Tips

The Complete Guide to Scout’s tips and advice for FPL Gameweek 3

Welcome to the Fantasy Football Scout Guide to Gameweek 3, once again we have the new normal deadline of 11:00 BST – half an hour earlier than last season.

It’s been a rollercoaster start for FPL managers with a record number of goals scored last Gameweek. In the Scoutcast‘s ‘rough with the smooth’ many surpassed the 100-point mark while one poor soul mustered just 16 points.

The contrasting fortunes prompted a flurry of Wildcards in the Community, leading Az to reflect in this latest Pro Pundit article:

It does feel like people’s strategies – along with all sense of order and meticulous pre-season planning – have been thrown out of the window somewhat after a truly crazy start to the season.

– Az

Citing the differing experiences for managers with Man United and Spurs assets, Az pointed out that what we want one week can dramatically change the next:

With so many players performing, you simply can’t keep chasing last week’s points. You need to build a core squad of players who you feel are likely to deliver over the coming period, give them a chance to repay your faith.

– Az

Az went on to raise questions about several of this week’s targets:

  • Will Son be productive against a Newcastle side that likes to defend deep? He was afforded plenty of space by Southampton’s high line;
  • Everton are set to come up against some resolute defences in their next three matches, are Calvert-Lewin and James Rodriguez essential?
  • And will the acquisition of Nélson Semedo impinge on the Fantasy credentials of Daniel Podence and his Wolves’ teammates? 

David tackled one of those questions when he examined how the new arrival at Molineux could fit in under Nuno Espirito Santo:

The addition of Semedo to the Wolves squad should relieve Traoré of his wing-back duties very soon and shift him back into competition with Podence, Neto and Vitinha further up the field.

– David

It looks likely that those four will be vying for two places in the Wolves’ attack, although David reasons that Podence has probably done enough to secure a starting spot for now.

Semedo’s new club tops the list for upcoming fixtures, as Neale revealed earlier in the week. It’s a very appealing run:

Clashes with newly promoted Fulham and Leeds United are sandwiched by matches against West Ham United, Newcastle United and Crystal Palace, with three of those five games staged at Molineux.

– Neale

Encouragingly for owners and those considering their assets, recent comments from their Portuguese manager suggest we will see a more attacking version of Wolves this season: 

The idea is to give them freedom to put their talent onto the pitch… I would like to be more dominant, I would like to have more of the ball, I would like to improve our tally of goals scored and at the same time, decrease goals (at the other end).

– Nuno Espirito Santo

Continuing his frisk of the fixtures, Neale agreed with Az that Gameweek 6 might be a better time to invest in Everton, when their matches get really good.

And former FPL winner Simon March supported Az’s idea that now is not the time to panic and reach for the Wildcard.

A graduate in behavioural economics, Simon introduced the concept of “The House Money Effect”: 

The House Money Effect often occurs when we receive money in an atypical manner. For example; winning a bet, receiving a bonus or profiting from an investment. Behavioural psychologists have observed that people take far greater risks with such sums… [because] people don’t perceive these sums to really be their money.”

– Simon

Simon applied this idea to FPL noting that the top 10,000 managers in Gameweek 1 took on average more hits compared to the masses and, crucially – scored below average points in Gameweek 2.

For those of you reading this and perhaps regretting playing your Wildcard, there is hope in the shape of a three-time top 200 manager. 

Lateriser has made his name by starting slowly and finishing strongly. And the Pro Pundit wielded his Wildcard after an underwhelming couple of Gameweeks. The upside-chasing manager has seen enough to encourage him in the first two rounds of fixtures, in particular the emergence of a few ‘glue guys’:

Glue guys are the kind of picks in a particular ‘value’ price bracket that you just need to set in your team and forget about for a long time because they will continue to offer bang for buck for the mid-to-long term.

– Lateriser

The new attack-minded Wolves is good news for first-choice striker Raul Jimenez, argues the Pro Pundit. While Brighton’s Tariq Lamptey offers excellent value at £4.5m and can produce returns at both ends of the pitch. Last season the buccaneering defender had a better big chance creation rate than the two Liverpool full-backs. 

Finally he picked out Everton’s Dominic Calvert-Lewin, who recently revealed the influence of manager Carlo Ancelotti:

Carlo Ancelotti is on me every day for first-touch finishes and to be in the box, in the right areas. It’s nice to know what I’m working on in training is coming off on the pitch.

– Dominic Calvert-Lewin

Good news for prospective buyers.

The Everton No 9 was also highlighted by Steven Reinaldo Rusli last week due to his impressive non-penalty xG stat. The Community Member looked at value (point per million) when making the case for a 3-4-3 formation to take advantage of the mid-priced forwards. 

While a value for money approach was echoed by TorpedoToien who looked back over recent seasons to reveal which players had provided the best bang for your buck. Will Jimenez and Calvert-Lewin be this season’s Mahrez and Vardy?

And the king of the puns Greyhead who finished in the top 100 overall just two seasons ago, examined the player ownership among his chosen managers in The Great and The Good. The Community scribe fancies Southampton players could be moved on after failing to live up to pre-season expectations. But with West Brom in Gameweek 4, is that a wise idea?

Captaincy and Manchester City

A major talking point this week has been Kevin De Bruyne’s performance for Manchester City as he lined up in an attacking midfield role. The question many have been asking is will Guardiola continue to use the Belgian as a No 10? 

David analysed his performance against Wolves and assessed the competition for places within the City squad.

And our new Captain Sensible writer Jan Sienkiewicz included the current PFA Player of the Year on his shortlist for the armband alongside Timo Werner, Kai Havertz, Mohamed Salah, and Sadio Mané. 

While City assets look particularly appealing, Neale and Andy reported a possible concussion for the De Bruyne sustained in Thursday evening’s EFL Cup tie.

And today, rumours of a possible injury to striker Gabriel Jesus were confirmed by the player himself:

Focusing on Chelsea, Jan described Werner and Havertz as the outstanding picks for Gameweek 3. The double-points maestro questioned whether the Baggies will have enough to stop the Blues from scoring.

While on FPL Black Box, Fantasy Football Scout founder Mark reaffirmed his strategy for selecting a captain this season – going with the player who has the best fixture – and following that rationale, he is handing Timo Werner the armband.

A look at the latest clean sheet odds provided by G-Whizz backs the decision to go with a Chelsea or Man City player. Their opponents West Brom and Leicester City have the worst odds of a shutout in Gameweek 3.

And BigManBakar revealed in his in-depth review of Gameweek 2 that he will be selecting De Bruyne for the captaincy: according to the bookies, Man City are the most likely team to score 2.5+ goals.

Community Round-up and The Scout Network

The spotlight in the Fantasy Football Scout Network this week fell on Mini-League Mate. If you want a stat-packed breakdown of how your mini-league rivals fare each Gameweek (complete with attractive charts and graphs) then this for you.

And it was also announced that Tor Mikkel Tokvamm, creator of the Transfer Algorithm, and FPL Poker Player will be joining the Scout Network

For an update on all FFScout Mini-Leagues and Community Competitions, please click here to read the latest round-up.

And for those interested in the Head-to-Head Leagues, the main page can be linked to here. The fixtures for Gameweek 3 can be found below:

Use the drop-down menus to show your league and division. To find out which league and division you are in, follow the instructions on the main Head-to-Head page.

Once the Gameweek starts, if you click on your opponent’s name you will be linked to their team on the FPL website.

May your arrows be green!

GET IN-GAME DATA AT LIVE FPL

Check your own rank and in-play FPL stats on LiveFPL.net every Gameweek

TopMarx Fan of Fantasy Football and Monty Python. "Archimedes out to Socrates, Socrates back to Archimedes, Archimedes out to Heraclitus, he beats Hegel. Heraclitus a little flick, here he comes on the far post, Socrates is there, Socrates heads it in! Socrates has scored! The Greeks are going mad, the Greeks are going mad! Socrates scores, got a beautiful cross from Archimedes. The Germans are disputing it. Hegel is arguing that the reality is merely an a priori adjunct of non-naturalistic ethics, Kant via the categorical imperative is holding that ontologically it exists only in the imagination, and Marx is claiming it was offside. Follow them on Twitter

3,543 Comments Post a Comment
  1. GROBARI
    • 3 Years
    3 years, 6 months ago

    Is Asm>Podence worth for a 1ft

    1. Ajax Hamsterdam
      • 9 Years
      3 years, 6 months ago

      Podence injured

    2. Gazpilicueta
      • 9 Years
      3 years, 6 months ago

      podence is rumoured to be injured. didnt train apparantly

      1. DeadStarComing
        • Fantasy Football Scout Member
        • 13 Years
        3 years, 6 months ago

        Source?

    3. Volley127
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 11 Years
      3 years, 6 months ago

      Depending on your subs, but I’d say yes

      1. Volley127
        • Fantasy Football Scout Member
        • 11 Years
        3 years, 6 months ago

        Hadn’t heard of injury rumours!

    4. GROBARI
      • 3 Years
      3 years, 6 months ago

      Thank you guys

  2. OneDennisBergkamp
    • Fantasy Football Scout Member
    • 8 Years
    3 years, 6 months ago

    Ask me anything FPL, bored and here to help..

    1. JURGENAUT
      • 3 Years
      3 years, 6 months ago

      Should I play soucek or Justin this week

      1. OneDennisBergkamp
        • Fantasy Football Scout Member
        • 8 Years
        3 years, 6 months ago

        Soucek. I think City away is too much for Justin.

    2. TheBootyFinesser
      • 5 Years
      3 years, 6 months ago

      KDB-Podence-(Brewster)
      or
      Havertz-Jimenez-(Burke)

      1. OneDennisBergkamp
        • Fantasy Football Scout Member
        • 8 Years
        3 years, 6 months ago

        B

    3. Amey
      • 5 Years
      3 years, 6 months ago

      How many pens for Chelsea vs WBA ?

      1. OneDennisBergkamp
        • Fantasy Football Scout Member
        • 8 Years
        3 years, 6 months ago

        1

        1. Amey
          • 5 Years
          3 years, 6 months ago

          Enough for Werner then 😛

    4. The Red Devil
      • 9 Years
      3 years, 6 months ago

      On WC, Pick 1/2 & A/B
      On 2B right now
      1- lamptey
      2- Taylor
      A- Martinez+TAA
      B- Guaita+Robertson

      1. OneDennisBergkamp
        • Fantasy Football Scout Member
        • 8 Years
        3 years, 6 months ago

        1A - i'm sure that doesnt help being the opposite of your choice but thats what i would go with.

      2. RichRover
        • 11 Years
        3 years, 6 months ago

        2,A
        Confused now?

        1. OneDennisBergkamp
          • Fantasy Football Scout Member
          • 8 Years
          3 years, 6 months ago

          2A works too

    5. si
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 14 Years
      3 years, 6 months ago

      Will there ever be a boy born that can swim faster than a shark?

      1. OneDennisBergkamp
        • Fantasy Football Scout Member
        • 8 Years
        3 years, 6 months ago

        Not FPL, but yes.

    6. Gudjohnsen
      • 7 Years
      3 years, 6 months ago

      A. Robertson, Wood
      B. TAA, Mitrovic
      C. TAA, Podence
      D. Robertson, Traoré

      1. OneDennisBergkamp
        • Fantasy Football Scout Member
        • 8 Years
        3 years, 6 months ago

        B

    7. Forcella Boys
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 3 Years
      3 years, 6 months ago

      Wood & Klich or Foden & Bamford?

      1. OneDennisBergkamp
        • Fantasy Football Scout Member
        • 8 Years
        3 years, 6 months ago

        B

        1. Forcella Boys
          • Fantasy Football Scout Member
          • 3 Years
          3 years, 6 months ago

          Cheers!

    8. BoomXhakaLaca1
      • 11 Years
      3 years, 6 months ago

      Captain KDB or Martial

      1. OneDennisBergkamp
        • Fantasy Football Scout Member
        • 8 Years
        3 years, 6 months ago

        KDB

    9. iL PiStOlErO
      • 4 Years
      3 years, 6 months ago

      Cpt Son or Sterling? Cheers.

      1. RichRover
        • 11 Years
        3 years, 6 months ago

        Sterling

      2. OneDennisBergkamp
        • Fantasy Football Scout Member
        • 8 Years
        3 years, 6 months ago

        Son

    10. Pukki Party
      • 6 Years
      3 years, 6 months ago

      Bench one

      A) Mitchell (EVE)
      B) Vinagre (whu)
      C) Soucek (WOL)

      1. RichRover
        • 11 Years
        3 years, 6 months ago

        C

      2. OneDennisBergkamp
        • Fantasy Football Scout Member
        • 8 Years
        3 years, 6 months ago

        A

  3. Flynny
    • 9 Years
    3 years, 6 months ago

    Who is the best podence replacement for wildcarders at that price?

    Klich?

    Thanks

    1. Miguel Sanchez
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 7 Years
      3 years, 6 months ago

      What’s up with Podence?

      1. Top Lad Dakes.
        • 7 Years
        3 years, 6 months ago

        Rumored to have missed training. Dunno where the sources are

        1. xHaTr
          • Fantasy Football Scout Member
          • 6 Years
          3 years, 6 months ago

          https://twitter.com/FplAdama/status/1309786156587003905

          This is literally the only source apart from the pictures from training where he wasnt pictured

          1. Danno - Emre Canada
            • 9 Years
            3 years, 6 months ago

            There are also pictures of him training supposedly

  4. Ajax Hamsterdam
    • 9 Years
    3 years, 6 months ago

    Best 5.5 mid please

    1. Miguel Sanchez
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 7 Years
      3 years, 6 months ago

      Doucoure

      1. Ajax Hamsterdam
        • 9 Years
        3 years, 6 months ago

        Ithanks miguel

    2. Amey
      • 5 Years
      3 years, 6 months ago

      Klich
      Podence

      1. Ajax Hamsterdam
        • 9 Years
        3 years, 6 months ago

        5.6 Amey 🙁

        1. Amey
          • 5 Years
          3 years, 6 months ago

          F...
          I'm sorry mate.

          It's not obvious then.

    3. jia you
      • 7 Years
      3 years, 6 months ago

      Klich on pens and has an assist in him...reluctantly went Foden over him on my WC

  5. Vpan
    • 13 Years
    3 years, 6 months ago

    Do we think Semedo starts tomorrow?

    1. Miguel Sanchez
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 7 Years
      3 years, 6 months ago

      Yes

    2. 1nonly
      • 3 Years
      3 years, 6 months ago

      Yes

    3. Bubz
      • 10 Years
      3 years, 6 months ago

      If Podence is out its even more likely

  6. adstomko
    • 7 Years
    3 years, 6 months ago

    Rip it apart please:

    Martinez
    Trent, Chilwell, Semedo, Saïss
    Salah, KDB, Rodríguez
    Jimenez, Ings, Wood
    (Steer, Mitchell, Anguissa, Alzate)

  7. 1nonly
    • 3 Years
    3 years, 6 months ago

    A) Foden and Jiminez
    Or
    B) Werner and Podence

    1. Hotdogs
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 8 Years
      3 years, 6 months ago

      A

    2. BERGKOP
      • 12 Years
      3 years, 6 months ago

      A

    3. cuppatea78
      • 11 Years
      3 years, 6 months ago

      I'd say A

  8. The Red Devil
    • 9 Years
    3 years, 6 months ago

    On WC, Pick 1/2 & A/B

    Currently on 2B

    1- lamptey
    2- Taylor
    A- Martinez+TAA
    B- Guaita+Robertson

  9. Big Hands Barry
    • Fantasy Football Scout Member
    • 5 Years
    3 years, 6 months ago

    Funniest FF podcast?

  10. JustPark
    • 8 Years
    3 years, 6 months ago

    RP
    1) Zaha
    - nailed
    - plays for Palace

    2) Foden
    - Pep
    - plays for City

    1. Gooner Kebab
      • 11 Years
      3 years, 6 months ago

      Gone for Foden as Zaha trolled me too many times

  11. Top Lad Dakes.
    • 7 Years
    3 years, 6 months ago

    Tell ya what, if Werner can’t score against WBA I’ll have no real qualms selling him anyway, captain or not. So may as well go all out and captain

    1. Bubz
      • 10 Years
      3 years, 6 months ago

      True

  12. fc_skrald
    • 8 Years
    3 years, 6 months ago

    Play Lamptey or Saiss?

    1. Firmino
      • 8 Years
      3 years, 6 months ago

      Saiss

  13. Gudjohnsen
    • 7 Years
    3 years, 6 months ago

    A. TAA, Mtirovic
    B. Robertson, Wood

    1. 2999 - Lady of Legend
      • 3 Years
      3 years, 6 months ago

      A.

    2. 1nonly
      • 3 Years
      3 years, 6 months ago

      A

  14. Iain Dowies Love Child
    • 14 Years
    3 years, 6 months ago

    Am seeing a lot of teams without a Pool attacker - am I missing something?

    1. Epic Fail
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 13 Years
      3 years, 6 months ago

      Prefer other players

      1. Iain Dowies Love Child
        • 14 Years
        3 years, 6 months ago

        And not worried about EO?

        1. Epic Fail
          • Fantasy Football Scout Member
          • 13 Years
          3 years, 6 months ago

          No, not bothered. I simply go with who i think will score highest and at the moment it isn't pool forwards.

    2. James VARdy
      • 8 Years
      3 years, 6 months ago

      The beauty of so much choice this year.

    3. Van der Faart
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 12 Years
      3 years, 6 months ago

      Let them on. Juicy fixtures.

  15. vandebeek
    • 7 Years
    3 years, 6 months ago

    Guys, what do you think of this WC team? Was hoping for some 4.4 mid which didn't happen so i've gone now for this:
    Martinez/4.0
    TAA, Saiss, James, Lamptey, 4.0
    KDB, Salah, Havertz, Foden, Podence
    DCL, Jimenez, Adams

  16. Ian Davis
    • 14 Years
    3 years, 6 months ago

    A) VVD / Lamptey / James Rodriguez

    B) Robertson / Saïss / Foden

    * got KDB and DCL

  17. ⭐ Bemba_Da ⭐
    • 13 Years
    3 years, 6 months ago

    anyone going sterling over kdb?

    1. Champions League Varane
      • 5 Years
      3 years, 6 months ago

      Now I’m thinking ab it

    2. Top Lad Dakes.
      • 7 Years
      3 years, 6 months ago

      Tempted by Sterling over Salah myself but might hold. Have KDB

    3. Bielsa's Blue Bucket
      • 12 Years
      3 years, 6 months ago

      Yes

    4. COLLIN QUANER
      • 7 Years
      3 years, 6 months ago

      Yeah seen quite a few teams

    5. Epic Fail
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 13 Years
      3 years, 6 months ago

      Yeah.

    6. iL PiStOlErO
      • 4 Years
      3 years, 6 months ago

      I am, especially now when I see how big differential he is. It has only been 2gw so why not.

    7. Livinginapool - Top 100 Any…
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 14 Years
      3 years, 6 months ago

      Yep

  18. Piggs Boson
    • 12 Years
    3 years, 6 months ago

    These unsourced rumour mills are unbearable!

    Wasn't around much around deadline last season. How many turn out to be crap?

    1. ⭐ Bemba_Da ⭐
      • 13 Years
      3 years, 6 months ago

      many of them were false

    2. Bubz
      • 10 Years
      3 years, 6 months ago

      Most of them

  19. Champions League Varane
    • 5 Years
    3 years, 6 months ago

    If Podence actually injured now man

  20. Jebiga
    • 11 Years
    3 years, 6 months ago

    Are those real news for podence ?

    https://mobile.twitter.com/FplAdama/status/1309786156587003905

    1. Hazz
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 6 Years
      3 years, 6 months ago

      He knows bugger all and is guessing. Disregard whatever he's tweeting.

    2. Wild Rover
      • 13 Years
      3 years, 6 months ago

      'What I've gathered is...'

      No source whatsoever

      1. xHaTr
        • Fantasy Football Scout Member
        • 6 Years
        3 years, 6 months ago

        He claims Ben Dinnery but Dinnery never mentioned it

  21. Buck The Trent
    • 12 Years
    3 years, 6 months ago

    Captain Kdb or Werner?

    1. Van der Faart
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 12 Years
      3 years, 6 months ago

      KDB

  22. Pub Crawl to the Townsend
    • 9 Years
    3 years, 6 months ago

    Captaincy is hard this week. Gone from Son to Salah and now I'm on Werner. Don't own KDB

  23. JenkoJunko
    • 5 Years
    3 years, 6 months ago

    Repost x4 sorry.... help! Someone! Anyone!!!!
    Pick one...
    A. Havertz / Foden / Rodriguez
    B. Foden / Son / DCL

    1. Hotdogs
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 8 Years
      3 years, 6 months ago

      B

    2. Corgz Dark side of the Loon
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 8 Years
      3 years, 6 months ago

      B

  24. Orion
    • 13 Years
    3 years, 6 months ago

    On a WC,
    A) TAA
    B) Robbo+0.5?
    Cheers

    1. 2999 - Lady of Legend
      • 3 Years
      3 years, 6 months ago

      A.

  25. Mike82
    • 6 Years
    3 years, 6 months ago

    Captain KdB or Salah?

    1. 2999 - Lady of Legend
      • 3 Years
      3 years, 6 months ago

      Sal.

  26. I'M 2 OLD FOR THIS HIT
    • Fantasy Football Scout Member
    • 6 Years
    3 years, 6 months ago

    Panic panic panic

  27. Van der Faart
    • Fantasy Football Scout Member
    • 12 Years
    3 years, 6 months ago

    Risk it and get Podence in? Bench player will be Wilson likely. Otherwise need to take a hit.

    1. ⭐ Bemba_Da ⭐
      • 13 Years
      3 years, 6 months ago

      might not be anything in it but spurs have conceded to both strikers this season. wilson up next

      1. Van der Faart
        • Fantasy Football Scout Member
        • 12 Years
        3 years, 6 months ago

        Thx

  28. kime67
    • 6 Years
    3 years, 6 months ago

    Are those who started with injured ferguson finally gonna admit it was a poor descision?

    1. Bubz
      • 10 Years
      3 years, 6 months ago

      I admitted it was a poor decision after gw1

  29. Sun Jihai
    • Fantasy Football Scout Member
    • 12 Years
    3 years, 6 months ago

    Doesn't sound great!

    Semedo in LaLiga
    Apps - 61(21)
    Goals - 2
    Assists - 2
    Key Passes per game - 0.3
    Dribbles per game - 1.2
    Interceptions per game - 0.8
    Rating - 6.75

  30. Bonus magnet
    • 7 Years
    3 years, 6 months ago

    chances of mahrez starting?

    1. Alexis Nonsense
      • 8 Years
      3 years, 6 months ago

      Never been higher imo

    2. Champions League Varane
      • 5 Years
      3 years, 6 months ago

      He’s in my team