FPL Price Changes: Arsenal stars going up and down ahead of Gameweek 2
Our resident FPL expert looks at the price changes taking place ahead of Gameweek 2.
Keeping across price changes, and planning transfers accordingly, is an important element of successful Fantasy Premier League management – buying cheap and selling high makes life easier as the season goes on, and it’s crucial to know which players might go up and down to avoid having your plans ruined.
With Gameweek 1 in the books already, the first price changes have started coming into effect – and several more seem likely to follow. Below, our resident FPL expert has taken a look at the players who are on the way up and down to help you plan your moves ahead of Friday evening’s Gameweek 2 deadline.
Confirmed Rises & Drops: Arsenal & Chelsea stars now more expensive
Five players have already increased in price ahead of Friday’s deadline: Arsenal’s Riccardo Calafiori (£5.6m), Chelsea’s João Pedro (£7.6m), Brighton’s Maxim De Cuyper (£4.6m), and Brentford duo Mamadou Sangaré (£5.6m) and Michael Kayode (£4.6m).
Of those, three – Calafiori, Sangaré and João Pedro – are players who I’ve previously recommended as good long-term assets, with Sangaré the only member of the trio who didn’t have high ownership already. With the price rises, they’re harder to squeeze into your team this weekend but they’re players who should be under consideration when you start buying and selling regardless of the fee involved.
I also mentioned De Cuyper in this week’s FPL Stock Report as a potential riser. Currently playing out of position as a winger, there’s a chance that he loses that spot if Brighton sign a new wide forward, while Manchester United’s alleged interest in Ferdi Kadioglu means that the Belgian could wind up playing at left-back again anyway. I’d rather wait and see what happens – he’s only underpriced if he continues to play in the front three. Kayode is a solid asset, but don’t expect him to keep scoring goals on a regular basis. He’s not likely to be a great player to chase.
Five players have also dropped in price: Arsenal’s Viktor Gyökeres (£7.4m), Gabriel Martinelli (£6.4m) and Max Dowman (£5.4m), Aston Villa’s Ollie Watkins (£7.9m) and Manchester United’s Amad Diallo (£5.9m).
Three are players who should never have been in your squad in the first place – Watkins and Martinelli are liable to leave England and I struggle to fathom why anyone would have signed Dowman in the first place. Amad is injured, which is unfortunate for those who took a fairly wild gamble on him. In each instance, the damage is already done and there are no current indications of another price drop coming before the deadline, so you can wait until early next week. But don’t wait too long.
The only one who could, maybe, end up as a hold is Gyökeres. There’s speculation that he might leave Arsenal if they successfully sign Julián Alvarez, which would be a death knell for him anyway, but if that deal fails to materialise then he could still have some value. There’s little point in panic selling at this point, but be ready to pull the trigger on transfer deadline day.
Likely Changes: Arsenal players dominate list of imminent moves
A few more players could go up and down before Friday’s deadline, so these are transfers you’ll want to make immediately if they’re a part of your plan – Arsenal’s Martin Ødegaard is expected to go up to £6.6m, so don’t hesitate if you plan to snap him up. It could be a genuine bargain, although it’s not entirely certain that he’ll play every minute of every match.
Two of Ødegaard’s team-mates could go down before Friday: Piero Hincapié is almost certain to drop to £5.4m overnight, and there’s a chance that Bruno Guimarães should follow to £6.9m. Sell Hincapié if you have him as he’s a back-up for the foreseeable future, but you can keep hold of Guimarães. He’ll likely be a regular starter once back from injury, although I feel he’s slightly overpriced anyway.
Tottenham Hotspur’s Pape Matar Sarr is also at risk of an overnight price drop to £4.9m. Very few people have him in their teams anyway, but if you’re among them then he’s prone to being sold in real life, so it’s probably not a bad idea to move on – but there’s a fair chance you can wait until after Friday’s deadline to use your transfers more efficiently.
Potential GW3 Changes: Chelsea & Man City stars could rise and fall next week
While they won’t happen before Friday’s deadline, there are a few other players trending towards price rises and drops – likely players who will move if another particularly good (or bad) week confirms existing biases.
Cole Palmer, Morgan Rogers, Christos Tzolis and Kai Havertz are all gradually heading towards a jump – if they have a big week and you’re thinking of signing them, it will be wise to move fast and not wait until the Gameweek 3 deadline. Dominik Szoboszlai, Joško Gvardiol, Rayan Cherki and Cody Gakpo could also move up quickly if they have a big weekend.
Most of the players at apparent risk of heading in the other direction have very low ownership, mostly for obvious reasons – players who aren’t nailed-on starters like Mikel Merino, Noni Madueke and Danny Welbeck are among them.
Significant players who could take a hit also include Ismaïla Sarr – who’s refusing to train while trying to force a potential transfer to Liverpool, where he’d probably end up as a rotational player – and Jérémy Doku. There’s no need to panic and they won’t go down before Friday, but if you want to move on then you may need to act swiftly after the weekend.