The FPL Watchlist: Gameweek 2

We’ve updated The Watchlist ahead of Gameweek 2 – not that there’s much to report in terms of movers and shakers.

We’d generally need a damn good reason to tinker after one solitary Gameweek and that’s exactly the case here, with very little change from the pre-season standings.

MORE ABOUT THE WATCHLIST

In The Watchlist, we take a look at the stand-out Fantasy Premier League (FPL) options over the medium term.

This is in contrast to the Scout Picks, which deals only in the upcoming Gameweek.

Players are selected and ranked according to factors such as club injuries, form, forthcoming fixtures, Rate My Team’s points projections and whether or not the player in question is likely to be a bargain in FPL.

Arrows before the name indicate whether a player has climbed or fallen in our reckoning since the previous Gameweek or if they are a new entry into the tables.

The key for the factors you’ll see in the below tables is as follows:

Traditionally, we tend to avoid club duplication in each position unless a) there’s a compelling case for a double-up due to fixtures/form or b) there’s a much cheaper alternative to highlight. For instance, Liverpool’s Mohamed Salah (£12.5m) and Diogo Jota (£7.5m) both make the midfielders’ list.

THE WATCHLIST: BEST FPL GOALKEEPERS

We weren’t too far away from a small tweak, with Chelsea’s clash with Manchester City out of the way and a sea of blue on the Season Ticker now awaiting.

It’s not just the nagging doubt about Robert Sanchez‘s (£4.5m) longer-term security of starts. Despite Chelsea having a more sustained run of favourable games, you could still argue that Dean Henderson (£4.5m) has three better clean sheet opportunities in the next five Gameweeks (West Ham and Leicester at home, Everton away):

Not that Henderson isn’t close to dropping. It’s not his security of minutes: that looks fairly assured for now. It’s more the concern about Palace haemorrhaging centre-halves, with Joachim Andersen (£4.5m) on his way out and Marc Guehi (£4.5m) potentially following.

Emiliano Martinez (£5.0m) will likely rise above them in Gameweek 3. Some excellent fixtures are to come after the visit of Arsenal:

David Raya (£5.5m), Alisson (£5.5m) and Bernd Leno (£5.0m) join Sanchez and Martinez in the top six goalkeepers for projected points over the next half-dozen Gameweeks.

THE WATCHLIST: BEST FPL DEFENDERS

To paraphrase one of the officers at Sideshow Bob’s parole hearing: “No right-sided £4.5m centre-half who is playing at a big-six club under a new manager and trying to stave off competition for his place could be a bad pick.”

Yes, Jarell Quansah (£4.4m) makes way and Wesley Fofana (£4.5m) comes in. It wasn’t just Chelsea’s fixtures that swung Fofana’s inclusion; the Frenchman was also omitted from the Blues’ UEFA Europa Conference League play-off squad.

“Wes Fofana is out [of the Europa Conference League squad] but that’s because he played the other day and because of his one-year injury, he cannot play Thursday. Some decisions are because we take care of the players.” – Enzo Maresca

Clearly prioritising Fofana’s Premier League appearances, Maresca has effectively just stated his intention to start Fofana in Gameweeks 2 and 3.

We’ll cop the flak for Quansah. Having had enough doubt to omit Valentin Barco (£4.0m) and Ben Johnson (£4.0m) from the Watchlist last week, we came a cropper with the Liverpool stopper.

He might retain his place in Gameweek 2. There might be logic in holding him, if you’re an owner. But as a recommendation for upcoming Gameweeks, we have to pull the plug for now.

Josko Gvardiol (£6.0m) rises above Pedro Porro (£5.5m) in the only other minor alteration. Man City’s six-week outlook now includes Fulham (H) and not Chelsea (a). Tottenham Hotspur meanwhile have traded Leicester City (a) for the less favourable Brighton & Hove Albion (a).

Should Porro’s Monday night hobble turn out to be something more serious, he’ll likely disappear from The Watchlist altogether.

THE WATCHLIST: BEST FPL MIDFIELDERS + FORWARDS

We’ve grouped the attackers together as there’s not a great deal to discuss. There are no risers or fallers, in fact.

We’re still holding fire on Phil Foden (£9.5m), with Savinho (£6.5m) swiftly back in training after seemingly recovering from Sunday’s knee issue. Foden has been reintegrated slowly after Euro 2024 duty, so we’d ideally like to see him make a starting XI or two before he becomes a legitimate FPL target again. Surely a matter of when, not if.

And despite Chelsea’s fixtures, we’ve not yet seen enough of Cole Palmer (£10.5m) or Christopher Nkunku (£6.5m) under Maresca to promote them any higher. Neither have we seen enough, despite Nkunku’s early withdrawal on Sunday, to abandon ship. With Nkunku, the expectation is that he’ll soon move back infield to where he’s hopefully better suited.

Nicolas Jackson (£7.5m) remains omitted, however, with Joao Felix arriving and Victor Osimhen still heavily linked.

“He can play inside, outside, he can play as a No.9 and this versatility is one of the reasons why we have signed him. He’s a very good player and we are happy to have him him.” – Enzo Maresca on Joao Felix

There’s no Jean-Philippe Mateta (£7.5m) just yet, either, with Oliver Glasner hooking him at half-time on Sunday and explaining that his fitness is still lacking.

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