Gameweek 2 provided Fantasy Premier League managers with plenty of headaches at the weekend, with several popular picks failing to deliver in terms of points.
Heavily-captained forward Erling Haaland was silenced by Newcastle during Manchester City's narrow 1-0 victory at the Etihad, and Mohamed Salah only managed to chalk up five points after scoring against Bournemouth - because of his uncharacteristic miss from the penalty spot.
Perhaps the biggest disappointment was Arsenal and Manchester United's lack of potency in front of goal, with premium midfielders Bruno Fernandes, Marcus Rashford, Bukayo Saka and Gabriel Martinelli all failing to register a single return.
However, anyone who trusted in the £6.5m midfielder bracket was handsomely rewarded and likely enjoyed a hefty green arrow this week. Bryan Mbeumo racked up 16 points at Fulham while Brighton duo Solly March and Kaoru Mitoma picked up double-digit hauls against Wolves.
With GW3 just around the corner, Mail Sport takes a look at five things to consider ahead of Friday's FPL deadline.
Here are Mail Sport's biggest takeaways from GW2:
Don't look backwards
I'll start with this tip as it's something I've been grappling with all week.
Sometimes, after a miserable gameweek in FPL, the most satisfying thing to do is rip apart your entire team, take copious amounts of hits and remove all those players who have let you down.
Trust me, I know how tempting it is.
I endured, without question, the most disappointing week I've ever had in FPL as every one of my front seven besides Watkins (Haaland, Saka, Martinelli, Fernandes, Rashford and Pedro) failed to return and I was left with a measly 33 points in GW2.
To add insult to injury, several players I considered and tipped ahead of GW1 such as Mbeumo, Mitoma and Wissa have scored in buckets.
Keeping a clear mind in this scenario can be difficult, but it's important to make decisions based on the road ahead rather than the dirt track behind you.
With Manchester United set to face Nottingham Forest at Old Trafford and Arsenal gearing up to play Fulham at the Emirates, it seems the wrong time to take out either of the teams' attackers.
Mbeumo, who was FPL player of the week in GW2 and is continually rising in price, is no doubt the player hurting my team the most at the moment.
However, can I be certain that he'll outscore Saka, Rashford, Fernandes or Martinelli against a Crystal Palace side that kept Arsenal quite in GW2? I'm not so sure.
I'll likely drop one or more of these midfielders in GW4 instead when they play each other, as transferring out United and Arsenal attackers doesn't seem like an optimal move in GW3.
So, as you're weighing up the moves to make ahead of Friday's deadline, have a think about which moves genuinely benefit your team moving forwards and which moves are simply a kneejerk reaction to what's happened in the recent past.
Foden and Alvarez are worth the risk
For those who have been playing FPL for a long time, it's a known commodity that Pep Guardiola enjoys chopping and changing his team at Manchester City. Some have even proposed - in jest of course - that he rotates his squad because he secretly has an FPL team of his own.
Gabriel and Pedro owners will tell you the sinking feeling you get when a player of yours drops to the bench, and frankly, if you bet on Manchester City players, it could happen to you rather frequently.
A handful of City players over the years have dodged the rotation bullet such as Kevin De Bruyne, Joao Cancelo and more recently Haaland, but generally speaking the advice has been to leave Guardiola's mid-priced stars alone.
Phil Foden and Julian Alvarez fall into that category at the moment and nobody can say with surety that their first-team place will remain week in, week out. However, it does seem now like their minutes are more secure than they have ever been.
Ilkay Gundogan and Riyad Mahrez have both left the club and De Bruyne is currently injured, meaning there are plenty of places up for grabs, at least until the Champions League kicks off.
What's more, Alvarez and Foden have been in fine form for Guardiola so far, combining to produce the only goal of the game against Newcastle.
The graphic above, provided by Sofascore, indicates that Foden has slightly higher xG and xA than Alvarez so far this season, although the latter is a forward and comes in at £1m cheaper, which makes him more accessible.
With Sheffield United, Fulham, West Ham, Nottingham Forest and Wolves in their next five games, there are plenty of haul opportunities on offer should either one manage to lock down a regular first team place.
Of course, Pep Roulette will inevitably have you biting your fingernails ahead of each starting lineup over the next few weeks, but the pair could well be worth it.
Cut your losses with Gabriel
Those who opted for William Saliba over Gabriel at the start of the season continued to prosper in GW2, as the Frenchman picked up eight points against Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park.
Meanwhile, Gabriel came off the bench again for a one-point cameo, proving he is well behind his team-mate in terms of Arteta's first-team plans.
The 11-point swing is hard to swallow for Gabriel owners and, despite him having Fulham up next, he can't be trusted as a long-term FPL asset.
Before we look at replacements, there is a case to keep Gabriel for one more week. The Brazilian has scored three goals in his last four matches against Fulham and, with Takehiro Tomiyasu now suspended after his red card against Palace, he could find his way back into the starting lineup this weekend.
However, given that Arteta could simply swap Tomiyasu out for returning full-back Oleksandr Zinchenko, the safest move is probably just to cut your losses.
Pervis Estupinan has been the pick of the defenders so far with 1.25 xGI (the highest in the league), and he is probably the priority defensive transfer if you don't already own him.
Ben Chilwell, meanwhile, still has outstanding fixtures over the next six gameweeks and is second behind Estupinan for xGI (1.10).
Much like Foden and Alvarez, City defenders are often hard to predict in terms of starts, but experienced centre-half Ruben Dias seems the safest bet while John Stones is out. And of course, a sideways move to Saliba is always on the cards.
However, as each of these options are pricier than Gabriel, several managers will need cheaper options than the Brazilian defender.
He's already enjoyed a price rise to £4.6m, but Brentford's Rico Henry is putting up excellent numbers for someone at his price bracket. The Bees left back has an xGI of 0.71 over the first two matches and faces Palace, Bournemouth and Newcastle in his next three matches.
I also like the look of Destiny Udogie at Tottenham. At £4.5m, the Spurs full-back is seventh in the league for final third touches and has Bournemouth, Burnley and Sheffield United up next.
Finally, managers could strip down to Malo Gusto at £4.0m. Although Chelsea could operate with Axel Disasi at full-back in Reece James' absence, the Frenchman seems to have nailed down the right flank for the moment. With excellent fixtures to come, he likely to perform well above his price tag should he keep his place.
Cash in on Salah
To anyone who went with Salah captain over Haaland this week, I applaud you. It was a bold move and one that perhaps deserved more than the 10-point return it brought you.
However, looking ahead, it's hard to justify Salah's price tag with Liverpool's upcoming fixtures. Both Newcastle and Aston Villa have shown they can compete with the traditional top six in terms of limiting goal-scoring opportunities and, with Salah's price almost double that of a Mitoma or Mbeumo, he no longer seems essential in our FPL teams.
The caveat here is that with so many value picks this season, keeping Salah is more than viable. But at £12.5m, you're almost asking him to return a double-digit haul every match if you're not going to captain him.
More to the point, Luis Diaz, Diogo Jota and Cody Gakpo have each started successive matches under Jurgen Klopp and promise to offer significantly better value if they continue to keep Darwin Nunez out of the side.
Part of the allure of Salah in seasons gone by was the ability to switch on to other premium assets when fixtures turn. But having a second premium this season seems less fruitful than before, as Harry Kane is no longer at Tottenham, De Bruyne is out with injury and Haaland is practically in everybody's teams anyway.
Other than Salah, Haaland and an injured De Bruyne, no player in FPL is worth more than Rashford or Son Heung-min at £9.0m.
It means, if you sell Salah, you're unlikely to hamstring yourself by spreading the funds around, as the Egyptian is the only player you'll truly ever want at that premium price bracket.
Seeing as Newcastle kept Man City very quiet last weekend and lots of managers brought two free transfers into GW3, it could be the ideal time to sell Salah and instantly reinvest the funds elsewhere.
Penalties boost Odegaard's appeal
Part of the reason why Saka was so popular heading into GW1 was because of his penalty-taking duties.
Don't get me wrong, he's still a great pick at £8.5m but losing spot-kicks to club captain Odegaard makes him slightly less appealing.
Odegaard slotted away his penalty at Selhurst Park with aplomb and will likely keep hold of the responsibility moving forwards.
He may have dropped into a deeper creative role since Arteta's change in shape, but with penalties he promises to be the next best Arsenal option behind Saka, as he now provides goal-scoring as well as superb assist potential.
Arsenal have not quite been at their best since the start of the season, and their wingers are struggling to find themselves in goal-scoring opportunities like last season.
With no full-backs bombing forwards on the overlap, Saka and Martinelli are being asked to stretch the pitch on the wing, allowing space inside for Odegaard, Kai Havertz, Thomas Partey, Declan Rice and Eddie Nketiah to operate.
Of course, as shown against Nottingham Forest, both have the ability to produce a goal or assist out of nothing. But at first glance, it seems the Gunners' new shape is having a negative effect on Saka and Martinelli, who were Arsenal's most explosive FPL assets last season.
There's no point chopping and changing Arsenal assets ahead of a home clash with Fulham, but it's certainly one to keep an eye on.
If I were picking my team afresh this week, I'd likely back the surety of Odegaard's penalties over Martinelli and perhaps even Saka.
