Welcome to Genie's Corner for Gameweek 2! Here, I, (DraftGenie), will be providing you with my thoughts on all things draft! Each segment of Genie's Corner will focus on something specific and relevant to current events in the Draft Fantasy EPL world. Those of you who follow me on Twitter will know I tend to take a bold and differential approach to the draft game, which has led to many fantasy titles. In these articles I will be giving you my unique insights, bold takes, sage advice, and much more throughout the season.
Genie's Corner Gameweek 2
Check out this weekly dive into the mind of our mercurial Fantrax EPL manager and analyst Draft Genie! Each week he provides his thoughts on strategies, players to watch, trades to push for, and much more!
What to do if you've already lost a big name asset
For leagues that drafted in early August or even the end of July, there will be various managers who have already lost their 1st or 2nd pick for the season. Kane has gone to Bayern, De Bruyne will be out for a large part of the season, and Nkunku will be back in January. Some smaller injuries to Jesus, McNeil, and new signing Hojlund are also in play. Managers who took Kane or KDB in round 1 will probably feel their season is over, and I'm sure that those who took Nkunku in round 2 may have the same feeling of doubt. Luckily for you, there is still every chance you win your league's title. The first thing I would do if you roster KDB or Nkunku is to try and trade them out for a usable asset. Yes, you will be taking a massive value hit, but you can get an every-week starter with at least some upside. There will be a few managers ready to punt on De Bruyne hoping Pep somehow rushes him back, and may be willing to give up a 6th-7th round pick. If you can get say Almiron or Andreas P. for KDB I would do that trade all day. Obviously, the other manager thinks they have the steal of the year, but unfortunately for you, they are able to hold KDB a lot better than you. Adding in this set-and-forget type asset will somewhat damage the blow of losing your 1st round pick, but more important than ever will need to be your activity in the trade market and the waiver wire. Bringing in FAB in trades is a great idea, giving you the edge on those weekly pickups or a very late window transfer that could have sneaky value. In terms of Nkunku, if you haven't dropped him I would look to trade him out to a manager with Chelsea assets. From there you can maybe get a MID4 or FWD3 to help soften the blow of losing Nkunku. Players such as: Jimenez, Nunes, and Enzo are all decent targets to help keep your team going.
Losing a big-name player will also mean you may need to have a shorter leash on some of your other stars before you consider trading them out. Let's say your draft went something like KDB-Watkins-Gakpo-Mount or even Martinelli-Kane-Paqueta-Diaby. Coming out of the draft both those teams had a solid foundation, but each lost one of their first two picks. On the Kane team, Paqueta is now rumoured to move to City, and we all know how attackers fair in their first year under Pep, so said team could be losing two set-and-forget assets and be stuck with a core of just Martinelli and Diaby. In this case, I would look to trade out Paqueta to someone rostering City assets and get back as much value as you possibly can. Secondly, look at dealing out Martinelli for two slightly worse assets. What I have found is when it comes to first-round picks many people will significantly overpay to get them as long as they are fit. You can probably get a very sneaky deal for Martinelli involving a 2nd and 3rd/4th rounder and even some FAB. Let's say you can get Diaz and Shaw + FAB for Martinelli + some lower picks. That trade will help give you more flexibility week to week and provide other routes to victory; as opposed to needing Martinelli to hit 15+ every week to have a chance you can most likely bank on one of Shaw or Diaz to do that or sometimes even both. Trading out the "best" asset in a deal isn't always the worst thing; sometimes the value you get back will help you get closer to a league title than relying on just one or two star players to do their thing for 38 weeks straight.
Early Trade Advice
After only one week of games, I am already seeing tons of trade talks, trade proposals, and of course trades going through in Fantrax. Here I'll give some of my early trade in/out targets if you are looking to make some deals this week!
Trade Ins:
- Ben Chilwell (Chelsea, DEF) - Chilwell had quite the performance vs. Liverpool with an assist, and a ruled-out goal. I would consider him a high-end DEF1 this season, potentially even better than Trippier/Trent. The way Poch has been utilizing him in pre-season and vs. Liverpool are great early signs. Chelsea have got a good run of fixtures so, in my opinion, it's now or never to trade him in without having to give up a round 1-2 asset. You could offer players such as: Kulusevski, Jota, or Antony with some FAB to get back Chilwell.
- Dominic Calvert-Lewin (Everton, FWD) - Dyche is probably the only manager who is handling DCL the correct way. He is slowly bringing him back from his injury and being extra cautious. I expect DCL to get minutes off the bench this weekend, and a start in either gameweek 3 or 4. He is worth trading in as your FWD2 given the new signings of Harrison and Danjuma, who add much-needed creativity. Players who had a good opening week that may not sustain that kind of form are worth offering out - Wissa, Tonali, and Rice are all players I would offer in deals for DCL. You may need to add a bit more to get it over the line - if so 10-15 FAB or a DEF3 such as Saliba may get it done.
- Darwin Nunez (Liverpool, FWD) - Gakpo and Jota didn't really impress against Chelsea so Nunez may get his chance to start this weekend. Nunez was on fire in preseason and brought the best out of Salah; Klopp may use him against weaker teams and that is exactly who you want him to play. If a manager took him in round 3 they may be looking for a safer asset who starts every week. Nunez can be considered a FWD2 with top 5 FWD upside when he starts. I would offer every week players with a bit less upside such as: Iwobi, Joelinton, Sterling, and Kai packaged with a solid DEF2 such as Keane or Udogie to get back Darwin before he becomes unattainable.
- Jack Grealish (Man City, MID) - Grealish didn't start in GW1 but with the injury to KDB, there are even fewer City attackers around. Grealish should still get 26+ starts this year, and panic may have struck the manager who took him in round one. Look to bring him in at a discount and reap the rewards. Offering out a 2nd-3rd round asset who is more safe, but on a less attacking team could get this deal done. Players such as: March, Kulusevski, Gibbs-White, and Mbeumo packaged with 15-20 FAB or a MID4 such as Enzo, Brooks, or Kluivert should get this done.
- Gabriel Jesus (Arsenal, FWD) - Rumours have Jesus slightly ahead of schedule for his injury return. He is easily a top 5 forward any time he starts and a round one asset. I would try to trade him in before gameweek 2 when managers who drafted him will decide they are better off just holding 1 more week instead. I would offer forwards such as: Son, Jota, Gakpo, and Watkins with a sweetener such as Romero or T. Silva for Jesus.
- Ibrahima Konate (Liverpool, DEF) - Konate's points don't reflect his performance vs. Chelsea. The dude was everywhere. He will rack up good counting stats this year, maybe even more so than Van Dijk, and can probably be traded in for half the price. A cheap way into the Liverpool defence coming into a few nice matchups. You can probably get Konate in for a MID4 asset or even 20-25 FAB depending on where the Konate manager stands in the FAB race.
Trade Outs:
- Alex Iwobi (Everton, MID) - 14.5 ghosts won't be the norm for Iwobi or any Everton player but managers may be interested given his decent outings last season. Look to package Iwobi in a larger deal for a midfielder with a lot more upside, such as Ward-Prowse or Szoboszlai.
- Son Heung-Min (Tottenham, FWD) - Son was awful against Brentford, continuing his pre-season and last season form. He was hooked early and could see more early substitutions unless he improves. He has set pieces (TBD on Pens) to Maddison and was very isolated out wide left. I would do everything I can to get any sort of FWD1 asset in a deal involving Son before his value plummets even more. Players such as: Diaz and Isak are good targets.
- Declan Rice (Arsenal, MID) - Rice had 11.5 points vs. Forest with 3 SOTs. Despite a very impressive debut, this is something that won't be the norm. I would look to trade him out to an Arsenal fan for a more upside midfielder; the likes of Almiron and a buy-low on Mudryk come to mind.
- Anthony Gordon (Newcastle, MID) - Gordon vs. Barnes is a season-long issue I want no part of. Thankfully Gordon getting an assist will have the Barnes manager slightly worried. Look to get some value for Gordon with a DEF2 or even a guaranteed MID4 starter such as Nunes or Giles.
- Moises Caicedo (Chelsea, MID) - Caicedo's value will never be higher. While his role is still TBD at Chelsea, it won't have enough upside to warrant the hype surrounding him. Target Chelsea fans or anyone who might get excited by his transfer fee. Here you want to target a manager needing a more consistent starter for rotation assets with a lot more upside. The likes of Barnes, Mudryk, and Benrahma come to mind.
Gameweek 2 Advice
Chelsea as the 2nd last match of the gameweek
Will Chelsea still use a three in the back against a weak West Ham? I'm not sure and Poch has some decisions to make. The obvious choice is to replace one of the back three with Mudryk for a lot more attacking power, although Chelsea played well against Liverpool and we could also see the same XI run out again. If you have any Chelsea attacker not named Jackson you will need a backup in this game. I expect there to be no definitive hints from training or the press conference to help us out here, so look to grab a streamer to be ready to sub out anyone not starting. Other than Bowen, JWP, and maybe Paqueta if he is still around, all West Ham assets should be considered your Chelsea backups. Arsenal vs. Crystal Palace is the final game of the gameweeks, but all Arsenal starters are most likely rostered in your leagues. In terms of Palace assets, I would rather start a Chelsea asset from the bench than one of their defenders. If the likes of Lerma, Doucoure, or Ayew are around they will also make goof backups.
Nottingham Forest vs. Sheffield United
A game that can really go in any direction is one to start a lot of assets from. This may be the best game of the weekend to get streamers from, especially on the defensive side. The likes of Boly, Egan, Aurier, and both keepers are all viable starting options this weekend and should be considered over your defenders with tougher matchups. Midfielders and forwards such as Norwood, Awoyini, B. Traore, and Danilo are all worth a pickup this gameweek. I expect this to be either a 1-0/0-0 type game with a closely contested defensive contest as both sides know this could be a massive relegation game come gameweek 38, and will not want to lose it.
Spurs vs. United
This will be a good one. Ange has Spurs looking like a whole new side and United just came off a lucky win where they looked like prime relegation contenders. I am starting all my attackers here, and of the defenders, I'm starting only AWB, Shaw, Romero, and Udogie. This will be an open game and attackers could feast....if the likes of Rashford and Richarlison remember how to score. Ten Hag will consider this a bounce-back game despite winning, and Ange will want to announce his new-look Spurs officially into the EPL by beating last year's 3rd place team. The XIs should pick themselves, with only Sancho having a serious chance of changing anything given Garnacho was absolutely awful on Monday. Mount and Lisandro might also be risks due to poor performance and injury respectively.
3 "Ones to Watch"
- Andreas Pereira - Can he provide the creative spark Fulham need? Andreas was an incredible MID2 asset last year and is one to look at this year in his 2nd full season as a starter. If he improves with his near set-piece monopoly he could be a top 10 midfielder.
- Cody Gakpo - A poor performance vs. Chelsea where he was basically non-existent. If he even gets the nod this weekend he could be on a very short leash. Nunez is waiting in the wings, and if Liverpool buy a #6 Gakpo could become a rotation piece. Another poor performance would be an instant trade-out for me.
- Matheus Nunes - An all-action performance against United with 16.5 ghosties! The Wolves midfielder faces another tough test versus Brighton but Nunes looks to have a new lease of life in the Prem. One to add if you can, and someone who could become a "buy high before he gets higher" target with another good performance.
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