FPL Hints - Gameweek 2

Disclaimer: *FPLH reserves the right to change this team at any time. Any changes made will most likely be confirmed on FPLH's Twitter account.

Transfers:
(-4 Hit)

Downing & Hazard (OUT) / Nolan & Y Toure (IN)

I ended up with 84 points in #DGW1.  If you offered me that tally over a week ago I may have taken it.  But hindsight is a funny old thing.  I made a few last minute transfers that cost me hitting 100 exactly!  In particular, I sold O'Brien for Gibbs (who got injured after half an hour) and I sold Nolan for Downing (who got a 1 point cameo off the subs bench).  These two transfers cost me -16 net exactly.  Having said that I got a bit lucky too.  Whittaker was initially in my starting XI and then I relegated him to sub2, yet I still managed to claw back his hoard of points.  Ivanovic's goal and Hazard's assist also boosted my tally.  Regardless, I'm off to a decent start and shouldn't complain too much.

I think the average score of GW2 will be far lower than #DGW1.  Firstly because there is no extra fixture and secondly as a lot of people picked players in #DGW1 that were playing at home.  As is evident in my starting XI, only 3 of them are playing at home.  With that said, I wasn't inclined to panic buy "home" players for GW2 as their fixtures aren't that great overall.

I decided to sell Downing in place of Nolan.  The fact is that Nolan is virtually a second striker for West Ham.  With Carroll's absence and Maiga being out of form, he is bound to score more.  Also, with Nolan playing against his former club this weekend, I think he has a point to prove and may do so against the Magpies stuttering defence.  Beyond this GW, Nolan has some decent fixtures coming up over the next few gameweeks.  

My other transfer entailed me selling Hazard to fund my Nolan purchase.  Chelsea have a tricky fixture v Man Utd on Monday and they won't play in GW3.  Thus I replaced him with Yaya Youre as he is a regular City starter, can often get involved with goals and has a good run of upcoming fixtures like Nolan.

I have decided to captain Soldado as he has form on his side.  If United can ship 4 past Swansea at the Liberty Stadium, then surely a rejuvenated Spurs can score at least 2 past them at White Hart Lane?  Don't use Europe as an excuse, as both played yesterday so that factor is cancelled out.

GW Reject:

MARSHALL (CAR)

GW Punt:

RAMIREZ (SOU)

GW Hot Pick:

SOLDADO (TOT)

Why?

He is Tottenham's main goal threat.

Soldado has scored 3 goals in his last 2 games.

Swansea conceded 4 at home in their GW1 match.

FPLH's GW Star Picks:

Howard

Coleman

Shaw

Clyne

Sigurdsson

Y Toure

Barkley

Nolan

Van Persie

Soldado (c)

Dzeko

Subs:

Boruc

Zabaleta
Paulinho

Shawcross

FPL Hints - Gameweek 1

Disclaimer: *FPLH reserves the right to change this team at any time. Any changes made will most likely be confirmed on FPLH's Twitter account.

Folks, I'm back!  Well I didn't go anywhere over the summer did I now?  If you're a super loyal FPLH fan, you may have noticed a few changes over the summer.  Some of the upgrades are as follows:

• New Writers (and guest contributors)
• FPLH Shop
• 13/14 Prizes

More changes are expected over the course of the season.  But at the very least, I intend to continue my Gameweek 1-38 series; hence this post!  So here we go...

As you can see from my team (posted above), it's very attack-heavy.  I think Van Persie's price isn't inflated at all and reflects his true value.  On the other hand, I think Dzeko is a bargain!  With City offloading Balotelli in January and Tevez over the summer, the Bosnian will get more first team opportunities than previously.  My other striker is Soldado.  Sure he is new to the Premier League, but his La Liga record speaks for itself.  Quality is costly.  In summary my strike force equate's to £10.3M per head.

My midfield is also attack-orientated, albeit not as expensive as my striker force.  I would argue that all 4 of my first-team midfielders have a knack of either scoring or assisting goals fairly regularly, which is a must in FPL!  Hazard is by far my most integral midfielder and I have captained him, due to Chelsea's Double Gameweek against weaker opposition (Hull & Aston Villa respectively).  Downing could be West Ham's main assist provider.  As for Snodgrass and Morrison; this Scottish pairing are under-rated, under-valued but should not be underestimated (see their stats).  With that said, my first-team midfield comes to £7M per head which may be substantially lower than many other FPL teams.

Moving on to my defence and goalkeeper, they are relatively balanced.  I have specifically picked Cech and Ivanovic with DGW in mind.  I was going to pick Mertesacker, but chose Gibbs due to his differential nature.  Toure isn't attack minded, but a steady selection nonetheless.  My back 3 + GK cost approximately £5.9M per head, which doesn't sound like a lot.  But why would you want to spend so much at the back when the points are more likely to be scored at the front?

My captain for GW1 is Hazard and my vice-captain is Ivanovic, again DGW-influenced.

GW Reject:

CAMERON JEROME

GW Punt:

JACK WILSHERE

GW Hot Pick:

EDEN HAZARD

Why?

Has a Double Gameweek.

Scored 190 FPL points last season.

He regularly scores as well as assists.

FPLH's GW Star Picks:

Cech

Ivanovic

Gibbs

Kompany

Coutinho

Hazard (c)

Snodgrass

Nolan

Van Persie

Soldado

Dzeko

Subs:

Mignolet

Jonhson

Morrison

O'Brien