⚽ FPL Gameweek 3 Tips

👋 Hello 👋

Gameweek 3 is where it feels FPL really starts. Lots of managers will have rolled their transfer last week - this week we’ve got to start making some big decisions!

Hopefully this newsletter will help you with some of them 🙂 

Gameweek 3 deadline = 18:30 UK time, Friday 25 August.

 🔥 Gameweek 3 - Hot Topics 🔥

What to do with João Pedro?

After being benched against Wolves in Gameweek 2, João Pedro (£5.6m) became a rotation risk sooner than most of us thought he would.

It was Julio Enciso (£5.4m) that started in the number 10 role. Initially I thought it would be worth selling João Pedro, but now I’m thinking I’d hold onto him.

We can wait and get confirmation from Roberto De Zerbi in his press conference, but there are rumours that Enciso is injured:

This doesn’t mean that João Pedro would be nailed, but it’s one less player to compete with.

It seemed to be João Pedro’s work rate off the ball that De Zerbi wasn’t happy with, so if he can get that part of his game improved, he should see better minutes going forward.

Either way I’d consider holding for West Ham and re-assessing ahead of Gameweek 4.

What to do with Gabriel?

For the second game in a row Gabriel (£4.9m) was benched for Arsenal.

It definitely seems to be tactical at this point and not injury related given that he has come off the bench in both games so far.

For anyone that wants to keep there is a chance he’ll start against Fulham (h) in Gameweek 3.

Jurriën Timber (£4.8m) is injured and Takehiro Tomiyasu (£4.5m) is suspended.

Longer term I’m not sure it’s worth the headache of holding onto him and I’d be tempted to switch. There’s lots of players you can choose to replace him with depending on budget, some of my favourite options:

• Ben Chilwell (£5.7m)

• Rúben Dias (£5.5m)

• Pervis Estupiñán (£5.2m)

• William Saliba (£5.2m)

• Rico Henry (£4.6m)

• Destiny Udogie (£4.5m)

• Malo Gusto (£4.0m)

Fernandes & Rashford woes

Marcus Rashford (£9.0m) and Bruno Fernandes (£8.5m) have been sold by a combined 682,636 FPL managers ahead of Nottingham Forest (h).

There is part of me that understands why, after all Man United haven’t exactly put in two great performances so far.

Despite that they have created chances. They’re 3rd for expected goals generated so far at 4.3.

Had an early chance against either Wolves or Spurs been scored, the outcomes might have been vastly different.

Their individual expected goal involvement looks like this:

• Rashford - 0.73 xGI

• Fernandes - 1.94 xGI

Between them they’ve maybe been a little unlucky not to get any returns.

Ultimately I find it hard to sell any player before a fixture like Nottingham Forest (h) and so I’ll definitely be keeping them both.

If they can show any kind of spark in that game then the longer run of fixtures looks pretty good:

And if they don’t? We can always sell them in Gameweek 4.

Maddison Doubts

It looks as though James Maddison (£7.6m) is a doubt for Gameweek 3.

Paul often has lots of useful Spurs information but obviously wait and see what what Ange Postecoglou says in his press conference.

If he ends up only being out for Gameweek 3 and you have a good bench you could hold onto him.

If he’s out longer than that I’d be looking to sell.

In the first seven Gameweeks for Spurs the best three fixtures are in Gameweeks 3, 4 and 5.

If he’s going to miss two of them I can’t see a reason to hold onto him, you can always bring him back in later.

📈 Transfer Activity 📉

Bryan Mbeumo (£6.7m) is the most popular transfer in this week.

Lots of people have asked me if they’ve missed the boat on him but I don’t think you have.

He has everything we want in an FPL option - good stats, great minutes, nailed to start, penalties, and no European matches to worry about.

To top it off, he also has great fixtures:

If you need a new midfielder this week he’s one of my favourite options.

Julián Álvarez (£6.6m) is another very popular option with 273,773 new owners so far this week.

It’s no surprise people want someone from Man City, they play Sheffield United (a), Fulham (h), West Ham (a), and Nottingham Forest (h) in the next four Gameweeks.

Ultimately I think most Man City attackers are great as long as they get good minutes, but that’s always the hardest part to predict.

I think both Álvarez and Phil Foden (£7.6m) will start the next two Gameweeks. After that? If I’m honest, I have no idea.

Also bear in mind that the transfer window is still open and Man City might bring in some new additions.

As short term explosive punts, it doesn’t get much better than these two right now though.

With so many £6.5m midfielders to choose from in Gameweek 1 it’s no surprise that when one doesn’t do well they start being sold quickly.

Eberechi Eze (£6.4m) has blanked in both games so far and has dropped in price by £0.1m.

If you’re an owner I’d be tempted to hold on a little longer. He was unlucky against Sheffield United (a) in Gameweek 1 and Arsenal (h) in Gameweek 2 was always going to be difficult.

They don’t have many tough fixtures between now and Gameweek 8 and he still has a lot to offer.

👑 Captaincy 👑

If you owned both Erling Haaland (£14.0m) and Mohamed Salah (£12.5m) last week there was a decision to be made with captaincy.

Unfortunately I don’t think that’s the case this week.

Haaland is playing another newly promoted team, his second in three Gameweeks, and it’s hard to look past him.

Sheffield United have already given up 40 shots in 2 games (actually the same number as Man United…), and they’re going to find it difficult to keep Man City out.

There are some other good options on paper with Man United and Arsenal playing Nottingham Forest and Fulham both at home. I’m just not sure they can compete with Haaland.

As much as I’m happy to hold onto Rashford and Fernandes, I wouldn’t be comfortable captaining them.

Meanwhile the penalty situation at Arsenal has me a little worried. As far as we knew at the start of the season Bukayo Saka (£8.6m) was the first choice penalty taker and he may well still be just that.

Against Crystal Palace however it was Martin Ødegaard (£8.5m) that asked to take the penalty and who knows, maybe he’ll take the next one as well.

Either way I just don’t see any of the Arsenal players as better than Haaland this week, but if you wanted to go different that’s where I’d be looking.

💪 My Team 💪

After 56 points in Gameweek 2 I’m now sitting at a rank of 475,307, not that it really matters this early in the season.

I’ve got two free transfers to use and not really anything to use them on.

My most likely transfer is Ollie Watkins (£8.0m) to Nicolas Jackson (£7.0m) or Álvarez.

It’s not a transfer that I need to make, but I think it’s one that will work well over the next few weeks and I don’t want to burn any transfers.

I could do something like Jordan Pickford (£4.5m) to Robert Sánchez (£4.5m) but the upside of goalkeeper transfers is usually quite low.

Plus when I look ahead on Fantasy Football Hub (affiliate link) I think there’s going to be lots of possible transfers to make in Gameweek 4, including removing Watkins, so I want to get ahead of transfers in that respect.

These are my suggested transfers (affiliate link).

I think I want to hold Issa Kaboré (£4.0m) because it allows me to spend more money on my starting XI.

But having the Watkins to N.Jackson moves reaffirmed is nice.

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The Gameweek 3 Deadline Stream should start between 16:00-16:30 UK time on Friday evening.

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