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After a fairly low-scoring Gameweek 2, FPL returns in a GW 3 where the stocked-up free transfers should be used by many managers, resulting in more variance in the teams. It was the FPL assets from Brighton and Brentford that have shone so far, and in GW 2, they extended the point gap between owners and non-owners.
Bryan Mbeumo, Solly March, Kaoru Mitoma and Pervis Estupinan picked up double-digit hauls. Mohamed Salah and Phil Foden were the only major FPL assets from the Big '6' clubs to get any returns, with Erling Haaland, Marcus Rashford and Bukayo Saka all blanking.
I had a horrendous GW 2, scoring only 32 FPL points, with Estupinan the only player who provided any FPL returns for me.
Gameweek 3 should see FPL managers make plenty of transfers, with most of them having two free transfers to spend. Some might even opt to play an early Wildcard.
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The on-fire Bryan Mbeumo, Yoane Wissa, Pervis Estupinan and Phil Foden are among the top transfers in, with Gabriel and Marcus Rashford among the most transferred-out players.
Whatever your transfers are, ensure that your team is locked in before the Friday night FPL deadline.
Gameweek 3 Deadline: Friday, August 25 at 06:30 pm (BST)/ 11:00 pm (Indian Standard Time).
FPL Gameweek 3 Fixtures
Chelsea's home fixture against Luton on Friday night gets GW 3 underway. Bournemouth entertain Spurs at the Vitality Stadium on Saturday afternoon, with Manchester United locking horns with Nottingham Forest at Old Trafford later on.
Sheffield United host Manchester City at Bramall Lane on Saturday noon, with the final match of the GW being a big one, as Newcastle clash with Liverpool at St. James Park.
The FPL team suggested for the previous GW
Here's the suggested team for GW 2:
Goalkeepers: Jordan Pickford (GK) (EVE) (£4.5 m), Matt Turner (NFO) (£4.0 m)
Defenders: Gabriel (ARS) (£4.9 m), Ben Chilwell (CHE) (£5.6 m), Luke Shaw (MUN) (£5.5 m), Pervis Estupinan (BHA) (£5.1 m), George Baldock (SHU) (£4.0 m)
Midfielders: Bukayo Saka (ARS) (£8.5 m), Gabriel Martinelli (ARS) (£8.0 m), Richarlison (TOT) (£7.0 m), Bruno Fernandes (MUN) (£8.5 m), Marcus Rashford (MUN) (£9.0 m)
Forwards: William Osula (SHU) (£4.5 m), Erling Haaland (MCI) (£14.0 m), Nicolas Jackson (CHE) (£7.0 m)
Captain/Vice-Captain: Erling Haaland/Marcus Rashford
GW 1 Transfers made: NA
Points Scored (- hits): 32 (-0): 32
Overall Points: 94
Overall Rank: 6,009,404
Free Transfers available: 1
Money Remaining: £0 m
Transfers
1) Gabriel Magalhaes (ARS) (DEF) (£4.9 m) - OUT | Destiny Udogie (TOT) (DEF) (£4.5 m) - IN
Despite having the most disastrous start in my FPL history and having free transfers, I didn't have any transfers in my mind heading into GW 3.
Whether it was the excellent fixtures for all my underperforming FPL assets or the point projections that suggested that the poor performances in the first two GWs were an outlier, I'm very comfortable with the team I have for this GW.
However, I didn't want to waste a transfer, and that's why I've taken out the biggest area of concern in my team, Gabriel. The Arsenal centre-back was nailed to start ahead of the season but has been benched due to a system change for the Gunners. While there's a chance that he could start against Fulham, his unreliability of starts robs him of his viability as an FPL option.
I'm replacing him with the very attacking Tottenham Hotspur left-back Destiny Udogie, who costs £4.5 million. Spurs could concede plenty of goals this season, but they do have the defensive personnel to keep enough shutouts.
Moreover, Udogie's potential for assists and goals gives him a high points ceiling. At that price point, it's easy to bench him for tougher fixtures. While it wasn't a necessary transfer, I'm glad to use one of my free transfers productively.
Best FPL Team for Gameweek 3
Gameweek 3 Bench: Matt Turner (NFO) vs MUN (A), Luke Shaw (MUN) vs NFO (H), William Osula (SHU) vs MCI (H), George Baldock (SHU) vs MCI (H)
It's difficult to fathom how poor the opening two GWs have been for my team, with the only major decisions I got wrong was that of going for Richarlison over Mbeumo or Mitoma and with Jordan Pickford in goal over Sam Johnstone or Mark Flekken.
I was never going to get any other £6.5 million midfielder when I could afford options like Bruno Fernandes and Gabriel Martinelli, who're elite FPL assets who also had good fixtures on paper. Gabriel's unexpected benchings in the first two GWs also added to the problems in my team.
However, I'm placing my faith in this team and backing them to come good in GW 3 where nearly everyone has excellent fixtures on paper.
Twin blanks from the Arsenal and Manchester United duos of Martinelli-Saka and Bruno-Rashford in GW 2 didn't help my cause either. However, with Arsenal playing Fulham at home and United taking on Forest at home, both sides have a good chance of racking up the goals, with the aforementioned FPL assets likely to haul big.
United, especially, have created plenty of chances and will place an emphasis on finishing them off in this game.
Richarlison and Destiny Udogie should play a key role for Spurs as they play away against Bournemouth. The Cherries have been brimming with positive intent and have a good chance of breaching a porous Spurs defence. Nevertheless, I'm opting to play Udogie over Luke Shaw due to his higher potential for an attacking return.
Ben Chilwell and Nicolas Jackson are the other two players who will play a huge role in my FPL team this week. Chelsea have an excellent chance to bounce back from their 3-1 defeat to West Ham as they take on Luton at home.
Lastly, Jordan Pickford starts in goal over Matt Turner, and I'm hoping the Toffees goalie at least picks up save points even if a clean sheet is too much to ask for.
Gameweek 3 - FPL captaincy
Unlike last week where there were no viable alternatives to Haaland, literally every player in my FPL team appears to have excellent fixtures.
However, the lack of returns from everyone except Estupinan leaves Haaland as the best armband option. Having already sunk very low in the first two GWs, I'm not really in a position to take a risk on FPL assets that haven't really delivered so far.
Best FPL XI for Gameweek 3 - Summary
Starting XI
GK - Jordan Pickford (EVE) vs WOL (H)
DEF: Destiny Udogie (TOT) vs BOU (A), Ben Chilwell (CHE) vs LUT (H), Pervis Estupinan (BHA) vs WHU (H)
MID: Marcus Rashford (MUN) vs NFO (H), Gabriel Martinelli (ARS) vs FUL (H), Bruno Fernandes (MUN) vs NFO (H), Bukayo Saka (ARS) vs FUL (H), Richarlison (TOT) vs BOU (A)
FWD: Erling Haaland (MCI) vs SHU (A) and Nicolas Jackson (CHE) vs LUT (H)
Formation: 3-5-2
Bench: GK - Matt Turner (NFO) vs MUN (A), 1st Sub: Luke Shaw (MUN) vs NFO (H), 2nd Sub: William Osula (SHU) vs MCI (H), 3rd Sub: George Baldock (SHU) vs MCI (H)
Chips activated: None
Captain: Erling Haaland | VC: Nicolas Jackson
