We bring you the best of the FPL Gameweek 1 Saturday matches and what they mean from a Fantasy Premier League perspective as premium midfielders Bruno Fernandes (£12.0m) and Mohamed Salah (£12.5m) both hauled for their combined 30% ownership.
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<h2>FPL Gameweek 1 Saturday Match Reports</h2>
<h3>Manchester United 5-1 Leeds United</h3>
Goals: Fernandes x3, Greenwood, Fred // Ayling
Assists: Pogba x4, Lindelof // Dallas
Bruno Fernandes (£12.0m) hit a Gameweek 1 hat-trick as Man Utd tore Leeds apart at Old Trafford.
<div id="attachment_32589" style="width: 1034px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-32589" class="size-full wp-image-32589" src="https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/Fernandes.jpg" alt="fpl gameweek 1 saturday report" width="1024" height="683" srcset="https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/Fernandes.jpg 1024w, https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/Fernandes-300x200.jpg 300w, https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/Fernandes-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cms.fantasyfootballhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/Fernandes-610x407.jpg 610w" sizes="(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" />Bruno scored a magnificent hattrick for his 52% ownership</div>
Paul Pogba (£7.5m) racked up a huge four assists, with one of those for Mason Greenwood (£7.5m).
After failing to get an attacking return last season, Luke Ayling (£4.5m) opened his Premier League account with a long-range screamer. Stuart Dallas (£5.5m) earned the assist for that strike.
FPL&#8217;s most-owned player Luke Shaw (£5.5m) ended with just one point after a late booking.
Fernandes&#8217; ownership (52%) is likely to soar further from such a showing, while Pogba is bound to be popular too.
Man Utd XI: De Gea; Shaw, Maguire, Lindelof, Wan-Bissaka; Fred, McTominay (Matic 69); Pogba (Martial 75), Fernandes, James (Sancho 75); Greenwood.
Leeds XI: Meslier; Dallas, Cooper, Struijk, Ayling; Raphinha, Rodrigo (Firpo 45), Klich, Harrison (Costa 69); Bamford (Roberts 77).
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<h3>Chelsea 3-0 Crystal Palace</h3>
Goals: Alonso, Pulisic, Chalobah
Assists: Mount, Kovacic
A comfortable Chelsea win did not give us much new information on the Blues, with Romelu Lukaku (£11.5m) <a href="https://twitter.com/ColmVHayes/status/1426456266642272260?s=20">set to part of Gameweek 2</a>.
The Blues looked as solid as ever, restricting Palace to four shots. Patrick Vieira&#8217;s men, meanwhile, gave up 13 attempts on goal &#8211; five of which were in the box.
After full time, the Palace boss stated:
<blockquote>&#8220;It&#8217;s about patience, playing from the back but trying to make right decision &#8211; knowing if you&#8217;re under pressure or not.&#8221;</blockquote>
On goalscoring defender Trevoh Chalobah (£5.0m), Thomas Tuchel said:
<blockquote>&#8220;This is not a gift that we let him play. It was well deserved and he had a big performance against Villarreal for 120 minutes and he is robust enough to play another 90 in the Premier League, first game at home.&#8221;</blockquote>
Chelsea XI: Mendy; Rudiger, Christensen, Chalobah; Alonso (Emerson 86), Kovacic, Jorginho, Azpilicueta (James 67); Mount, Werner, Pulisic (Havertz 82).
Crystal Palace XI: Guaita; Mitchell, Kouyate, Guehi, Ward; Schlupp (Andersen 56), McArthur, Riedewald (Rak-Sakyi 77); Zaha, Mateta (Benteke 56), Ayew.
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<h3>Watford 3-2 Aston Villa</h3>
Goals: Dennis, Sarr, Hernandez // McGinn, Ings (penalty)
Assists: Dennis, Cleverley // Bailey, Traore
Danny Ings (£8.0m) scored a late, late penalty as Villa were humbled by Watford in Gameweek 1. Anwar El Ghazi (£6.0m) was off the pitch at the time.
Ollie Watkins (£7.5m) was not fit enough to be part of the Villans&#8217; matchday squad. Matt Targett (£4.5m) was hooked at half time, with Ashley Young (£5.0m) moving to left-back.
<blockquote>&#8220;I thought Ashley Young dealt with (Ismaila) Sarr a lot better in the second half.&#8221; &#8211; Dean Smith</blockquote>
Watford head coach Xisco Munoz said:
<blockquote>&#8220;I think the team was narrow, the most important was to understand where is the space and which space we need to attack. We tried to give space for (Emmanuel) Dennis and Sarr and it was a brilliant first half because we scored two times and had more chances to score, this today was our game. Today it&#8217;s a very good example that it&#8217;s not only who starts, it&#8217;s also who comes off the bench has to give a good level.&#8221;</blockquote>
Watford XI: Bachmann; Masina, Kabasele, Troost-Ekong, Cathcart; Kucka (Gosling 69), Etebo, Cleverley (Deeney 79); Sema, Dennis (Hernandez 66), Sarr.
Aston Villa XI: Martinez; Targett (Ramsey 45), Mings, Konsa, Cash; McGinn, Nakamba; Young, Buendia (Traore 72), El Ghazi (Bailey 60); Ings.
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<h3>Burnley 1-2 Brighton</h3>
Goals: Tarkowski // Maupay, Mac Allister
Assists: Westwood // Moder, Gross
Joel Veltman (£4.5m) missed out in Gameweek 1 due to being a close contact.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="550" data-dnt="true">
Graham Potter said Joel Veltman came into close contact with someone else (covid-wise) and missed the Burnley game and Percy Tau and Aaron Connolly were out for &quot;personal reasons&quot;. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/bhafc?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#bhafc</a>
&mdash; RichieMills (@RichieMills2) <a href="https://twitter.com/RichieMills2/status/1426581705863872516?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 14, 2021</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
On subs Jakub Moder (£4.5m) and Alexis Mac Allister (£5.5m), Graham Potter said:
<blockquote>&#8220;The substitutes absolutely played their part. It was a fantastic team performance, especially in the second half considering we got off to the worst possible start. Burnley made it difficult for us and we rode our luck a bit in the first half – the things they do well they did well and we suffered a little bit.&#8221;</blockquote>
Popular budget midfielder Josh Brownhill (£4.5m) was only a substitute for the Clarets.
Burnley XI: Pope; Taylor, Mee, Tarkowski, Lowton; McNeil (Brownhill 79), Westwood, Cork (Vydra 85), Gudmundsson; Rodriguez (Barnes 70), Wood.
Brighton XI: Sanchez; Duffy, Dunk, Webster; March, Bissouma, Mwepu (Lallana 45), Alzate (Moder 72); Trossard (Mac Allister 76), Maupay, Gross.
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<h3>Leicester 1-0 Wolves</h3>
Goals: Vardy
Assists: Pereira
On the substitution of James Maddison (£7.0m), Brendan Rodgers said:
<blockquote>&#8220;He took a whack on his back and he was moving okay but I felt we needed more energy. We’ll see how it is.&#8221;</blockquote>
The Foxes switched to a back three for the final half hour, putting Harvey Barnes (£7.0m) up front alongside Jamie Vardy (£10.5m). That was a brief sojourn for the winger, who lasted 72 minutes as he continues to build fitness.
On Vardy&#8217;s goal, Rodgers added:
<blockquote>&#8220;It was a brilliant finish. It&#8217;s a great piece of skill from Ricky, who is finding his legs and crosses in, and Jamie gets across his man.
&#8220;He&#8217;s unlucky not to score more than one goal. He got into some great positions but we didn&#8217;t have the precision on the final pass.
&#8220;We’re managing him to make sure he’s as electric and as explosive as he can be. When he has that hunger he’s very difficult to play against. He’s up there with the best of them and I&#8217;m delighted he&#8217;s here.&#8221;</blockquote>
Leicester gave up 17 shots, with 13 of those inside the box but managed to hold on for the clean sheet. Budget defender Daniel Amartey (£4.0m) is unlikely to remain in Rodgers&#8217; XI if the manager continues with a back four.
For Wolves, Raul Jimenez (£7.5m) completed the full game while Ki Jana-Hoever (£4.0m) lined out at right wing-back. Nelson Semedo (£5.0m) &#8211; who was on the bench &#8211; was recently absent from training for 10 days <a href="https://www.wolves.co.uk/news/first-team/20210814-lage-im-not-happy-but-trust-the-process/">due to isolation</a>, however.
Leicester XI: Schmeichel; Thomas, Soyuncu, Amartey, Pereira; Ndidi, Tielemans; Barnes (Iheanacho 72), Maddison (Soumare 62), Perez (Vestergaard 62); Vardy.
Wolves XI: Sa; Saiss, Kilman (Fabio Silva 91), Coady; Marcal, Moutinho (Dendoncker 66), Neves, Hoever; Trincao (Gibbs-White 86), Jimenez, Traore.
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<h3>Everton 3-1 Southampton</h3>
Goals: Richarlison, Doucoure, Calvert-Lewin // A Armstrong
Assists: Townsend, Iwobi, Richarlison // Adams
Richarlison (£7.5m) was the standout FPL performer for the Toffees, with Benitez switching the attacker to a more central position in the second half.
<blockquote>&#8220;We changed the positions of Richarlison and Demarai Gray in the second half and that helped us. We showed good character. Richarlison&#8217;s match fitness is good. He had one day off to make sure he was fine. We will try to get the best from him in the next few weeks. I was happy with him on the left and even happier with him down the middle today.&#8221; &#8211; Rafa Benitez</blockquote>
On budget defender Tino Livramento (£4.0m), Ralph Hasenhuttl said:
<blockquote>&#8220;Tino is a very dynamic young player with a good mentality and the defensive qualities that we need. Today he had a very strong opponent and most of the time he was very good against him. With the ball he showed some good skills, I&#8217;m happy for him.&#8221;</blockquote>
Everton XI: Pickford; Digne, Keane, Holgate, Coleman; Gray (Mina 83), Allan, Doucoure, Townsend (Iwobi 70); Richarlison (Gordon 89), Calvert-Lewin.
Southampton XI: McCarthy; Perraud (Redmond 83), Salisu, Stephens, Livramento; Ward-Prowse, Romeu (Diallo 80); Djenepo, Walcott (Tella 80); A Armstrong, Adams.
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<h3>Norwich 0-3 Liverpool</h3>
Goals: Jota, Firmino, Salah
Assists: Salah x2
Mohamed Salah (£12.5m) posted three attacking returns against Norwich, the last of which was a stunning strike from the edge of the box.
He also banked two assists in Gameweek 1, a fortuitous one for Diogo Jota (£7.5m) and an accurate effort for Roberto Firmino (£9.0m).
Firmino replaced Jota barely past the hour mark, as the latter just about logged two extra points.
Kostas Tsimikas (£4.0m) took several corners from the left-hand side, with his set-piece involvement an added bonus for owners.
Norwich XI: Krul; Giannoulis, Gibson, Hanley, Aarons; Gilmour, Lees-Melou; Rashica (Sargent 77), Rupp, Cantwell (Dowell 86); Pukki (Idah 77).
Liverpool XI: Alisson; Tsimikas, Van Dijk, Matip, Alexander-Arnold; Keita (Elliott 83), Milner, Oxlade-Chamberlain (Fabinho 60); Mane, Jota (Firmino 60), Salah.
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<h2>FPL Gameweek 1 Friday Match Report</h2>
<h3>Brentford 2-0 Arsenal</h3>
Goals: Canos, Norgaard
Assists: Pinnock
David Raya (£4.5m) was the big Fantasy earner in Brentford&#8217;s Premier League opener. The keeper racked up four saves and picked up a bonus point en route to an eight-point haul.
Ivan Toney (£6.5m) failed to get a shot off against the Gunners. Owners will surely hold firm, however, with a visit to Crystal Palace for the striker in Gameweek 2.
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (£10.0m) and Alex Lacazette (£8.5m) both missed out through illness. Asked how long the pair will be out for, Mikel Arteta responded:
<blockquote>&#8220;I don’t know &#8211; but I certainly don’t want to use any excuses. We had a team that we put out that’s good enough to play the way that we wanted to play and capable of achieving a different result.&#8221;</blockquote>
Brentford XI: Raya; Pinnock, Jansson, Ajer (Sorensen 71); Henry, Janelt, Norgaard, Onyeka (Bidstrup 80), Canos; Mbuemo (Forss 86), Toney.
Arsenal XI: Leno; Tierney, Mari, White, Chambers (Tavares 81); Xhaka, Lokonga; Martinelli (Nelson 71), Smith Rowe, Pepe; Balogun (Saka 59).
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<h2>Check out our Fantasy Premier League Gameweek 2 Ultimate Guide 2021/22</h2>
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FPL Gameweek 1 Saturday Match Reports | Fantasy Premier League Tips 2021/22

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