FPL: GAMEWEEK 2 REVIEW

Gameweek 2 of the 21/22 Premier League season is done and dusted with only 25 goals scored from 10 matches. 2.5 goals per match? One could easily say that this Gameweek belonged to the goalkeepers and defenders. The midfield in particular was disappointing as major buys blanked with most of the differential picks scoring the bulk of the points.

8 out of the 20 teams earned themselves a clean sheet, with all the big boys barring Manchester United – as a freak own-goal ruined their chances – coming away with a clean sheet.

Elsewhere, Hugo Lloris of Tottenham Hotspur was the leading points scorer among the goalies as the Frenchman bagged 11 FPL points. Reece James of Chelsea toyed with the Arsenal backline as the English wingback ended Gameweek 2 as the highest points scorer with 18 FPL points.

West Ham saved the best for last and their attacking play meant two of their players were among the highest points scorers for Gameweek 2. Michail Antonio bagged 16 FPL points for his brace and assist while Saïd Benrahma was the top midfielder with 12 FPL points, scoring the Hammers’ second goal and setting up one for Antonio.

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LIVERPOOL 2-0 BURNLEY

The Liverpool fullbacks Trent Alexander-Arnold and Konstantinos Tsimikas bagged double-digit points for FPL managers as the Greek managed to outdo his partner, while Sadio Mané and Diogo Jota both scored a goal each to reward their owners with 8 FPL points.

However, there was frustration for 2.88 million FPL managers who backed Mohamed Salah with the captain’s armband as the Egyptian blanked in Liverpool’s 2-0 win over Burnley but could have easily bagged a couple of goals with VAR ruling one goal offside and the other with Dwight McNeil clearing the ball off the line. Harvey Elliot, in particular, will be one to keep an eye on when Liverpool face other bottom-half teams as the youngster looked calm and composed on the ball and might get a lot of unexpected minutes throughout the rest of the season.

Konstantinos Tsimikas – DEF – (LIV) – 11 pts
Trent Alexander-Arnold – DEF – (LIV) – 12 pts

Also Read – VAR and the state of refereeing – what are we missing?

ASTON VILLA 2-0 NEWCASTLE UNITED

Despite Joe Willock’s arrival, Steve Bruce’s Magpies looked toothless as Aston Villa coasted to an easy 2-0 victory to ease some of the opening-day burns inflicted by their 3-2 defeat to Watford. Tyrone Mings was Villa’s star performer as the English centre-back flicked on a long throw for Danny Ings (8 pts) to score a spectacular overhead kick late on in the first-half’s injury time.

Just past the hour mark, Mings earned a spot-kick when Jamal Lascelles used his arms to block the ball which Anwar El Ghazi calmly slotted home into the bottom-left corner. Newcastle earned a penalty themselves when Emiliano Martínez rushed in and went over the top of Callum Wilson; the Argentine can consider himself lucky as it was a clear red card in my books. But soon it counted for nothing as VAR found Wilson to be offside during the build-up and that’s how it ended: Villa 2-0 Newcastle.

Tyrone Mings – DEF – (AVL) – 15 pts
Anwar El Ghazi – MID – (AVL) – 9 pts

CRYSTAL PALACE 0-0 BRENTFORD

In a tightly fought contest at Selhurst Park, it ended even-stevens with both the defences rewarding their managers with valuable FPL points. Conor Gallagher came closest to breaking the deadlock when Wilfred Zaha slipped him through on goal, but the 21-year-old hit the underside of the crossbar as the contest turned into a tight, cagey affair from thereon.

Brentford shaded the first half, but Ivan Toney and Bryan Mbeumo spurned opportunities. The second half started on the same note and Brentford were in control but clear-cut chances were few and far between. Ivan Toney again mistimed a header as it bounced off his shoulder which Guaita dealt with comfortably. While David Raya made a crucial diving save to deny James McArthur from 20 yards out, and that was pretty much it.

Vicente Guaita – GK – (CRY) – 9 pts
Pontus Jansson – DEF – (BRE) – 9 pts

LEEDS UNITED 2-2 EVERTON

It was attack against defence for the whole 90 minutes. Rafa Benítez set his Everton side up in a very defensive setup. The idea was clear – soak up all the pressure, entice Leeds to commit every player forward and then hit them on the counter. And it was Everton who broke the deadlock when VAR deemed that Liam Cooper held Dominic Calvert-Lewin (7 pts) at the back post and the referee pointed to the penalty spot, where DCL slotted his shot into the bottom-left corner, despite Illan Meslier diving the correct way. Five minutes before normal halftime ended, Patrick Bamford (4 pts) spotted Mateusz Klich’s run and the Pole calmly directed his shot past Jordan Pickford.

Minutes into the second half, Abdoulaye Doucouré (4 pts) won the ball in the Leeds final third and sprayed it to Demarai Gray with acres of space; the chance seemed to have passed him by, but the new Toffees signing showed composure and found the back of the net with his weaker foot. And in the 72nd minute, it was time for some Samba magic when the Brazilian, Raphinha, curled one beyond Pickford to level it up at 2-all. There were opportunities for both to grab the winner but it ended all square at Elland Road.

Demarai Gray – MID – (EVE) – 9 pts
Mateusz Klich – MID – (LEE) – 9 pts

Also Read – TOP 10 DIFFERENTIAL PICKS FOR 21/22 FPL SEASON

MANCHESTER CITY 5-0 NORWICH CITY

It was a five-star performance from Pep Guardiola’s men as Manchester City thumped five past Norwich City. Tim Krul conceded an unfortunate own-goal to open the account from the Cityzens as 15 minutes later the £100 million-signing Jack Grealish (8 pts) scored his first City goal as Pep’s team took a two-goal lead into the half-time interval.

Aymeric Laporte made it three-nil when a set-piece chaos inside the Norwich 18-yard box led to the Spanish centre-back rifling in a low shot past Krul. To put the icing on the cake, and much to the relief of a lot of FPL managers, both Raheem Sterling (6 pts) and Riyad Mahrez (6 pts) scored after coming on from the bench, while Rúben Dias’ assist for Mahrez’s goal took the Portuguese centre-back to double-digit FPL points.

Aymeric Laporte – DEF – (MCI) – 14 pts
Gabriel Jesus – FWD – (MCI) – 11 pts
Rúben Dias – DEF – (MCI) – 11 pts

BRIGHTON & HOVE ALBION 2-0 WATFORD

Brighton & Hove Albion made it two in two after early goals from Shane Duffy and Neal Maupay sealed the tie for Graham Potter’s men. Watford never got going as Xisco Muñoz’s men looked a shadow of the team that rattled Aston Villa on the opening day.

Pascal Groß (6 pts) whipped in a delicious corner which Shane Duffy headed in as it hit the crossbar and bounced over the line into the back of the net. And just past the 40-minute mark, Yves Bissouma nicked the ball off Tom Cleverly around the 25-yard area and played it through to Neal Maupay (6 pts) who doubled the Seagulls’ lead. Watford threatened Brighton late on in the second half, but Potter’s men comfortably saw out the rest of the match.

Shane Duffy – DEF – (BHA) – 14 pts
Yves Bissouma – MID – (BHA) – 8 pts

SOUTHAMPTON 1-1 MANCHESTER UNITED

At the full-time whistle, Manchester United equalled Arsenal’s record of staying unbeaten in 27 consecutive away games, but the trip back to Manchester would leave them with a sour taste. United dominated proceedings from the get-go and should have put the match to bed within the first 10 minutes, but Southampton clung on and when Che Adams’ shot from the edge of the box took a freak deflection from Fred, the ball somehow crept into the bottom-right corner. Just like Salah, Bruno Fernandes (1 pt) blanked to pile more misery on FPL managers, and to make matters worse, earned himself a yellow card for dissent.

The visitors rallied in the second period and Mason Greenwood equalised as Paul Pogba (4 pts) toe-picked Fernandes’ ball into the teenager’s path and it looked like United would go on to win the match, with big chances falling to both Pogba and Greenwood, but both failed to convert as the Saints scored a hard-earned point.

Mason Greenwood – MID – (MUN) – 7 pts
Che Adams – FWD – (SOU) – 5pts

WOLVERHAMPTON WANDERERS 0-1 TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR

After the first two Gameweeks, you have to say Wolverhampton Wanderers are the only team whose results based on the performances don’t add up. Bruno Lage’s men dominated the contest for large portions of the game, with goal-scoring opportunities falling to Romain Saïss, Raul Jiménez, Rúben Neves and Leander Dendoncker, but none of them converted.

Tottenham Hotspur were into their shell for the entirety of the game as it was José Sá’s reckless lunge on Dele Alli that resulted in the latter earning a spot-kick and converting it to give the lead to the visitors. Heung-Min Son (3 pts) was rather quiet; the South Korean’s closest effort was blocked off by Sá and he was later subbed off for Harry Kane after the 70-minute mark. Nuno Espírito Santo’s men weathered Wolves’ barrage to win their second match on the bounce.

Hugo Lloris – GK – (TOT) – 11 pts
Dele Alli – MID – (TOT) – 9 pts

ARSENAL 0-2 CHELSEA

It was men against boys. Chelsea‘s display against Arsenal represents everything that the Gunners aren’t at present. 277,000 prayers were answered within the first 15 minutes when Reece James’ ball found Romelu Lukaku at the end of it for an easy tap-in. The Belgian international was levels above the opposition, and while Pablo Marí did well, you can’t expect a single centre-back to man-mark a man of Lukaku’s physicality and keep him quiet for 90 minutes.

Mason Mount (6 pts) then played through Reece James on goal as the Chelsea wingback was allowed acres of space down Arsenal’s left-hand side where James rifled one well beyond Bernd Leno’s reach. Arsenal had a penalty shout themselves when Reece James brought down Bukayo Saka – who had a torrid afternoon – but VAR adjudged it to be a goal kick instead. Arsenal rallied back in the second half and had chances to claw their way back with Rob Holding misdirecting his free header agonisingly close to the Chelsea post.

Reece James – DEF – (CHE) – 18 pts
Romelu Lukaku – FWD – (CHE) – 8 pts
Eduard Mendy – GK – (CHE) – 8 pts

WEST HAM UNITED 4-1 LEICESTER CITY

The Hammers hammered Leicester at the London Stadium as David Moyes’ side ran out 4-1 winners following a first-half red card for Ayoze Pérez of Leicester. West Ham United took the lead against the Foxes when Leicester lost the ball near the halfway line and Saïd Benrahma had the space and time to whip in a first-time cross which Pablo Fornals (8 pts) slotted past Kasper Schmeichel. Pérez’s challenge on Fornals looked innocuous at first sight but the footage from VAR showed its severity and thus the Spaniard was shown a red card.

Leicester barely offered anything before that, and against a 10-man side, the floodgates opened for West Ham. Ça?lar Söyüncü’s glaring back pass to Schmeichel resulted in Michail Antonio winning the ball and laying off Benrahma to slot home an easy tap-in into the empty net. Youri Tielemans pulled one back for the Foxes with 20 minutes remaining but a brace from Michail Antonio late on sealed the match for David Moyes and seemingly killed off Leicester.

Michail Antonio – FWD – (WHU) – 16 pts
Saïd Benrahma – MID – (WHU) – 12 pts