Two matches into the season, only two top-flight teams boast 100% records, Liverpool are winless and Manchester United, West Ham and Everton make up the bottom three.
As if to highlight the unpredictable nature of the Premier League (Manchester City and Everton aside), Rodrigo is the top scorer in Fantasy Premier League with 22 and 2021/22’s highest assisting player Jarrod Bowen has just four points.
Amid the carnage - and United’s defeat to Brentford certainly falls into that category - football.london tries to make sense of it all ahead of Gameweek 3.
Here are five players worth considering for the weekend.
Jamie Vardy (Leicester vs Southampton)
A notoriously fast starter, Vardy has failed to score in Leicester’s opening two games. The good news is that he has never not notched in his opening three games in a Premier League campaign, stretching back to his maiden top-flight season in 2014/15.
Last season saw him kick off the campaign with eight goals in eight games. The season before he scored 11 in 13, while 2019/20 saw him notch 17 in 18 despite drawing blanks in his first two appearances. It’s a prolific run which stretches back to Leicester’s Premier League-winning season (15 in 16), with only their title defence in 2016/17 seeing Vardy fail to get off to a blistering start (and even then he scored two in his first four games).
READ MORE: Fantasy Premier League 2022/23: Full guide to how points-scoring system works in FPL
Now 35, Vardy will need to be managed much more carefully by Brendan Rodgers. However, the arrival of Southampton should provide the ideal opportunity to open his account for the season.
Saints have shipped six in their opening two assignments and their stirring fightback against Leeds couldn’t mask their defensive frailties.
Vardy scored on his last appearance against Southampton on the final day of 2021/22 and we fancy him to get back on the scoring trail this weekend. The fact that he has never been booked in 17 appearances against the south coast side is another plus point for his inclusion this weekend.
Demarai Gray (Everton vs Nottingham Forest)
This is as much about the opposition as it is about Gray and Everton. Because for all the euphoria surrounding the return of Premier League football to the City Ground last weekend, Nottingham Forest were incredibly lucky to come away with all three points against West Ham.
The Irons had a goal disallowed via VAR, hit the crossbar twice, missed a penalty and came up against an inspired Dean Henderson. And that’s without considering the fortuitous winner from Taiwo Awoniyi that the Forest striker knew little about.
Rather than the 1-0 scoreline, a much meaningful statistic is the 42 shots Forest have conceded over their two Premier League outings. That is eight more than the next-best (worst) top-flight side.
Gray has had three shots this season - two from inside the box - and has delivered five corners and three free-kicks. Against a Forest side who are prone to giving up chances, there are points to be had this weekend.
Harry Kane (Tottenham vs Wolves)
Pierre-Emile Højbjerg gained more points than Kane against Chelsea while Eric Dier picked up more points in the clash with Southampton, despite Spurs rattling in four.
There’s also other viable options to consider at Tottenham, including Dejan Kulusevski (Spurs’ top points-scorer with 15) and Son Heung-min (Spurs’ top points-scorer last season).
However, with his ownership dwindling compared to previous campaigns (17.2%), Kane is close to becoming a useful differential with a proven record of high points hauls - it was only two seasons ago that he finished the campaign with 242.
Thirty-two bonus points highlighted his increased involvement against the Blues (he only picked up four against Southampton), which concluded with a dramatic late equaliser.
With confidence high, the visit of a stuttering Wolves is one Kane should relish - he has four goals in eight against them.
Reece James (Leeds United vs Chelsea)
Sumptuous isn’t a word you hear very often but that is the only way to describe James’ second-half cross for Kai Havertz in Chelsea’s 2-2 draw at home to Tottenham last weekend.
That Havertz didn’t bury it firmly underlines where Chelsea are still lacking despite the ‘cursed’ number nine shirt remaining vacant.
Maybe Thomas Tuchel should give James his chance up front, with the wing-back producing a composed finish to put the Blues back into the lead against Spurs. It was his sixth goal in his last 27 Premier League appearances and helped take James to 14 points from his opening two Premier League games.
The England international only started 22 games for Chelsea last season with hamstring and muscle injuries disrupting his campaign. Nevertheless, he still amassed 141 points.
Fit and firing, he has three assists and a goal to show from his last five top-flight appearances. Those include an assist for Mason Mount in the Blues’ 3-0 win at Leeds at the tailend of 2021/22 and further points should flow again this weekend, especially if Chelsea can finally unearth a sumptuous finisher.
Luis Diaz (Manchester United vs Liverpool)
Three games into last season, Mikel Arteta was odds-on to be the next Premier League manager sacked and Arsenal were in crisis.
Now it’s Manchester United’s turn, though their crisis has come after only two games (one-and-a-half really).
The situation at Old Trafford has overtaken the cost of living crisis on the news agenda, with the Glazers, Cristiano Ronaldo and Harry Maguire bearing the brunt of the finger pointing.
Such is the level of desperation around Old Trafford that no one bats an eye when they are being linked with moves for Jamie Vardy and Asmir Begovic, both of who are in their 36th years.
The ‘crisis’ at United means the travails of Liverpool have been somewhat overshadowed despite their failure to beat Fulham or Crystal Palace in their opening two fixtures.
Jurgen Klopp’s increasingly tetchy tone suggests all is not well at Anfield, with Sadio Mane’s stock rising with each passing week away from the club.
Darwin Nunez’ sending-off against Palace was a masterclass in the dark arts of defending from Joachim Anderson and it needed an outstanding equaliser from Luis Diaz to salvage a point for the Reds at Anfield.
Thankfully, for Liverpool, they have a chance to soothe their manager and heap further misery on United at Old Trafford on Monday evening.
With Erik ten Hag sure not to abandon the tactics of playing out from the back so early on in his tenure, United’s leaden defence will offer every opportunity for the pacy Mohamed Salah and Diaz to nip in and win possession high up the field.
And then there’s only David de Gea between them and the goal…
Coming in at £5million cheaper than Salah, Diaz is our pick for the Reds player most likely to exploit that defensive uncertainty in Gameweek 3. Such is our confidence, we would also recommend naming him as captain.
Now we just have to find a word that describes something worse than a crisis.
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