The first international break of the 2024-25 campaign is behind us, which means it’s time to shift our focus straight back to the Premier League. At a glance, and apart from possible fatigue issues leading to rest/rotation, the popular FPL options seem to have come out of the break unscathed. This is also reflected in the transfer stats during the build-up to the Gameweek 4 kick-off on Saturday, with most of the outgoing transfers seemingly motivated by price considerations, combined with the wish to bring in the good performers from the first three gameweeks of the season.
As far as the fixtures for Gameweek 3 go, the North London Derby at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Sunday afternoon logically stands out. For fantasy managers though, the first round of fixtures after the international break is offering seemingly fantastic potential with Liverpool hosting Nottingham Forest and Manchester City welcoming Brentford. Aston Villa’s home encounter with struggling Everton could also be a big one and the same goes for Brighton’s home match against promoted Ipswich Town.
Don’t forget, the deadline for gameweek 4 is set at 11h00 (UK time) on Saturday, September 14th, 2024. The free to play FPL or pay to play season/weekend/daily games like FanTeam are ideal ways of following the Premier League action.
Most transferred in/transferred out players (as per September 12th, 2024)
| TRANSFERS OUT | TRANSFERS IN | POSSIBLE REASONS | |
| GK | Raya (ARS), Pickford (EVE), Henderson (CRY) | Fabianski (WHU), Alisson (LIV), Raya (ARS) | |
| DEF | Gvardiol (MCI), Porro (TOT), Saliba (ARS) | Lewis (MCI), Robinson (FUL), Digne (AST) | Lewis starter since GW1, Robinson returns |
| MID | Saka (ARS), Palmer (CHE), Gordon (NEW) | Diaz (LIV), Salah (LIV), Onana (AST) | Palmer injury doubt |
| FOR | Isak (NEW), Watkins (AST), Solanke (TOT) | Pedro (BRI), Haaland (MCI), Welbeck (BRI) | Watkins + Solanke injury doubts |
Premium pick
As both Liverpool and Man City have very favourable home games this weekend, the big debate for us was which of the current two ultra-premium fantasy assets to go with: Mo Salah (£12.7m) and Erling Haaland. Both can absolutely smash it on Saturday, but we had to choose one as our premium fantasy pick for gameweek 4 and we decided to go with Liverpool’s Egyptian king. In part because we have been recommending Haaland since the start of the season, but also because Liverpool’s fixtures on the medium-term are considerably better than City’s. After their home game against Forest this Saturday, the Reds have Bournemouth (home), Wolves (away) and Crystal Palace (away) coming up. In other words, a run of fixtures that could see Salah stretch his current streak of three league games with at least one attacking return to a considerable length. The Liverpool talisman has recorded three double-digit returns in the three first games of the 2024-25 season (14 points vs Ipswich, 10 points vs Brentford, 17 points vs Man United) and looks like he’s loving life under new manager Arne Slot.
Non-premium pick
Ollie Watkins (£8.9m) has had a bit of an underwhelming start to the season, with the England striker registering just his first attacking return in gameweek 3, an assist versus Leicester. There is nothing, though, like a home game against the leakiest defence in the league to get back to scoring ways and that is exactly what is in store for Watkins this weekend. Villa are lining up against Everton on Saturday evening and the Toffees have had a horrid start to the 2024-25 campaign. Some bookies have even already started paying out bets on them relegating this season. They have, contrary to what many expected of an Everton side going into its second full season under Sean Dyche’s tutelage, already conceded 10 goals in just three games, more than any other side in the league. They conceded three at home to Brighton, four away at Spurs and three at home against Bournemouth, and now they have to travel to Villa Park. The home side will be looking for their first victory in front of their own fans this season and we have a strong feeling that Watkins, who is currently carrying a yellow flag in the official fantasy game, is going to get back on the scoresheet for the Villans this weekend.
The budget enabler
Reminiscent of the Brighton side from a couple of seasons ago, the Seagulls roster is once again starting to look like a rich source of high-ceiling budget fantasy picks. For Gameweek 4, in which Brighton are facing newly promoted Ipswich Town at home, we have gone with Danny Welbeck (£5.7m), who has had a fantastic start to the current season. In the first three league games of the campaign, the forward already sits on 2 goals and 1 assist, including the first goal in Brighton’s spectacular victory over Manchester United in GW2. New Brighton manager Fabian Hürzeler is putting his trust in the 33-year-old and in his current form, and at his current price of just £5.7m, we think he could be the ultimate budget enabler for gameweek 3. An additional plus for Welbeck as a stand-out fantasy asset, at least on the short term, is that Brighton are playing against Nottingham Forest at home after their home clash with Ipswich.
The differential
For our differential fantasy pick of the week, we are staying on the English south coast. We were quite surprised to see the ownership of players like Joao Pedro and the previously mentioned Danny Welbeck at roughly 29% and 15% respectively, but the ownership of Kaoru Mitoma (£6.6m) still hovers just below 9%. That means he still qualifies for our differential pick category and for the upcoming home game against Ipswich Town, we included him immediately. The Japan international scored against Everton in GW1, assisted against Man United in GW2 and then blanked in the draw against Arsenal in GW3. Next up for Brighton, as mentioned before, are Ipswich and Nottingham (both at home) and with the highest expected goal involvement (not including penalties) of all Brighton players so far this season, bringing in Mitoma could be a shrewd move. And just an extra stat to top it off: no team in the league has conceded more big chances than Saturday’s opponent Ipswich over the first three games of the season.
The (vice-)captaincy
It’s clear that the captaincy debate in gameweek 3 will be between Erling Haaland and Mo Salah. The former is playing Brentford at home, while the latter is facing Nottingham Forest at home. If you have one of the two, captain that one. If you have neither, pray. And if you have both? Flip a coin.
If you want to go against the grain and bet against possibly two of the most influential fantasy assets to grace the FPL in recent years, maybe one of the Brighton forwards (Joao Pedro or Danny Welbeck) could be an interesting pick for the captaincy. The same goes for Eberechi Eze at home versus Leicester City, Ollie Watkins at home to Everton or even Cole Palmer away at Bournemouth (provided he is declared fit to start).
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