FPL Gameweek 2 Results: Monday's Top Scores And Talking Points

Start with the captaincy. Saka was the pick in hindsight. A goal, three bonus, 11 points, doubled to 22 for anyone with the armband on him. Just about everyone in that position banked a return. The facts on the day: 90 minutes, one goal, three bonus. That is the full record.

The defence is the other story. Calafiori matched Saka on 11 points — an assist, two bonus, a clean sheet, 90 minutes. Gabriel took eight, White seven with a bonus point, Mosquera six from 78 minutes, Raya six in goal. Five Arsenal defenders and the keeper returned from one fixture. Calafiori is the one clearing the clean-sheet points on his own — the assist and bonus did that. Our projections rank him first among Arsenal defenders on that basis: clean-sheet points most weeks, attacking returns on top.

The other side of the Arsenal midfield produced little. Rice played 84 minutes for three points. Ødegaard and Lewis-Skelly played 70 each, three points apiece. Saka took the returns; the rest took appearance points. One fixture. That is the sample.

Villa managers got nothing. No Villa player passed two points. No clean sheet, no attacking return, no bonus. That is a blank across the board.

What the facts force:

• Saka: start him, and he is the captaincy case Arsenal owners have. He played 90, he scored, he took the bonus. Confirmed starter, top score of the day.
• Calafiori: buy or hold. Eleven points from a defender, 90 minutes, assist plus clean sheet. Our model prefers him to Gabriel and White in that back line.
• Villa attackers: bench them. Two points was the team's high. Nothing in this fixture supports a start.

Saka starts. Saka plays. If he is in your team, the armband goes on him and stays there until the returns stop. They have not stopped.