In this blog the Top Five Fantasy Premier League (FPL) Key Players for Gameweek 2 are discussed. Every FPL Gameweek, picks will be in the below format:

1x Defender or Goalkeeper

2x Attackers less than £8.5m

2x Attackers £8.5m or over

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Headliner - Mohamed Salah (BOU)

Salah found the back of the net 19 times over the 2022/23 season with only Toney (20) Kane (30) and Haaland faring better. His total of 125 shots could only be bettered by Kane (130) while only Rashford (35) and Haaland managed more big chances (BC) than his 34. He came very close to opening his tally for the 2023/24 season against Chelsea last weekend but was deemed marginally offside, he also took three shots in that game and created one chance. Liverpool scored 46 goals last season with only Arsenal (53) and Man. City (60) being more prolific in home matches. As the below image from our Stats Sandbox feature shows, they were top for Expected Goals (xG) 43 .61, and second for BC (71) on home turf, trailing just Man. City (74). Their opponents Bournemouth conceded 71 goals last season and only Southampton (73) and Leeds (78) performed worse defensively. No team allowed opponents more shots in the box (SiB) (405) than the Cherries. Our Fix Algorithm currently projects a point score of 7.0 for Salah.

Evaluate Teams with Opta statistics.

Erling Haaland (NEW)

Haaland has started the 2023/24 season strong with a brace against Burnley, only Cunha (five) and Edouard (seven) took more shots than his four amongst forwards in Gameweek 1. His numbers from last season are worth repeating, he was top for xG (28.94), SiB (115) and BC (59) amongst all players with an average of 8.9 FPL points per game in home matches, as shown in the below image from our Fix Heatmaps feature. Man. City were the league’s top scorers with 94 goals last season and were top for BC (132) and xG (77.1). 60 of these 94 goals were scored at the Etihad Stadium. Their visitors Newcastle only conceded 33 goals last season and were the league's joint-best defence. However, they registered only five clean sheets away from home and conceded 19 goals, with the Magpies ranking sixth for shots conceded on the road (235). Our Fix Algorithm currently projects a point score of 6.2 for Haaland.

Use a range of pitch maps to help inform your transfers.

Ollie Watkins (EVE)

Watkins had a strong second half of the season with 12 goals from Gameweek 20 onwards, and only Haaland and Kane (15 each) were more prolific amongst forwards over that period. Meanwhile, Haaland (58) and Kane (65) were the only players that took more shots than Watkins (51), with the Englishman only trailing the Norwegian international (30) for BC (20) and xG (15.09 vs 10.43). As the below image from our Predicted Lineups feature shows, he is one of the first names on the team sheet and is rated at 100% to start. Villa scored 33 goals at home and were ranked 10th for SoT (88) and xG (26.69). Their visitors Everton conceded 30 goals in away matches last season and kept just two clean sheets. The Toffees were bottom for Expected Goals Conceded (xGC) 39.39 and SiB conceded (236) in away matches. Our Fix Algorithm currently projects a point score of 4.6 for Watkins.

Morgan Gibbs-White (SHU)

Gibbs-White was Forest’s talisman last campaign with five goals. B. Johnson (eight) and Awoniyi (10) were the only two players that were more prolific. He was top for shots (62) with only B. Johnson (12) and Awoniyi (15) managing more BC than his eight. As the below image from our Stats Sandbox feature shows, his creative numbers were exemplary as well, he was top for assists (12), BC created (nine) and chances created (67). Their second most creative player, B. Johnson, only created 28. Forest were ranked 11th for goals scored at home (27) and 13th for xG (23.98). Sheff. Utd struggled in their opening game against Palace and allowed their opponents 17 SiB with only Luton (20) allowing more. The Blades are currently struggling with injuries to key players and are down to barebones in terms of personnel after several departures in the Transfer Window. Our Fix Algorithm currently projects a point score of 4.1 for Gibbs-White.

Trent Alexander-Arnold (BOU)

Alexander-Arnold was top for assists (11) and BC created (25) amongst defenders last season, while his total of 71 chances created could only be beaten by Trippier (110). He had plenty of goal threat too, Schär (56) was the only defender to take more shots than his 46. Liverpool kept nine clean sheets at Anfield last season with only Wolves (10) and Man. Utd (11) faring better in home matches. The Merseyside outfit were fourth for shots conceded (156) and SiB conceded (130). Their visitors Bournemouth only scored 37 goals last season with Southampton (36), Everton (34) and Wolves (31) coming off worse. Meanwhile, only Wolves (41) created fewer BC than the Cherries (50). Our Fix Algorithm currently projects a 50% chance of a Liverpool clean sheet and a point score of 5.3 for the right-back.

Use predictive FPL statistics to increase your Gameweek points.

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