Round 2 of the World Cup and FPL musings.

⏰ Round 2’s World Cup Fantasy deadline is Thursday, 18th June, 17:00 BST.

🤝 Pierre Sage becomes the new manager of Crystal Palace.

💰 Spurs have agreed a £52m deal for Jan Paul van Hecke (BBC).

👋 Marc Cucurella leaves Chelsea for Real Madrid (BBC).

Alright?

One week into the World Cup, and the Lazy team is reminded about the plight of the international FPL manager.

Until you’re having to stay up til 02:00 to watch Argentina vs Algeria, you can’t fully appreciate the lengths managers in different parts of the world have to go to in order to make sure their teams are locked in for each Premier League deadline.

British offices are filled with bleary-eyed football fans, who, if they’re lucky, managed to squeeze in an hour of sleep between the end of Uzbekistan vs Colombia and their morning alarms.

If you’re in a better timezone to enjoy the football than we are, we hope you’re feeling suitably smug about it.

In today’s newsletter, we’ll be looking ahead to Round 2 of World Cup Fantasy and contemplating some of the early trends that might shape our Gameweek 1 preparation. Ding ding ding.

The first thing the Professor does in the morning is open the door of his cryogenic chamber. Obviously.

The second thing he does is check Fotmob. It’s a live scores app, but it’s also the easiest way to see what happened in the World Cup whilst he was asleep.

From the underlying stats, the line-ups, the player ratings and, of course, the players who got the goals and assists (somehow never his players) - it’s all on Fotmob.

Fotmob is free, reliable and fast. Whether you’re using it as an extra layer on top of watching a live game, looking ahead to future fixtures or catching up on what you’ve missed, it’s worth a look.

The rules in World Cup Fantasy are more vague than the rules about what is and isn’t a handball. After Round 1, we've at least managed to uncover a few clarifications:

Chances created = Big chances created.

The original manuscripts stated that midfielders are awarded +1 point for every two chances created. It should actually read "every two big chances created."

Scouting Bonus.

Players with less than 5% ownership who score more than four points receive a +2 point scouting bonus. Unfortunately, ownership is rounded to one decimal place. This means a player displayed at 5.0% ownership may actually be below the threshold (4.95%-4.99%) and qualify for the bonus, or just above it (5.00%-5.04%) and miss out.

Perhaps the mystery Booster will allow us to view ownership to an extra decimal place for one round.

The bugs in the room.

Whisper it, but aside from these rather improvised rule changes, there have been clandestine reports of glitches in the game.

Duplicates of players, unlimited transfers without playing a chip, and other bugs that, were they to happen in FPL, would surely cause riots in the streets.

We expect any benefits gained by these errors to be quickly rolled back, so don't get too excited, but still - it's a fitting accompaniment to an already chaotic fantasy tournament, and we're fully embracing it.

The 12th Man might sound like a thriller starring Nicholas Cage, but it’s actually a chip that allows you to pick any player - regardless of price - as a 12th member of your line-up.

As we’ve mentioned in previous newsletters, Round 2 is a prime opportunity to use this chip, primarily because lots of big nations (footballing-wise, not landmass or BMI-wise) face smaller nations in must-win matches.

Obviously, who you opt for will largely depend on which players you don't already own. You can’t pick Harry Kane if you already have him - that would just be an 11th man.

Anyway, here are some players you’ve definitely already thought about.

Vinícius Júnior vs Haiti

Many managers had planned to use their 12th Man chip on Vinícius Júnior before Round 1 had even started. The Brazilian, who is listed as a midfielder, faces Haiti in Round 2.

He scored in Round 1 and now heads into one of the standout fixtures of the round against Haiti. Group C could ultimately be decided by goal difference, giving Brazil every incentive to rack up the goals if the opportunity arises.

Kylian Mbappé vs Iraq

Mbappé reminded everyone why he's one of the best 12th Man options in the game with a 14-point haul against Senegal, scoring twice and adding four shots on target for an extra two points.

On paper (and when has paper ever been wrong?), Iraq should provide an even more favourable fixture, and with the Golden Boot race already underway, the Frenchman won't be short of motivation if the chances come his way.

Lamine Yamal vs Saudi Arabia

Spain need a response after dropping points against Cabo Verde, with the battle for top spot in the group likely to come down to goal difference. It could be crucial, too, as it would likely mean avoiding Argentina in the Round of 32 if they go on to win Group J.

Yamal caught the eye during his 20-minute cameo in the opener, looking sharp and dangerous down the right. He’s still working his way back from injury, so 90 minutes isn't guaranteed, but he looks well placed to start against Saudi Arabia.

The popular strategy remains to save your Wildcard for Round 3.

But we know we have plenty of FPL hipsters reading. Plus, some surprise results in Round 1 mean more teams than anticipated will likely still have something to play for in the final group matches, potentially leading to less rotation than expected.

Yes, we’re looking at tú, Spain.

If you're considering using your Wildcard in Round 2 instead, this is the draft unlikely to publicly humiliate you in front of everyone you know and love.

World Cup Fantasy rewards differentials with two bonus points, provided that the differential in question hits four points to begin with.

Remember, a differential is a player with less than 5% ownership at the start of the round. Here’s a spicy one from each position.

Dominik Livaković (GK) vs Panama

It might seem strange to back a goalkeeper who has just conceded four goals, but Livaković was one of Croatia's better performers in their 4-2 defeat to England. He made seven saves and prevented the scoreline from turning into a real drubbing. We’re not bitter, you are.

Croatia are still a strong side, and now face Panama and Ghana in matches that could secure their place in the knockout stages. Priced at just £4.5m, Livaković offers excellent value and comes with very low ownership.

Theo Hernández (DF) vs Iraq

Theo Hernández has surprisingly low ownership. Comically, we reckon this is because several managers have mistakenly opted for his brother Lucas instead.

If France keep a clean sheet against Iraq, Theo is set for a 9-point return, but his appeal doesn't stop there. He’s registered 11 assists and two goals in 45 appearances for France and always carries the potential for attacking returns.

Mohamed Salah (MD) vs New Zealand

Expensive but likely to be low-owned, it’s weird for FPL managers to see Salah’s ownership at sub-5%.

He might not be the player he once was, and he has very different players around him, but he’s the type of differential who can swing a Matchday. He picked up an assist against Belgium, remains on penalties, and, as Egypt's all-time leading goalscorer, is always capable of delivering on the big stage.

Egypt need to win, and New Zealand conceded two goals from 17 shots and 1.50 xG to Iran in the opener.

Enner Valencia (FW) vs Curaçao

Valencia struggled in Ecuador's opener against Ivory Coast, managing just one shot before being substituted in the 77th minute. However, this should be a far more favourable matchup for Ecuador, and it’s effectively a must-win.

Curaçao were torn apart by Germany in Round 1, conceding seven goals and 4.22 xG, giving Valencia an ideal opportunity to bounce back.

One thing we noticed in the previous round is that once the first match begins, you lose the ability to sort your squad by Date. If you’re a proper nerd (and if you’re not, why are you here?), you might want to note down your planned captaincy rotations before the deadline.

Here are our top 10 captaincy picks (from 10 different matches) in Round 2:

Vinícius Júnior owners will be hoping for an early haul to end their captaincy rotation before it really gets going, while Mbappé owners have the luxury of several opportunities to twist before France face Iraq.

As a general rule, around 12 points feels like a good benchmark before handing the armband to Mbappé. If your current captain scores fewer than that, the twist is probably worthwhile.

Depending on the strength and quantity of your remaining options, an Mbappé return below 12 points could justify another roll of the dice.

Talking about FPL this early feels a bit like hearing Last Christmas in September, but there are rumours growing. Whispers of a nameless fear.

Here are three early considerations on our FPL radar:

The new manager influx.

You can build the majority of a starting XI with the number of new managers in the Premier League next season. It wouldn’t be a very athletic team, but still, the point still stands.

In case you’ve lost track:

But also:

In other words, there are plenty of managerial unknowns. It’s going to put even more weight on the already-dubious insights offered by pre-season friendlies.

Spurs strengthening.

Seeing as Spurs scored 48 goals last season - their lowest tally since 09/10 - it makes sense that they’d strengthen their centre-backs first.

Bournemouth’s Marcos Senesi will join them in July, and Brighton’s Jan Paul van Hecke is set to join from Brighton for £52m, according to multiple reliable sources.

It’s hard to know whether a move to Spurs will make them better FPL assets, but it’s surely good news for Spurs’ prospects as a whole. Despite the memes, they’ve traditionally been a reliable source of FPL value. Could the glory days return?

New rules on the horizon?

World Cup rule changes often usher in new rule changes in the Premier League, and there are 11 in this year’s tournament. Yes, eleven - like the girl from Stranger Things, only somehow more likely to cause a nosebleed.

Some of those rules that might impact FPL managers, were they to be enforced in the 26/27 season:

Fewer corners?

In the World Cup, when a corner is awarded, it’s checked by VAR. Listen, we’re clutching at straws, but it can only mean fewer corners, because this rule doesn’t look at goalkicks given in error. You should probably still buy Gabriel.

Fewer suspensions?

VAR can also do checks for second yellows in the World Cup. If someone gets a second yellow in the Premier League, it isn’t checked - even if it’s stupid.

FPL managers can’t really plan for this, but introducing it to the Premier League would curtail the injustice of a mistakenly awarded second yellow, which offers some peace of mind, we suppose.

The other changes are mostly about preventing time-wasting and giving the referee more power to punish petulance. Interesting, but even less relevant to FPL than the ones we highlighted (which, let’s face it, is saying something).

Right, we’re back next week, reporting from the USA itself. You’ve been warned.

Stay lazy,

The LazyFPL Team.