The Fantasy Premier League game-week 3 turned out to be a pretty high-scoring one. The owners of high-scoring players like Erling Haaland, Mo Salah or Luis Diaz enjoyed the utmost rewards for their faith in these high-priced players.
Basically if you’ve had multiple Manchester City and Liverpool starters in your team in their perfect start to the 2024/25 Premier League campaign, you’re probably riding high on momentum.
But game-week four brings a shot at redemption for the slow starters in the new campaign. Be it with a few tweaks or wholesale changes, a manager can shape up their team to perform strongly and deliver high points return for weeks to come.
Fixtures
Fixtures to Watch
Man City and Liverpool both have juicy home fixtures against Brentford and Nottingham Forest respectively. Newcastle United face a Wolves side that conceded six goals in their last home game against Chelsea. The juiciest fixture of the week, however, pits North London rivals Tottenham Hotspur and Arsenal against each other.
Teams to Watch
Liverpool continue to have a favorable fixture list for weeks to come, with two of their next three games being at Anfield (against Forest and Bournemouth). Despite his 12.6m price, this is the perfect time to invest in Mo Salah.
It wouldn’t be foolish to double up on Liverpool midfielders by adding Luis Diaz or Diogo Jota to the mix, plus a Liverpool defender in there as they’re yet to concede a goal this season. Aston Villa have some favorable fixtures (against Everton, Wolves, Ipswich) in weeks to come, and getting Morgan Rogers (who scored in the international break) for 5m can’t do much harm.
Five Player Picks for this game-week:
Erling Haaland (v Brentford)
Yes, he might be priced at over 15m, but Erling Haaland is proving to be worth that amount and then some. He faces a Brentford side who have already conceded four goals. Haaland has scored hat-tricks in his last two games. He’s almost assured at a goal return in this clash at the Etihad Stadium knowing his incredible form and goal-scoring touch.
Mo Salah (v Nottingham Forest)
Like Haaland, Salah has had a stunning start to the campaign with six goal contributions (3 goals, 3 assists) in three matches. He’s flying high on momentum and should blow away the Nottingham Forest backline with his trickery, so we expect him to get a high points return again.
Alexander Isak (v Wolves)
Isak picked up form before the international break with a 9-point return in the last GW against Tottenham. He faces a Wolves side with a shaky, error-prone defensive line. He’s coming off a prolific international break and we expect him to continue his goal-scoring heroics.
Joao Pedro (v Ipswich Town)
With two goals in as many matches, Joao Pedro has hit top gear. Brighton face an Ipswich Town side to have already conceded seven goals. Pedro is their primary penalty taker and is getting in the right positions to score clutch goals too. We expect him to get a big points return again this GW.
Morgan Rogers (v Everton)
Rogers might’ve had a slow start to the season, but he performed well for England U-21 and scored a goal in the break too. He’s getting into the right positions and tormenting defenders with his movement as well as creativity. We expect him to get amongst the goals against this shaky Everton backline.
Captaincy choices
Haaland: Haaland has fetched 34 points return in the last two GW’s as captain. This is a no brainer.
Salah: Salah has two goals in three games against Forest. Knowing his form, that will definitely increase this time around and he’s also creating more goals this time around. A smart choice.
Diaz: Like Salah, Diaz has also hit the ground running strongly. He’s scored three in the last two games and can be a clever captaincy choice, especially if he outperforms Salah.
Ezri Konsa replacements
Konsa sustained a leg injury in England’s recent win over Finland. There is a chance for him to be out for a few weeks, causing a headache for the managers with him in their team.
The 4.5m price-tag can be a tricky one to venture even for defenders this season. But there are a few decent options to replace Konsa.
The likes of Noussair Mazraoui, Lucas Digne, Tino Livramento, Max Kilman and Lewis Dunk can all be smart replacement choices.
Injuries
Arsenal: The Gunners sustained a major blow with Martin Odegaard picking up an ankle injury in the break. He could be out for a few weeks, adding to the likes of Mikel Merino and Gabriel Jesus also being injured and Declan Rice suspended for the Spurs clash.
Aston Villa: Leon Bailey remains the major injury absentee for Villa, with no fixed return date.
Chelsea: Attacking wing-backs Reece James and Malo Gusto are both still injured, meaning Axel Disasi might be played at right-back.
Liverpool: Chiesa is still not fully fit despite joining Liverpool late in the window. Harvey Elliott is out for a while after sustaining a broken foot in the break.
Man City: Oscar Bobb is out until December with an injury. Phil Foden and Savinho are doubts for the Brentford clash due to fitness issues.
Manchester United: Mason Mount is out for a month after getting injured in the loss to Brighton. Rasmus Hojlund is yet to regain fitness, while the likes of Leny Yoro and Luke Shaw are still injured.
Newcastle United: The Magpies are suffering from a number of key injuries. The likes of Callum Wilson, Jamaal Lascelles and Sven Botman are all out.
Tottenham Hotspur: Richarlison is out of action with an injury. Micky van de Ven and Dominic Solanke must pass late fitness test to be fit against Arsenal.
West Ham United: Aaron Cresswell is a long-term injury absentee with a thigh injury. Niklas Fulkrug needs to pass a fitness test for the game at the weekend.
Wildcard Strategy
Pros:
- Managers without Haaland, Salah, Isak and other top performers should immediately use it to get these big points scorer in their team.
- Allows managers to reshape their team for the hefty amount of fixtures heading into the festive season, taking injuries or form into account.
- Value buys like Wissa, Semenyo, and Joao Pedro can be brought into the team to replace underperforming players.
- Can shift out players who were transferred away from the Premier League on deadline day.
Cons
- There will be no wildcard until January, meaning multiple injuries to key players will leave managers in a tough position.
- The wildcard is mostly used after the GW-9/GW-10 once the European campaign has started and seeing how players react to the tougher schedule.
All in all, unless your team has severely underperforming players or those who aren’t regular starters in their respective teams anymore, it’s advised for FPL managers to wait for a few more months before using their wildcard chips.
