I say “Volatile”, you say “Market!” “Volatile” …

So many great players, so little time to decide our transfers this weekend! There was a lot of pressure on us to make changes before the gameweek had even finished, and I certainly can’t have been the only one up at 2am flipping between the transfer page and a price change predictor tirelessly tinkering with my two free transfers. It seemed like every player that scored points on the weekend was rising in price regardless of what their upcoming fixtures were or how well they actually played. This weekend was definitely a minefield.

Regardless of how crazy a gameweek can get, or how difficult a transfer decision can be, we always have the fixture tracker fall back on. So I’ve picked the teams who we’re all talking about this weekend and had a wee look to see what’s what on the fixture side of things. If I’ve missed a team, I may have written about them last week. I try not to write about the same team twice in a row.

Alright! Let’s do this.

Teams to look into

Chelsea

I thought I’d get the obvious out of the way first before we crack on with the good stuff. Chelsea’s attack looked bad. Not the worst, mind you, but not particularly good. There was no real goal threat after the initial mistake by Ndidi (5.0m), and that really sucks for anyone who took a chance on Christian Pulisic (7.5m), Pedro (7.0m) or any other attacking player. As for the defence, there was a notable improvement in their backline, but after half time it looked like Lampard was tactically outplayed in midfield, and the inevitable clean sheet wipe-out came soon after. Now I am in no way suggesting you bring any Chelsea players in! Not at all. But for all those managers who own Blues assets, it’s clear that Lampard is a quick learner and will fill these holes that take a bit of game-time to find. Looking at the next 10 matches, they only play one top 6 team, LIV (H), and our Fixture Tracker puts them in 2nd place for ‘best fixture run’ in the league. So don’t panic! There’s time to right this ship.

Everton

Another game week, and another clean sheet! If you’ve picked an Everton defender for the opening two matches, you’re now experiencing what we in the biz call a ‘set and forget’ player. The Toffees play MCI at home in GW6, but this looks like the only real test they’ll face in the first 10 game weeks except for maybe Wolves in GW4 which again is a home game. With most of their difficult fixtures being played at Goodison Park, and a very solid defensive showing so far, there’s nothing stopping Everton from keeping these good times rolling. If you aren’t currently sitting with one of their defenders, you might wanna start looking at ways to bring one in, especially Digne (6.0) who had the best stats of any Everton defender for both defending and attacking. Speaking of attacking, Silva himself stated after the game that the team isn’t quite at full power yet. Alex Iwobi (6.0m) hasn’t featured at all, and Moise Kean (7.0m) has yet to play a full match. Though when Kean did show his face for the last 20 minutes or so against Watford, he was looking tasty! He was carving up space for himself, he was dribbling well, and even had 2 more shots than Calvert-Lewin (6.0m) had in 72 minutes (which was 0 by the way). We should definitely be keeping an eye on the Italian wonderkid. Expect Everton to start ramping up the goal tally as soon as he’s fit. If you’re currently an owner of an attacking Toffee, then maybe hold out just a little while longer. They’ve definitely been unlucky not to have scored more in these last two games.

West Ham

Now we haven’t seen much from West Ham, but the Hammers have the BEST fixtures for both GW3-8, and GW3-12. So for any managers out there looking for a short term or long term budget solutions to a problem, consider downgrading to some of West Ham’s more encouraging options! We’ve got Lukasz Fabianski (5.0m) in goals who you just know will get save points, and is a great placeholder for Arsenal’s Leno (5.0m) if you’re looking to get into the Gunners’ defence on the cheap (top for fixtures from GW8-16). If you’re looking for a defender, have a look at Ryan Fredericks (4.5m) whose decided to make the oppositions’ final third his home for the last two games. He’s had even had a few touches in the box! Getting rid of Perez? How about Manuel Lanzini (6.5m)? He’s been a shining light in the West Ham attack for the first 2 games, with 4 key passes and 5 dribbles against Brighton, and an assist to boot. He looks wonderfully comfortable again, which is a great sight after all the injury stuff he’s had to deal with. I wish I could give you guys Sébastien Haller (7.0) as an option as well, but he’s had a wee knock and might not be playing for a bit. I liked what he was selling against City, but until he’s back and scoring, he’s staying on my watchlist.