Players in Focus Based on Stats & Eye Test Ahead of FPL GW2 

Hi, this is Ishaan (Twitter: @hobbes3103, FPL 21-22 OR : 3754). This is Part 1 of a weekly Players in Focus series I’ll be writing for All About FPL where I’ll pick some players from the previous gameweek(s) who I feel are poised to make an immediate impact in the upcoming gameweek, basis a dive into their statistical data as well as their standout performances from an eye-test perspective.

These players could be differentials, could be template picks or could be somewhere in between but the idea of this weekly series is to basically try & identify the next bandwagon before the community at large identifies them.

Link to all our FPL GW2 blogs including fixtures to target, predicted 11, differentials, captaincy metrics, transfer trends, and more. Completely free to access as well!

FPL GW2 Players in Focus

DARWIN NUNEZ

So it turns out that the answer to Robbo v Luis Diaz was Darwin Nunez!

Darwin had the highest nPxG in GW1, the highest xA in GW1, Liverpool created 4 big chances – Nunez had 100% involvement in them (3BC – 2^nd amongst all Liverpool players, 1BCC), he had 1 Goal & 1 Assist & an xG of 1.46 ( 2^nd amongst all Liverpool players). And he only played 40 minutes in GW1 !

This trend follows that from the Community Shield, where he played only the last 31’ but ended up hogging all the chances. It won’t be long before he becomes a regular starter for this Liverpool side & Nunez with his clever positional forward play is destined to score loads for the league’s “xG monsters” Liverpool.

The “Average Position” plot pulled from FFScout just shows how much farther forward Darwin was when he subbed on compared to Firmino who started the match at CF , which seems to indicate that with Darwin on the pitch there may be a fundamental change in Liverpool’s style of play whereby majority of the chances fall to him exponentially increasing his points potential and breaking the template that’s formed in the game right now.

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ALEKSANDR MITROVIC

If you score 2 goals and have an xG of 0.91 against one of the best defences of the league, managers sit up and take notice.

If you dribble past Virgil van Dijk & make him concede a penalty for the first time since he joined Liverpool, managers definitely sit up and take notice.

Aleksandr Mitrovic had an outstanding game vs the PL runners up no less, picking up where he left off in the last year with a 100% take-on success, 51 touches, 18 duels won, 11 aerial duels won, 7x possession won, 5 touches in opp. box, 3 shots, 2 shots on target, 1 penalty won.

He was a constant menace, driving at the defence, getting into positions to receive the ball and arguably could have had more returns if Andreas Pereira & Neeskens Kebano did better with their crosses to an empty Mitrovic from the following 2 plays :

When that perfect cross came in though, he made no mistake and from the time that the ball left Kenny Tete’s foot, with Mitrovic making an inside run from the left channel, we knew that Trent Alexander-Arnold had no chance.

The game vs Wolves in GW2 is expected to be an open game, and I definitely see Mitrovic returning FPL points in the match. However, with Arsenal Chelsea & Tottenham in 3 of Fulham’s next 5 matches, I would suggest that he is not an immediate buy but on the evidence of this match vs Liverpool, we can definitely assume that Mitrovic is someone who could be fixture-proof.

Further Read: FPL GW2 Transfer Trends And Best Transfer Combinations & Tips

DEJAN KULUSEVSKI

1 Goal 1 Assist and 13 FPL points for Dejan Kulusevski in GW1 continues what has been a fine adjustment to the demands of the PL. Kulusevski now has the most goal contributions (15) in the PL after his Spurs counterparts Kane and Son but ahead of the likes of Salah & De Bruyne, averaging a return every 84 minutes ( half that of other similar priced midfielders )

Accounting for Southamption’s woeful defending ( they are definitely a team to target ) – Djenepo at an unfamiliar LWB role had a torrid time with Kulusevski skipping past him often, what impressed this past week was how well Kulusevski got into the right positions and how often he picked out the right passes as shown in the screengrabs below :

He could well be the answer to the 8.0m midfield slot, he is not an immediate buy with Chelsea up in GW2 but if he impresses versus Chilwell / Koulibaly / Cucurella then it won’t be long before he becomes a must have option before Spurs’ kind run starting from GW3

GABRIEL MARTINELLI

6.0m Martinelli remains probably the most value player in the game returning 1 Goal in GW1 from a Expected Goal Involvement (xGI) of 0.43 with 2 Shots in the Box (SiB) , 2 Big Chances & 1 Chance Created. He completed 100% of his dribbles, had a 93% pass accuracy and was on most set pieces.

If all the above didn’t convince you, Martinelli’s positioning should surely tempt you. He was often the furthest man forward, vacating the central spaces left empty by a roaming Gabriel Jesus. This high involvement in Arsenal’s attacking play bodes well for his potential to return points.

Coming up against a defensively suspect Leicester side visiting the Emirates, Martinelli is poised to shine once again considering his underlying stats in home fixtures were excellent last season – 11 big chances (1^st of any Arsenal player) averaging a big chance every 89’, which placed him 2^nd in the League behind Mo Salah but just ahead of Heung min Son who are priced double of what Martinelli is.

DOUBLE CITY DEFENSE

Pep Guardiola’s tactical tweak for the ’22-23 season is playing with inverted full backs in a
2-3-2-3 formation to create an overload in midfield as shown by Walker & Cancelo’s touchmap.

This innovation resulted in Manchester City ended up having total control of this match , restricting a good West Ham team to only 0.49xG and zero Big Chances Conceded. Which leads me to conclude that, with Man City being top of the Fixture Ticker over the next few weeks, a 6 pointer Clean Sheet would be the floor for all Man City defenders with any attacking returns being a bonus and therefore, it would be wise to double up on Man City’s defense immediately.

Depending on one’s risk appetite, Walker & Ake are both fine bets as the 2^nd City defender (apart from Cancelo ) but I currently have Dias in my team since his xMins are expected to be the highest, especially in Laporte’s absence.

Further Read: FPL GW2 Differential Picks to Consider Ahead of GW2 Deadline

BRUNO GUIMARAES

Impressive performance again from Newcastle , Eddie Howe’s team are slowly staking a claim to be ‘ the best of the rest ‘ outside the top 6. They were the team that recorded the highest xG & lowest xGC the past weekend & a large part of that was due to the all-round performance of Bruno G who ran the show with 89% passing accuracy, 63 passes completed with most final third passes completed, 12 duels won (1^st) , 5 tackles + interceptions , 4 take ons completed (1^st) , 3 key passes (1^st).

In fact, some of his defence splitting passes to get Newcastle into the final third & the Forest penalty area were really great :

He was subbed off to a standing ovation from the hard-to-please Newcastle fans. He ran the show and with his evident assist potential along with his late runs into the box to arrive at the end of passes possibly being a source of goals he is definitely one to watch when the fixtures become better for Newcastle.

Further Read: FPL GW2 Fixtures & Players to Target | Best Matchups | FPL Paz

JOACHIM ANDERSEN

Although Crystal Palace lost the match vs Arsenal 2-0, Joachim Andersen was the best player on the pitch. Sofascore ratings from the match show him to be the highest-rated CRY / ARS player  ( MOTM ) & its not difficult to see why.

He put on a masterclass in distribution with raking diagonal long passes into the final 3rd, was great with the ball at his feet, was great at breaking the lines with passes and to top it all off, had excellent baseline defensive stats for a defender all of which make Andersen a lock-in for bonus whenever Palace keep a clean sheet. Palace have an awful run now, facing Liverpool & Man City in the next two, but Andersen is certainly someone to monitor for our FPL teams once Palace’s fixtures clear.

Further Read: FPL GW2 Transfer Trends And Best Transfer Combinations & Tips

TARGET MANCHESTER UNITED ??

The Erik Ten-Hag era at Old Trafford got off to the worst possible start with Graham Potter’s Seagulls providing a blueprint to the rest of the league on how to get the better of Manchester United.

The solution was simple Route-1 football bypassing Man United’s press by pinging long balls over them. These long balls were mostly directed towards United’s left-hand side where the height disadvantage of Fred & Lisandro Martinez meant that they were often second best to the duels or Brighton were more alert to the resulting second & third balls. See the 2 images :

Further Read: Predicted GW2 Lineups of All 20 PL Teams

CONCLUSION

To conclude, Martinelli + one of Walker / Dias / Ake along with Cancelo are players who a good FPL manager should immediately bring into his team with the others being either brought in after immediately GW2 ( the likes of Kulusevski after his tough Chelsea fixture ) or are a wait and watch till fixtures improve or we have more sample size of data.

Ultimately though, GW2 is the best time to save a FT if no pressing concerns in your team and 
who you choose to bring in depends on your risk appetite to stay ahead of the game from now.

If you liked the article, do like share and retweet. As always all feedback is welcome – I can be found @hobbes3103.

All data from Fantasy Football Scout, Fantasy Football Hub, BBC Match of the Day, Sofascore, Fotmob & Opta.

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Further reads from ALLABOUTFPL ahead of FPL GW2

Top FPL Gameweek 2 Captain Picks Based on Analysis & Metrics
FPL GW2 Transfer Trends And Best Transfer Combinations & Tips
FPL GW2 Differential Picks to Consider Ahead of GW2 Deadline
FPL GW2 Wildcard Team & Drafts to Consider | Wildcard Guide
Players in Focus Based on Stats & Eye Test Ahead of FPL GW2 
FPL GW2 Preview: Breaking Down FPL Dilemmas for Gameweek 2
FPL Gameweek 2 Transfer Tips: Two Players to Buy, Hold and Sell
Predicted GW2 Lineups of All 20 PL Teams
FPL GW2 Fixtures & Players to Target | Best Matchups | FPL Paz
Set-Piece & Penalty Takers Of All Premier League Clubs
FPL GW1 Review Based on Eye Test & Stats | FPL Trybe
FPL GW2 Ultimate Guide: Tips, Differentials, Captaincy & More
How Premier League Footballers fared as FPL Managers in FPL GW1?
FPL Stats of Shithousery | GW1 Team of the Weak

Link to all our FPL GW2 blogs including fixtures to target, predicted 11, differentials, captaincy metrics, transfer trends, and more. Completely free to access as well!

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