This column serves the purpose of providing you with weekly free agent/ waiver-wire adds for Togga draft leagues. Each week Sean Sullivan recommends players—based on availability, current form or matchups—that should be added or started. These weekly picks are meant to grab your attention, limit the often-fatal last minute lineup tinker, and help you maintain a superior squad throughout the FPL campaign.
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Matchweek 1 Recap
The 2017-18 Premier League season kicked-off in impressive fashion, as the first match-week was highlighted by goals, goals and more goals. In total, 38 goals were scored across all matches and four forwards notched doubles: Romelu Lukaku, Jamie Vardy, Sam Vokes and Steve Mounie.
Arsenal’s 4-3 victory over Leicester City at the Emirates on Friday provided excitement throughout and a lack thereof defending. Saturday was full of surprises as Burnley shocked nine-man Chelsea 3-2 at Stamford Bridge, which marked the just second, but successive, season the title-holders suffered a defeat to open the campaign. Meanwhile, Steve Mounie was the star as his brace helped Huddersfield Town dispatch of Crystal Palace in its first ever Premier League fixture. On Sunday, Manchester United reigned supreme with a 4-0 victory over West Ham. Romelu Lukaku bagged a brace and Anthony Martial produced a clinical performance off the substitute’s bench (goal and assists in 10 minutes), as the Red Devils won their record 17th opening fixture.
And much like the fixtures of GW1, the first batch of player recommendations yielded mixed results. Rather than dragging in discourse to justify the tips, I’ll get right down to business in the form of player ratings. Short and sweet, the ratings reflect whether or not there FPL production justified their performance.
Goalkeepers
Asmir Begovic, 8.25 points : His five saves helped him rank as a top-10 GK, but he should have come out on to claim the cross on the lone goal he conceded. (6.5 out of 10)
Joe Hart, - 4.25 points: Tipped for long-term potential, Hart had an awful start to his loan spell at West Ham. He conceded four goals at Old Trafford, including a savable Paul Pogba strike from distance (4 out of 10)
Defenders
Alfie Mawson - 10 points: Mawson was Swansea’s top performer. He was pivotal to helping keep a clean sheet with an excellent block on James Ward-Prowse, eight clearances and two aerial wins. His outing ranked him as a top-40 defender. His future looks bright for this season. (8 out of 10)
Nathan Ake - 9.75 points: Won four tackles, four aerial duels and made three clearances. It was a well-rounded fantasy outing for Ake on his return to Bournemouth. (7 out of 10)
Geoff Cameron - 5.75 points: The United States international played on the left side of the Potters back three. He made four interceptions and won two tackles, plus chipped in three clearances. Wasn’t at fault for the lone goal conceded. Solid performance but below average fantasy production. (6 out of 10)
Chris Smalling - DNP: Failed to crack the starting XI, with Mourinho opting to deploy Eric Bailly and Phil Jones at the heart of defense. His stock is on the decline while Phil Jones’ is on the rise.
Midfielders
Tom Ince - 5 points: Got off to a quick start with an early chance against Crystal Palace and linked up with Steve Mounie well throughout. However, his creativity in the 3-0 victory did not translate into FPL production. He registered one shot on target but created just one scoring chance. Good performance with no fantasy spoils. (6 out of 10)
IIkay Gundogan - DNP: Missed out against Newcastle but made his first appearances in eight months as Manchester City lost an away friendly 1-0 against Girona in Spain on Tuesday. Seems like he could be back in contention sooner than expected.
Alex Iwobi - DNP: He didn’t feature against Leicester City because Mesut Ozil was fit. Iwobi’s stock remains the same. He has starting FPL value when Arsenal is without their first-choice attackers.
Forwards (Long-term Adds)
Sandro Ramirez - 0 points: His FPL goose egg in Everton’s 1-0 victory over Stoke City was misleading. The striker saw little service in the early goings but came into his own as the match went on. Ramirez set up the move that led to Wayne Rooney’s goal, as he controlled the box at the top of the 18 and played the assist-getter Dominic Calvert-Lewin on the wing. (7 out of 10)
Saido Berahino - 3.5 points: Smothered by Everton defenders all afternoon, he was unable to do much upfront. On the plus side, Berahino provided a few nice sequences of hold-up play and continued to work despite being blanketed. (6 out of 10)
Andre Gray - 1 point: The rating is a little harsh considering he came off the substitute’s bench and played only 27 minutes. He won one aerial and one tackle, good for just one point. Once Gray cracks the starting XI expect big things. (5.5 out of 10)
As usual, the players reccommend for Matchweek 2 are owned in less than 50 percent of leagues.
Goalkeeper
Jonas Lossl, Huddersfield (1 percent): Lossl was excellent during his debut. The Danish goalkeeper, on loan from Mainz 05, made four saves and earned a clean sheet in Huddersfield Town’s surprise 3-0 win at Crystal Palace. Lossl denied both Wilfried Zaha and Christian Benteke in the second-half with saves that were telling about his IQ between the sticks. The stop on Zaha showcased the 28-year-old’s athleticism and ability to read the attacker by charging to cut down the angle, as he somehow got his foot to deny the winger’s goal-bound striker. But his save on Benteke was equally as impressive, getting a strong hand to keep out a powerful header from 10-yards. Lossl is an exciting FPL prospect with the Terriers home to Newcastle this weekend, having led all goalkeepers in scoring during GW1 (17). Verdict: if your number has a bad matchup, Lossl is a readily available option.
Defenders
Jose Holebas, Watford (48 percent): Holebas’ stock is on the rise after playing a hand on two of Watford’s goal in the 3-3 draw with Liverpool. The Greece international provided an assist on the opener and set up Miguel Britos’ stoppage time goal, both which were created via well-taken corners from the right flag. A boom or bust player last season, Holebas has added value sharing corner duties on a weekly basis. The 31-year-old also made eight clearances and three interceptions, the same totals as Michael Keane, and recorded the same amount of successful take-ons as Patrick van Aanholt (2). Despite conceding three goals, which subtracted six points from his total, Holebas was the 14th highest scoring defender (13 points) in GW1. The Hornets’ wingback is an explosive producer in fantasy and, that being said, is why I like him as a streaming option at home to Bournemouth this weekend. West Brom defenders scored a total of 53.25 points against Bournemouth, which was the third highest output across the entire league.
http://www.nbcsports.com/edge/player/BPL/2036/Kyle-Walker-PetersKyle Walker-Peters, Tottenham (8 percent): Stepping in for the injured Kieran Trippier, Walker-Peters turned heads on his debut. The 20-year-old was energetic on the attack, providing width and support, in addition to being effective defensively as Tottenham defeated 10-man Newcastle 2-0. He attempted four crosses, created one scoring chance and won two of his three attempted tackles, finishing the match with 14.25 points and a pass completion rate of 90.7%. Walker-Peters looks set to be handed another shine against Chelsea this weekend with Trippier still sidelined, which makes him worth a look in all leagues. In short, especially if you plan on holding Trippier while he’s out, the smart move is to snatch up Walker-Peters.
Phil Jones, Manchester United (14 percent): Last week I struck out with my prediction that Jose Mourinho would use a three-man backline that would include Chris Smalling. The Portuguese boss instead opted to use a flat four, with Phil Jones and Eric Bailly flanked by Daley Blind and Antonio Valencia. Given the success against West Ham, it’s realistic to assume the same back four will be deployed against Swansea City. Jones is coming off a 14-point performance, during which he recorded three successful tackles, won three aerial duels and helped keep a clean sheet. While the 25-year-old is reliant on clean sheets to produce double-digit scores, Manchester United has a favorable matchup. He’s an above-average streaming option in 12-team league if handed a start at the Liberty Stadium.
Midfielders
Ruben Loftus-Cheek, Crystal Palace (27 percent): Huddersfield Town topped Crystal Palace 3-0, but Loftus-Cheek showed flashes of promise on his full debut. The Chelsea loanee looked strong in the second-half after a quiet first, which saw him deployed as an attack in direct support of Christian Benteke. However, once Loftus-Cheek was dropped back into the midfield he engineered quite a few moves forward. In the 50th minute he picked up the ball at midfield and drove into the top of box before playing Andros Townsend wide, but Benteke was unable to get a foot on the low cross. Later, he provided a well weighted pass with the outside of his boot from the Eagles own box up the left flank for Wilfried Zaha. His performance of five successful take-ons was one better than Zaha, and two better than Henrikh Mkhitaryan’s yield against West Ham. If Loftus-Cheek can replicate this form throughout the season, it’s realistic to expect 8-10 points on match-to-match basis. Additionally, with Zaha set to miss some time, Loftus-Cheek has value as a fourth midfielder in 12-team leagues.
Steven Defour, Burnley (1 percent): Burnley provided a shock result with a 3-2 victory at Stamford Bridge. At the heart of the club’s performance was Defour, who endured a rough debut campaign last year, struggling with form and fitness. The Belgian was active at both ends of the pitch as he assisted on Sam Vokes’ second goal of the match with a pinpoint cross and made a handful of interceptions from the center of the Clarets’ five-man midfield. Defour has the potential to be solid contributor in fantasy if he can stay healthy, and eclipse both his goal (1) and assist (3) totals from last season. In deeper leagues, I like Defour as a sleeper play with Sean Dyche’s side playing at home against West Brom.
Christian Atsu, Newcastle (20 percent): Newcastle struggled to conjure chances in the 2-0 defeat to Tottenham last week, as Dwight Gayle and Atsu were the only players to attempt more than one shot. The former loan star, who joined the Magpies on a permanent this summer from Chelsea, wasn’t able to truly impact the match but did look lively at times with ball at his feet. Atsu came closest to providing a consolation strike for Newcastle when he timed a run well at the far, but put his lunged effort wide of the target. Atsu is a long-term add for owners looking to strengthen their bench options. The 25-year-old has good pace, the ability to beat his mark and a knack for letting loose from distance: traits I look for when evaluating midfielders.
Forwards
Steve Mounie, Huddersfield (19 percent): When Huddersfield Town announced the signing of Steve Mounie from Montpellier this summer, I had him pinned as a hidden gem. The 22-year-old was Montpellier’s top scorer with 14 goals in 35 appearances—a goal total one less than Mario Balotelli and Monaco phenom Kylian Mbappe, ranked first in Ligue 1 in aerial duels won per match (8.4) and averaged three shots per game. To put his season in context, Christian Benteke scored 15 goals, averaged 8.9 aerial wins and 2.9 shots per game last term. However, I didn’t expect Mounie to have a breakout performance this early. The Benin international bagged an impressive brace on his Premier League debut as the Terriers whacked Crystal Palace 3-0. Mounie scored a thunderous header in the first-half and doubled his tally with an exquisite first-time volley in the second, while also winning six aerials duels. He’s a must-add in all leagues and worth a start against Newcastle this weekend.
Dominic Calvert-Lewin, Everton (5 percent): The forward’s stock has been on the rise since June when he scored the goal that sealed the England Under-20’s 1-0 win over Venezuela at the U20 World Cup. Calvert-Lewin then supplemented his triumph with the Young Three Lions by scoring the winner to put Everton in the Europa League playoff round earlier this month. Things look even bright after his performance last week, during which he feathered a cross to the head of Wayne Rooney for the lone goal against Stoke City at the weekend. While his assist came from the wing in the first-half, Calvert-Lewin looked much better in the second-half after Ronald Koeman moved the 20-year-old up top alongside Sandro Ramirez. I see him as a value add in deeper leagues considering a goal or another helper against Manchester City would make him hot property ahead of Matchweek 3. Though the addition of Gylfi Sigurdsson might see Calvert-Lewin dropped to the substitute’s bench, don’t let that overshadow his potential.
