It’s all so obvious on Monday morning. Erling Haaland, despite his Community Shield blip, was always going to score goals for Manchester City, Aleksandar Mitrović likewise for Fulham and Brighton’s Pascal Gross was a steal at £5.5million, especially with Manchester United first up.
On the flip side, that decision to save money by putting a Southampton defender in there was never going to pay off, was it?
One week in and with the temptation to play a wildcard already strong, football.london looks back on the winners and losers from Gameweek 1.
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Winners
Pascal Gross (Brighton)
Gross was granted the freedom of Manchester to score both Brighton’s goals at Old Trafford on Sunday.
The Seagulls midfielder only scored two goals during the whole of last season but matched that figure on his way to 15 points against Manchester United.
Gross amassed 88 points last term from 29 appearances. However, he is in a rich vein of form, having rounded off the 2021/22 campaign with two goals and an assist from his last three appearances.
And despite his impressive opening weekend, he still represents an eye-catching differential - he was well out in front for most chances created for Brighton last season. If only they could find someone to put them away…
Aleksandar Mitrović (Fulham)
Mitrovic amassed just 63 points and 13 starts in his previous Premier League season, scoring just three goals as Fulham slid out of the top flight under Scott Parker.
His 43 goals in the Cottagers’ Championship-winning season have given him another bite of the cherry and he didn’t disappoint, scoring twice and picking up 13 points as Fulham gained a shock 2-2 draw against Liverpool on the opening weekend.
Managers with Mitrovic in their team (and those rushing to bring him in) shouldn’t get too excited, however - the Serbian netted two goals in his first start of the 2020/21 season.
Dejan Kulusevski (Tottenham)
Since making his Spurs debut in Gameweek 25 of 2021/22, Kulusevski has produced 10 assists, more than any other player in FPL.
He was at it again on the opening day, contributing a goal and an assist in Spurs’ 4-1 win over Southampton, picking up 13 points, eight more than midfield partner Son Heung-min.
At £8million he represents excellent value in a fluid attacking line-up and was owned by under 7% of managers in Gameweek 1.
That figure is already on the rise ahead of Spurs’ trip to Chelsea on Sunday - he is the second most-bought midfielder. And, with Wolves, Nottingham Forest, West Ham and Fulham to follow, his popularity will only increase.
Losers
Trent Alexander-Arnold (Liverpool)
Twelve assists, two goals and 32 bonus points helped add up to a tally of 208 for Alexander-Arnold in 2021/22 and saw him included in the squads of close to 57% of managers in Gameweek 1.
However, for all the right-back’s attacking qualities, it was his defensive vulnerabilities which were highlighted in the opening-day draw with Fulham.
Alexander-Arnold was at fault for Aleksandar Mitrović’s opener, again caught out at the far post, and will now have FPL managers sweating on him being an automatic choice for Jurgen Klopp. At £7.5million he represents a sizeable chunk of a manager’s budget to be sat on the Reds bench.
Marc Guehi (Crystal Palace)
After a 123-point return in 2021/22, the England defender looked a safe pair of hands at the back for managers who had stacked their attack and midfield.
That was before he produced the deftest of finishes to convert Bukayo Saka’s cross in Palace’s opening-night defeat to Arsenal.
Added to another goal conceded, it meant Guehi was one of only three players to finish Gameweek 1 on minus points (the others being Southampton’s Mohammed Salisu and Wolves’ Rayan Aït-Nouri).
Harry Kane (Tottenham)
Anyone with Kane in their team who was not closely following Tottenham ’s clash with Southampton on Saturday will have been rubbing their hands after seeing the final scoreline. Unfortunately for them, Kane’s contribution to the drubbing only amounted to two appearance points. That the England captain only amassed four on the bonus points system will also be a worry for the 20% of managers with him in their squad.
If he fails to make hay when Tottenham are rampant, it doesn’t augur well for a trip to Chelsea where Spurs have failed to win since 2018 - even allowing for his price drop to £11.4million.
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