FPL 2018/19 facts - Game week 1 

Our favorite Fantasy Premier League started and has already brought us some interesting and fascinating results. All leaders won, all expected clean sheets were catched, lots of interesting fantasy assets appeared.

I watched some matches and was very excited, because big football has returned to us and the following 37 weekends will be full of joy and sorrow. All of us will regret about some fantasy picks, others at the same time will be very happy as their FPL teams will climb on the top. But all that is just a part of the game. If you want to improve your fantasy skills, you should pay more attention to the statistics and learn, how to make the right decisions.

I looked deeper in the results of first Game Week and would like to share some interesting facts. Let's go ⚽

Source: www.premierleague.com
  1. Liverpool had the best expected goals (xG) 3.69 and expected assists (xA) 3.39 in the league. Chelsea scored 3 times, while having only 1.95 xG. Cardiff were unlucky not to score with 1.59 xG vs Bournemouth.
  2. In the first GW Watford made 19 attempts on goal with just 4.9 mins per chance created. It was better, than any other team in Premier League. 12 of those shots came from inside the box, while Liverpool is the leader here with 13 attemts on goal from the box of 18 shots overall.
  3. Everton made just 6 shots, but with 5 of them on target and 2 goals they are on the first place for shots conversion (83,3%) and goals conversion (33,3%). Manchester United and Chelsea also showed good goals conversion and scored 25,0% and 23,1% of their shots respectively.
  4. In the start of 2018/19 season we saw 8 teams earning clean sheets with one goalless match between Southampton and Burnley. These are the same numbers, that we got last year, when Southampton was also involved in 0-0 draw.
  5. Surprisingly, Fulham had the highest posession (66%), but lost 0-2 to Crystal Palace. The other teams with the highest possession won their games - Liverpool (65.1%) and Chelsea (64%).
  6. Manchester City earned the most corners in the league - 9. Watford and Southampton both had 8 opportunities to score from the corners.
  7. The "dirtiest" side in GW1 was Brighton and Hove Albion, who conceded 19 fouls. We also saw the first red card of the season - Phil Jagielka felled Diogo Jota near the penalty area and Ruben Neves scored a brilliant free-kick.
  8. In GW1 4 shots hitted the woodwork, 3 of which we saw in the match between Huddersfield (2) and Chelsea (1).
  9. Three midfielders in the first tour scored a brace: Mane, Pereyra and Richarlison, while two midfielders Holebas and Mendy were able to assist twice.
  10. Bournemouth's forwards Wilson (12) and King (10) made more penalty area touches, than any other forwards. Only Raheem Sterling showed the similar performance (11 penalty area touches). Robertson and Morrison (both 5 penalty touches) were the leaders among the defenders. Morrison had also highest xG (0.87), while Robertson was far ahead of other defenders in xA (0.78).
  11. Mitrovic shot 7 times with only 3 of them on target, while Richarlison was the player, who made just 2 shots, both inside the box and on target, and both led to goals (100% conversion). Alonso and Davinson Sanchez were the most shooting defenders and made 3 attempts on goal.
  12. James Milner was the leader in Liverpool's midfield with 102 passes, 95 of which successful. The best pass completion (97%) among players with at least 30 passes was showed by Tom Cairney from Fulham.
  13. Fabri made 8 saves, which is at least 2 more, than any other goalkeeper in GW1. Cech, Hennessey and McCarthy provided 6 saves in their first games of the season.
  14. Tarkowski made 15 clearances, blocks and interceptions (CBI) - 3 more, than second best Vestergaard. A very cheap (4.0) option Wan-Bissaka also impressed with 11 CBI.
  15. TOP 5 players with the highest bonus points: Pereyra (56), Mane (52), Holebas (47), Mendy (46), Richarlison (46).
I hope, you liked the first game week. Please share your thoughts, impressions and observations in the comments. And follow my fantasy blog , where I plan to post a lot of useful content during the season.