Matchweek one was fairly disappointing for most fantasy owners as many big clubs (Manchester United, Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool, Tottenham) failed to put forth the performances many were expecting. Don’t panic! There is no need to overhaul your squad after one week, but you should look over your squad with a harsher eye and see which players you think will return to form and which may not. “Trust, but verify” as my father always says. It’s unlikely that Eden Hazard ends the season as the 37th best fantasy midfielder or that Marc Albrighton is the 2nd. Whether or not you should change your team is a decision no one but you can make. My job is to give you as much information as possible to help make that decision an easier one!
First up? Price changes!
That’s right boys and girls, no longer do all players fit into tidy and convenient .5 increments. The following pricing changes have taken place:
+.01
Darmian – Defender, Manchester United, 5.6
Riyad Mahrez – Midfielder, Leicester, 5.6
Joe Gomez – Defender, Liverpool, 4.6
-.01
David De Gea – Goalkeeper, Manchester United, 5.4
Added to those are the following players who are likely to see their prices change by the time you read this:
+.01
Phillippe Coutinho,Midfielder, Liverpool
Reece Oxford, Defender, West Ham
-.01
Leighton Baines – Defender, Everton
Ki Sung-Yeung – Midfielder, Swansea
Falcao – Forward, Chelsea
Danny Ings – Forward, Liverpool
Alberto Moreno – Defender, Liverpool
Ayoze Perez – Forward, Newcastle
Now on to the main event! I will, once again, be going through a buy and/or sell at each price point to make adding or dropping these players as easy for you as possible!
13.0
Buy: Sergio Aguero – Forward, Manchester City
After making a brief appearance in Manchester City’s demolition of West Brom, it looks as though Aguero will be available to start this Sunday. Last week Bafetimbi Gomis ran the vaunted Chelsea defence ragged, imagine what Aguero will be able to do.
11.5
Buy: Eden Hazard – Midfielder, Chelsea
I, like many, was disappointed in Hazard’s performance against Swansea in MW1. He looks set to bounce back against Pablo Zabaleta who often finds himself far upfield which should leave plenty of space for Hazard to exploit.
11.0
Buy: Diego Costa – Forward, Chelsea
The Brazilian and/or Spaniard appears to be fully fit and will be facing a Manchester City defence who certainly had their struggles last season.
Sell: Alexis Sanchez – Midfielder, Arsenal
Love Sanchez this season but looks as though he may be used as a sub again this week. If he does start it would be highly likely that he’d be involved in at least one goal.
10.5
Buy: Wayne Rooney – Forward, Manchester United
Rooney was a half-second, or a Kyle Walker foot, away from scoring the first goal of the season. He now faces a thrown together Aston Villa defence whom he should terrorise with ease. I still wholly believe Rooney will net 20+ goals this season.
Sell: Daniel Sturridge – Forward, Liverpool
The Englishman will likely be given his spot back when he’s healthy, but he’s not healthy yet.
10.0
Buy: David Silva
Silva put on an absolutely artful performance against West Brom on Monday. Regardless of whether or not the first goal was his, he proved why he’s just about a must own. Chelsea’s midfield is quite strong so “buy” may be a bit strong, but definitely don’t sell him because of one tough matchup.
9.5
Buy: Harry Kane
Kane was very impressive against Manchester United despite not getting on the scoresheet. He drifted around the pitch a fair amount, pulling the defence every which way, opening space for others. Stoke’s defense looks like it will have to adjust to Erik Pieters injury which may be allow Kane to exploit them.
9.0
Buy: Cesc Fabregas – Midfielder, Chelsea
He was disappointing in MW1 but with Toure likely charging forward to help Manchester City’s attack, Fabregas may have enough time to find the killer ball that made him so valuable last season.
Sell: Olivier Giroud/Theo Walcott
If either didn’t exist, the remaining one would have great value! Unfortunately, Wenger is trying to cram 7 players into 4 positions, and as such it’s near impossible to know who will be getting the start each week.
8.5
Buy: Yaya Toure – Midfielder, Manchester City
After struggling for most of last season (but don’t tell him that), Toure came out in a big way to start the season. The Ivorian scored a stunning goal and had another that was later attributed to Silva, both of which reminded many exactly of what he’s capable. Yes, Chelsea have a great midfield and defense, but on Toure’s day he is truly unstoppable.
Sell: Wilfried Bony – Forward, Manchester City
He did an excellent job in Sergio Aguero’s stead, but the main man looks to be back this week.
8.0
Buy: Phillippe Coutinho
The diminutive playmaker saved Liverpool’s match against Stoke. This is not a recommendation based on Coutinho’s goal scoring ability, but rather his creativity. As he gets more familiar with Roberto Firmino and Christian Benteke he will be an absolute monster, so get him now before his price starts to rise.
7.5
Buy: Diego Payet – Midfielder, West Ham
Payet looked an absolute force against Arsenal. While his fantasy points didn’t respect his brilliance, it will surely be no time before he starts racking up goals and assists. Leicester did have a great match against Sunderland last week, but their midfield doesn’t offer enough to scare me off the Frenchman.
Sell: Every 7.5 player not named Payet or Sigurdsson
Seriously, avoid this price point.
7.0
Buy: Bafetimbi Gomis – Forward, Swansea and/or Andre Ayew – Midfielder, Swansea
Both Swansea players put on a clinic against the best defense in the Premier League. Swansea look set to score buckets of goals with these two, Sigurdsson, and a developing Jefferson Montero. Newcastle looked good against Southampton in MW1, but not enough to scare me off Gomis or Ayew.
Sell: Salomon Rondon – Forward, West Brom
I like the signing of Rondon, but I think it’s both too soon for him to start, and has little value until we know what is happening with Berahino, Rickie Lambert, and Brown Ideye.
6.5
Buy: Yohan Cabaye – Midfielder, Crystal Palace
Cabaye had a great debut for Palace and looked every bit the player we last saw at Newcastle. His deeper positioning means he will be able to ride out tough matchups like the coming one against Arsenal.
Sell: Saido Berahino – Forward, West Brom
See “Salomon Rondon”.
6.0
Buy: Jefferson Montero – Midfielder, Swansea
Did you see that Chelsea match?! If Montero continues to develop at this rate, Swansea will be a frightening matchup for even the best teams in the league. Throw him against the inexperienced Haidara and Montero could be in for a big week.
Buy: Alex Oxlade Chamberlain – Midfielder, Arsenal
While there are others that could take his place, the Englishman is the only Arsenal player who turned up for both the Community Shield and MW1. While It’s possible he fails to retain his place, I’m much more willing to take a chance at this price range than Cazorla’s or Walcott’s.
5.5
Buy: Hector Bellerin – Defender, Arsenal
“Did he just recommend buying two Arsenal players in a row?!” Yup! Like I’ve said, individually most Arsenal players are great fantasy options with the playing time the only concern. Mathieu Debuchy got the start last week and looked awful enough for me to think Bellerin will get his job back this Sunday.
Sell: Mathieu Debuchy – Defender, Arsenal
See above.
5.0
Buy: Marc Albrighton – Midfielder, Leicester
Albrighton had a tremendous match against Sunderland scoring a goal and assisting two. Ride the form train until it runs out of steam.
Sell: Nemanja Matic – Midfielder, Chelsea
The big Serb is a phenomenal player in real life but will get you very little in the way of counting stats. There are much better buys at this price point
4.5
Buy: Micah Richards – Defender, Aston Villa
Richards may be an iffy play this week against Manchester United, but he has great fantasy upside going forward and is well worth a speculative add.
Sell: Michel Vorm – Goalkeeper, Tottenham
It looks as though Hugo Lloris will be getting the start on Saturday and, honestly, Vorm wasn’t that great an option to begin with.
4.0
Buy: Reece Oxford, Defender/Midfielder, West Ham
Oxford had an incredible debut especially considering his tender age. Regardless of whether or not he starts every week, getting in a player of such talent at such a low price is definitely worth the add.
Buy: Alex McCarthy – Goalkeeper, Crystal Palace
Many expected Wayne Hennessey to fill in until Julian Speroni was fit, but Alan Pardew gave the nod to McCarthy and boy did he deliver. There are still some flaws to his game, but he had a great double save in the first half and may well have made the job his buy the time Speroni is back.
