PL.com Fantasy Player Picks - Week 2

Nothing like a great first week of the season to increase my love for the Premier League's official format. Now, the question is whether I can keep the momentum going. For those who weren't happy with their results from the first week, please, DO NOT PANIC. Yes, there is a wild card available to you but remember that you only have 2 wild cards to play for the entire season and using one in the first week would be a pretty drastic step. Remember that you still have the end of the summer transfer window, the African Cup of Nations, and the January transfer window that may require a major squad overhaul.

I certainly struck out on a bunch of my picks but take someone like Harte or Fabio or Taarabt who not only didn't do well but play for teams that didn't do too well over match week 1. Spending a lot of points or a wild card to do a complete roster overhaul the way we're used to with the Yahoo game is almost definitely overreacting unless you've chosen a lot of players who didn't end up playing at all.

With the theme of "don't over-react" in the background, here are my top 3 choices at each position - one expensive, one moderately priced, and one cheap and then my top 3 choices for captain.

Forwards

Expensive - Carlos Tevez (9.2) looks like he'll get a guaranteed starting run for at least a few matches and given his form so far, he looks like a better investment this week than any of the other premium guys.

Moderate - Nikica Jelavic (8.5) is a little bit at the high end of "moderate" but Everton have a seemingly strong match-up with against Aston Villa. Still, I'd try to stretch to get to Tevez over Jelavic since both are on the road.

Cheap - So many options to choose from - Petric, Pogrebnyak, Vaz Te, etc - but if I were shopping, I'd go with Ricky Lambert at 6.0 at home against Wigan.

Midfielders

Expensive - Eden Hazard (9.6) looks like he's going to be an absolute stud in this format where you get an assist for drawing a penalty but this week, Gylfi Sigurdsson (9.0) is the pick of the expensive midfielders at home against West Brom.

Moderate - Marouane Fellaini (6.6) was in full beast mode against Manchester United and there's no reason to think he won't bring more of the same against Villa and their newly-assembled defense. Hard to argue against Michu (also 6.6)

Cheap - Michu (6.6) isn't any cheaper than the moderate choice Fellaini but between the two of them they're both very affordable and he has a strong match-up as well.

Defenders

Expensive - Leighton Baines (7.0) is as expensive as it gets at defender and he has a solid match-up this week over a week that doesn't have a ton of great match-ups.

Moderate - Jan Vertonghen (6.5) has a strong match at home as Spurs look to get their season started and, presumably, bring in their newly acquired central defender who has been favorably compared with countryman Thomas Vermaelen which means that the occasional goal could be available in addition to solid defending.

Cheap - Chico (5.0) had a strong initial weekend in the Premier League and gets a nice match-up at home to newly promoted West Ham as a follow-up. Seems like a solid reason to invest if you need a defender on the cheap for this week.

Goalkeepers

Expensive - Brad Friedel (5.5) isn't really expensive per se nor is he any more expensive than our moderate choice, Michael Vorm, but I'm not buying in to West Brom's Week 1 outburst and I am buying in on Spurs winning their home opener with a clean sheet. I'm not incredibly confident in this but there aren't a lot of match-ups to love with more expensive keepers.

Moderate - Michael Vorm (5.5) continues to be a great value and this week, along with his Swansea teammates he has as solid a match-up as there is in the league this season.

Cheap - Kelvin Davis (4.5) had a very impressive debut, especially given the opposition. It should be easier this coming weekend at home against Wigan.

Captains

1. Gylfi Sigurdsson
2. Marouane Fellaini
3. Carlos Tevez