Round 2 of this season’s Premier League campaign starts on Friday 22nd August at 8pm with an all-London clash between West Ham and Chelsea at the London Stadium with both sides looking for their first win of the season.
Round 1 Player Points re-cap:
- Jordan Pickford 4.0
- Pedro Porro 8.0
- Virgil van Dijk 6.0
- William Saliba 10.0
- Reece James 10.0
- Kaoru Mitoma 1.0
- Cole Palmer 2.0
- Jeremy Doku 1.0
- Mo Salah 10.0
- Ollie Watkins 2.0
- Chris Wood 13.0
- Total Pts: 67.0
Here’s our suggested XI for Round 2 starting in order of formation…
Formation: 4-3-3
Jordan Pickford (Everton vs Brighton) – €6.5M
Despite being dealt a 1-0 defeat away from home at Leeds United on Monday night, we will stick with Jordan Pickford between the sticks for Sunday afternoon’s clash at home against Brighton.
Everton will be looking to pick up their first win of the season under David Moyes as The Toffees christen their new Hill Dickinson Stadium against a Brighton outfit who were held to a 1-1 draw at home by Fulham last weekend.
Pickford has kept five clean sheets in previous 15 meetings against Brighton along with ending up on the winning side on seven occasions as well, while the stopper earned a Sofascore rating of 6.7 last week.
Pedro Porro (Manchester City vs Tottenham) – €7.0M
Tottenham duly obliged by recording a comprehensive 3-0 home win against Burnley on the opening day of the new Premier League season at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium and although Spurs now travel to the Etihad Stadium to take on Manchester City, we will also stick with defender Pedro Porro.
Porro achieved a Sofascore rating of 7.6 in last weekend’s win along with contributing a clean sheet so the right-back will get the nod again for Round 2, especially as he has also previously scored against City in the Premier League.
Virgil van Dijk (Newcastle Utd vs Liverpool) – €8.5M
Virgil van Dijk and Liverpool got themselves off the mark with a 4-2 home win against Bournemouth last Friday night and although the Dutch defender was part of a Reds side that conceded two goals, the centre-back holds a decent record against upcoming opponents, Newcastle United.
Indeed, it’s worth noting that van Dijk has never lost against Newcastle United in the Premier League, picking up 12 wins and two draws along with scoring twice as well.
van Dijk registered a Sofascore rating of 7.6 last week.
William Saliba (Arsenal vs Leeds Utd) – €8.5M
French defender, William Saliba, put in a decent shift in last weekend’s 1-0 win away from home against Manchester United at Old Trafford as Arsenal opened their account with a 1-0 win with Saliba benefitting from a clean sheet as well.
Saliba earned a Sofascore rating of 7.5 in last week’s win against the Red Devils and further points are expected to be added to the defender’s tally when the north London side play host to newcomers Leeds United on Saturday evening.
Reece James (West Ham vs Chelsea) – €6.5M
Chelsea defender produced a solid display in last weekend’s 0-0 stalemate at Stamford Bridge and indeed the England defender walked off with the Sofascore Man of the Match award as he collected a Sofascore rating of 7.8.
Both James and Chelsea will have been disappointed that they were unable to extend their winning streak to 12 matches in all competitions but as Chelsea have suffered just one defeat against West Ham in their last six meetings, picking up four wins in the process, this should bode well for another positive display from Reece James on Friday night.
Martin Zubimendi (Arsenal vs Leeds Utd) – €6.5M
Our first change to the suggested starting XI for Round 2 sees Brighton winger Koaru Mitoma transferred out for Arsenal midfielder Martin Zubimendi as Mitoma produced an unusually quiet game last week, picking up just 1 point in the process.
Zubimendi by contrast contributed to a 1-0 win for The Gunners last weekend along with achieving a Sofascore rating of 7.2 in the middle of the park for Mikel Arteta’s men.
As the defensive midfielder is the same value as Mitoma, this transfer looks a ‘no-brainer’.
Cole Palmer (West Ham vs Chelsea) – €11.0M
Whilst Cole Palmer had a pretty quiet game in Chelsea’s 0-0 draw at home against Crystal Palace in last weekend’s season opener, there is certainly no cause for alarm or a knee-jerk response despite Palmer recording a modest Sofascore rating of 6.6 last week.
This is because Cole Palmer has faced West Ham on four separate occasions previously and has ended up on the winning side in all four games, so we are expecting a dominant performance from the attacking midfielder against The Hammers on Friday night.
Tijani Reijnders (Manchester City vs Tottenham) – €8.0M
Jeremy Doku was extremely disappointing for Manchester City despite Pep Guardiola’s side putting Wolves to the sword with a resounding 4-0 win away from home at Molineux last weekend.
By contrast, new signing Dutch midfielder Tijani Reijnders played a blinder in his Manchester City debut in the Premier League, scoring once and producing an assist for striker Erling Haaland on his way to an impressive Sofascore rating of 7.8 and an 11-point haul.
For just an additional €1.0M, we will swap out Doku for an in-form Reijnders for Round 2.
Mo Salah (Newcastle Utd vs Liverpool) – €11.9M
It’s only due to the lofty standards that he has set in the Premier League that Mo Salah’s value slightly dipped after last week’s 4-2 home win against Bournemouth at Anfield but nevertheless, the Egyptian magician picked up 10 points in the process.
In addition, captain Salah hit the back of the net within an impressive Sofascore rating of 8.4 last week and having never lost against Newcastle United in 17 appearances (W13, D4) along with scoring 10 goals and providing 8 assists, we recommend making him captain once again for Round 2.
Ollie Watkins (Brentford vs Aston Villa) – €8.5M
Aston Villa striker, Ollie Watkins, was another player who produced an unusually quiet performance in their opening game against Newcastle United in what turned out to be a drab 0-0 stalemate at Villa Park, picking up just 2 points in the process.
However, we will resist the temptation to transfer out the west midlands striker as he is due to face his former club Brentford in this upcoming tussle at the Gtech Community Stadium on Saturday afternoon, and many a former striker has bitten the hand that used to feed them!
Watkins has previously never lost against Brentford (W5, D3), scoring 6 goals and providing 3 assists.
Chris Wood (Nottingham Forest vs Brentford) – €7.5M
Nottingham Forest striker Chris Wood was our star performer and highest points scorer in last weekend’s Premier League action as the New Zealander racked up 13 points, scored 2 goals and picked up the Sofascore Man of the Match in the 3-1 home win against Brentford.
In addition, Wood achieved a Sofascore rating of 9.2 last week and having scored 5 goals in 12 appearances against Crystal Palace, we are expecting further points this Sunday.
