🚨 GW3 FPL Preview

📌 GW2 stats summary

📌 What to do with Palmer

📌 Saka/Palmer replacements

📌 Captaincy

📌 My team selection

GW2 STATS SUMMARY

Team xG

2.87 - Arsenal

2.75 - Chelsea

2.43 - Brighton

1.76 - Fulham

1.64 - Man United

Brighton better than the results suggests.

United impressive going forward once again.

Shots conceded

18 - Leeds

17 - Brentford

14 - Wolves

13 - Everton, Man United

12 - Chelsea, West Ham, Man City

Brentford still struggling in defence despite keeping a clean sheet.

Wolves also a defence to target.

Player xG

1.56 - Welbeck

1.28 - Gyökeres

1.03 - Enzo

0.82 - Fernandes

0.81 - Timber

3 penalty takers in the list.

Almost all of Fernandes’ xG came from the penalty.

Player xA

0.70 - Grealish

0.67 - Brooks

0.64 - Andersen

0.61 - Estêvão

0.55 - Minteh

Estêvão in this list for the second week in a row.

Grealish impressed on his Everton debut.

Shots

4 - Watkins, Semenyo, Ayari

3 - Gordon, Richarlison, Enzo, Muniz, O’Riley, Gyökeres, Brooks, Thiago, Timber, J Pedro, Iwobi, Cunha, Marmoush, Calafiori

Both Arsenal full backs looking dangerous in the opening weeks.

Watkins showing much more threat than in GW1.

Shots on target

2 - Marmoush, Paqueta, Dango, Ndiaye, Timber, Tavernier, Gyökeres, Ayari

1 - 65 players

Gyökeres clinical as he scores from both of his shots on target.

Everton and Ndiaye looked a lot more threatening.

WHAT TO DO WITH PALMER

Palmer was due to start Chelsea’s GW2 fixture against West Ham before getting injured in the warm up.

We are yet to hear from Maresca this week and the information from him will be key in deciding whether we keep him or not.

Therefore, it’s worth waiting before you make any moves as Maresca will have a press conference before the GW3 deadline.

Chelsea are also the first game in GW3 so it could be worth waiting until Saturday morning in case we get any team news pre-deadline.

We can go over a few scenarios though…

Firstly, if Maresca says he’s fine then, of course, we just keep him.

Secondly, if he’s going to be out for a while then, of course, we sell him.

It gets a bit more difficult if he’s likely to be out for GW3 but back after the international break.

If you have a good enough bench option then you could easily just keep Palmer as you’ll likely want him back when he’s fit.

However, if you don’t have much of a bench then selling Palmer is an option but I think I’d rather sell a bench player.

That way you can cover this week with your new bench player and have Palmer in place for GW4.

The best options for this are likely to be £4.5m defenders.

Therefore, Dorgu with BUR (H) or Van de Ven with BOU (H) are the two best candidates.

This does depend on your chip strategy though.

Selling Palmer for a cheaper midfielder and upgrading a dead spot like Guiu could also be a good option if you are likely to use your bench boost soon.

SAKA/PALMER REPLACEMENTS

If you are wanting to sell Palmer or you own Saka then these are the best replacements:

• Cunha

• Kudus

• Rogers

• Semenyo

• Sarr

Cunha has the best fixture this week and his numbers have been fantastic so far.

Kudus and Sarr have both performed well in the first two gameweeks and have good short-term fixtures.

Rogers has the best fixtures but Aston Villa have been less than impressive so far this season.

Semenyo has the most points so far and has pretty good fixtures coming up too.

CAPTAINCY

Bruno Fernandes

I believe that Bruno Fernandes is the best captain option this week.

Burnley at home is as good a fixtures as you’ll get and United have shown that they are better going forward this season.

I think he’d be a lot more popular this week if he hadn’t missed his penalty against Fulham.

Another United player that I think is a great captain option this week is Cunha as his numbers have been brilliant in the last two games.

Chris Wood

If you don’t own Fernandes then Chris Wood is a great alternative as he plays West Ham at home this week.

We know how dodgy the Hammers’ defence has been and Forest have started the season strong so Wood is a safe option.

Erling Haaland

Haaland is potentially going a bit overlooked as a captaincy option this week due to his and City’s performance against Spurs in GW2.

However, they looked fantastic in GW1 and play a Brighton defence that has looked somewhat shaky so far.

CAPTAIN RANKINGS

🥇 Fernandes

🥈 Wood

🥉 Haaland

TEAM SELECTION

This is my current team for GW3.

Of course, my plan will depend on Palmer’s injury but if he’s likely to only miss one game then I will almost certainly keep him.

I talk through my plans if Palmer is out, my future transfer plans and my chip strategy below ⬇️

If you have any specific questions on anything in this preview or anything related to your team then drop me a message on Instagram or X @BradMayorFPL.

Best of luck!

Brad