With the next Fantasy Premier League (FPL) deadline almost upon us, we’re getting insight and team reveals from our panel of Hall of Famers and guest writers. Here, three-time top 500 finisher FPL General talks through his Gameweek 3 squad.
Gameweek 2 Review
Triple Captain success: a sentence I haven’t typed very often during my FPL career. The gamble to play it early in a single Gameweek paid off very nicely, so thank you, Erling Haaland (£15.1m).
But while Triple Captain was a success, triple Crystal Palace has been a disaster so far! Aside from the Daniel Munoz (£5.0m) assist in Gameweek 1, they’ve returned diddly squat. Owning the trio for an away trip to Chelsea this weekend is not ideal, to say the least.
I’m going to bench Munoz for Ezri Konsa (£4.5m), with Aston Villa facing newly-promoted Leicester City. Brentford’s back-up goalkeeper Hákon Valdimarsson (£4.0m) is also getting a start for me this week with the expectation that Dean Henderson (£4.5m) will auto-sub in. I’m not expecting a clean sheet from Henderson at Chelsea so I may as well throw Valdimarsson in for the 1% chance that he keeps the gloves after his clean sheet against Colchester in the cup on Wednesday night!
I’ve got no concerns about Eberechi Eze (£7.0m). I still think he’s one of the best picks in the game. Along with Antoine Semenyo (£5.5m) at Bournemouth, Eze’s had the most shots among midfielders (12) over the first two Gameweeks which is encouraging for his owners. Keep the faith!
Defensively, the Gabriel Magalhaes (£6.0m) and Pedro Porro (£5.5m) picks have gone to plan. Both Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur have trickier fixtures on the horizon but I’m happy to start those two guys in any fixture.
Bruno Fernandes (£8.4m) is very much on the chopping block. No returns and a price drop was not in the script. I’m not expecting much from him away to Liverpool either but he’ll probably survive until after the international break. A converted penalty and a few cheeky bonus points on Sunday would be most welcome.
Up front, Alexander Isak (£8.5m) hasn’t returned many points yet either but I put him in the same category as Eze, as a player whom I’m content to hold long-term through the blanks. The points will come eventually. I’ve been encouraged by the number of minutes Joao Pedro (£5.5m) has been getting early doors. Hopefully, he can be a long-term enabler in the front three. As a Manchester United fan, his late winner resulted in mixed emotions…
Gameweek 3 Bus Team
Good luck this weekend everyone. Make sure to check out the latest episode of the 59th Minute Podcast.
Enjoy the international break when it comes!
3 months, 14 days ago
Made a decision. Rolling FT this week.
Not gonna do Saka > Palmer or Isak > Watkins.
While both moves look tempting for this week they prevent me from getting Salah easily and I think getting Salah next week is the priority. NFO, BOU is too good not to own Salah for.
It also gives me a bit more flexibility in case the International Break decides to throw up some surprise injuries or what not. I think I was closest to doing Saka > Palmer, but Mark on Blackbox made a good point about how we don't really know what Chelsea are yet. Two games isn't enough for a team where we don't even know the preferred XI. If it means I miss out on some Palmer hauls, so be it, but it's also about who I'd be losing and Saka can easily match him this week.
I'm not usually patient, but this time I think it's best. Cue... Palmer hat-trick this weekend.