FPL GW3 watchlist

Gameweek 2 is behind us and it is time to use that free transfer that you got to further strengthen your FPL team. Maybe you already activated your wildcard – in that case, picking your team is really important as you don’t want to get stuck with players that are not going to return fantasy points in the long run. Reece Oxford, Alex McCarthy, Joseph Gomez are some of the most transferred in players so far but what they all have in common as well is the fact that their job security is not particularly high. Use your wildcard to get them in now and you could end up paying for that decision in the long term. This is why we wrote this FPL GW3 watchlist article to help you decide which players are worth looking at.

FPL gameweek 2 recap

On Friday night, Villa lost to Man Utd at home. They didn’t offer much going forward so Man Utd managed to see the game out without much stress. Their defence is reliable playing against weaker teams. It was the case both on Friday and in the GW 1 when they hosted the Spurs. This is something I like as you can be pretty comfortable when deciding if you are going to leave their GK or defender(s) on the bench or not. In the GW 3 Man Utd is playing at home against Newcastle which is a great opportunity for them to keep a clean sheet again, just like next two home matches after that. Consider Romero for your team if you need a GK. Luke Shaw, Darmian and Smalling have proved to be excellent defender choices so far and it is likely be the case in GW3. Shaw is least expensive option of the three as Darmian’s price rose a bit higher. Keep an eye on Rojo and Jones as one of them could replace Blind at CB when they get healthy but for GW3 Shaw is the best option due to the lowest price. Blind is not interesting at all as he is listed as a midfielder and doesn’t get 4 points per clean sheet.

Schneiderlin is very popular player with ownership of 11.2% at this point but he didn’t offer much going forward so far and Januzaj looks like a better pick at the same price. He is not certain to start every match though so if you are looking to get Man Utd midfielder for longer period of time Depay is your man. I personally have Mata, I picked him in my starting team. He did return more FPL points than Depay so far, but Memphis looked great midweek and could carry that momentum into the Saturday’s match. Newcastle is the team Man Utd shouldn’t have problems beating, and Depay could be the star man. He is coming from a 2 goal and assist performance in Champions League and is only going to get better in time.

Rooney has an excellent record against Newcastle, but he didn’t show anything so far so I wouldn’t recommend him at all. If you have him already you could stick with him one more GW.

Aston Villa has couple of interesting players to consider. Richards looks like a good solution for your defence. He won’t get rotated and comes at a really affordable price. Same can be said about Ashley Westwood. He’s available at £4.5m and looks better than my £4.5m midfielder Victor Wanyama. Having said that, neither of the two should be considered for the GW3 when they travel to play Crystal Palace, but if you are looking to free up some cash, consider getting one of them in for GW4 when they play Sunderland at home.

Southampton’s defence not on the last season’s level

Southampton suffered heavy loss in their home match against Everton. It is obvious that their defence is not playing on the level they reached in the previous season. It doesn’t come as a big surprise considering that at this point only Fonte is playing from the last season’s back 4. They are playing at Watford in the GW3 and it is unlikely they will escape with a clean sheet. Until they find their form there is no value in their midfield area as well. Mane and Tadic were excellent last season, but failed to impress for now. It is still early of course but at the price of £8.0m and £7.0m respectively, you can find better options elsewhere. Pelle is a decent choice for a forward.

Lukaku shined in that match and, as a result, his price went up to £8.1m. However there are two things to consider before you decide to get him in. It was a really nice match-up for him and now he is facing really difficult list of fixtures. Next 3 matches are Man City (H), Spurs (A) and Chelsea (H). I am not saying he won’t score but it won’t be easy. However, he does look like he is in better form at this point than he was entire last season. Other Everton player well worth considering is Barkley. He was also unimpressive in the last season but he looks to have a much better season now as well. His price also went up, but considering the fixture list, you might want to wait for a while. Kone is third Everton player that got a lot of transfers in and his price rose as well. He doesn’t have the same job security though and is not somebody we would recommend as a viable candidate for your team. Not for FPL gameweek 3 or any after that. Mirallas and Deulofeu will get back into the team and he will lose his starting place.

Spurs were unconvincing against Stoke at home as they blew a two goal lead. They’ve now conceded 3 goals in two matches which means they didn’t improve much from last season when it comes to defending. Because of that you would want to stay away from their defenders until they show an improvement. They are playing at Leicester City in GW 3 and although I wouldn’t be surprised if they keep a clean sheet it is better not to risk it cause Leicester was very productive in first two matches. Only Tottenham player that I am interested in is Chadli. He is not expensive at £7.0m as he is the player that has goals in him. He is also likely to start in every match if healthy and looks like a better option than £1.5m more expensive Eriksen. Chadli scored against Stoke and he looked really fired up in the GW 1 in Manchester. Harry Kane was a must have in last season, but at this point it is better to stay away. You can find cheaper and better forwards than him.

Stoke managed to come back from 0-2 down but I still struggle to find much FPL value in their players in long term. Arnautovic could be good option in favourable GW 3, but he’s got very wild temper and because of that probably isn’t a long term option. Afellay is affordable at £5.5m and I will give him more time to impress. Diouf is player I like, but he was really inconsistent last season and that is something you don’t want when picking a £6.5m forward. Shaqiri is a newcomer and on paper he could be the best option from Stoke, but he is unlikely to start on Saturday and i would like to give him time as well. At £7.0m he has the potential to be a good FPL asset but he didn’t look good at all playing for Inter and you would want to wait a bit before making a decision. With Mark Hughes in charge, Stoke doesn’t have reliable defence so I would advise against using their defenders for your FPL team.

Sunderland is a mess, I already regreted picking Patrick van Aanholt as a £5.0m defender. Having said that, I wouldn’t completely rule them out at home against Swansea in GW3 so he is going to survive one more round in my team. After that, I will consider selling him. They lost to newly promoted Norwich at home. This was a match that saw Redmond scoring second goal in as many matches. He is the one to consider. At £5.5m he is a good bargain. Stoke at home in GW 3 is a nice fixture to introduce him in your team. After that he has next 3 home matches against winnable opponents which actaully does make him a good long term pick and gives you a nice rotation possibility if you pick another cheap midfielder. Hoolahan also attracted plenty of FPL managers with his performances so far, but at 33 he is likely get less playing time than Redmond so investing £0.5m should pay off. On the other, hand picking Jerome was a bad call from me. I didn’t except him to score much, but I did expect him to play 90 minutes every match. That didn’t happen so far and I will look to offload him soon.

Plenty of Swansea midfielders on FPL watchlist

Swansea looked good so far but they caught out of form Chelsea and beating Newcastle at home wasn’t much of a challenge really. They are playing at Sunderland in GW3 and it looks like a nice fixture for them. Sunderland is in panic mode so they will look to bring their best game. In that case I wouldn’t pile up on Swansea defenders. This team wasn’t particularly solid at the back when they were away from home last season. This is likely something to be the case again so think twice before getting any of their expensive defenders. All of them are priced at £5.0m and there are better and cheaper options out there. Swansea’s midfield is the area of interest to shrewd FPL managers. It features the likes of Shelvey, Sigurdsson and new signing Ayew. Shelvey looked lively and is a nice option at £5.5m, however it was Ayew that stole the show scoring two goals already. He looks better option than Sigurdsson as he is cheaper and offers more goal threat. Swansea actually has a decent set of fixtures right until GW14 when they go to Liverpool. Until then they’ve got couple of difficult home matches against Man Utd (GW4) and Arsenal (GW11) respectively, but I can see them scoring in both of those matches. Ayew is a player that should be responsible for a lot of Swansea goals this season so he is the one you want to own. Sigurdsson’s price could go down soon so keep an eye on him as well. Gomis started the season in excellent manner. He scored in both matches just like Ayew, but I wouldn’t be surprised to see his form drop at some point. For now he is a decent option, but at the same price I would rather get Ayew.

Watford has some decent players: Deeney and Ighalo are cheap forwards that should get plenty of FPL points. They actually have a nice fixture in GW3 against Southampton, a team that looks shaky in the back. However, they didn’t score against WBA and I need some more time to asses who is a better option to own, Deeney or Ighalo. I have Holebas in my team as a defender but he didn’t play in last match and that is a major concern for me. If he sits out again I will definitely look to drop him.

WBA didn’t impress so far. I expected more from Berahino and Lambert. There is also the new boy Rondon in attack so I prefer waiting to see how everything settles in for them. Also, GW3 pairs them with wounded Chelsea. This should not be a good time to bring in any of them but it will gives us solid FPL scouting opportunity. Gnabry is also one of the players I will be looking at. He is on my FPL hidden gems list. Myhill is a solid GK option until Foster gets back as Pulis’ defence can be trusted, but not against Chelsea. If you need a decent £4.5m GK, feel free to consider Myhill after GW3.

West Ham was on top of the world following an opening day win at Arsenal, but have been brought back to Earth losing to Leicester at home. Payet looks like a stand out performer and his price has already gone up. Consider getting him in right now. They are playing at home against Bournemouth which is a good opportunity for him to return couple of FPL points. He is fast and can handle the ball well. Goal and assist so far is a nice record. Kouyate has the same record and he is £2.1m cheaper. Consider him if you can’t afford Payet. He won’t be returning goals and assists on regular basis, but he could be rotated with another cheap midfielder. West Ham kept a clean sheet at Arsenal what provoked plenty of FPL managers to bring in Oxford and Adrian to their Fpl teams. However, that choice proved to be a disastrous one as Adrian got sent off in GW2 and he’ll be out for couple of more matches as a result. Oxford is still young and could be rotated but having a £4.1m defender playing out of position could be a good thing in GW3 when they welcome Bournemouth.

Bournemouth is all about Matt Ritchie

Bournemouth didn’t particularly impress at Anfield, but they had their chances. I can’t see West Ham slipping up but Matt Ritchie looked really dangerous against Liverpool. His priced dropped as he was popular from the start. He is now available at £5.9m and is easily most dangerous Bournemouth man. He attempted plenty of shots on Monday and one will come in sooner or later. Bournemouth has a nice set of fixtures right until GW9 when they travel to face Man City. This is the reason I will look to bring in Matt Ritchie soon enough, maybe already for GW3. He is on my FPL GW3 watchlist in any case.

Leicester‘s Mahrez is the player most FPL managers transferred in so far. No wonder considering he scored 3 goals already. You can buy him for £5.8m which is £0.3m more than his starting price. He does look like a real deal although it is bit early to tell for sure. Leicester has a nice set of fixtures for a while. They won’t be playing a top 6 team away from home until GW18. He is owned by 17.9% FPL managers at this point but it could go up some more especially if he scores again at home against Spurs. Consider getting him in soon. Albrighton is cheaper version from the same team, but almost as good. I will wait to see how they play against Spurs before making my decision, but they are high on my FPL watchlist at this point. Not for GW3 though as I believe Leicester won’t have an easy match against Spurs.

I already wrote about Crystal Palace in this FPL watchlist article for GW2. Basically all of their midifelders are interesting as an FPL assets to some extent. Cabaye seems to stand out due to his accurate passing and key role in midfield. He is affordable at £6.6m. I still regret getting Hennessey in my team instead of McCarthy but, in all fairness, it was almost impossible to make accurate prediction on who gets the nod while Speroni is injured. I would gladly get him in my line up as Palace plays against Aston Villa at home, where my first choice GK, Mignolet has much more difficult job trying to keep a clean sheet at Arsenal. However there is not much point in getting McCarthy now as I would hate wasting my free transfer on a player that is not certain to keep his spot when Speroni returns. After GW 3 Crystal Palace has 3 difficult fixtures in a row and by then Speroni should return. From gameweek 8 on you could consider getting some of their defensive talent as well. Souare on the right and Ward on the left looked really good so far and they are really cheap at £4.5m. Keep an eye on them until GW8.

Arsenal started their campaign with a shock loss to West Ham at home. I captained Walcott back then and he didn’t even start. He came in from bench and did nothing. I expected him to start at Crystal Palace though in the last round. He didn’t and obviously I don’t want to keep non playing £8.8m midfielder in my team. I will certainly transfer him out as I have 2 free transfers for GW3. Sanchez is player I would really like to get as soon as possible.He is a starter and a very attractive player that should score plenty of goals. Keep an eye on Ozil and Cazorla as well as they are also starters that could score some points in GW3 against Liverpool.

Liverpool recorded a narrow win over Bournemouth at home. This was a game that probably disappointed a lot of FPL managers that brought in Coutinho. He scored a magnificent goal in GW 1, but didn’t return anything on Monday. He did have plenty of chances which is encouraging but he also exercised a very poor shooting skills. He is inconsistent and I won’t look to bring him in any time soon if he doesn’t prove me wrong. There is no room for him in my team anyway as I already have 3 Liverpool players. One of them is Mignolet and he is likely to stay for a while. I would also like to have one Liverpool defender as this is a team that should keep plenty of clean sheets. Henderson got injured though so I will consider getting him out, depending on how serious his injury is. Benteke scored and now looks like a nice pick up. I wouldn’t be surprised to see him score again in GW3 against Arsenal.

Aguero should be on every FPL GW3 watchlist

Man City demolished Chelsea in a derby match on Sunday. It was a game Aguero started and looked really fired up and in form. Many FPL managers decided to bring him in after that and his price went up. If you are looking to wait some more you could regret it. Sterling disappointed again so it would be advisable to wait on decision of getting him. If you already own Sterling you could consider getting him out, until he starts to return FPL points. David Silva doesn’t have such problems, but he is a bit expensive for me. Yaya Toure is lot cheaper but I doubt he’ll maintain form like this. He played entire match against Chelsea and looked really tired later on. Everton away in gameweek 3 and Watford (H) look like a decent chances for him to score some points though.

Man City looked really well defensively. Kompany rewarded his owners with two clean sheets and two goals. His price soared and now he is available at £6.2m. That is still affordable in comparison to Koscielny and Azpilicueta, both available at £6.0m. Mangala also had a decent match against Chelsea but now with Otamendi in the team, he will likely be a bench warmer. Kolarov looked good as well but he is in a rotation danger now when Clichy is match fit. On the right we are yet to see in what kind of form is Zabaleta before making decisions.

Chelsea didn’t look good so far, but some sort of reaction is expected in gameweek 3 when they play against WBA and I am putting a couple of their players to my FPL GW3 watchlist. Costa looked really eager against City and I can see him scoring. This could be a match where Hazard awards his owners as well. I’ve got Willian from the start and I would like to see him getting a starting job over Oscar in the middle now when they got Pedro signed from Barcelona. Pedro should be a great addition to this team. He works hard for the team so I am hoping Willian will get more freedom to go forward. Fabregas disappointed as well so far but again, just like with Hazard, this could be match when he starts collecting FPL points. Their defence should finally keep a clean sheet. I’ve got Azpilicueta and I am pretty happy with that pick. Chelsea signed Rahman as a another left back but Azpilicueta can also play on the right. With Ivanovic out of form, I do believe Azpilicueta’s position is secure. How about John Terry though? He was fantasy gold last season but he got substituted at half time because Mourinho wanted more pace so he introduced Zouma. This is horrible news for Terry and his owners. Terry should start against WBA but he will likely be rotated and you don’t want to see that from your £7.0m defender. Courtois should be back on goal and his price dropped. Pick him up if you want solid GK that is likely to keep a lot of clean sheets. Even though Chelsea conceded 5 goals in two matches that is something that is going to change.

And finally we get to Newcastle on this FPL GW3 watchlist. There are some interesting FPL players in this team. Don’t consider their defenders for now, but Wijnaldum looks like a bargain at £7.0m. He’s got goals in him and is guaranteed starter. The same cannot be said for Obertan, but at £4.5m he is an attacking midfielder who is going to get assists from time to time. If he keeps his starting job I will look to get him as my bargain midfielder. Not for GW3 though. Newcastle plays in Manchester against United and they should have a hard time there. In fact their fixture list is extremely unfavorable so avoiding Newcastle players is pretty much advisable until GW9.

FPL GW3 watchlist conclusion

To conlude this gameweek 2 FPL recap I am presenting a list of top 5 players suitable for transferring in your FPL team for gameweek 3. I’ve put a lot of faith in Manchester United’s defence. They are playing against Newcastle so number 1 on my FPL GW3 watchlist for goalkeepers is Romero. On defender list I’ve put all or the 3 starting Man Utd defenders. Shaw is number 1 for me as he is the cheapest of the 3 and he looked good in the Champion’s League match. On my midfielders FPL GW3 watchlist Sanchez in on top. He is a talented player with plenty of flair and determination and he should lead Arsenal against Liverpool. Aguero is obvious choice for an attacker. If you don’t have him in the team, consider getting him.