A lot of FPL managers will have two free transfers available to them this week, although if your season has started well you may not feel the need to tinker too much.
If you’re a Gabriel owner then now could be a good time to move him on, but there is a chance he could start Arsenal’s home game against Fulham in gameweek 3 with Oleksandr Zinchenko potentially fit to resume his role on the left and Takehiro Tomiyasu suspended after his red card against Crystal Palace.
Personally I would sell Gabriel because I want someone in my team who is a guaranteed starter every week and I don’t think you can say that about him at the moment.
Gabriel for Saliba is an easy swap but it will now cost you £0.2m with Saliba up to £5.1m and Gabriel dropping to £4.9m.
I also still own John Stones but he’s out for the foreseeable future so that’s my priority transfer this week and there are plenty of options to replace him.
Ruben Dias (£5.5m) is probably the safest bet if you want to bring in a Man City defender, although Kyle Walker and Manuel Akanji have started both Premier League games this season, as well as the Uefa Super Cup game against Sevilla, and are cheaper options at £5.1 m.
Ben Chilwell is a must if you don’t already own him, with Chelsea about to embark on a run of games against Luton, Nottingham Forest and Bournemouth, and that also makes his teammates Levi Colwill and Malo Gusto enticing bargains at £4.5m and £4.0m respectively.
Brentford’s Rico Henry is a good option at £4.6m, and if you want to take a little bit more of a risk then how about the potential of some attacking returns from the Tottenham duo of Pedro Porro (£4.9m) and Destiny Udogie (£4.5m)?
Here’s what else to consider going into gameweek 3.
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Captaincy
This section could become a little predictable this season, but you would need to be a very brave manager indeed to take the armband away from Erling Haaland against Sheffield United. Arsenal and Manchester United both have home games where you’d expect them to prosper, but none of their attackers have done enough to warrant taking the captaincy from Haaland.
You could also consider Raheem Sterling, who’s looked really sharp so far, or Nicolas Jackson for Chelsea’s home game against Luton but there is still no safer bet than Haaland.
Fixtures to target
Julian Alvarez and Phil Foden have been in impressive form in Manchester City’s opening two fixtures
It’s tempting to add a second Manchester City attacker to your squad if you don’t already own one for the champions’ trip to Bramall Lane - Phil Foden and Julian Alvarez are the best bets there.
The tricky decision facing those who’ve gone for both Bruno Fernandes and Marcus Rashford in their teams from the start of the season is whether to take one of them out ahead of a home game against Nottingham Forest. I would say stick with the pair of them for this one and look at it again next week despite the fact we’ve not seen an attacking return from either of them in Manchester United’s first two games.
Chris Sutton was very bullish again in this week’s Fantasy 606 podcast about Tottenham’s goal-scoring potential under Ange Postecoglou, and if James Maddison is passed fit then he could be a great pick for the game at Bournemouth. Their next two fixtures after that are away to Burnley and at home to Sheffield United.
Differentials
Raheem Sterling is just 2.6% owned, while Levi Colwill and Malo Gusto are also both under the 5% ownership mark, so could be useful additions if you want to target that Chelsea home game against Luton.
Richarlison is a differential pick for Tottenham’s trip to Bournemouth - don’t forget he’s classed as a midfielder in FPL - and Julian Alvarez doesn’t quite qualify as a differential at 8.3% ownership but I think a lot of managers will be deciding between him and Nicolas Jackson as a potential transfer this week.
Gamble of the week
I think the gamble this week could be taking players out of your team before they’ve had the chance to prove themselves, as I mentioned with Bruno Fernandes and Marcus Rashford above.
I know some managers are weighing up whether to sell Ollie Watkins to replace him with Nicolas Jackson.
Jackson has certainly shown some encouraging signs in his first two Chelsea appearances and the upcoming fixtures look good but he’s a 22 year-old who’s new to the Premier League and playing in a team trying to find its feet under Mauricio Pochettino.
Watkins, meanwhile, is into his 4th season in the top-flight with Aston Villa and goes to Burnley in gameweek 3 off the back of a hat-trick in Europe in midweek.
I wouldn’t be too hasty in ditching proven FPL points scorers but if you fancy the gamble then go for Jackson or Raheem Sterling against Luton.
Alistair Bruce-Ball presents the Fantasy 606 podcast alongside former Premier League winner Chris Sutton and Statman Dave. You can find the podcast by searching for ‘Fantasy 606’ on the BBC Sounds app, then just click subscribe. The code to join the Fantasy 606 league is ‘j03mnp’.
