The Second Game-Week of the Premier League and along with its comes some major conundrums for FPL managers in order to select or make changes to their existing squad in order to get highest possible returns and improving their overall rankings and possibly enhance their position, if they play in a league.
Here are some of the key battles of GW2:
Chilwell vs James: The duo of the English fullbacks playing for Chelsea has been a major confusion for managers as both were seen playing in much advanced role in their GW1 draw against Liverpool.
They managed to produce major threats on both the flanks with James having an XGI of 0.45 and Chilwell of 0.34.
Chelsea look to use Pochettino’s plan of using both the fullbacks as wingbacks and using the likes of Chukwuemeka and Sterling as interiors to allow this to happen. Chelsea bared the fruits of their labor as Disasi slid one past off of Chilwell’s pass to draw the game for the blues.
Chilwell however would have been the better pick amongst two because like the game against Liverpool and all of preseason show he has a more attacking role in direct comparison to James even though, both of them are operating quite high up the pitch under the Argentine manager.
Another aspect that makes Chilwell a more attractive choice is the fact that there has been a shift in corner taking duties at Chelsea as Chilwell took 8 Corners in preseason and Reece took none even though both of them were on the pitch for 5 corners.
The dilemma between choosing between the pair was soon cleared as Reece James reportedly suffers from a hamstring injury and is set to be missing from action for the duration of a month.
Chilwell who saw an increase in price from 5.5 to 5.6M looks to be a much better option and it would be advised for all James owners to quickly switch to Chilwell before his price drops as Chelsea face West Ham, Luton and Nottingham Forest in the upcoming weeks.
Diaby vs Watkins:
Moussa Diaby can prove to be quite an interesting pick and prove to be a lot less popular and differential option when looking at attacking threats from Emery’s Aston Villa.
Even though they got thrashed 5-1 by Newcastle in their opening fixture of the premier league but face relegation bound Everton who are known to have a leaky backline letting in goals for fun.
When looking back at the Newcastle game one can clearly notice that Diaby was operating a lot more centrally and played as a second striker as Watkins looked to play along the backs of defenders, allowing Diaby to use his blistering pace in order to make runs in behind and tap into open space. The obvious advantage is that Diaby is listed as a midfielder and 1.5M cheaper when compared to Watkins who’s priced at 8.0M.
Against Newcastle Diaby was the one who scored the only goal against Newcastle and Watkins was the one who provided the assist. If one looks at the underlying stats, both have similar underlying stats with both having 0.39 and 0.42 xGI respectively.
Maddison vs Richarlison:
The dilemma between Tottenham picks as increased even more as Kane secured a move to Bavarian Giants Bayern Munich meaning that Richarlison’s minutes naturally increase as he is the only Number 9 in Ange Postecoglou’s squad but the conundrum between the two picks is that in FPL Richarlison is also listed as a midfielder and priced at 7.0M which half a million cheaper when compared to Maddison who is priced at 7.5M.
Many managers are looking to hold out on Richarlison for a major swing in GW 3 and granted the situation is a lot more ‘wait and see’ in his case. The most common argument put forward in the Brazilian’s favor is that a team that scored more than 60 goals last season will help a striker, especially if he is listed as a Midfielder.
Maddison however, has dazzled for Spurs from the get-go bagging two assists in their opening fixture against Brentford and what makes Maddison a much better pick in my opinion is that his output was a lot higher than Richarlison in a team that got relegated in Leicester City and the fact that he is also on set pieces and quite lethal at them, making him a better choice.
Alvarez vs Foden :
The injury of Pep Guardiola’s catalyst in Kevin De Bruyne has opened up the options of using Midfielder Foden and Forward Julian Alvarez who are priced at 7.5m and 6.5m respectively.
When looking at the opening game against Burnley wherein both managed to start, and after KDB’s injury both shifted inward playing similar positions playing as interiors. Alvarez was the one who came out on top getting an assist and scoring 5 points whereas, Foden managed to score 3 points.
Foden also featured in Manchester City’s UEFA Super Cup final against Sevilla but it could also be a cause of concern for managers who own the Englishman as City play a crucial fixture against Newcastle not even 48 hours later and Alvarez’s rest indicates that he will be given priority against the Magpies.
My pick out of the two would be Alvarez given he is much more lethal in front of goal, in 2nd for the pecking order for Penalties and the fact that Foden is more prone to the infamous Pep Roulette as he had been over the last season. Along with the fact that he is 1.0M left.
