The Gameweek 1 deadline is closing now. Four things changed in the hours before it — two of them involving players owned by a double-digit share of managers. We read the data at 15:30 UK time.
1. Konsa is now an Arsenal player — and will not play tonight
This is the strangest situation of the deadline. The game has finally moved Ezri Konsa from Aston Villa to Arsenal. He costs £4.5m, is owned by 13.9% of managers and — crucially — carries no flag whatsoever. In the game he looks like a fully available Arsenal defender.
The problem: Arsenal missed Thursday’s midday registration deadline, so he cannot play in tonight’s match against Coventry. That match kicks off at 20:00, ninety minutes after the deadline.
Yesterday the situation was less dangerous: Konsa still appeared as a Villa player, and Villa play on Sunday. Today he is attached to a side playing tonight, in a match he will not feature in. If he sits in your starting eleven, that is zero points with no warning.
Ownership has fallen from 15.2% this morning to 13.9%, so some managers have already acted.
2. Pedro Porro is out — and nearly one in five owns him
This is the most serious new injury of the afternoon. Pedro Porro (Tottenham, £5.5m) has been flagged as injured with a lack of match fitness and an expected return of 29 August.
He is owned by 19.3% of managers. This morning he was clean, with no flag at all. This is not a 75% doubt — it is a confirmed absence covering two gameweeks.
3. Van de Ven too, on the same day
Micky van de Ven (Tottenham, £5.0m, 6.2% ownership) carries an identical note: expected back 29 August.
Tottenham therefore lose two first-choice defenders at once before Saturday’s trip to Brentford. For owners of Jan Paul van Hecke (rated 85, the highest-rated cheap defender in the game) it cuts both ways: his place is safer than ever, but the back line around him has just fallen apart.
4. Doku is out entirely
Jérémy Doku (Manchester City) spent the week on a 75% chance of playing. This afternoon the status changed to a full calf injury with an expected return of 5 September.
That closes the loop on what we wrote this morning about Savinho’s move to Tottenham: City’s wide areas are now genuinely thin, and the minutes of Antoine Semenyo — one of only two players in the game with a “strong buy” verdict — look safer still.
What the crowd is doing in the closing hours
We compared ownership against this morning’s reading. The biggest moves:
| Player | Morning | Now | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Calafiori (ARS) | 34.9% | 39.1% | +4.2 |
| Tzolis (ARS) | 21.6% | 24.7% | +3.1 |
| Mbeumo (MUN) | 36.1% | 38.8% | +2.7 |
| Pedro Porro (TOT) | 22.6% | 19.3% | −3.3 |
| Bruno Guimarães (ARS) | 6.7% | 4.6% | −2.1 |
| Konsa (ARS) | 15.2% | 13.9% | −1.3 |
The market reacts to injuries faster than to anything else. The Tzolis move is interesting: he is rising despite our low rating — and rightly so, because as we explained in our correction, the model cannot see his outstanding pre-season, in which he recorded more assists than any other Premier League player.
And one thing that has not changed
Prices are still frozen. Not one of the 600 players in the database has changed price since the game launched. If somebody tells you to buy now before a rise — they are wrong, and have been all week.
Before you lock your squad
If you still have time — four checks, each taking seconds. If not, treat this as a list for Gameweek 2:
- Neither Pedro Porro nor van de Ven is in your eleven — both return on 29 August.
- Konsa, if you own him, is not in your starting side.
- Your captain and vice-captain play in different fixtures.
- Your squad is actually saved, not merely viewed.
The full checklist is in a separate piece, and our captaincy analysis is here. Live ratings for every player sit in the FPL AI Player Rankings.
Good luck. See you in our league table, now up to 50 teams. The code is 3ix1cw.
Ownership, status and price data come from the official Fantasy Premier League API, read at 15:30 UK time on 21 August and compared against a reading from the same morning. Statuses can change right up to the deadline. Fantasy PL Edge is an independent site, not affiliated with the Premier League or the official Fantasy Premier League game.