The Perfect XI format of Fantasy EPL on Fantrax is going to take the community by storm. Fact. Our good friends at @DPLCommLeague have brought the concept over to Fantrax, and it is sensational. We're here to provide Draft Premier League managers with our very own Perfect XI tips for each gameweek. Details of the concept and rules can be found here!
Check out @DPLCommLeague for further information on the format, regular updates on the latest standings, as well as information on how you can enter.
Fantasy EPL Gameweek 2 Perfect XI
So, what is Perfect XI? Similar to Official Fantasy Premier League game, all managers have full access to the entire player pool each week, meaning multiple teams within the league could be completely identical. The main departures from OFPL are the Fantrax Default Scoring, unlimited transfers each week, no budget/salary cap, and live lineup changes available. This means that each week you can select a dream team of Fantrax assets who you think will score the most points on a given gameweek, and have the added bonus of being able to see the real life lineups before your players lock in your lineup. Magic.
Check out our Gameweek 2 Perfect XI tips below. These are our recommendations for the best eleven players this weekend! Picks are now accompanied by our weekly projections, which our Inner Circle members can exclusively access.
GK: Ederson
Team: Manchester City
Opponent: Norwich City (Home)
Projected Fantasy Points: ~8.5 (GK projections coming soon)
The Thought: Simply put, Manchester City at home to Norwich may be the most lopsided potential matchup in the entire Premier league. As such, Manchester City & Ederson have a very high chance (61%) of keeping a clean sheet. While I'm not always an advocate for chasing clean sheets in Fantrax, there's no better place to do it this week in Perfect XI.
DEF: Trent Alexander-Arnold
Team: Liverpool
Opponent: Burnley (Home)
Projected Fantasy Points: 18.2
The Thought: The first defender in my Perfect XI is Trent Alexander-Arnold. After scoring 19 fantasy points last week, as well as performing fantastically at the end of last season, I expect Trent to continue his dominance against a Burnley side that sits back and allows lots of opposing offense. Liverpool have a 58% chance of keeping a clean sheet, and I wouldn't be at all surprised to see Trent with an attacking return as well.
DEF: Joao Cancelo
Team: Manchester City
Opponent: Norwich (Home)
Projected Fantasy Points: 16.2
The Thought: Cancelo at home to Norwich is another no-brainer. Great clean sheet odds (61%), and one of the best fantasy-point scoring wide backs in the game. Don't overthink this one.
DEF: Luke Shaw
Team: Manchester United
Opponent: Southampton (Away)
Projected Fantasy Points: 13.1
The Thought: While a Manchester City or Liverpool defensive stack may be viable with Tsimikas, Zinchenko, or even Kyle Walker, I'm going to spread the wealth out a bit here, and pick Shaw for the team this week. Away to Southampton, who conceded 3 goals to an inferior Everton attack last week, and scored 1 against their inferior defense, I back United to get a clean sheet away from home (38% chance), and I expect Shaw to get involved in the offense as well. Maybe a cheeky set piece assist to another selected United player?
MID: Bruno Fernandes
Team: Manchester United
Opponent: Southampton (Away)
Projected Fantasy Points: 16.7
The Thought: Bruno is a pretty much locked in starter every gameweek of Perfect XI when he starts for United, and this week is no exception against a poor Southampton side. He has a 42% chance of scoring and a similarly high chance of assisting, so no reason to overthink this one.
MID: Kevin De Bruyne and/or Jack Grealish
Team: Manchester City
Opponent: Norwich (Home)
Projected Fantasy Points: 16.9 & 19.0
The Thought: KDB is another lock for the Perfect XI when he's fit and firing. However, there's a risk here. Pep has admitted that KDB is not yet ready to play a full 90 minutes. I do however, seeing him playing around 60 minutes if he does start this week. 60 minutes against a poor Norwich side should be plenty for KDB to do enough damage to warrant inclusion in your XI this week. If KDB doesn't start, or even if he does, you can select Jack Grealish. He's also projected to perform very well this week, and I expect him to rack up free kicks for KDB or others to create attacking returns from. De Bruyne has a 43% chance of scoring and Grealish a 41% chance according to the oddsmakers.
MID: Jadon Sancho
Team: Manchester United
Opponent: Southampton (Away)
Projected Fantasy Points: 14.5
The Thought: Finally a more interesting one! I'm picking Jadon Sancho this week for Perfect XI in his likely first start for United. There's plenty of uncertainty surrounding just how well Sancho will perform in the Premier League, but he's an undeniable, electric talent. He racked up dribbles and key passes for Dortmund and I expect that to continue for United, particularly against Southampton. He has a 30% chance of scoring, but I expect him to do a lot of his damage through ghost points. United's attack looked stellar against Leeds in gameweek 1 and I expect Sancho to add to that. If he doesn't start, Pogba is a great pivot coming off his 4 assist, 38 point performance.
MID: Raphinha
Team: Leeds
Opponent: Everton (Home)
Projected Fantasy Points: 14.3
The Thought: The only non big-6 player in my team this week, I like Raphinha to put up points at home against Everton. Leeds had a brutal showing against United in their first game (where Raphinha scored 7 in ghost points), but I expect a big bounce-back game against an Everton team that should leak goals. Last year, Raphinha scored 21.5 and 18 fantasy points when he played against Everton, netting once in each game. I expect him to be very involved again, with a nice floor of set pieces and ghost points.
FWD: Riyad Mahrez
Team: Manchester City
Opponent: Norwich (Home)
Projected Fantasy Points: 19.3
The Thought: The Manchester City train continues here with Mahrez. While not a guaranteed starter this week with Pep roulette, given the other City injuries, I could see Mahrez rolled out again. If not, you can always pivot to another high ceiling City attacker. With Mahrez this week, you're getting some of the highest goal-scoring odds of any player at 44%. On top of that, you'd expect him to score a boatload of ghost points against potentially the worst defense in the league.
FWD: Mohamed Salah
Team: Liverpool
Opponent: Burnley (Home)
Projected Fantasy Points: 17.5
The Thought: Following up on a phenomenal 35 fantasy point performance last week vs Norwich, I like Salah to keep his form going and bag at least 1 attacking return this week. The bookies agree, giving Salah the highest goal scoring odds of any this player at nearly 60%! On penalties, and constantly getting into dangerous positions against a side that largely concedes possession, Salah is due a massive performance even without a return.
FWD: Gabriel Jesus
Team: Manchester City
Opponent: Norwich (Home)
Projected Fantasy Points: 18.1
The Thought: Yet another one. I know, I know, not the most interesting or diverse picks this week. But hear me out. If he starts (and that's a fairly big if), Jesus will be significantly under owned considering his situation. He has a 48% chance of scoring, and will get loads of chances against Norwich, a team that just conceded 3 to Liverpool. Put another way, he'll be the player meant to score goals for the best team in the league vs likely the worst team. I figure Manchester City will treat this as a bounce back game after the loss at Spurs, and wreak havoc on poor Norwich. In doing so, if Jesus starts, he's bound to get an attacking return or two. I think many other Perfect XI players will be on the other City & Liverpool assets (Sterling, Jota, Mane), but Jesus will be the perfect differential pick with loads of upside. If he doesn't start you can pivot to another City attacker, or Lukaku in his probable first start!
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