Welcome back to the Hive FPL H2H blog.

Goals were the name of the game in GW6 with 34 of them across the 10 fixtures and just 2 sides managing to keep a clean sheet. After a bit of a sluggish start to the season, it feels like the Premier League might be starting to click through the gears.

GW7 sees the early kick-off between Palace and Liverpool. After a great start to his career in South London, Oliver Glasner's team are really struggling to adapt to a new shape and the fact that a couple of key players left in the summer is clearly having an impact too. Liverpool who sit top of the league will fancy their chances of extending their lead to 4 points at least temporarily.

I say temporarily because you'd certainly back Arsenal to beat Southampton at the Emirates. The Saints were poor in the derby defeat against Bournemouth on Monday. To be quite frank, they look like a Championship team on paper and unless things change quite dramatically they'll be playing there again next season.

City too have a home tie although they look likely to face much sterner opposition in Fulham who following an opening day defeat, are now unbeaten in their last 5 in the league. They'll defend in numbers and look to use the pace they have on the flanks to hit City on the break. After a challenging couple of weeks, Pep and his side could do with a victory of any kind.

Surely Wolves won't take their eye of the ball from the kick-off against Brentford? You can always find the league tables that show what the standings would be at half-time, 60mins, etc. I assume if they did one for if games finished after a minute then Brentford would be top of the league. To be honest, the fragility in both side's backlines mean that you'd expect goals in the other 89 minutes as well.

source. Not Opta stats

The remaining 3pm fixtures see massive home matches for West Ham and Leicester. The Hammers are in dire need of a performance particularly in front of their own fans, having lost all 3 league games at the London Stadium this season. Meanwhile, Leicester can take a lot of heart from their comeback against Arsenal last week but unfortunately that won't be enough to keep them up this season.

The late kick-off on Saturday see Newcastle travel to Everton who got a much needed victory last weekend. I picked out McNeil (MID) as a player to watch earlier in the season and the Everton wide man looks to be the clubs most effective attacker once again. Newcastle meanwhile look likely to be without Isak (FWD) until after the international break as he nurses a broken toe.

Into Sunday and Erik Ten Hag's Manchester United face a very tough trip to Villa Park. It feels like it's been the beginning of the end of his reign as United boss for the last 2 seasons but he keeps hanging on in there. Villa for their part will be disappointed to have lead twice at Ipswich and not come away with all 3 points.

Chelsea are suddenly turning into a side that is fun to watch! Their game against Brighton could have finished as a cricket score with plenty of chances at both ends. Don't expect Forest to play in quite such an unorganised manner, they'll be looking to keep it tight and expose the Blues shaky looking defence.

The final match of the weekend should see another game with plenty of goal mouth action as Spurs visit Brighton. Brighton have shipped 8 goals in their last 3 Premier League games while scoring 7 themselves and we know that Spurs will take risks at the back too. For FPL managers, they'll be looking to see whether either of these 2 sides can find a little more consistency before committing to bringing their players into the squad.

Division 1

GW6 Results

GW7 Fixtures

@teofilex11 v @skanderh

Skander's winning run came to and end in GW6 while Likodra FC's 65 points was the 2nd highest in the division last week. Still, the real defining factor in that outcome was the choice of captain with Haaland blanking and Watkins gaining 22 points with the armband on.

There's not much to choose between the 2 squads in what will be another tight match. Likodra have options at the back with 2 genuine goalkeepers to pick from and at least a 4th defender, although with the way that Ipswich are playing Davis (DEF) against West Ham wouldn't be the end of the world either.

Further forward and you'd have got long odds on Sancho (MID) being a 'must have' FPL player at the start of the season but his early career form at Chelsea is transforming him into just that. Haaland (FWD) versus Wolves will be a key differential and if Skander stays true to form and continues to captain the City forward then a big points haul against a leaky defence might ultimately decide this one.

@talesfrmthecrypt v @reservedsingle

Consistency seems to be the primary issue for both these 2 teams. Solat FC made a good score in GW4, Suffragette City did similar in GW5 and inbetween times both have put in some low numbers. What is also noticeable about both sides is that they've not made many transfers in recent weeks meaning that both could make significant changes to their sides for this one thanks to the ability to bank 5 free changes this season.

You'd imagine that both teams will go with Raya (GK) in goal and Solat FC have the option to double up on Arsenal defenders with Saliba (DEF) . Outside of that, it's difficult to see which defenders will offer clean sheets for their sides this weekend.

Into midfield and Suffragette City appear reliant on Liverpool getting the job done at Palace while Solat FC's primary differential is Saka (MID) who has an appealing fixture against Southampton.

Upfront, Jackson (FWD) has 7 goal involvements so far this season and has only blanked twice compared to Mateta (FWD) who has scored just twice with both goals coming against lowly Leicester City.

@shamzy v @blockchainfpl

Tell me how you can transfer out 4 goal Palmer (MID) bring in Haaland (FWD) for the first time this season who goes on to blank spectacularly, finish 14 points below the average score and still win your head to head? That's what BlockchainFPL managed to do in GW6, the jammy bastards.

Both these teams have the option to double up at the back once again on Arsenal and Liverpool defenders respectively. It's a tactic that backfired last week but with the quality of the opposition that both teams face again in GW7 lightening surely can't strike twice!

BlockchainFPL have by far the greater options in the front 8 given that Winks (MID) and Amad (MID) are not players that you can rely on in your starting XI. Palmer (MID) is likely to find Forest's defence a tougher nut to crack than that of Brighton's last weekend so Shamzy FC will surely need reinforcements in midfield and/or attack to register a competitive score.

@nonsowrites v @gvkanten

Both sides had a poor return in GW6 and will be looking to bounce back this week in a match-up that sees few differentials.

Defensively, you'd think that Gabriel (DEF) offers the best chance of both a clean sheet and a goal from the back. All of Nonz FC's defensive differentials play away from home this weekend which will bring its own challenges but they do at least have genuine back 5 to choose from. The trick will ultimately be, which player(s) to pick!

Into midfield and Gordon (MID) will make a return to Goodison Park and, assuming that Isak (FWD) remains out is likely to play as a centre forward against a side whose only clean sheet in all competitions so far this season came against Doncaster Rovers! With Eze (MID) facing a tough challenge against Liverpool and Muniz (FWD) not likely to start then you'd say that Hungry Lions, who used their wildcard last week, have a stronger squad to pick from.

@b0s v @ipalibo

Both these sides have looked good in the early part of the season and so this fixture presents an opportunity for one of them to truly cement their place towards the top of the table as we head into the international break.

The potential of yet another injury to Pope (GK) might alter Legion FC's plans but they do at least have Flekken in reserve. Where Legion FC have bigger problems is in 4 of their 15 man squad either injured or not likely to start this weekend. They do have free transfers in the bank so brining in some reinforcement, even if only for a couple of points, might be crucial in this one.

With Raya (GK), Trent (DEF) and Gabriel (DEF) as differentials then Whyte FC will certainly be hoping to win the battle at the back. Mbeumo (MID) upfront against a Wolves team that hasn't kept a Premier League clean sheet since February could also be a big advantage.

@mckane v @deniskj

A battle between 2 United fans (although you might not want to shout that from the hilltops these days) who have experienced very different starts to their FPL campaigns. FC McKane are top and flying even though they've been outscored in both their last GWs by today's opponents Ineos Revival who opted to play their wildcard in GW6 but suffered a third straight defeat all the same.

There's not much to choose between the 2 sides with the defences likely to pick themselves unless McKane opt to chance it with Martinez (DEF) who has been booked 3 times in his last 4 appearances and faces a tough trip to Villa or Ineos Revivial go for one of their 2 Ipswich defenders.

In midfield, it's a straight shoot out between the Liverpool wide men with Salah (MID) vs Luis Diaz (MID). Upfront, you'd say that Ineos Revival look to have the edge with Watkins (FWD) and Mateta (FWD) both enjoying home advantage this weekend although Wood (FWD) might hope for a few chances against a Chelsea side that's playing in an open and expansive manner.

Vickoly FC charge on, recording a 3rd consecutive win in GW6 while still holding firm on their policy of no Haaland, no Salah. Herbae themselves are also moving up the table with a couple of wins. Only Watkins (FWD) and Luis Diaz (MID) are common picks between the 2 sides so this one will be decided across multiple matches and individual performances.

At the back, Vickoly FC will be keen to hear what the managers say in their pre-match press conferences in regards the fitness and availability of Udogie (DEF) and White (DEF). However, they also have arguably the strongest back 5 I think I've ever seen in the FPL so it's no great issue if those 2 are benched.

Into midfield and McNeil (MID) looks like Everton's most creative player at present, while Madueke (MID) hasn't managed to follow up on the hatrick that he got early in the season with just a single assist in the 4 games since. The real battle though may well come down to a head to head between the 4 most expensive players in the game with Salah (MID) and Haaland (FWD) on one side and Saka (MID) and Palmer (MID) on the other. Presumably both sides will be selecting a captain from within those star names.

@aaalviarez v @martinlazizi

Espressos are flying at the moment with 3 straight wins and some very good points hauls along the way too. Unfortunately Lazz just can't catch a break at the moment with their top points getter in GW6 left on the bench - ouch!

Both sides could theoretically double up on Arsenal players at the back but while Raya (GK) is an almost guaranteed starter, the same can't be said for White (DEF) at the moment.

Lazz appear very dependent on Liverpool hitting their straps this weekend with 3 high value differentials from Merseyside in their squad. They do have a couple of free transfers for this week which they'll perhaps need to use to remove the unavailable players in their squad and provide greater options.

Espressos will be looking to Palmer (MID) to continue his fine form and Watkins (FWD) to take advantage of a Manchester United defence with more holes in it than a sieve.

@pappyelblanco v @akomoajong

Having been rock bottom after 3 games, Creekside FC are now flying up the table thanks to 3 straight wins, a good lesson to all involved in the H2H leagues of how quickly things can change. On the other hand, Simcard FC have had a very challenging couple of weeks and probably need to make some changes to their squad ahead of GW7.

With Joao Pedro (FWD) and Fraser (FWD) definitely out and with White (DEF) a doubt then the Simcard team almost picks itself at this point in time. Creekside's defence looks good with them able to call on defenders from the top 3 teams in the country.

In midfield, both sides have gone with Salah (MID) and then an asortment of lower value picks. Of those players, Semenyo (MID) has been in the best form so far this season and also has the most appealing fixture in GW7 with Bournemouth taking on Leicester.

Upfront, Creekside have the luxury of potentially playing 3 strikers with Jackson's (FWD) 40 points so far this season behind only Haaland (FWD) for forward options.

@yagman01 v @thoth442

Both these sides made significant changes to their squads last week with Halland Oats FC using their wildcard while Yagman FC burned 4 points for an extra transfer. Unfortunately neither move proved successful.

You'd say on the face of it, the wildcard has left HallAnd Oats in a better position going into GW7 although I don't think either side is likely to get many points from their keeper options going forward.

The real battle though is in midfield with 3 exciting differentials on both sides. It will then come down to Salah (MID) vs Luis Diaz (MID) and Martinelli (MID) vs Saka (MID) with Mitoma (MID) and Semenyo (MID) also likely to be involved in games where you'd expect their to be goals

HallAnd Oats do have Calvert-Lewin (FWD) to throw into the equation although I'm not sure how much faith I'd put in the big centre-forward finding the back of the net on any given game week.

Division 2

GW6 Results

GW7 Fixtures