EPL Analysis: Double Gameweek Time

Can Chelsea bring us home the big early points?

So it's been confirmed. The news all fantasy coaches were hoping for! Aston Villa and Chelsea have doubled up in the opening week. This means that instead of you receiving just one allocation of points from their first 90 minute game, you'll instead receive points from 180 potential minutes worth of game time! Wow! In this analysis I'll go through all the potential picks from these two sides. 

Strategy

Although the simple method would be to load up with as much coverage as possible from these two sides, I'd ask that you proceed with caution. In GW3, no Villa or Chelsea players will in fact play. This means that you could be devastated by big dollars sitting on your bench, not to mention potential zeroes, which would completely wreck your score for that week! Thus look to move your Villa and Chelsea acquisitions out in the GW2/GW3 transfer periods. You must still get players from these two sides, but I wouldn't suggest anymore than 4. 

Aston Villa

(v Arsenal & Chelsea)

The two fixtures that Aston Villa have are far from strong. Two top 4 contenders, it's not hard to see Villa being well beaten in both of these. This is why I suggest looking for attacking options rather than defensive ones. Although they have 2 matches in one Gameweek, the defenders could potentially be pulling up negative scores. 

•Benteke (9.0)

Scored against Chelsea last season. Been in good preseason form, scoring a hat trick recently against Crewe, and was one of the best fantasy players from last season. Comes at a price this time around, but still value when you consider what he produced last year and the double up early. 

•Weimann (6.0)

Demanded a place in the starting 11 towards the back end producing a brilliant run of form. Unique as they come, Andreas produced against strong sides as well as weak, producing a double against Man U, as well as scoring against Arsenal and Liverpool. Started the last 13 matches of the season and begun to produce once his role was established. Extreme value and could well repeat his heroics on either of these sides. Has already bagged two this preseason!

Chelsea

(v Aston Villa & Hull City)

That double is as tempting as they come. A big score should be on for most in the squad. There's potential for two clean sheets and a lot of goals. Investment looks a good idea. Just keep in mind that Chelsea are up against champions Manchester United in GW 2, which will be a difficult fixture, especially from a defensive point of view. With that in mind, still proceed with a level of caution.

•Mata (10.5)

Potential negative with Juan is that his national side have a match in Ecuador, only a few days before Chelsea's first match. Mourinho has already stated that he'll be 'very cautious' with players in this position. If not picked by Spain, which is a significant possibility given the quality of opponent, Juan could well be set to deliver in spades!

•Hazard (9.5)

Eden is one of the most picked players in the competition, and with good reason. He produced a double figure score in the opening double last season, and more to the point, started on fire! He's been in solid preseason form, and looks a viable captain option this week and throughout the season. 

•Cole (6.5)

Ashley has been around for many years. He's always a chance to produce a goal or assist, and given the strength of the back line, he's always a chance for a clean sheet as well. Had 2 goals and 2 assists last season, but that's down on his usual output. Ivanovic and Azpilicueta are also good options, but their job security is more shaky at this stage.

•Lukaku (8.0)

This selection depends a lot on the transfer period. Lukaku was dominant last season at West Brom, and if Jose can't find a better striking option, Lukaku will be starting. Jose has said that Romelu has the ability 'to lead the line'. So at this stage he is a wait and see proposition, but he certainly has the potential to devastate both defensive opponents in the opening fixtures.


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