The Gameweek 3 of Fantasy Premier League is on the horizon.
Some FPL managers that did exceptionally well in the GW1 struggled in GW2. But that is how the game works: joy and disappointment repeat over and over again.
If you are disappointed about your GW2 score, just look at your total points score from both gameweeks and ask yourself: If someone told me before GW1 that I was going to have such a high score after GW2 would I take it?
I think most of you would.
So, it is time to concentrate our effort on gameweek 3, and let’s jump on our FPL GW3 Tips, best picks, fixtures, transfer targets, odds, captain picks, and team selection.
Read more: 4 Books that will help you improve your FPL skills
1. Fantasy Premier League Gameweek 3 Tips
If you saved a transfer after GW1, you now have 2 free transfers. You have several options according to the current situation of your team:
- If your team is in very good shape, you do not need to use both 2 free transfers. You can simply just make 1 transfer – 1 simple tactical change, and save the other transfer, to have again 2 available in GW4. Or save it to accumulate 3 free transfers (as you can accumulate up t 5 free transfers from this season). You can offload some of the dead weight in your team, such as Nkunku, Barco or Quansah
- That way you would have two free transfers in the international break that could be very valuable in GW4.
- Use both free transfers to improve your squad, target players with good fixtures from GW3 onwards (like Smith Rowe, Palmer), or players whose probability of delivering points/starting improved and are good value
- Do mini-wildcard – make 3 transfers (2 free transfers + 1 hit for -4 points) if your squad is not in good shape and you need to rebalance your squad or move the money around your team
Notes:
- Try to avoid using wildcard too early. Be more patient with players you picked before the season. Read more: Tips for efficient use of wildcard in FPL
- Plan, how you will get Brighton player(s) in, in GW4 when they have very good two home fixtures
- Keep faith in Fernandes and Eze – they were unlucky to not deliver points – progression to the mean could happen soon. Fernandes accumulated 2.1 xGI and Eze 1.1 xGI over the first two gameweeks. You picked them for a reason before GW1, nothing really changed about them – they are both still key players for their teams.
- Son and Palmer are amazing sources of fantasy points. So is Salah and Haaland. You cannot have them all. Pick your premium players and stick to them. Do not tear your team apart to bring in Son or/and Palmer just because they had double-digit hauls in GW2. They are amazing players, they will score points, you must accept that. Stick to the premium players you picked and focus on the balance of your FPL team.
2. Key players to own and transfer targets for FPL GW3
Key players
- Haaland/Salah – one of them, your captain options in almost any gameweek
- Saka – stable output over the last few years, bonus points magnet
- Gabriel/White/Saliba/Raya – your Arsenal defensive coverage
- TAA – good stats
Transfer targets
- Smith Rowe, Robinson – Fulham with great fixture run
- Arsenal defender – if you went without Arsenal’s defence
- Watkins/Rogers – Aston Villa with very nice fixture run up to GW9
- Rogers and Smith Rowe are good Nkunku replacements
3. Fixtures to target in Gameweek 3
In which fixtures we could expect a lot of fantasy points? Fixtures to target in GW3 according to bookies odds:
- Arsenal vs Brighton: The Gunners 74 % to win, 43 % to score 2.5+ goals
- West Ham vs. Manchester City: Citizens 71 % to win, 47 % to score 2.5+ goals
- Chelsea vs. Crystal Palace: The Blues 59 % to win, 32 % to score 2.5+ goals
- Leicester vs. Aston Villa: Aston Villa 56 % to win, 27 % to score 2.5+ goals
Find 2.5+ goals odds for all teams in our article: Premier League Over 2.5 Goals Odds.
4. Best captain pick in FPL GW3
Who is the best captain in Fantasy Premier League Gameweek 3?
First of all, Haaland is an amazing captaincy option in GW3, he is the safe captaincy pick given his ownership.
But if you want to go with a differential captain (if you do not own Haaland), consider Saka or Palmer who both have a tasty fixture for captaincy. And you should not overlook Salah either. Manchester United has not really impressed defensively so far, and Salah scored against Man. United in 9 of last 11 competitive matches (PL or cup games).
5. What bookies odds say about Gameweek 3
As usual, we converted bookies odds into probabilities using our Odds to probability calculator, to assess the potential of gameweek 3.
Clean sheet odds for GW3
Bookies assigned the highest probability of a clean sheet to Arsenal – 46 %. The Gunners are followed by Manchester City, and Aston Villa in our clean sheet odds table.
So this is where we should be looking for clean sheets in the next round of FPL.
In the last season (2023/24), we were used to a rate of 4.13 clean sheets per gameweek. (A big decline in comparison to 2022/23 season when we saw 5.45 clean sheets per gameweek!)
Due to correction in the number of clean sheets: Arsenal, West Ham
The Gunners overperformed their defensive expectations the most of all teams. They should have kept 0.84 clean sheets instead of 2 according to our expected clean sheets table.
Due to an improvement in the number of clean sheets: Crystal Palace, Fulham
Crystal Palace underperformed their defensive expectations the most from all teams. They should have kept 0.5 clean sheets instead of 0 according to our expected clean sheets table.
You can see the expected clean sheets table and clean sheet odds for all Premier League teams here: Premier League Clean Sheet Odds.
Goalscoring odds
Coming soon…
Check all odds here: Premier League Goalsocring Odds
6. FPL GW3 Team selection
Here is our FPL team selection constructed solely for Gameweek 3. Haaland is our captain. Our scout picks for GW3:
7. Fantasy Premier League Tips
Find more tips, strategies and picks for Fantasy Premier League in these articles:
- Beginner? Read our guide: How to play Fantasy Premier League
- Confused about the rules? Read the Official rules of the game or check our FAQs
- Want to beat your mini-league rivals? This article is for you: 7 Key Tips for Fantasy Premier League Success
- Interested in improving your decision-making process when picking players to your fantasy team? Check out Books that will help you to improve your FPL skills
We hope our FPL GW3 tips helped you to gather some useful information before the Gameweek 3 deadline.
Good luck in FPL GW3!
