154. GW3 Recap: Fantasy Will Humble You

The average fell from 82 to 51, 1.7 million Triple Captains landed on a 9-point Haaland, and Mitchell walked away with 15. GW3 was humbling, and that's exactly what makes it interesting.

Gameweek 3 is done, and if last week felt abnormal, this week was more common than what last week was. From a GW2 average of 82, we dropped to a finalised average of 51: the initial reading was 36 before the numbers settled. I got 45, and honestly I'm fine with it. My biggest problem was leaving Ndiaye, which brought a lot of difficulties to my team. I felt his value was going to drop (it has) and now I'm already late. Man City have a very strong midfield all of a sudden. Foden was punished for no fault of his own. He had a good game the last time out, finished strong, and now he's going to fall into Maresca's roulette.

GW 3 Select Recaps

Fulham 2–3 Crystal Palace

The highest-scoring match of the gameweek, and the most revealing from a fantasy perspective. Two things became very clear watching this: King and Bob are the most dangerous players in Fulham shirts, and Crystal Palace's manager Sage is running a system that actively encourages his wing backs to bomb forward.

How else do you explain Mitchell scoring twice and Chilwell coming on as a substitute and immediately scoring the winner? Three goals from two left-sided options in one match. It is not a coincidence; it is a system. And it raises a question we'll be asking all season: Mitchell or Chilwell? They've both scored already. Do they rotate?

Mitchell finished with 15 points and three bonus points. Chilwell came off the bench and bagged a goal of his own. Yeremy Pino, Kamada and Nketiah had the assists. For Fulham, King and Palacios scored: Palacios with his first shot on goal, earning one bonus point. Henderson made a lot of saves; Fulham really tested Palace. gem dasi and Khalaili contributed defensively, and Khalaili (the right back) picked up three bonus points. He is a player worth watching, especially for defensive contribution points.

Arsenal 2–1 Chelsea

The marquee game of the season saw Chelsea take on Arsenal at the Emirates Stadium, and it went the way I expected. Chelsea scored very early (continuing their remarkable streak of finding the net inside the opening five minutes) but Arsenal were simply unstoppable for long stretches. The result never truly felt in doubt.

Havertz scored the winner for Arsenal. Hat had the assist for Chelsea's goal, while Rice and Tzolis had the Arsenal assists. Odegaard walked away with three bonus points, Havertz two, and Tzolis one. Konsa, a debutant, came on late and picked up defensive contribution points, though he had done that just four times in 77 previous appearances, so manage expectations. Fofana and Lacroix had the defensive contributions for Chelsea.

One thing I am starting to question: Gabriel at 8.0 is starting to look overpriced. And Chelsea's Tzolis looked good but cannot seem to stay on the pitch without picking up a yellow card; last time he was substituted before halftime; this time he lasted longer and even earned a bonus.

As a Chelsea fan, the Havertz situation is difficult. Joe Cole has been blasting us for selling him, but I disagree. He was not the right fit under our system. The Arsenal Havertz is not the Chelsea Havertz: he would have been rotated, loaned, or sold to Saudi. Great for him. It stings, but it is the right call in hindsight.

Manchester City 1–0 Coventry

Purely from a fantasy perspective, this was the most disappointing match of the gameweek. Man City were supposed to trounce Coventry. They did not.

Cherki hit the post. Haaland fluffed two decent chances and scored one, off a great cross from Semenyo. On the other end, Coventry had real chances. AI missed a one-on-one. Rodoni was wasteful. They could have drawn this game, even won it with better finishing. That was also a theme with the promoted sides this week: Ipswich could have done more with better finishers, Hull could have done more with better finishers, Coventry could have done more with better finishers.

Rushworth in the Coventry goal was tested and responded well. Donarumma made three saves for Man City and almost made a costly error that could have made it 1–1. Haaland took three bonus points, Guehi two, and Gvardiol two.

Liverpool vs Ipswich

Barcola made his Liverpool debut, the 17th player to join a Premier League side after winning the Champions League with a non-English club. But the story of this game was Isak and Gakpo. Isak scored twice in the first nine minutes, the earliest a Liverpool player has scored twice in a Premier League game since Maxi Rodriguez in May 2011. He finished with 13 points. Gakpo was all over everything, finishing with 11 points.

Liverpool kept a clean sheet. It is no coincidence that when Araujo plays at the back, this defence looks considerably more solid. For Ipswich, the Premier League is looking increasingly difficult. Their first-day form feels like a distant memory. Their best hope in every game runs through Enciso.

Hull City 0–0 Aston Villa

Hull's remarkable run continued. Three consecutive clean sheets as a promoted side: only Charlton in 1998–99 and Huddersfield in 2017–18 have achieved this. And yet, if you watched the Aston Villa game closely, you know there was a significant amount of luck involved.

This was a 0–0 stalemate, with both teams keeping clean sheets. Villa failed to score for a third consecutive game to open the season, joining Ipswich Town (1969–70 and 1970–71) as the only sides to do this in consecutive top-flight campaigns. That is a damning comparison.

I want to talk about Giles, Hull's left back. The boy has a foot on him. He can cross that ball. There was one chance he created late in the game that was beautiful (absolutely wasted by the striker) but Giles will have many assists this season if the forwards learn to finish. He reminds me of Andy Robertson at Hull before Liverpool came calling. That is the kind of player I think he is.

Newcastle vs Bournemouth

Barnes' goal against Bournemouth is the goal of the weekend. If you have not seen it, go watch it. He finished with 12 points. Bournemouth have been a bit unlucky in their results (lost to Man City, drew at the death with Everton, then drew with Newcastle) but they remain dangerous. Evanilson, Tarvenier and Scott are their most likely match-winners.

Other Matches

Tottenham failed to register a single shot on target (for the first time since April 2022) and also failed to score for a third consecutive game, their worst run since November 2021. Janelt picked up 11 points in a strong Brentford showing. Manchester United conceded two or more goals for the third successive game, only the second time in 50 years that has happened at the start of a season alongside 2020–21.

Top Performers: Gameweek 3

Six clean sheets across the gameweek gave defenders a boost.

Goalkeepers

Defenders (8+ points)

Midfielders (10+ points)

Forwards (5+ points)

Player of the gameweek: Mitchell. Two goals, 15 points, three bonus. No debate.

Also worth noting: Ainsley Maitland-Niles came on for Everton and played in midfield but is registered as a defender. He scored from outside the box on debut, the first ever to do so for Everton in the Premier League. A cheap option worth monitoring if Ghana is out for an extended period. Hume at Sunderland is also registered as a defender but plays as a right winger, and Decoiper is another out-of-position player to keep an eye on.

Stats and Records

• Ezra Coner, on debut, picked up defensive contribution points, but he had only done this four times in 77 previous appearances, so don't read too much into it.
• Mbeumo was the most transferred-out player, and then scored. Cherki was the most brought-in player, and returned three points.
• Ainsley Maitland-Niles is the first-ever player to score from outside the penalty area on a Premier League debut for Everton. What a goal it was.
• Martin Odegaard has now scored three Premier League goals this season, doubling his entire tally from last season (one goal in 24 appearances).
• Chelsea have scored in the opening five minutes of three consecutive Premier League games, the first side to do so in all three opening competitive matches of a season.
• Morgan Rogers scored the early Chelsea goal. Arsenal conceded inside two minutes for the first time since 2023 against Fulham.
• Manchester United have conceded two or more goals in each of their first three games of a league season for just the second time in 50 years alongside 2020–21.
• Erling Haaland's goal against Coventry was his 300th in all competitions in his top-flight club career, in his 368th appearance.
• Elliot Anderson completed 146 passes for Man City against Coventry, the most by an English midfielder in a Premier League game on record since 2003–04.
• 2026–27 is the first-ever English top-flight season to see three teams fail to score in any of their opening three matches: Aston Villa, Coventry, and Spurs.
• Aston Villa are the second team to fail to score in their first three games in consecutive top-flight campaigns: the first was Ipswich Town in 1969–70 and 1970–71.
• Hull City are the third promoted team to keep a clean sheet in each of their first three Premier League games, after Charlton in 1998–99 and Huddersfield in 2017–18.
• Fulham have lost each of their first three games of a top-flight campaign for just the third time (1951–52, 2021, 2026–27), and they were relegated in both previous instances.
• Erling Haaland's goal was his 300th in top-flight club football across all competitions, in his 368th appearance. The machine keeps going.
• Only Junior Kroupi and Rayan (13 and 7 respectively) have more Premier League goal involvements since the start of last season than Josh King, who has five.
• Ipswich are the first team in Premier League history to score the opening goal in all three of their opening games and fail to win any of them.
• Cody Gakpo now has four goal involvements this season (1 goal, 3 assists); only Mane in 2024–25 had more through Liverpool's first three league games.
• Alexander Isak now has five Premier League goals at Portman Road, yet has never played for Ipswich Town.
• Liverpool are unbeaten in 20 games in all competitions against sides with Town in their name, winning 15, drawing 5, since losing to Grimsby Town in 2001.
• Over 1.7 million managers used the Triple Captain chip: 92% chose Haaland. The previous record was 1.5 million, set in a Double Gameweek in 2023–24.
• 2.1 million managers transferred in Rayan Cherki ahead of the Coventry game, the second most-bought player in a single gameweek ever, behind only Cristiano Ronaldo's return in 2021–22 (2.2 million).

Transfer Market

Note: figures below were accurate at time of recording and may have changed since.

Most Transferred In

Most Transferred Out

The most common single transfer this week was Mbeumo out, Cherki in. Mbeumo was sold en masse, and then scored. That is fantasy football.

Our League: GW3 Breakdown

Top Performers This Week

Stephen Nyanamba's 77 was the highest in our group, in a week where the finalized average was 51 and last week's group leaders were scoring 100 and above. Last week, 40 managers in our group scored 100 or above. This week, our group's highest is 77.

Fantasy. Will. Humble. You.

That 77 was powered almost entirely by a Triple Captain on Haaland. Here is how the squad broke down:

The Triple Captain chip did all of the heavy lifting: 27 points from Haaland. Without it, this is a very average week.

Bottom Performers This Week

The lowest score goes to abdulmalik alawadhi (Lawyer_Malik) with 24 points. When Arsenal concede, everything built around their defenders suffers. Raya three, Gabriel two, Calafiori two, Gibbs-White three, captain Bruno Fernandes four, Luis Porter two, Elanga one, Joao Pedro two, Calvert-Lewin one. The first thing that stands out is there is no Haaland in this squad.

Biggest Movers: Rank Climbers

Biggest Movers: Rank Droppers

Most Points on the Bench

The most painful bench of the week: Tim Kuba (managed by Moses Jeze) left 25 points sitting unused: Forgan 3, Thomas 4, Slater 3, and Mitchell 15. Mitchell. On the bench. Fifteen points.

Transfer Penalties

Squad Values

Most valuable clubs at 100.9: Zura FC (Na Ali), Amus Langat, Black Adam, and Ha Yousef, all four tied. Joint fifth at 100.8: John Wangi, Sachini, and CK.

At the bottom: Kudanso at 99.3, Hillary Malik at 99.4, Aaron Mindy, Arnold Arnold and Harry Potter all at 99.5.

Most money in the bank: Dennis Mau (team: Julie Hills) with a staggering 7.5 million sitting unused. No Haaland, no Gabriel, has Bruno, has Watkins. A squad that does not make sense on any level.

Overall League Table: After GW3

Martin Asewe's Marto fc climbs to number one, jumping two positions after 51 points this week. Control Alt Dele is just one point behind in second. The table is extraordinarily tight at the top, with only 12 points separating the top 10. The gap from first to 155th is approximately 100 points, with Lanzas at rank 155 holding 142 points.

At the bottom: Bogala (37 points, just joined this week), Kelvin Moimu (40), Hafsa Yusf (97), Ken Mora (102), Aflagani (111).

View the full league table →

Most Popular Players in Our Group

Captain Choices: GW3

107 of us captained Haaland. He returned 9 points (18 with TC). Not the disaster many feared, but not the explosion everyone needed. Those 21 Triple Captain chips really did the heavy lifting for the people who used them.

Chips Used — GW3

• 21 Triple Captains
• 11 Wild Cards
• 7 Free Hits
• 137 total transfers across our league

The Global Picture

This week's highest score was 119 points: NKBRKO, who used their Bench Boost chip. Their full squad:

The global overall leader is Maunarokclothes with 307 points (they used their Free Hit this week). Their GW3 squad: Suzuki 10, Konsa 4, Gvardiol 8, Cash 6, Buendia 3, Gakpo 11, Foden 1, Fernandes 2, Szoboszlai 3, Haaland 18, Isak 13, with Egan and Giles (8) on the bench.

Our league leader has 240 points, 67 behind the global number one. That might be the closest it will be for a while.

GW4 Preview: FDR Next 5 Fixtures

Gameweek 4 starts on Saturday, September 12th, a welcome shift after two Friday kickoffs. The week opens with Aston Villa vs Nottingham Forest on Saturday.

Arsenal: Sunderland, Brighton, Leeds, Forest, Everton. All winnable. I would not be surprised if they won every one of them with clean sheets throughout. Arsenal remains the premium route for defensive points right now.

Aston Villa: Forest, Tottenham, Brentford, Newcastle, Man City. A mixed bag. They need to start scoring before you think about Villa attackers. If you must get in, start with Matty Cash in defence. Then Buendia and Mago.

Bournemouth: Brentford, Liverpool, Chelsea, Sunderland, Man United. Three very difficult fixtures in there. Wait until after the Chelsea game before seriously investing. Evanilson, Tarvenier and Scott are their best options when you do.

Brentford: Bournemouth, Chelsea, Aston Villa, Liverpool, Hull. Similar difficulty to Bournemouth, especially with Liverpool at home. Janelt has started encouragingly. Shada and Damsgaard are the picks. Wait until after Liverpool.

Brighton: Coventry, Arsenal, Sunderland, Crystal Palace, Liverpool. Only two genuinely tough games. Start looking at attackers after the Coventry game. Yalcouye, Kostoulas and Gross are the options.

Chelsea: Hull, Brentford, Bournemouth, Everton, Tottenham. Going forward, now is the time to pick up Rogers, Palmer or Joao Pedro. At the back, still a work in progress.

Coventry: Brighton, Forest, Newcastle, Tottenham, Fulham. Not the worst fixtures on paper, but this team is looking like a relegation candidate. Thomas is the only player worth considering as a budget option for defensive contributions.

Crystal Palace: Ipswich, Leeds, Forest, Brighton, Newcastle. All winnable given what I have seen. Their wing backs will score again. Mitchell or Khalaili, then Yeremy Pino and Watton to make the team function.

Everton: Tottenham, Ipswich, Hull, Chelsea, Arsenal. Three very winnable fixtures upfront. Figure out your Everton pick: Takowski in goal, or Dbury Hall going forward. Once the squad adjusts, it will be easier to recommend.

Fulham: Liverpool, Man United, Ipswich, Hull, Coventry. Brutal opening two, then it eases. After the Man United game, King, Bob and Gonzalo become genuine options. Casta is also worth watching.

Hull City: Chelsea, Newcastle, Everton, Fulham, Brentford. Until they show you otherwise, keep believing in the clean sheets. Tzolakis, Egan and Giles are your defensive picks.

Ipswich: Crystal Palace, Everton, Fulham, Man City, Forest. The Premier League looks like it might be too much for them right now. Enciso only if you need to invest. And if you want to go further, Leaf Davis finds himself in scoring positions.

Leeds: Newcastle, Crystal Palace, Arsenal, Man United, Sunderland. A solid, competitive team with no single goal threat but multiple options. Calvert-Lewin is the obvious pick, then Okafor, Aronson or Bogle.

Liverpool: Fulham, Bournemouth, Man City, Brentford, Brighton. Isak and Gakpo are must-haves. Then Szoboszlai or Verratti alongside them. I'm sold after last week.

Man City: Man United, Sunderland, Liverpool, Ipswich, Aston Villa. Only two must-haves: Haaland and Cherki. Fixture-agnostic. Get them and close your eyes.

Man United: Man City, Fulham, Tottenham, Leeds, Bournemouth. After the derby, their fixtures look much better. Bruno is on pens. Don't sell him if you still have him.

Newcastle: Leeds, Hull, Coventry, Aston Villa, Crystal Palace. All winnable. Hall, Elanga and Lisa are the picks. Barnes is showing what he can do.

Nottingham Forest: Aston Villa, Coventry, Crystal Palace, Arsenal, Ipswich. Morgan Gibbs White is the talisman. Cells is their keeper. Williams is a threat from the left. Those are your three picks.

Tottenham: Everton, Aston Villa, Man United, Coventry, Chelsea. Don't invest until they show you something. No shots on target is a red flag, not a buying opportunity.

Sunderland: Arsenal, Man City, Brighton, Bournemouth, Leeds. Brutal fixtures and they are not convincing to watch. Steer clear. They may not go down, but they will be flirting with it.

GW4 Captain Picks

1. 1
   Aston Villa vs Forest: Morgan Gibbs White (Forest). Villa haven't woken up yet. Don't captain anyone from their side until they do.
2. 2
   Bournemouth vs Brentford: Tarvenier from Bournemouth. Sneaky options: Evanilson or Ryan. Brentford side: Janelt or Shada.
3. 3
   Chelsea vs Hull: Morgan Rogers, Palmer or Joao Pedro. Hull: the defender of your choice if you're feeling ultra-defensive.
4. 4
   Crystal Palace vs Ipswich: Mitchell if you're brave. Yeremy Pino if you're not. Ipswich end: Enciso.
5. 5
   Liverpool vs Fulham: Gakpo or Isak, no debate. Fulham side: Gonzalo or King.
6. 6
   Tottenham vs Everton: Bank on defence. Takowski is the call. Spurs side: Pedro Porro at a push.
7. 7
   Sunderland vs Arsenal: Havertz, Saka, or Odegaard. You have plenty of choices. The Arsenal defender of your choice could also work for a clean sheet. Sunderland end: Enzo Lefay.
8. 8
   Coventry vs Brighton: Skip Coventry for captaincy. Brighton: Gross, Kostoulas or Yalcouye, pick the one you trust.
9. 9
   Man United vs Man City: Haaland or Cherki first. Then Bruno, Mbeumo or Cunha. The usual suspects.
10. 10
    Leeds vs Newcastle: Calvert-Lewin is a shout. Wissa from Newcastle if you're feeling bold.

Gameweek 4 kicks off Saturday, September 12th. No more Friday surprises. Set your lineup early, check the late team news, and good luck.