FPL tips before gameweek two deadline: Viktor Gyokeres, Antoine Semenyo, Josh King and more | OneFootball

The Premier League is in full swing and so too is the fantasy football season, as FPL managers look to make a fast start to the new campaign.

Tijjani Reijnders was the talk of the FPL town after his sensational debut for Manchester City, scoring one goal and making an assist in a promising link-up with Erling Haaland.

But, besides Reijnders, who else caught the eye and who should we be buying before the gameweek two deadline? Here are The Independent’s five top picks this week:

He may not have been on many FPL radars before the season began, but he should be now. No defender took more shots in the opening gameweek than Ballard’s four as he scored, earned a clean sheet, three bonus points and two defensive contribution points in a 17-point haul. Ballard’s price has already jumped after an influx of transfers in, and although he is unlikely to get 17 points too often this season, he is clearly a menace at set-pieces and will have more chances. Ballard scored three times last season in only 15 appearances in the Championship, and the stats would suggest he will rack up plenty of defensive contributions points in a newly promoted team. Fixtures don’t get much better than his next two against Burnley (a) and Brentford (h).

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Dan Ballard scores for Sunderland against West Ham (Getty Images)

Lacroix was another defender to pick up a clean sheet and defensive contribution points in the opening gameweek. He recorded the second-highest defensive contributions tally of any defender – 16 clearances, blocks, interceptions or tackles in all – and looks set to sweep plenty more. Lacroix was also a big goal threat at set-pieces last season and may well return the odd goJosh Kal. With a nice run of fixtures, including potential clean sheets at home to Nottingham Forest and Sunderland in the next three, he’s worth the price tag.

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Palace defender Maxence Lacroix tackles Marc Cucurella (Chelsea FC via Getty Images)

It is not just that Semenyo looked brilliant against Liverpool last weekend, scoring two goals, but he also has an appealing run of fixtures with four home games in the next six: Wolves (h), Tottenham (a), Brighton (h), Newcastle (h), Leeds (a), Fulham (h). He has already risen in price but Semenyo is still a bandwaggon worth jumping on.

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Antoine Semenyo scored twice on the opening weekend (Reuters)

Not only was the 18-year-old the only starting £4.5m midfielder in FPL on the opening weekend, but he played in a No 10 role and looked dangerous every time he touched the ball. Marco Silva clearly trusts King, as signalled by a new long-term contract signed earlier this year, and looks like the teenager has a starting berth in the team for the next few weeks. With two wildcards this season and extra transfers ahead of Afcon in gameweek 16, there is more scope than ever to take these kind of short-term punts. Fulham have good fixtures, too, with home games against Manchester United, Leeds and Brentford in their next four.

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Josh King was lively against Brighton in Fulham's first game of the season (Gareth Fuller/PA Wire)

The striker didn’t do a lot in Arsenal’s opening win at Old Trafford and was replaced after an hour, but hear us out on this one. That was his first Premier League game and he is still building sharpness after joining the Gunners during the summer – he made some lively runs that never received a pass. The unfortunate injury to Kai Havertz secures a starting berth for Gyokeres, who has very little competition up front when Arsenal take on Leeds at the Emirates on Saturday. A No 9 playing for a title contender, with near-guaranteed minutes, at home to a newly promoted side? He could make for a great differential captain on a weekend when Mohamed Salah (away at Newcastle) and Erling Haaland (home against Tottenham) face stiffer opponents.

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Viktor Gyokeres is closed down by Matthijs de Ligt at Old Trafford (Getty)

Honourable mentions: Dubravka, Gabriel, Mbeumo, Adingra, Watkins, Evanlison.

The deadline for gameweek two transfers is Friday night, at 6.30pm BST, ahead of West Ham’s meeting with Chelsea at the London Stadium.