FPL Gameweek 3 Preview - Midfield Surgery Special

It’s Gameweek 3, and I (Joe) just want the pain to stop already. 

My ‘Big Three’ plan has already been torpedoed by Palmer’s injury. Captain Haaland apparently can’t head to save his life. My budget defensive rotation lasted less than one game before Konsa got sent off. My decision to start the season with Palmer and Rogers over Munoz and Semenyo has cost me 30+ points in only two weeks. 

Yep – FPL is back!

But, anyway, that’s far too much moaning from me. You’ve probably got plenty to moan about yourself!

To my fellow strugglers, let’s see if we can turn his boat around. 

To those of you who aren’t off to an awful start, I salute you. 

To one and all, let’s look ahead regardless, and crack on with this Gameweek 3 preview. 

Gameweek 2 Recap

We recapped Gameweek 2 in lots and lots of detail here. And, we’d still 100% recommend going back and reading that summary, for all our takeaways. 

Amongst other things, we looked at:

• The FPL implications for each and every game
• Whether Mats Wieffer is a cheat code
• Defences being back… maybe
• Reijnders being a fraud… (not really)
• The top shot-takers in the Prem so far

And much, much more.

It’s definitely worth your time to check out. But, then, I would say that. 

Is it actually? There’s only one way for you to find out!

Gameweek 3 News

It’s been a busy old week for Premier League teams, considering we haven’t actually had any Premier League games!

Here’s a summary of all the FPL-relevant stuff that happened in the last few days.

League Cup Roundup

• Man U are rubbish – breaking news. Mbeumo did get his first goal, however, after coming on at half-time. James and I both like him and Cunha for the upcoming fixtures.
• Fulham started Jimenez… who scored, but will presumably be rotated again for Muniz this weekend
• Everton basically played the first team against… Mansfield Town. Barry and Grealish both came off after 60mins, though. Dibling also made his debut already
• In the Misery Derby, even Wolves managed to put three past West Ham, who have to be considered maybe the best team to target right now. Strand Larsen got two, and is just a quality player
• Thiago scored again for Brentford. Their attacking fixtures aren’t great for a while, but definitely one to keep an eye on if Wissa leaves, at only 6.0
• Everyone’s favourite 4.5 forward Guiu played 90mins and scored
• Leeds lost to Sheffield Wednesday, and continue to be a great matchup for attacks and defences 

Transfers, Injuries, and Suspensions

• Dibling completed his move to Everton, and came on in the League Cup. Grealish is surely nailed at LW, and Ndiaye played well last weekend on the right, so I wouldn’t panic quite yet… but it’s definitely a situation to monitor
• Similar feelings on the three Forest new boys – Luiz, Hutchinson, and McAtee. I doubt any of them dislodge the starters within the next couple of weeks, at least
• It’s so boring to talk about at this point, but the Isak saga is still alive, apparently. Between that and the Arsenal matchup, I still wouldn’t move for Etikite quite yet, however good he’s looked
• Gordon is suspended until Gameweek 6. Just when I was about to get him into my team, of course. Osula could start, and is only 5.5, but Newcastle are basically bidding non-stop for new strikers, so I wouldn’t go there
• Saka and Odegaard won’t be out as long as first feared… but should definitely be sold anyway, between their prices and Arsenal’s fixtures
• Palmer… who the hell knows. It seems like the injury wasn’t that bad, but he’s also been carrying it for a little while. Personally, I’m selling. He looked crap the first two games, looked crap the whole second half of last season, and I don’t know why I put him in my GW1 team

How To Replace Saka/Palmer?

Well, we made it one full gameweek before the big injuries began.

50% of the game owns Palmer and 15% owns Saka. 

At the time of writing, we know that Saka is out for 3-4 weeks (probably only 2-3 gameweeks), so that feels like an easy sell. 

If Palmer is out for a similar period of time, then selling also feels easy.

The question then, of course, is who do you buy to replace them?

Mo or Haaland, Ideally

The simplest thing to do is to replace a premium with a premium. 

The difficulty is that you will need to find 3.5-4.5 mn to do it – that means another transfer, and possibly a hit for a lot of managers.

James currently has Haaland, Saka and Palmer and two free transfers. He is probably going to make a simple move of Saka and Palmer to Salah and a 6.0 or below midfielder. But not everybody is as bloody brilliant/lucky as him.

Cheap Midfield Enablers

When it comes to cheap enablers for Mo or Haaland, we have a few that come to mind:

For me, Sarr is the outstanding best pick at 6.5. He finished last season as the 12th best midfielder for xGI per 90, even beating out Mbeumo. The other guys at this price bracket are really just making up the numbers.

We might be opposed to people going wild for Reijnders, but we recognise the value pick. James is shopping in this bracket for his Saka & Palmer to Salah & ? switch, and this guy is hard to ignore. Still, we both have constant fear of Pep, and love Brentford’s hiring, so Dango and Damsgaard could be the faves here. 

We aren’t mega keen on Ndoye but he does have three really good fixtures in the next five.

Anderson remains the standout for us at 5.5, because of DefCons and great fixtures. Tavernier attacks and gets DefCons. Palinha is a DefCon beast.

Go Big-At-The-Back

Looking at the list of midfielders above I wouldn’t blame you if you didn’t feel inspired. So, what if you went big-at-the-back instead?

Then, you could drop a forward or a midfielder to Guiu or King respectively for 4.5. And grab a premium defender like Virgil or Cucurella.

My personal favourite for this move though is to get Pedro Porro, who has ludicrous fixtures, is on set pieces, is attacking, and possibly plays for a better defence than I have given credit to. Other 5.5s that could work are Tarkowski – a DefCon monster, or Munoz – an attacking threat.

I also don’t mind dropping to Burn at Newcastle, because I am not sure if Hall is going to be fully fit by next weekend.

Straight Swap Palmer or Saka?

If you want to make an easy and simple move, then just replace them with a midfielder. You obviously can afford everyone (besides Salah), so who would you take?

If Gordon wasn’t sent off then he would be a great option. Unfortunately, he was!

I don’t mind Gakpo, but I’d really rather not play Arsenal in the first game. Eze presumably steps straight into the Arsenal squad, but you don’t want their fixtures. Villa look like shit, so Rogers is an avoid for the time being.

So, I think the options end up being Semenyo – great fixtures, great attack – or the Man United midfielders, who play Burnley this week and then have a pretty bad couple of fixtures before Brentford and Sunderland. I probably favour Cunha the most ,because of how bloody selfish he is, and the price point. B. Fernandes is my least favourite at the moment, because of his reliance on penalties for attacking returns.

Just Get Ekitike?

And then there is the final school of thought. Why didn’t we all just buy the 8.5 striker on the best attack in the league at the start of the season? 

Well, the threat of Isak was one reason, of course. But as the drama continues, Ekitike just keeps getting returns.

Can I Take A Four-Point Hit?

Yes. It is very common to take a four-point hit this week. 

We used to call it a mini-wildcard, when you could only rack up two free transfers. And, we now have an absolute tonne more information from the first two weeks, so taking a small hit to correct some things makes sense.

I also think it’s just a good idea to take a four point hit to make the money work for you. You don’t want to have a 10.5mn player sitting on your bench and Xhaka filling in. That’s… less than ideal. 

Best Upcoming Fixtures

In case you didn’t hear, we built the best FPL fixture ticker around, and it’s completely free of charge. You can check it out in all its glory right here. 

That’s exactly what we’ve used to work out both the best attacking and defensive fixture runs, looking across the next five gameweeks. 

Best Attacking Fixtures

I wouldn’t go near any City attackers right now, apart from Haaland obviously. There’s just such a ridiculous logjam there. That said, Reijnder remains a solid budget option. 

Spurs is a similarly muddled picture, unfortunately. Neither of their strikers are nailed, and rumours keep swirling about new wingers coming in. I’m definitely fine holding and starting Kudus, and Johnson isn’t a bad pick either… just be prepared to switch him out again in a couple of weeks, if you have to.

Don’t get Liverpool players before they play Arsenal. After that, go crazy.  

Villa look godawful going forward. Let’s hope they sort themselves out before those tasty fixtures from GW5 onwards.

I’m not reading too much into Chelsea smashing West Ham. There’s an absolute gulf in the quality of the Hammers’ so-called defence, compared to Fulham’s. I wouldn’t buy any of them this week. 

Bournemouth failed to capitalise on the Wolves red card, annoyingly, but I remain very confident in them. I expect Spurs to play more attacking than they did against City, too, so this week’s fixture is fine. 

Newcastle have a couple of plum fixtures, but the only attacker we actually wanted just got himself sent off. Cheers a bunch, Anthony!

Best Defensive Fixtures

Forest and Everton look as strong defensively as we expected, coming into the season, and have very nice fixture runs.

Chelsea and Villa also look good at the back. They’re each startable, with the hope of cleans, in four of their upcoming fixtures. 

City’s defence is probably fine, especially because Trafford likely won’t start for them again. I’d just be nervous about rotation, as always with Pep teams. Dias is probably as safe as it gets, if you really want one of them. 

Liverpool’s defence has obviously not performed as expected. Let’s not forget that they have played two of the better teams in the league, though. Unfortunately they also do again this week, but I’d expect them to sort themselves out for the easier fixtures after Arsenal. 

Should I Buy?

With two gameweeks gone, it’s time for many of us to let the handbrake off and start wheeling and dealing. Let’s look at all the most-bought players in FPL for Gameweek 3. 

• Joao Pedro – Maybe… but I wouldn’t. Fulham’s defence is vastly better than West Ham’s, and Chelsea’s attack was ineffective against an organised Palace side in GW1
• Semenyo – Yes. Should be one of the best mids in FPL this season, if he stays fit, and the fixtures are good
• Richarlison – No. He’s looked excellent, but Solanke’s just too big of a threat 
• Wood – Yes. Forest’s attack has looked surprisingly good, and he’s got three excellent fixtures coming up
• Timber – No. Not before Liverpool away… obviously!
• B. Johnson – Maybe. I love him as a player, and the fixtures are good, but the transfer rumours make me nervous in the mid-term
• Etikite – No. He’s obviously off to a great start, but he plays the best defence in the league this week
• Kudus – Maybe. Similar rotation concerns to Johnson. I like him less for actual returns, but at 0.5 cheaper the value might be about equal 
• Cucurella – Yes. Loved him before the season, he’s got 13pts already, and the next few fixtures are good defensively 
• Calafiori – No. Again, don’t buy any defenders before they play the champions away
• Reijnders – Maybe. He looked crap against Spurs, but so did all the other City players. He’s still got pretty good fixtures coming up, and – even at 5.7 – remains solid value

Should I Sell?

Well, we’ve got all these exciting purchases coming up. How are we going to make room for them? By binning off the players we’re already sick of, obviously! 

Here are the most-sold players, heading into Gameweek 3.

• Palmer – Yes, 100%, if he’s out for at least a couple of weeks. 
• Frimpong/Saka – Yes. Both expensive, and both injured
• Watkins – Maybe. I would, personally. Villa’s attack looks so awful. He’s still taking shots, and remains a quality player, but Emery’s tactics aren’t working, their next two fixtures are tough, and there are better, cheaper forwards out there
• Wirtz – Maybe. I didn’t like him before the season, but – if you’ve got him now – you could just roll him out against Arsenal anyway, start him when they smash Burnley, and sell him after that 
• Bowen – Yes. Love the player, hate the team and the fixtures 
• Wan Bissaka – Maybe. I doubt he’s a priority sell, at only 4.5, and their defensive fixtures aren’t actually terrible for the next few weeks (even though they, themselves, are terrible)
• Bruno – No. You can’t do it before Burnley at home, however deep he’s playing and however bad Man U look. I wouldn’t bring him in, though
• Gyokores – Yes. I’m completely fine with it. You got him for the good early fixtures, got 13pts from him. Now you can sell him for the tough games, and get him back for GW7
• Marmoush – Yes. He got his chance against Spurs, and was rubbish. Far too much competition for his spot
•  

Captaincy Corner

Hmm… for once, there’s really not an easy captaincy pick for Gameweek 3!

I’ll probably still be going for Haaland, even after his poor performance against Spurs. Partly because there’s no other option I absolutely love. But also, he takes loads of shots, still has great underlying numbers across the first two games, and Brighton just conceded two against Everton. 

Wood would be the other safe pick, and he’s got plenty of upside too. James and I have both been impressed watching Forest’s attack this season, Wood has picked up where he left off, and West Ham look bloody awful. 

I’m completely fine capping either of them. 

And I hope you’ve got at least one of them, because after that, we’re into the riskier picks!

Man U and Newcastle have good fixtures, but nobody who’s actually done anything yet. I don’t hate gambling on an Mbeumo or Cunha to come good against Burnley at home, though.

If I didn’t have Haaland or Wood though, I’d probably just be boring and captain Salah. He always returns, whoever they’re playing, and he’s racked up plenty of goals against Arsenal over the years. 

Final Thoughts

Well, that wraps it up for your full Gameweek 3 preview. 

Personally, after my mediocre start to the season, I feel… at least slightly more confident about the upcoming action!

Hopefully, you do too. 

If you’ve got any lingering doubts, or any other questions, the best place to find us is on Reddit. If you’ve had as good of a time reading this preview as I did writing it, you could even chuck us a few quid using one of the donation buttons. Every little helps!

Either way, cheers for reading, everybody, and best of luck out there in Gameweek 3.