Best FPL players for Gameweek 2: Top 5 best midfielders | OneFootball

Who are the best FPL midfielders for Gameweek 2?

Four-time top 1k and six-time top 5k finisher Abdul Rehman uses the Hub's Opta, Prediction, Comparison and Fixture tools to identify the best Fantasy Premier League midfielders for Gameweek 2.

Don’t forget to check out our Ultimate FPL Gameweek 2 Guide, which has everything you need to make the best decisions ahead of the deadline.

Other articles in this series... Top 5 forwards for Gameweek 2

Best FPL midfielders for Gameweek 2

Gabriel Martinelli (£6.0m) – Arsenal

Fixture: Leicester City (H)

Gabriel Martinelli started this season as many expected, grabbing a goal in the opening fixture of the campaign.

Last season, he managed  six goals and seven assists with an Expected Goals (xG) of 7.62 and an Expected Assists (xA) of 4.75 in only 21 starts.

He will surely prove to be great value at £6.0m and with Emile Smith-Rowe (£5.9m) still out injured, his minutes and team in the place are safe. Even when Smith-Rowe comes back into contention he will be well behind Martinelli in the pecking order at the moment.

The Brazilian’s underlying stats when he plays are great and he may well make a mockery of his price tag this season.

Arsenal come up against Leicester City in Gameweek 2 which looks like a prime game for plenty of goals. The Foxes were one of the worst defensive sides in the league last season and the Gunners are a really good attacking side.

They scored 61 goals (6th) last season with an xG of 62.31 (5th).

It was also encouraging that Martinelli played the full 90 minutes in Gameweek 1.

Jarrod Bowen (£8.5m) – West Ham United

Fixture: Nottingham Forest (a)

Jarrod Bowen had an incredible season last term, scoring 12 goals and adding an incredible 17 assists.

He was one of the best value players in the game with a starting price of £6.0m, and has come in with a big price increase this time around.

He is nailed to start and is the talisman for West Ham United. As always, he was one of the most advanced players on the pitch against Manchester City in Gameweek 1, with Michail Antonio (£7.5m) the only one further up.

City are the best defensive team in the league, so it was no surprise that Bowen had little joy there. The Hammers have a much more favourable game for Gameweek 2 as they come up against nely promoted Nottingham Forest.

They will be strong favourites here, and Bowen is very likely to be in amongst the action in the final third. He has shown us that he has both goal and assist threat, and plenty of it.

Our Points Prediction Tool ranks him as the third highest predicted scoring midfielder for Gameweek 2.

Kevin De Bruyne (£12.0m) – Manchester City

Fixture: Bournemouth (H)

Kevin De Bruyne is coming off the back of a great season for Manchester City. In only 25 starts, he scored 15 goals and made eight assists, with an xG of 7.11 and an xA of 10.86.

He has already picked up an assist this season, in his opening game.

De Bruyne is one of the most nailed attacking players for Pep Guardiola’s team. He plays for one of the best attacking teams in the league, and takes set pieces so will always be involved in a fair share of goal contributions.

They scored 99 goals (first) last season with an xG of 90.66 (second) and are one of the best teams in the world at the moment.

In Gameweek 2 the Citizens come up against Bournemouth at home. This is one of the best fixtures of the season for City and there's no telling what the scoreline could be here.

The Belgian is very likely to be involved in any goals they score whether it be putting it in the back of the net or setting one up for his teammates.

It is no surprise that our Points Prediction Tool has him as the highest predicted scoring midfielder (8.3 points) for Gameweek 2.

Pedro Neto (£5.5m) – Wolves

Fixture: Fulham (H)

Pedro Neto was a very popular pick ahead of Gameweek 1, and was the second highest owned budget midfielder.

He didn’t manage to get any returns, but did manage two shots in the box with an xG of 0.24. Looking at his average position map, he was the second most advanced player for Wolves after Hee-Chan Hwang (£6.0m).

In the 2020/21 season, Neto started 30 games, picking up five goals and eight assists with an xG of 6.11 and an xA of 6.99, so we know he has the potential to be a great FPL asset.

The Portugal man has a good fixture this week to get off the mark. Wolves play Fulham at home, who put on a great display against Liverpool last Gameweek. However, despite their excellent performance, I would still fancy Bruno Lage’s men to score here and win.

Granted Wolves aren’t the best attacking side, but overall they are a decent side and Neto is one of their most advanced and attacking players.

I can see him getting a fair share of goal contributions this season now that he is fit. According to our Points Prediction Tool he is the second highest predicted scoring budget midfielder for Gameweek 2.

Mohamed Salah (£13.0m) – Liverpool

Fixture: Crystal Palace (H)

The Egyptian made history in Gameweek 1, as he became the first player ever to score in his opening fixture for five consecutive seasons. He rewarded his owners with a goal, assist, and 12 FPL points.

His consistency is unbelievable, and he has been the best FPL asset for the past five seasons.

Liverpool didn’t get off to the start they expected, being held to a 2-2 draw with newly promoted Fulham.

The Reds did create plenty of chances though, and were only behind Manchester City for the highest xG (2.07) of the Gameweek.

They have another decent fixture in Gameweek 2 as they take on Crystal Palace at Anfield. The Eagles have improved massively under Patrick Vieira, but an away trip to Liverpool is always going to be a very tough task.

Jurgen Klopp’s men are very likely to be one of the top-scoring sides in the league again, and you can bet Mohamed Salah will get a lot of attacking returns as usual.

Salah is the second favourite to score anytime (58%) in Gameweek 2 and is also the second highest predicted scoring midfielder (6.3 points) according to our Points Prediction Tool.

Hub Power Rankings

To conclude, I will rank these Gameweek 2 midfielders in accordance with our Power Rankings for Hub members.

Best FPL midfielders for Gameweek 2