Tips

The Complete Guide to Our FPL Gameweek 2 Tips and Advice

Isn’t it great to be back? After a long summer deliberating over our teams, FPL returned with a bang last week.

Anything you can do, I can do better.

Mohamed Salah (£12.5m) predictably added to the 562 points he’s amassed in the past two seasons with a goal and an assist at home to Norwich on Friday night. Not to be outdone, premium-assets Raheem Sterling (£12.1m) and Harry Kane (£11.0m) both surpassed his 12-point haul collecting 20 and 13 points respectively on Saturday.

It promises to be an exciting season if those three can hit the heights expected of them. And let’s not forget Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (£11.0m) who opened his account with a goal away to Newcastle. The Gabon international currently sits second in our Captain Poll for Gameweek 2, just over 17% of the 12,000+ managers who voted picked the Arsenal forward. 

Last week’s runaway-favourite Salah is once again the popular choice for the armband. However it’s a decision that has been complicated by Liverpool’s extra-time win in the UEFA Super Cup in midweek, with the Egyptian playing all 120 minutes.

In addition, as Joe highlighted on the Gameweek 2 Captaincy video, Salah only managed two shots against Norwich. To help you make up your mind, Captain Sensible himself, David, delves into the members’ stats before making his recommendation in the captaincy article

We have a deadline of Saturday 11:30 BST for Gameweek 2. Still time to ponder those potential transfers. However, for many who enjoyed a good start, banking a transfer seems the most sensible option. 

Luke made a compelling case for saving a transfer on the Scoutcast, principally because you gain flexibility for Gameweek 3. Although even if you didn’t get off to a great start – don’t panic! FPL Heisenberg offered words of comfort to those who feel disappointed with their Gameweek 1 scores:

“There is plenty of time left. Don’t focus on the number of points you have right now, look at your squad and see if you’re in good shape for the next few Gameweeks. If your squad is fine, save your transfer. If you have issues, then sort them. Whatever you do, just remember – do not panic!”

Similarly, for managers considering selling Bournemouth assets, TheFantasyFreak is not in favour of jumping ship just yet:

“The likes of Wilson, King and Fraser are proven FPL assets and I don’t think one poor game makes them into a bad pick overnight. Aston Villa conceded the highest number of goal attempts and shots inside the box last week so I think it might be slightly premature to bin off your Bournemouth attackers.”

But ultimately it’s your team. As the FPL General noted in his opinion piece: 

“Only you can know what is right for your squad. Don’t bank just because others are saying it’s the best play.”

Neale (aka Skonto Rigga) has been rounding up the latest team news – the headline is the emerging goalkeeper crisis at Liverpool. With first-choice shot-stopper Alisson set to be “out for a while” after suffering a calf injury against Norwich, his replacement Adrian then picked up an ankle knock in the celebrations following Liverpool’s UEFA Super Cup win. The Spaniard is now a doubt for the trip to Southampton. 

Before the news of Adrian’s injury, David was already questioning the wisdom of doubling-up on Liverpool defenders. Are they still a reliable source of clean sheets? 

However it’s Trent Alexander-Arnold’s attacking prowess that sees him selected in this weeks’ Scout Picks. Despite conceding, the right-back was top for key passes and big chances created at Anfield on Friday night.

One of the main talking points from last weekend was the omission from the Manchester City starting line-up of Bernardo Silva (£8.0m). Teammate Riyad Mahrez (£8.5m) was the beneficiary. Seizing his opportunity with both hands, the Algerian contributed three assists in City’s 5-0 win. 

With an ownership of just 3.7%, Mahrez is one of the three players highlighted by Ash (aka FPLHints) in this week’s differentials article. But will the City winger be a victim of Pep Roulette?

Bøwstring The Carp aimed to improve our understanding of Guardiola’s thinking with three insightful articles. In the first, he looked at Guardiola’s background and his influences as a manager. In the second article, he examined the ideas behind Manchester City’s attack. And in the final article he analysed how they defend out of possession

City’s local rivals United featured uppermost in FPLDave‘s thoughts as he reflected on Gameweek 1. Playing as a number 9 but listed in FPL as a midfielder, should we be getting excited about Martial?

Ahead of Gameweek 2, G-Whizz brought us his regular DS stats, fixtures and clean sheet odds – Arsenal, Liverpool, and Manchester City are predicted to do well. 

Greyhead is back with a brand new season of The Great and The Good, revealing a celebrity line-up to rival Strictly Come Dancing. Everyone’s favourite dad-dancer Mark Sutherns returns for the second series and is joined by newcomers including the sparkling Jules Breach and the aptly-named FFS Community Manager Geoff Dance

Geoff, who finished in the top 50 overall in 2016/17, added a touch of glamour to the Official FPL Podcast in midweek. To quote Len Goodman, watch out for this FPL guru “flying across the dancefloor like a rampant crab”.

Over the summer, Geoff also demonstrated his prowess in real football with a belter of a goal in the Fantasy Football Scout Charity Cup. The third iteration of the tournament, in which FFS users get-together to raise money for charity, has so far collected over £600 for the Stroke Association. Further donations are welcome.

Ógie noticed – and it won’t have escaped Greyhead’s attention either – that you are no longer able to see the team value or the amount of transfers made by other managers. An improvement that has largely been welcomed by FFS managers. 

For Scandinavians and hardcore fantasy managers who’ve been with us throughout the summer, Meltens previewed Gameweek 20 in Fantasy Allsvenskan and began a hot topic discussing plans for the week ahead. 

Meanwhile TallestJohn set the scene for Gameweek 17 in Eliteserien Fantasy. Keep reading for updates on the respective FFS mini-leagues.

Finally a technical note for FFS members who may have experienced problems, the solution for the time being is to whitelisting FFS with your adblocker. The heatmaps, for example, should work if you turn off the adblock.

To view all our discussions please visit our Hot Topics page, and if you’ve got some analysis, scout reports or features brewing, be sure to visit our community section to submit your article.

If you’re a member and are yet to get to grips with the custom statistics tables, you can view this movie for an explanation of how they work. Also, remember to tag them so that people can find the tables with ease.

COMMUNITY TOURNAMENTS

Mark Fisk is the early leader in our Fantasy Football Scout mini-league with 124 points after playing his Bench Boost. He is 283rd overall. This is Mark’s ninth season, his previous best finish is 34k. There are currently 41,065 managers participating in the Fantasy Football Scout mini-league, to join them enter code ooyz44 in your Leagues’ section on the FPL site. 

Jill Lees was quickest out of the blocks in our FFS Members mini-league with 112 points. Jill achieved her impressive points total without playing a chip, the only player to blank in her starting eleven was Ayoze Pérez (£6.5m). Jill is 4,402nd overall in only her second FPL season. The code to join the FFS Members League can be found on the Members page

In the seventh edition of TorresMagic’s Last Man Standing the safety score for Gameweek 1 was 66, this saw 219 managers fall at the first hurdle. 3,748 teams are through to Gameweek 2, when the threshold for elimination remains at 5%.

It is possible to enter the competition up until Gameweek 22 using the code bcvy39, however you must pass all the previous safety scores to qualify. Aside from bragging rights, the winner will receive a free Fantasy Football Scout Membership for the 2020/21 season.

The lead in the FFS Mods & Cons mini-league is shared by Ted Maw (aka Rotation’s Alter Ego) and Richard Beach (aka RedLightning), who both have 94 points. Ted starts the season as the reigning champion in the Mods and Cons after overtaking Mark Sutherns on a dramatic final day. Current joint-leader Richard is in his 11th season and has two previous top 4k finishes.

Joining the Mods and Cons league for the first time is John Pritchard (aka fclackless). John gains special entry after beating the Scout Picks by the biggest margin last season: 33 points (77 to 44) in Gameweek 10.

Sam Hopkins is the early pacesetter in RedLightning’s Top 10k Any Season mini-league with 122 points after captaining Sterling. Sterling’s hat-trick helped Sam to 463rd place overall. This is his ninth FPL season, with a previous best finish of 8,999. Managers with a top 10k rank in their season history may join the league using the code m0tq9y.

In Chaballer’s Top 1,000 HoF League Phil Olorenshaw is off to a flying start after he Triple Captained Salah. His 105 points also included double-digit contributions from both Sterling and Kane. This is Phil’s eighth season playing FPL and he has four top 10k end-of-season ranks, his best being 234 overall in the 2014/15 season. 

The number-one ranked manager in 2014/15 was Simon March (aka Dufflinks). Simon is running an exclusive mini-league called the FPL Champions League (aka Top 1 Any Season), a mini-league so exclusive that entry is only granted to former FPL winners!

The leader after Gameweek 1 is 2016/17 champion Ben Crabtree. Everton-fan Ben, who famously doesn’t pick Liverpool players, enjoyed a good start as both Sterling and Kane outscored Salah in the opening Gameweek. 

A total of 5,983 managers entered the FFS Head-to-Head Leagues, which are being run by Mark Reynolds (aka MIR) with support from Geoff, Mat (aka matzi11a), and Chris Atkinson (aka RMT’s Professor). There will be 300 leagues spread across 8 divisions with promotion and relegation taking place at the end of the season. 

In the FFS Eliteserien mini-league the leader going into Gameweek 18 is Svein Johansen with 1,189 points. Svein deployed his Rich Uncle chip in Gameweek 17 to make the most of a Double Gameweek. The Rich Uncle chip is similar to the Free Hit chip but gives managers an unlimited budget for one Gameweek only. 

Luke Dyer is in second place 16 points behind Svien, with Thomas Wickstrøm in third. Svein is currently fourth overall just 17 points behind new overall leader Håvard Gustad. 

In neighbouring Sweden, Daniel Sebestyen held onto his lead in the FFS Allsvenskan mini-league with Simon Eriksson 33 points behind in second place, and Niklas Tysander a further 16 points back in third. All three managers captained 51.3%-owned Muamer Tankovic (9.5m kr) who rewarded their faith with a goal.

Daniel is now 18 points off the overall lead despite slipping one place to fourth. 

If you are running a community tournament and would like the latest scores included in future Community Round-Ups, please email us a summary of the current leaders and a link to your league, spreadsheet or head-to-head competition at geoff@fantasyfootballscout.co.uk

TopMarx Fan of Fantasy Football and Monty Python. "Archimedes out to Socrates, Socrates back to Archimedes, Archimedes out to Heraclitus, he beats Hegel. Heraclitus a little flick, here he comes on the far post, Socrates is there, Socrates heads it in! Socrates has scored! The Greeks are going mad, the Greeks are going mad! Socrates scores, got a beautiful cross from Archimedes. The Germans are disputing it. Hegel is arguing that the reality is merely an a priori adjunct of non-naturalistic ethics, Kant via the categorical imperative is holding that ontologically it exists only in the imagination, and Marx is claiming it was offside. Follow them on Twitter

2,956 Comments Post a Comment
  1. Big Jari Litmanen
    • 8 Years
    4 years, 7 months ago

    Salah or Auba captain?

    1. Evasivo
      • 13 Years
      4 years, 7 months ago

      Salah

      1. Big Jari Litmanen
        • 8 Years
        4 years, 7 months ago

        Thanks

  2. Whats the Mata?
    • Fantasy Football Scout Member
    • 9 Years
    4 years, 7 months ago

    Good luck lads. Let's kill this gw.

    1. Amey
      • 5 Years
      4 years, 7 months ago

      We will.
      😉

  3. Luz1978
    • 10 Years
    4 years, 7 months ago

    I have salah, Sterling and Aubameyang, am I mad to captain Auba?

    1. Top Lad Dakes.
      • 7 Years
      4 years, 7 months ago

      Not at all, I would if I had them 3

    2. Doctor Evil
      • 5 Years
      4 years, 7 months ago

      Got the same and Captain Auba

  4. g40steve
    • 6 Years
    4 years, 7 months ago

    Play KWP (hope for assists) or Lundstram/Dendo?

    1. Big Jari Litmanen
      • 8 Years
      4 years, 7 months ago

      Dendo

    2. Doctor Evil
      • 5 Years
      4 years, 7 months ago

      Dendo

  5. N00B
    • Fantasy Football Scout Member
    • 9 Years
    4 years, 7 months ago

    Good ebening!

    I will play Auba LW today but he will still score at least two. Also Luiz will get an assist.

    Bye!

  6. Cilly Bonnolly
    • Fantasy Football Scout Member
    • 12 Years
    4 years, 7 months ago

    Wood or Dendoncker first sub? Might need one of them if King doesn't play.

    1. teddy.
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 14 Years
      4 years, 7 months ago

      Dend

    2. Balls of Steel
      • 8 Years
      4 years, 7 months ago

      Wood

    3. Victor6359
      • 6 Years
      4 years, 7 months ago

      Wood

  7. teddy.
    • Fantasy Football Scout Member
    • 14 Years
    4 years, 7 months ago

    DON'T PANIC

    1. Cilly Bonnolly
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 12 Years
      4 years, 7 months ago

      HOLD!!!!!

      1. Balls of Steel
        • 8 Years
        4 years, 7 months ago

        Crouch!!!!

        1. CL4PTRAP
          • Fantasy Football Scout Member
          • 9 Years
          4 years, 7 months ago

          Engage

          1. Balls of Steel
            • 8 Years
            4 years, 7 months ago

            Ah finally... Scrum down 🙂

    2. Eat my goal!
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 5 Years
      4 years, 7 months ago

      P A N I C ! ! !

  8. Sun Jihai
    • Fantasy Football Scout Member
    • 12 Years
    4 years, 7 months ago

    Hi guys, play:
    A: Ings
    B: Dendoncker
    C: Rico

    1. Hansel
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 13 Years
      4 years, 7 months ago

      C

  9. Chandler Bing
    • 7 Years
    4 years, 7 months ago

    King -> Tammy a good one?

    1. Bolivian Seaman
      • 13 Years
      4 years, 7 months ago

      no, giroud might play

    2. Dynamic Duos
      • 10 Years
      4 years, 7 months ago

      No

    3. wildebeest123
      • 5 Years
      4 years, 7 months ago

      Hold King. People try this every deadline to manipulate other users into selling prized assets. It’s a sad world we live in...

  10. Hansel
    • Fantasy Football Scout Member
    • 13 Years
    4 years, 7 months ago

    Play Trossard, Montoya or Lundstram?

    1. Down with this sort of thin…
      • 6 Years
      4 years, 7 months ago

      I'm playing Lund but like the look of Montoya, played well last week

    2. teddy.
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 14 Years
      4 years, 7 months ago

      Lundstram

  11. Maddi Son
    • 6 Years
    4 years, 7 months ago

    Sterling(c) FEELS DELICIOUS

    1. Maddamotha
      • 7 Years
      4 years, 7 months ago

      U frucked up m8

      1. Maddi Son
        • 6 Years
        4 years, 7 months ago

        Moms spaghetti

    2. Eat my goal!
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 5 Years
      4 years, 7 months ago

      Hear hear

    3. Yoshioka
      • 5 Years
      4 years, 7 months ago

      There's always next week.

  12. Maddamotha
    • 7 Years
    4 years, 7 months ago

    2 in the bum to make you cum?

    1. Je suis le chat
      • 10 Years
      4 years, 7 months ago

      Prostrate thing?

  13. dunas_dog
    • Fantasy Football Scout Member
    • 8 Years
    4 years, 7 months ago

    Diop or Rico first on bench?

    1. Paanmonkey
      • 9 Years
      4 years, 7 months ago

      Rico

  14. Down with this sort of thin…
    • 6 Years
    4 years, 7 months ago

    Who to bench out of Zinc, Lundstram or Perez? I've gone Perez on bench

    1. Manani
      • 12 Years
      4 years, 7 months ago

      lun

    2. Paanmonkey
      • 9 Years
      4 years, 7 months ago

      Perez should be on the pitch

    3. Balls of Steel
      • 8 Years
      4 years, 7 months ago

      Lund

    4. Victor6359
      • 6 Years
      4 years, 7 months ago

      Lund

    5. Down with this sort of thin…
      • 6 Years
      4 years, 7 months ago

      Don't think a clean sheet is coming then for Sheff United?

      1. Down with this sort of thin…
        • 6 Years
        4 years, 7 months ago

        Perez was also subbed off at home, maybe he'll be even more vulnerable playing away to Chelsea?

        1. Down with this sort of thin…
          • 6 Years
          4 years, 7 months ago

          Ah well, too late. C'mon the mighty Lund!

  15. Top Lad Dakes.
    • 7 Years
    4 years, 7 months ago

    Good luck ladies. Settled on Sterling(c) I think. Salah hat trick incoming

    1. FPL Daniel
      • 14 Years
      4 years, 7 months ago

      Brave

    2. Hazz
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 6 Years
      4 years, 7 months ago

      Thank you for your sacrifice.

  16. Manani
    • 12 Years
    4 years, 7 months ago

    Dendocker or Lund first sub?

    1. Gregor
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • Has Moderation Rights
      • 14 Years
      4 years, 7 months ago

      Lundstram.

    2. Down with this sort of thin…
      • 6 Years
      4 years, 7 months ago

      lund

  17. FPL Daniel
    • 14 Years
    4 years, 7 months ago

    Come on I wanna set my team for next week. Best feeling fro. FPL pow

    1. The Overthinker
      • 7 Years
      4 years, 7 months ago

      I wanna ask questions for gw3

  18. The Overthinker
    • 7 Years
    4 years, 7 months ago

    Nnxksososjownaoansis

  19. Buck The Trent
    • 12 Years
    4 years, 7 months ago

    Pants almost down !

    1. The Overthinker
      • 7 Years
      4 years, 7 months ago

      Take the lub

      1. Cpt Crunch Scott talent
        • 10 Years
        4 years, 7 months ago

        Or just let him push through

        1. The Overthinker
          • 7 Years
          4 years, 7 months ago

          This is not possible, he wouldn't be here if this was the case

  20. Pukki Blinders
    • 4 Years
    4 years, 7 months ago

    How many people have panic sold King within the last 10 minutes? I'm worried but not going to act

    1. Dynamic Duos
      • 10 Years
      4 years, 7 months ago

      Why what is up with King?

      1. Victor6359
        • 6 Years
        4 years, 7 months ago

        Father unwell apparently

    2. wildebeest123
      • 5 Years
      4 years, 7 months ago

      Hold...

    3. Annie
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 11 Years
      4 years, 7 months ago

      I'd rather have someone off the bench and mini WC than act on a dodgy source.

    4. Manani
      • 12 Years
      4 years, 7 months ago

      most got Dendocker playing anywa. more than capable of scoring points

      1. Pukki Blinders
        • 4 Years
        4 years, 7 months ago

        Got Mings first sub. Not confident at all

    5. Balls of Steel
      • 8 Years
      4 years, 7 months ago

      Not me holding first sub Lund

    6. Lukey27
      • 9 Years
      4 years, 7 months ago

      What about King?

      1. Pukki Blinders
        • 4 Years
        4 years, 7 months ago

        Rumours that his dad is ill

    7. FPL_Crisis
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 13 Years
      4 years, 7 months ago

      That’s what subs are for
      2FT next week more valuable

  21. Milk, 1 Šuker
    • Fantasy Football Scout Member
    • 11 Years
    4 years, 7 months ago

    Less than 2 mins. Tick tock...

  22. dark91
    • 8 Years
    4 years, 7 months ago

    Luiz and Ceballos reported in the starting xl today

  23. MarcusAurelius
    • Fantasy Football Scout Member
    • 8 Years
    4 years, 7 months ago

    Captain Auba let’s go

  24. Differential C (Mark)
    • 8 Years
    4 years, 7 months ago

    Good luck, getting on the La(c)a train!

    1. Balls of Steel
      • 8 Years
      4 years, 7 months ago

      Could be gold

  25. Amey
    • 5 Years
    4 years, 7 months ago

    A or B ??

    1. The Overthinker
      • 7 Years
      4 years, 7 months ago

      C?

      1. Amey
        • 5 Years
        4 years, 7 months ago

        😛

    2. sunzip14
      • 7 Years
      4 years, 7 months ago

      (C)

  26. Maddi Son
    • 6 Years
    4 years, 7 months ago

    Quick, Rico or Dungstrap?

  27. Milk, 1 Šuker
    • Fantasy Football Scout Member
    • 11 Years
    4 years, 7 months ago

    Time's nearly up folks

  28. SirStevieG
    • 11 Years
    4 years, 7 months ago

    PANTS DOWN!!!!!!!!!!!

  29. Ógie
    • Fantasy Football Scout Member
    • 11 Years
    4 years, 7 months ago

    Good luck everyone 🙂

  30. It’s gonna Ben Mee
    • 10 Years
    4 years, 7 months ago

    Pens down

    1. Balls of Steel
      • 8 Years
      4 years, 7 months ago

      And pencils