FPL_Banger Fantasy Premier League Tips: Erling Haaland And Eberechi Eze To Score Big

Welcome to a new series for the 2024/25 season, provided by Siva and Sam, the minds behind the weekly podcast FPL Banger. 

Below, we take you through our FPL Gameweek 2 tips in time for the 2nd round of the campaign.

FPL_Banger FPL Gameweek 2 Tips – Captain

Captain Pick – Erling Haaland (£15m)

• Fixture: Ipswich (Home)

At home against a promoted team, no rotation risk, no Champions League concerns, no Julian Alvarez (ever again). Erling Haaland is basically the most obvious captain by a long shot in Gameweek 2, especially after Mo Salah hauled 14 points against the same team last week.

And while we usually advise saving chips for double gameweeks, if you were to activate the Triple Captain chip in a single gameweek, you won’t get much better opposition than a team who conceded 2.6 xG on opening day (the worst among all teams in Week 1).

As a non-Haaland owner, expect to find me behind the biggest couch possible on Saturday afternoon, praying for Jacob Greaves and Axel Tuanzebe to limit Haaland to 1 goal. It’s not looking good.

FPL_Banger FPL Gameweek 2 Tips – Goalkeeper

Goalkeeper – Alisson (£5.5m)

• Fixture: Brentford (Home)

FPL revamped the Bonus Points System over the summer and one noticeable result over the weekend was the fact that 4 of the 5 keepers who kept clean sheets in Week 1 all received bonus points.

Alisson himself scored a bonus point despite only making 2 saves. Liverpool have a very nice run of fixtures where they play just once against a Top 8 side in the next 6 games (Man United in GW3), and its worth remembering that Arne
Slot had a reputation in the Netherlands for building no-nonsense, tough defences.

For those who can’t afford Trent at 7m, Alisson is a nice alternative route into the Liverpool defence.

FPL_Banger FPL Gameweek 2 Tips – Defender

Defender – Rico Lewis (£4.5m)

• Fixture: Ipswich (Home)

“He is a top, top player. In the one-against ones defensively, he’s unbelievable. Honestly, he is a top, top player.”

That’s Pep Guardiola speaking about Rico Lewis, after the right back’s excellent performance in Man City’s 2-0 win over Chelsea in Week 1.

Now before you say that Rico is just another Quansah, a promising young defender priced at 4.5m who can
be benched by his bald manager at any time, let me stop you right there – it’s completely different.

Quansah is a center back. Rico Lewis is a right back. Totally different. Jokes aside, one failed gamble shouldn’t put you off another one, especially with the potential upside of a Man City defender who has goalscoring potential.

Lewis had a goal disallowed last week, and Salah and Trent found plenty of joy down Ipswich’s left flank. If Guardiola was prepared to trust Lewis against Christopher Nkunku and Marc Cucurella, he can trust Lewis against Leif Davis.

FPL_Banger FPL Gameweek 2 Tips – Midfielder

Midfielder – Eberechi Eze (£7m)

• Fixture: West Ham (Home)

I’m not ashamed to say that as a non-Eze owner, I quietly celebrated his perfectly legitimate free kick goal being ruled out last week.

I expect Eze will get his deserved return this week though. West Ham have spent more than £120m trying to improve their side including spending 40m on former Wolves center back Max Kilman, and yet it took them just 4 minutes to concede against Villa on opening day, with Amadou Onana scoring the easiest header you’ll
see from a corner this season.

How do you not mark someone who is 6 ft 5 in tall? West Ham’s lack of defensive organisation bodes well for Eze, who managed the most shots of any player in Week 1 (7 shots) and will be on set pieces and penalties for Palace again this week.

FPL_Banger FPL Gameweek 2 Tips – Forward

Forward – Dominic Solanke (£7.5m)

• Fixture: Everton (Home)

It is difficult to understate just how bad Everton were in their 3-0 defeat to Brighton in Week 1. Brighton cut through them with ease, making the most of the absence of Jarrad Branthwaite, and the presence of Michael Keane in the center of the Everton defence, not to mention Ashley Young at right back who got himself sent off.

That sending off leaves Everton with potentially no recognised senior right backs this week, with both Nathan Patterson and Seamus Coleman likely to miss out due to injury. With Branthwaite also confirmed out, this looks like a perfect fixture for Dominic Solanke, who put in a good shift in Week 1 despite Spurs doing Spursy things against Leicester.

Solanke himself had a few half-chances against Leicester, and with a week off to reflect, one would expect Spurs to bounce back and respond with a convincing win against Everton. No doubt that Solanke will be at the heart of that, having played the full 90 at the King Power. What better way to debut at home than by scoring off a
Michael Keane error. Go on Dom.

Thanks for reading the article in this new series for Sportscasting. Be sure to follow @FPL_Banger for more FPL tips and hints including their weekly podcast and team.