We’ve put together our Scout Picks ‘bus team’ for Gameweek 3 of Fantasy Premier League (FPL).
The upcoming Scout Squad nominations, as well as the pre-match press conferences, will help shape our finalised picks.
However, this early draft, at the very least, offers an insight into the players and teams who will be under consideration.
There are, as ever, certain restrictions for our squad:
- An £83.0m overall budget for our starting XI
- An overall squad limit of £100.0m
- No more than three players per team
A reminder, too, that the Scout Picks are for the upcoming Gameweek in isolation.
GAMEWEEK 3 FIXTURES
Using our free-to-all ticker, here is the Gameweek 3 difficulty ranking – although unbeaten Hull City may have something to say about this…
THE LIKELY LADS
Although he has a trickier fixture away at Everton, Bruno Fernandes (£12.0m) has to be here after Sunday’s epic haul. It sent a reminder to FPL managers about why he should never be easily overlooked, nor confidently sold. The fact that Everton have conceded a league-second-worst 10 big chances in the first two Gameweeks is also in Bruno’s favour.
Not that there’ll be any captaincy debate this week, as Erling Haaland (£15.5m) surely dominates the armband discussion, at home to Coventry City. In fact, the main questions are whether it’s time to activate Triple Captain, and which Manchester City colleagues should complete a triple-up.
Antoine Semenyo (£8.5m) very likely starts, as he always does, but Phil Foden (£7.0m) and Rayan Cherki (£7.6m) are cheaper – and the latter is setting FPL pulses racing. As this is a one-week lineup, we’ll go with Cherki – but be careful about permanently buying the Frenchman.
He didn’t start in Gameweek 1, and spoke on Friday night about nearly being substituted at half-time. It’s a sign of Cherki’s quality that he’s already on two goals and two assists, but the possible purchase of Cody Gakpo (£7.0m) could ultimately mean he and Foden will be fighting for the same ‘number 10’ role.
Sticking with Enzo Maresca’s lot, there’ll be some defensive coverage too. Ideally, an ‘out of position’ Nico O’Reilly (£6.5m), but Josko Gvardiol (£5.6m) saves a bit of money and, in fairness, has delivered an attacking return in both outings.
IN CONTENTION
Gameweek 1’s top scorer, Maxim De Cuyper (£4.6m), remained on the wing against Chelsea. Not that he was involved in Brighton and Hove Albion’s three goals, but next up is Leeds United and Coventry. On these days, it’ll be hard to resist such out-of-position appeal.
Sticking with the Seagulls, Pascal Gross (£5.5m) helped them scrape a respectable result, having found themselves 3-0 down after 32 minutes. He assisted an own goal before heading in a stoppage-time consolation to reach 13 points.
But it’s his only shot so far, and Leeds are tough to break down. The Whites have allowed only two big chances.
Meanwhile, Dominik Szoboszlai (£7.0m) is ticking along nicely for owners. Scoring from the spot and securing a defensive contribution (DefCon) reward nicely showcases his ‘all-roundedness’. Liverpool attackers need considering, as Ipswich Town have just conceded five at Old Trafford. Could the as-yet-unpriced Bradley Barcola tempt anyone on his debut?
We like several Brentford assets for their hosting of Sunderland. Kristoffer Ajer (£4.5m) is one of four defenders to have achieved DefCon success in both Gameweeks, while Mamadou Sangare (£5.6m) has done the same in midfield. Kevin Schade (£6.0m) already boasts eight shots inside the box, and Igor Thiago (£8.0m) is the biggest expected goals (xG, -1.81) underachiever. But perhaps picking more than two of these is excessive.
In 2025/26, Thiago replaced Yoane Wissa (£6.1m) as the Bees’ main striker. The latter had an awful debut campaign at Newcastle United, but seems reinvigorated under Matthias Jaissle. He already has a goal, an assist and a price rise to his name. Just be aware that the Magpies haven’t won any of their last eight league meetings with Bournemouth.
Above: Recent matches between Newcastle and Bournemouth, from FotMob
On Saturday, penalty-taking Morgan Gibbs-White (£7.9m) hauled at Anfield, continuing the late-season form that brought seven goals in his final seven starts. The opportunity to go against an under-construction Tottenham Hotspur is tempting.
After three successive clean sheets, it’s probably still worth contemplating one Arsenal representative at the back – David Raya (£6.0m), Riccardo Calafiori (£5.6m) or the cheap-as-chips Ezri Konsa (£4.4m) – even though Chelsea have netted seven times.
The Gunners still ride high in the clean sheet odds, too…
With the Blues conceding five goals in two Gameweeks, might Bukayo Saka (£9.5m) make a late charge for the Picks, as well?
THE LONGER SHOTS
Chelsea’s goalscoring form is why it’s hard to truly say no to Joao Pedro (£7.6m), despite meeting a defensive wall. He’s bagged a goal and an assist in both matches, and the Brazilian is hard to bench with such a high ownership.
Other interesting strikers include departing Blues man Nicolas Jackson (£6.5m), away to Hull City, and Gonzalo Garcia (£6.0m) at home to an increasingly poor Crystal Palace.
With Fernandes and intense Man City representation, Liverpool duo Alexander Isak (£9.0m) and Virgil van Dijk (£6.5m) might be too costly. Not that the Reds are defending well anyway… they conceded twice in both outings.
Finally, the alternative goalkeeper picks to Raya are Caoimhin Kelleher (£5.0m) and Zion Suzuki (£5.0m). Villa were much better defensively on Monday night, so they may have turned a corner.
GAMEWEEK 3: EARLY SCOUT PICKS
