Gamweek two was shaping up to be a decent gameweek for me, despite the blanks from the heavy hitting midfield duo of Bruno and Salah.
As of Sunday Evening, I was sat with 60 points, and had risen to roughly 500k (not that OR matters too much yet... but it was still nice to have a big green arrow)... And then West Ham punished me. That 800k rank rise was vanished as Michail Antonio and Said Benrahma ran riot, and once again it felt like a bit of a disappointing GW.
So we move on to GW3, and the art of the possible. Despite the Premier League statement around not releasing players for international duty, I'm still expecting there to be plenty of fall out and people missing GW4, so I'm keen on saving one of my free transfers to minimise the impact that could have on my side.
I've already made one transfer though, transferring out Kostas Tsimikas in order to bank £0.1m after his price rise to £4.2m earlier this week. Unlike the rest of Twitter, I haven't brought in Livramento as a replacement. Instead I've gone for Daniel Amartey, as I think Saturdays game may come too soon for Jannik Vestergaard, and I like Leicesters fixture against Norwich. After which Amartey will probably end up solely as my third sub.
Despite wanting to save my other transfer I still want to keep my eye on potential transfers, and haven't completely ruled out making a second this week (especially considering Antonio taking on Crystal Palace.
First I take a look back at last weeks watchlist selections, and it's fair to say there were some mixed results.
Matt Ritchie - Followed up last week with another attacking display for Newcastle, creating 5 chances against Villa. Once again though, the Newcastle defence looked iffy. If they can tighten up, then Ritchie definitely has the chance to provide some attacking returns, but at the minute £5m is too expensive for a defence which has conceded 6 goals in two games.
Kieren Tierney - Left exposed and went off injured once again.. Avoid for now
Shane Duffy - Scored, Clean Sheet, 3 Bonus points and a price rise... Still doubts over his first team prospects once Veltmann and Lamptey are both fit, but right now he's a great prospect. Just can't bring myself to have a triple Brighton defence... Although it would've been perfect last weekend.
Dele Alli - Won a penalty, dusted himself down and scored it... but still wasn't as advanced as I would like. Only 11 touches in the final third vs Wolves (compared to 12 vs Man City). As much as I like Alli, I want to see more of an attacking threat from him before I consider bringing him in.
Paul Pogba - Yet another assist this week vs Southampton to take his tally to 5 already.
Pablo Fornals - Scored and created another 3 chances. West Ham looked really impressive too once again.
Declan Rice - Topped all midfielders for Baseline BPS once again, and bagged himself an assist. Likely to go under the radar with the form of Benrahma, Fornals, Antonio et al.
Adam Armstrong - A slightly more subdued display, albeit against a very good MAnchester United defence. Only 2 shots this week, and 2 chances created. Continue to watch
Jamie Vardy - Back to the sort of performance we saw from Vardy last year. Looked very isolated and struggled to get into the game.
There were a couple of performances that caught my eye this week, and one player managed to get himself off the Watchlist, before he was even on it.
Watching how Man City exploited Norwich's left hand side, I had planned to bring in Ayoze Perez ahead of Leicester's game against the Canaries next week to take advantage of a similar manner.... But then he gets a red card and will be suspended .
Other players that caught my eye this weekend, include:
Hugo Lloris - Another clean sheet for the Spurs keeper, along with 6 saves. Lloris has claimed maximum bonus points in both appearances so far this season.
Tyrone Mings - Claimed two assists this weekend, a flick on for a Danny Ings wonder strike, and then winning a penalty for Villa. But it was the after-game talk which caught my attention. With Aston Villa employing a new set-piece coach, could we see more on an attacking threat from Mings?
Pascal Gross - Created 4 chances against Watford, and his 42 touches in the final third was only bettered by Jack Grealish and Adama Traore in GW 2 (throughout the season, Gross ranks 4th in this Metric behind Grealish, Traore and my next pick).
Mason Mount - If it wasn't for the respective fixtures, Mason Mount would come into my team this weekend to replace Mahrez. He ranks top of all midfielders so far this season for Big Chances Created, and with Chelsea now having a top class finisher in their side, I expect him to rack up plenty of assists. Mount also had three attempts on goal vs Arsenal, so will offer a goal threat along with his creativity.
Jarrod Bowen - Another West Ham asset who could go under the radar, Bowen created 5 chances this gameweek, and is the top ranking midfielder this season for successful crosses. It's surely only a matter of time before the assists start totting up, especially with West Ham's current goalscoring form.
All stats are taken from Fantasy Football Scouts members area, and you can now sign up to the members area, with a 20% discount off the usual subscription fees (Until Sunday) using this link.