As former Premier League manager Ian Holloway once told us in his dulcet Bristol accent:
“To put it in gentleman’s terms if you’ve been out for a night and you’re looking for a young lady, and you pull one, some weeks they’re good looking, and some weeks they’re not the best. Our performance today would have been not the best-looking bird, but at least we got her in the taxi. She wasn’t the best looking lady we ended up taking home, but she was very pleasant and very nice, so thanks very much, let’s have a coffee.”
Ian provides a pretty apt description of this week’s Draft waiver wire pickups, they may not be the best looking of pickups, but they can be ‘very pleasant and very nice.’
With last weeks shiny new pickups, see Callum Wilson and James Milner, already added to be above the 65% threshold, fantasy owners need to delve deeper into the Premier League team sheets to find fantasy value. With all of the promoted teams yet to win a game, it’s difficult to find value at this point in the season. However, some of these adds could prove useful in the coming weeks, as usual, I am only going to suggest players owned in 65% or less of Fantrax leagues.
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Draft Waiver Wire Week 2
5. Danny Ings – Forward – Southampton – 51% Owned
Danny Ings confirmed that he is 85% tattoo this week as his ripped shirt revealed a full back tattoo of what appeared to be a wolf. More importantly, Ings looked excellent poaching chances in front of Charlie Austin and was unlucky not to score a second when he found the crossbar in the first half. It’s been a while since we last saw Danny in form but this performance would suggest that he would be starting for the Saints for the foreseeable future. They have a nice run of games coming up so expect to see returns from Ings.
4. Will Hughes – Midfielder –Watford – 30% Owned
The ‘Albino Iniesta’ was lucky to be on the pitch after a questionable scissors tackle on Stephen Ward in the first half. However, after that point, Hughes played excellent in an advanced midfielder role for the Hornets. His day was capped off by a stunning long-range effort that beat Joe Hart in the top corner. Injury troubles have hampered Hughes’s performances in the past, but if he can stay healthy in this surprisingly strong Watford side, I wouldn’t be surprised if he was an option to start every week in fantasy.
3. Wayne Hennessy – Goalkeeper – Crystal Palace – 25% Owned
Hennessy did a fine job against the rampant Liverpool attack last week but ultimately conceded two goals on a James Milner penalty and Sadio Mane breakaway. It was to be expected against a team like Liverpool and fantasy owners should not be deterred by his four saves and two goals conceded. Palace has a dream run of fixtures coming up, and you can expect Hodgson’s boys to keep a few clean sheets. Hennessy is potentially a top 10 goalkeeper for the next six weeks.
4. Alex Iwobi – Midfielder – Arsenal – 31% Owned
It was somewhat surprising to see Iwobi get the start in the midfield three behind Aubameyang in Arsenals game against Chelsea this week. He did, however, seem to provide a lot of problems for the Chelsea defense, netting a decent goal off a Bellerin cross and missing a second. He also set up Mkhitaryan with an excellent chance that Henrik put over the bar. Ramsay came on late in the game suggesting perhaps that Iwobi’s presence was not injury related, instead Emery trying new tactics with the team. If Iwobi can find his way into a regular starting role, he could be an excellent fantasy option. Arsenals fixtures look to improve significantly after a tough start to the season.
5. Andre Gray – Forward – Watford – 17% Owned
If he can stay off twitter and on the football field Andre Gray is an exciting forward to watch. This week he linked up nicely with Troy Deeney and looked like Watford’s most dangerous attacking threat. He could have scored a couple in Watford’s 2-0 win over Burnley. Watford plays Crystal Palace next week before going to Tottenham and Manchester United.
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