a great return from a fantasy point of view in addition to the fact he now also has new boy Kelechi Iheanacho to partner him upfront which brings about the prospect of a lightning quick front two pairing when deployed together.
Leicester take on Brighton at home in GW2 and if he can channel his enthusiasm/aggression/Vardyness onto the pitch instead of reportedly punching walls, he could easily be the key man at the King Power Stadium this weekend.
A couple of years ago, David Silva was a must-have in FPL but is now available for a paltry 8m with only 6.5% ownership.
The Spaniard was impressive against Brighton and if he remains fit, could be a great alternative to Kevin De Bruyne who is 2m more expensive and owned by nearly 30% of FPL managers. With Everton at home next, it’s worth keeping an eye on how the 31-year-old gets on.
Sam Vokes unexpectedly scored two goals against the reigning champions on their own turf in GW1. I didn’t even expect him to start, let alone score.
He is owned by less than five percent of managers so he is definitely worth monitoring as a differential, especially with Burnley’s home fixture against West Brom in GW2.
Sam Vokes
Plenty of managers got caught short with Fabregas (-1), Cahil (-3), Jesus (1) and Kane (1) in their teams over the weekend. Having a poor start shouldn’t force you into making knee jerk transfers or chucking the towel in. Be realistic in your outlook.
After all, you’re not going to end up with 38 green arrows. Use initial disappointment as an opportunity to learn and think ahead. Just remember it’s a marathon and not a sprint.
West Brom boss Tony Pulis stated this week that Gareth McAuley will probably miss the September qualifiers for the national team.
From a fantasy point of view that means man mountain Ahmed Hegazy, should be nailed on for the next few fixtures against Burnley and Stoke. It’s well documented that WBA attributed almost half their league goals to set pieces last season.
With clean sheet potential in both games and an attacking threat, he seems a decent shout as a budget defender to free up funds elsewhere.
I’m not an advocate for doubling up on multiple players per club/per position but it makes sense to have defensive cover either through a defender/keeper.
Not to jump on the bandwagon but Steve Mounie really impressed me in the opening week. At just 6m, the Huddersfield striker looks like the real deal, scoring twice on his debut from three shots. He also won seven aerial duels in the process and was heavily involved, registering 47 touches.
The pragmatic course of action would be to wait and monitor his progress over the next couple of weeks but you may rue missing out on Huddersfield’s next give games which look pretty inviting.
Steve Mounie
FantasyYIRMA.com started in 2012 as one of the early Fantasy Football blog accounts focused primarily on news and previews for the Premier League. Now after providing coverage across 191 consecutive Fantasy Premier League gameweeks we still haven’t a clue what we’re talking about however feel we could’ve qualified as an astronaut if the time had been spent more productively.
