Players To Pick
Erling Haaland (Manchester City)
Erling Haaland (15.1m) scored a hat-trick against Ipswich last week, rewarding managers for their heavy investment. Haaland faces West Ham this week at the London Stadium, where he has three goals in his last two visits.
Cole Palmer (Chelsea)
Cole Palmer (10.5m) played a more central role in Chelsea’s 6-2 victory over Wolves and showed his capability to produce big point hauls. Palmer scored one goal and provided three assists, and will face Crystal Palace at home who are yet to keep a clean sheet.
Antonee Robinson (Fulham)
Antonee Robinson (4.6m) produced an assist against Leicester despite failing to keep a clean-sheet. This reinforces that Robinson’s attacking potential can cover any of Fulham’s shortcomings in defence. Fulham face Ipswich this week who have conceded six goals in their previous two games.
David Raya (Arsenal)
David Raya (5.5m) has not only kept two clean sheets in two for Arsenal, but has produced some amazing saves to earn himself a total of four bonus points. Despite a tough run of fixtures coming, the Spaniard is in top form and looking like an essential premium goalkeeper.
Differential Picks
Ezri Konsa (Aston Villa)
Despite Ezri Konsa (4.5m) failing to register any returns in the last two Gameweeks, Aston Villa’s fixtures take a nicer turn which could provide Konsa the opportunity to be an effective budget option in the defence for FPL managers. Aston Villa’s next four fixtures are against Leicester, Everton, Wolves and Ipswich.
Matz Sels (Nottingham Forest)
Nottingham Forest have been defensively sound to begin the season, with Matz Sels (4.5m) picking up a clean sheet against Southampton. Nottingham Forest face Wolves who are lighter in attack following the departure of Pedro Neto (6.5m).
Bryan Mbeumo (Brentford)
With the imminent departure of Ivan Toney (7.3m) and Igor Thiago (5.9m) being ruled out until late December, Bryan Mbeumo will have to step-up as Brentford’s talisman again. Mbeumo did well last season to fill-in during Toney’s absence and I expect him to do the same this season. Brentford host Southampton this week.
Jørgen Strand Larsen (Wolves)
Jørgen Strand Larsen (5.5m) scored against Chelsea and was involved heavily in Wolves’ attacks. It looks like Larsen will be Wolves’ number nine this season having played 80+ minutes against Arsenal and 90 minutes against Chelsea. With an ownership of just 0.7%, Larsen could be an excellent differential pick.
Captaincy Options
Considering his impressive 17-point haul against Wolves and a home encounter with Crystal Palace, Cole Palmer (10.5m) will surely rival Erling Haaland (15.6m) for the armband this Gameweek. Palmer scored more points in home fixtures last season than any other player in the game. Haaland also recorded a 17-point haul and has scored three goals in two games at the London Stadium.
Bukayo Saka (10.0m) will be a popular captaincy alternative to Palmer and Haaland. Saka scored and assisted in his last home game, recording a double point haul.
Ollie Watkins (9.0m) has a nice run of fixtures and now could be the time to captain the Aston Villa striker. Despite the two blanks for Watkins, he had two big chances to score against Arsenal. You would expect that Watkins will start taking these opportunities when he hits form.
If you are looking for any more differential captaincy options, Mohamed Salah (12.6m) could be a good option against Manchester United. Salah has recorded big hauls in this fixture in the past.
