FPL Gameweek 4 Wildcard: Pros, cons and three possible drafts

With a third weekend of information to look over, a section of Fantasy Premier League (FPL) managers are using this international break to activate their Wildcard, ahead for Gameweek 4.

This season’s pricing made it difficult to own both Erling Haaland (£15.2m) and Mohamed Salah (£12.6m) but here they are as joint-top scorers, their 41 points being comfortably ahead of the rest. Such equality could suggest that owning one over the other is fine, whichever way round.

But, of course, what if you could find a way to have both?

Managers have until the Gameweek 19 deadline to use the first Wildcard. These unlimited free transfers are a chance to fix all mistakes and start planning for the future.

So let’s list the pros and cons of a Gameweek 4 Wildcard, then provide a few draft ideas.

PROS

• Get rid of slow-starting assets: Those with Jarell Quansah (£4.3m), Dominic Solanke (£7.5m) and Christopher Nkunku (£6.3m) have had a rough time, whilst Bruno Fernandes (£8.4m), Ollie Watkins (£8.9m) and Dean Henderson (£4.5m) aren’t convincing.
• Increase team value: Poor beginnings naturally lead to price drops, which hurt even more in the early stages. In this volatile period where two players have already risen £0.2m in value and 12 have dropped the same amount, Wildcarders can both stop the rot and jump onto bandwagons.
• Liverpool, Aston Villa and Brighton and Hove Albion: Eight teams are about to have consecutive home matches, with these three having particularly attractive tasks.
• The transfer window has closed: Some questions now have an answer. Chelsea didn’t buy a forward to compete with Nicolas Jackson (£7.6m), Manchester City chose not to replace Julian Alvarez and Newcastle United failed to secure a centre-back. A calmer landscape makes the chip less risky.

CONS

• It still feels too early: Unless your squad is unlucky enough to have several of the aforementioned problems – where the Valentin Barco (£4.0m) and Ben Johnson (£4.0m) situations can be added – we’re still at the very start of 2024/25. The European competitions aren’t even underway. So there’s a tiny sample size of data and a long time until the second Wildcard can be used.
• No Gameweek 4 fixture swings: As seen in our ‘jump on, jump off’ schedule guide, Gameweek 6 is a time when Arsenal and Brentford fixtures improve whilst things worsen for Newcastle, Fulham and Brighton. It’s ideal for a Wildcard, unlike right now.

GAMEWEEK 4 WILDCARD IDEAS

SALAH YES, HAALAND NO

It might be the wrong time to suggest going against the guy who has just scored successive hat-tricks. A brave move, for sure.

But Haaland is far more expensive than the other forwards and owners who’ve benefitted from his latest hauls may anticipate a natural regression from this high point. The money saved can accommodate a heavyweight defence, plus two premium midfielders. Maybe it can also upgrade Harry Winks (£4.5m) to increase depth.

Another option is to change Cole Palmer (£10.6m) and Kai Havertz (£8.1m) to Jackson and Bukayo Saka (£10.1m).

As for Eberechi Eze (£6.9m), he finally rewarded owners with a weekend goal, earned from having the second-most shots so far (15).

HAALAND YES, SALAH NO

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