FPL GW3 tips – everything you need to know – best Man City assets, Triple Captain, Wildcard drafts and more!

FPL GW3 tips - is Rayan Cherki essential for the FPL GW3 best team?
FPL GW3 Tips on Fantasy Football Ticker!
In this article, we preview GW3 by covering the talking points from the weekend of GW2, including a detailed breakdown of Manchester City attackers, a look at Chelsea’s new keeper Emi Martinez, Triple Captaincy, and more. We start with a popular defender who’s found himself a must-sell.
Could Thomas lose his spot?

Bobby Thomas is in 7.9% of FPL squads right now, and his owners are living a high as cramp meant he was hooked before Hull City’s goal, ensuring he kept his clean sheet and bonus for an 8 pointer.

His appeal has been massively boosted by DEFCON potential – he got 10 against Arsenal, and fell just short against Hull, finishing on 9. (Bear in mind, he was subbed off.)

However, his position at the team is now under immediate threat as new signing Ethan Pinnock is competing for his spot. The 33-year-old Jamaican centre back stands at 1.92m tall and played 216 matches over a 7-year spell at Brentford, which included their promotion to the Premier League.

Some Coventry fans believe Pinnock will go straight into the starting XI at Thomas’ expense. We’ll have to wait till GW3 to find out, but Pinnock coming on for Thomas may have been a sign of things to come.

Foden vs Semenyo vs Cherki

This is a question that many FPL managers are asking themselves ahead of GW3.

Will Cherki start for Man City for sure?

This is one of the main worries with Cherki. He himself said he nearly got subbed off at half time. He didn’t start the first game. As the table above shows, Foden and Semenyo have 86 and 90 minutes per game respectively, and compared to Cherki’s 55, the obvious extra safety one of the former two bring may be enough to tempt some managers.

But Cherki just came off a brace last week – will Maresca really drop a player in that sort of form? Probably not.

The main reason why Cherki is likely to start, however, is that in GW1, when he was benched, it was O’Reilly who covered in for him, as Doku is expected to be out for a couple more weeks. With Savio and Marmoush gone, the only other choice Maresca had is Jack Grealish, who came on as a late sub in GW1. However, Grealish has now returned to Everton. It paves the way for near certainty on Cherki starting.

Will Cherki start for Man City? Conclusion: Very likely – 80%.

GW3’s best players to buy for FPL – Newcastle assets, Cherki + differentials

Could Foden or Semenyo be better options anyway, especially given they are more likely to play the full 90?

Not Semenyo. Despite how good he was last year, he’s only been deployed on the left this campaign. The Ghanian international was mostly used on the right by Pep Guardiola last year, but under Maresca he’s played both league games on the other flank. With Cherki in the number 10, Foden has to be pushed out onto the right wing, in turn shifting Semenyo to the left side.

However, Semenyo did start the Community Shield in his preferred position and he managed 3 shots and 0.65 xGI. Maresca has the option of swapping Foden and Semenyo to attempt to get the best out of the latter.

As for Foden, he may be a decent alternative. He created a big chance in GW1, before grabbing two assists and missing a sitter against Crystal Palace. In GW2 alone, he managed 0.87 xG and 0.45 xA, enough to highlight his potential should he find his finishing boots again. We also know he’s very unlikely to be rotated (the famous ‘central pillar’ quote from Maresca), although as we’ve established, Cherki isn’t exactly likely to be rotated either.

So overall, Semenyo is pretty much out of the picture, especially as he is the most expensive out of the three, and by some margin. Foden and Cherki are very close in appeal – Cherki can become a gamechanger, as we’ve seen, but Foden could haul as well. If you’re going on Wildcard, Foden’s minutes could be slightly better than Cherki’s long-term, but on a Free Hit, form dictates the silky Frenchman as the better option.

Last thing – Foden’s ownership is under 5%, while Cherki is owned by nearly a quarter of the game. It’s impossible to seperate the engaged managers from the pool now, so we can’t really know how many kneejerked Cherki in after GW1, or bought him after GW2. But Cherki had just ~7% ownership before GW1.

Could Foden or Semenyo be better options? Conclusion: It’s 50-50 with Foden, could be worth it for the extra 0.7m.

Is Emi Martinez an option?

Despite conceding 3 goals, Martinez got a debut 8.2 rating on FotMob and an 8.1 on Sofascore. His 4 saves and 0.61 expected goals prevented showed his brilliant performance.

But the underlying problem lies clear as well. Despite his good performance, Chelsea conceded thrice. It shows that while Chelsea’s attack is properly ripe for investment, the defence still needs some work. Martinez may not be the best option, then. Verbruggen could be better for 0.5 less, as he has decent upcoming fixtures. On the other side, Raya is an easy set-and-forget at 6m.

Particularly if you want 3 Chelsea players at some point, Martinez would force most an extra transfer. The duo of Palmer and Pedro are already extremely popular.

Is Emi Martinez an option? Conclusion: Not really. Chelsea haven’t shown any defensive promise. Go for Verbruggen, or Raya.

Should I Triple Captain Haaland this week?

This is a big talking point this week. Coventry have started the poorest out of the three newly promoted teams. It’s before Europe starts, although only just. City got off the ground properly last week with a 4-1 win away at Palace.

Haaland has already scored two goals, recorded 1.4 xG and 10 shots, and is playing at home. Over his four seasons since joining, his ‘home points per game’ are at 8.94, 7.25, 6.79, 7.06. Utterly incredible numbers, which show that his average expected points for such a plum fixture, at home, should be around 8 or 9 points.

The Champions League does start on the midweek, and City travel to Porto on Tuesday. So Haaland has only three days rest, which opens the door to a possible early sub should the game be wrapped up by the hour mark.

However, Haaland is a striker, and one who strolls around for most of the game. A couple of stats show why some strikers, including Haaland, are not big overwork worries. Haaland frequently covers the least distance in the City squad, and took 19 touches in the game against Palace. For context, the next lowest (outfield) was Gvardiol with 64. So fatigue isn’t a huge factor.

The alternatives

We’ve put all the home games against the three newly promoted teams for Haaland, Saka, Palmer and Bruno in here.

Fernandes has Coventry at home in GW14

Saka has Hull at home in GW10 and Ipswich at home in GW19

Palmer has Hull at home in GW4

Haaland has Ipswich at home in GW7 and Hull at home in GW16.

Now, all of these players except Palmer are in Europe. Although Haaland’s Hull game could be without a midweek fixture, it seems like none top Haaland’s fixture this week.

Some managers are already playing a chip, like Free Hit or Wildcard, which prevent them using the Triple Captain. Those managers could pay a price if Haaland does well, but equally, if he blanks, they will have dodged a bullet.

Should you TC Haaland? Conclusion: Yes, but it’s not essential.

GW3’s best players to buy for FPL – Cherki + differentials

Wildcard and Free Hit drafts.
Wildcard draft 1 – Double Chelsea (benched)

This is a well-rounded squad, covering most attacking price points including the 7m-8m midfielder spot, as well as the 6m forward, where about 12 starting forwards have been priced.

There’s only one Arsenal defender, but the 0.6m in the bank, you can get to Ben White or Konsa at any point, with little sacrifice.

Apart from the second Arsenal defender, tweaks could include Gibbs-White or Szoboszlai’s spots – Cherki, Foden, Rogers, Wirtz, Mbeumo are all solid options at that price.

It also has a strong bench, with Slater the only outfield dead wood. Even he can play when needed. This allows you to bench both Pedro and Palmer this week, playing 5-3-2 with five solid defenders. Apart from Calafiori and O’Reilly, who are included for obvious reasons, the other defenders all have great defensive contribution potential. Khalaili is expected to start in Munoz’s absence.

If you want a squad that is really good for the long-term, this also works. The only possible tweak would be Gibbs White down to Elliott Anderson, and Verbruggen up to Raya, with the option of also doing O’Reilly to a second Arsenal defender if you think the City left-back-turned-midfielder will get benched anytime soon.

Wildcard draft 2 – Punty

This draft properly goes for it, with triple Arsenal defence, and three differential midfielders. Barcola could become Cherki or Rogers.

It does rely on Gross as the bench option to provide stability in the midfield. Apart from Palmer, it’s all unknowns.

It might be worth it to wait a week, though as the draft has five players from Chelsea and Arsenal. If you are punting on triple Chelsea attack or triple Arsenal defence, GW4 is certainly the best entry point.

Wildcard draft 3 – Bruno draft

This draft maxes out on DEFCON and stability, as it has to go without Palmer to avoid Bruno. It’s not really ideal, but it works.

If you are looking for more FPL GW3 tips and advice, here is the place to be! GW3’s best players to buy for FPL – Cherki + differentials

‘should I triple captain Haaland this week?’ Read the article to find out!

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