Here’s our FPL gameweek 1 review where we look back at each game in GW1. We look at the lineups, give some key team indicators and review the FPL relevant player performances.
FPL Gameweek 1 review – a look back at each game in GW1
Lineup graphics are from football lineups
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Liverpool 4 Norwich 1
Liverpool 15 shots and 2.24 xG. Norwich 12 shots 0.84 xG
Not much to say here except we may have another Huddersfield in Norwich who were very poor defensively. We’ll probably need to see other tests than Liverpool bu the early signs weren’t good. £4.0m Hanley started but had a bit of a nightmare.
For Liverpool Firmino was the unlucky one with 4 shots and 1 KP for an xG of 0.94 and xA of 0.37. Trent also had excellent attacking stats which couldn’t be said for Robertson. Salah’s volume was quite low but an xG of 0.44 and xA of 0.31 is still respectable but below his last season average.
Unsurprisingly Buendia and Pukki were the only ones to come out with attacking credit for Norwich despite a performance which made Liverpool look defensively shaky. It won’t get better with Alisson out now for an unspecified time with an injury.
West Ham 0 Man City 5
West Ham 5 shots xG 1.20 Man City 14 shots xG 3.18
What more can you say about Man City and Raheem Sterling? Mahrez started over Bernardo which was a surprise but Mahrez will be hard to shift after a 3 assist performance. The attacking players apart from David Silva and Jesus produced good underlying stats. Jesus did score though and Aguero might find it tricky to get back into the side.
The Man City defence looked solid and 5 shots only conceded is some stat.
Only Antonio was a surprise in the lineup beating out Fornals. Wilshere came in for the injured Noble.
Bournemouth 1 Sheffield United 1
Bournemouth 1.34 xG 13 shots Sheffield 8 shots xG 2.01
Not too many lineup surprises. The £4.0m defs in Lundstram and Rico started and Sheffield £5.5m mid Robinson started as a forward but with very little attacking output.
Fraser and King were the big disappointments . The same could be said of Wilson who only had 1 shot. However that shot should have been a goal even if it did end up one for Mepham.
For Sheffield Lundstram and £5.5m fwd McGoldrick came off best although you have to hand it to goal poacher extraordinaire Billy Sharp who got the equaliser.
Burnley 3 Southampton 0
Burnley 10 shots 0.91 xG. Southampton 11 shots 1.09 xG
Not too many surprises lineup wise. Pieters over Taylor was a bit as was Hojberg being left out but nothing earth shattering FPL wise.
This really was the Ashley Barnes show as goal wise and stats wise he was miles ahead of anyone else.
Che Adams was the only attacking player to come off with any credit for Southampton. A dismal Ings performance with no shots and a 69 minute subbing.
Crystal Palace 0 Everton 0
C Palace xG 0.87 shots 5 Everton xG 1.22 shots 10.
No particular lineup surprises at all here.
You can’t argue with the Everton’s defensive stats although Palace with Zaha aren’t the greatest attacking team, let alone without him.
No one from Palace came out with much attacking credit.
Only Sigurdsson produced any attacking output with 4 shots and 1 key pass and really had 1 great chance to score.
Watford 0 Brighton 3
Watford 0.67 xG shots 11 Brighton 0.86 xG Shots 5
Lineup wise Deulofeu starting as an LM was probably the result of Pereyra back late from the Copa America but he really isn’t the guy to have in midfield if you want some defensive output. Gross starting was a surprise though as it seemed Trossard was in front of him for pre-season.
This game wasn’t the game the score line suggests it was. 3 goals from 5 shots for Brighton says and the game was probably as much about Brighton’s defence keeping Watford to an xGof 0.67 as it was attack.
Spurs 3 Villa 1
Spurs xG 2.57 shots 31 Villa xG 0.64 shots 7
Lineup wise the main surprises were Vertonghen not selected at all and Eriksen on the bench. £7.5m mid Moura started up top with Kane and £6.0m Lamela was at the tip of the midfield diamond. With Son and Alli coming back, Lo Celso coming into the squad and surely Eriksen back in both Moura and Lamela look to be short term gametime risks.
For Villa the FBs were the surprise with the thinking that Guilbert and Targett would be selected.
However this game was just the £11.0m fwd Harry Kane show with him at his imperious shoot on sight best. 8 shots 2 key passes and an xG of 0.83 and an xA of 0.11. For Villa there will be easier games with £5.5m mids Trezeguet and McGinn coming out with the most positives
Leicester 0 Wolves 0
Leicester xG 0.53 shots 15 Wolves xG 0.54 shots 8
Leicester surprisingly played 2 CDMs in Ndidi and Choudhury. No surprises lineup wise from Wolves.
A game of defences with no Leicester attacking player coming off with any credit. Ditto for Wolves.
It’s worth speaking about Perez. He only had the 1 shot and was seemingly stationed as an RM. His average position though was advanced and central as Pereira effectively takes over the RM and RB role.
Newcastle 0 Arsenal 1
Newcastle xG 0.37 shots 9 Arsenal xG 0.88 Shots 8
Nothing particularly surprising about the Newcastle lineup. £6.0m mid Almiron playing as a striker is a positive but not a surprise. Nothing could surprise me with an Emery lineup although it’s hard to believe that bargains Willock Nelson and Chambers aren’t place holders for some combination of Pepe, Ceballos, Lacazette and Luiz.
Good defensive stats from Newcastle which is promising for their £5.5m defensive army. However, 1 man stood out head and shoulders in this game statistically and that was Aubameyang with 4 shots and an xG of 0.70 he was half their shots and 88% of their xG. Who knows if he will play CF again though. Emery is an enigma and he could easily end up out wide.
Man Utd 4 Chelsea 0
Man Utd xG 2.36 Shots 11 Chelsea xG 1.34 Shots 18
Matic being left out wasn’t a surprise although Pereira effectively instead of James was. Pulisic on the bench instead of Mount or Barkley was a bit of a surprise. Kante obviously wasn’t fit enough to start.
Man Utd were clinical especially on the break and Chelsea without Kante were absolutely wide open on the counter. Although there’s only so much I imagine that even Kante can do given how disorganised Chelsea were defensively. Chelsea had a threat on attack but the woodwork denied them twice.
£8.5m fwd Rashford £7.5m mid Martial and £8.5m mid Pogba were the absolute attacking stars each posting excellent stats.
£7.0m mid Pedro despite being wasteful with the ball had good stats as well as £5.5m def Emerson posting very good attacking stats. No one else came out with much credit for Chelsea.
Geek note: If you join our Patreon site you will get access to an FPL contributor tracker team which combines the contributors individual teams each week to show their favourite players, transfers and captains. It will always be completed on a Friday/Saturday in a normal gameweek. There will also be a spreadsheet of each managers teams, transfers and captains so you can drill down further.
You also get:
Joe’s interactive transfer planner and points projection tool
Weekly podcasts with myself and the contributors
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Access to the FFGeek Slack channel for discussion with the contributors and members
$2 and $3 tiers per calendar month. No commitment beyond 1 month
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