Fantasy Premier League Gameweek 3 Tips: Haaland and City Focus

The clock is already ticking on Fantasy Premier League Gameweek 3. If your squad still looks like a work in progress, there’s just enough time to fix it – but not much.

The deadline lands 90 minutes before the opening kick-off, so every transfer and chip needs locking in by 18:30 BST on Friday 4 September. Miss that, and you’re a spectator.

City, Coventry and a Norwegian headache

Almost every major decision this week runs through Manchester City at home to Coventry City.

Erling Haaland is once again the centre of gravity. He was overshadowed by Bruno Fernandes’ monster haul last time out, yet still walked away with two goals against Crystal Palace. Our projections back that threat up: Haaland sits top of the attacking returns list on 1.14 expected returns.

Right behind him in the numbers:

• Rayan Cherki (0.97)
• Alexander Isak (0.81)
• Phil Foden (0.70)
• Bukayo Saka (0.69)

It’s why all four of our in-house Scout Squad panels are unanimous on Haaland (£15.5m). They’re also firmly behind Igor Thiago (£8.0m) and Maxim De Cuyper (£4.7m) as standout picks.

The weekly Scout Picks – effectively a one-week Free Hit without the chip – go all-in on City with a triple-up for that Coventry fixture. The pressure on Enzo Maresca’s side to deliver FPL points is huge.

Triple Captain now… or wait?

That Coventry home game has lit the fuse on a familiar question: is this the week to unleash Triple Captain on Haaland?

The case for it is obvious. Elite underlying numbers, penalties, and a soft-looking fixture in front of a home crowd. He’s already in terrifying form, even when someone else steals the headlines.

But there are doubts. City’s squad has just grown again late in the window, and Maresca’s line-ups could soon start to resemble the old “Pep Roulette”. If rotation bites, Triple Captain could feel like a wasted bullet. There will be double gameweeks later. There will be other plum home fixtures.

If you’re more cautious, the armband alone on Haaland will still be enough for most. Our captaincy models expect him to dominate the polls, and for good reason.

For those without Haaland or chasing upside, the Captain Sensible analysis and the Rate My Team (RMT) algorithm point towards alternative armband shouts – but they all carry more risk than the Norwegian.

Wildcard temptation and the big squeeze

Plenty of managers are already reaching for the Wildcard button. The aim? Cramming Haaland in alongside a premium partner such as Bruno Fernandes and Cole Palmer (£9.6m), then building the rest of the squad around value picks.

Many drafts revolve around pairing Haaland with a City team-mate like Foden (£7.0m) or Cherki (£7.7m). Cherki is the most-bought player this week despite question marks over his minutes, a classic early-season bandwagon that FPL Milanista warns against in his list of seven traps to avoid – including the idea that “every popular transfer is a good transfer”.

Newcastle’s impressive start has drawn chip users towards their assets, while Chelsea’s fixtures from Gameweek 4 onward make their players prime targets for early Wildcards. The puzzle is whether you can fit Haaland, Fernandes and Palmer together without wrecking the rest of your squad.

Budget picks matter more than ever in that scenario. Pascal Gross (£5.5m) is on the rise after a 13-point return, but injuries elsewhere complicate things. Joe Rodon (£4.5m) is out, so one of Tom Freeman’s recommended £4.5m defenders may need to come in to keep the structure intact.

Up front, FPL Meerkat is backing Brentford’s Thiago to rebound from a slow start. If he does, he could become a crucial mid-price forward for those trying to juggle three heavy hitters.

Transfer window fallout

The summer window slammed shut on Tuesday, and FPL wasted no time pricing up some of the late arrivals.

Bradley Barcola (£8.0m), Ibrahim Mbaye (£6.0m) and Matias Fernandez-Pardo (£6.0m) have all been handed eye-catching tags. Deeper analysis has already gone into Barcola, Ayyoub Bouaddi (£5.5m), Daniel Munoz (£5.4m) and Liam Delap (£5.5m), with early verdicts on who benefits and who suffers from the late deals.

Some players quietly emerged as winners. Thierno Barry (£5.5m) and Arsenal winger Christos Tzolis (£6.5m) both avoided the extra competition many expected. Tzolis, though, did himself no favours with a poor Gameweek 2 showing and a half-time substitution.

Others were less fortunate. Iliman Ndiaye (£6.0m) had quickly become a dream FPL asset at Everton – penalties, 90 minutes, and one of only seven players to pick up DefCon points in both opening matches. Now he’s just another face in City’s attacking carousel, and his owners are left scrambling.

The bigger question is what Maresca does with his new toys. If his line-ups become unpredictable, the appeal of doubling or tripling up on City attackers will take a hit, no matter how good the fixtures look on paper.

Buy, keep or sell?

The latest Chief Scout projections highlight which teams are best placed for clean sheets and goals this week, and the ‘Buy, Keep or Sell’ breakdown digs into those calls in more detail.

Haaland, Thiago and De Cuyper sit firmly in the “back them” camp. New Aston Villa forward Nicolas Jackson (£6.5m) has emerged as one of three standout differential picks, a potential Gameweek 3 swing for managers looking to gain ground without ripping up their squad.

To support those decisions, predicted XIs are in for all 20 Premier League clubs, helping managers dodge likely benchings and spot short-term punts.

Interestingly, none of the 18 “Great and Good” managers burned a transfer in Gameweek 2. All of them still landed green arrows. That kind of discipline won’t last. With the transfer window closed and new information flooding in, expect them to scatter in different directions ahead of Gameweek 3.

The expert angle

If you prefer to follow proven records rather than your gut, there’s no shortage of elite managers revealing their thoughts.

Three-time top-500 finisher FPL General, Hall of Famer Dan Wright and six-time top 10k finisher Milanista have all laid out their plans. Their squads show the same tension every FPL manager is feeling: how hard do you lean into City, how quickly do you react to early form, and when do you pull the trigger on chips?

Gameweek 3 won’t decide any seasons. But with Haaland at home to Coventry, fresh signings bedding in and Wildcards already flying, it will draw some very clear battle lines.