Well that was a long two weeks, especially for Ireland fans! The good news is the Premier League is back, which means the return of FPL. Here is a preview to Gameweek 4.
Prioritising Liverpool players is essential for this week at home to Nottingham Forest along with fixtures against Wolves, Bournemouth and Crystal Palace to follow you can’t afford to miss out on this favourable run for the Reds.
Arne Slot’s men have started the season like a house on fire with three wins from three without conceding a goal. Mo Salah’s price has risen to 12.7m while it is becoming increasingly difficult to fit him and Erling Haaland in your team, you simply cannot go any longer without the Egyptian he looks as sharp as ever with 3 goals and 3 assists already he is the highest scoring player in the game with 41 points.
With Haaland and Salah eating up over 27m of your budget it’s important to find cheap enabler players to allow you to fit in the big hitters, here are three cheap picks for GW4.
1. Rico Lewis 4.7m
Pep has favoured the young City star so far this season starting all three games, he has huge potential for attacking returns he finds himself in advanced positions a lot highlighted by the assist he picked up against West Ham last time out. Coming off the back of two strong performances for England coupled with Nathan Ake’s recent injury representing the Netherlands, Lewis is a safe pick.
2. Morgan Rogers 5.1m
Three full 90 minutes shows the faith Unai Emery has in the young English man and playing just behind Watkins instead of out wide makes him an even more appealing asset. With 5 shots and 3 big chances created he’s been unlucky not to get a return so far, his confidence will be high after a recent double for the England U21s and with Everton,Wolves and Ipswich in the next three Rogers is extremely good value.
3. Danny Welbeck 5.7m
New Brighton boss Fabian Hurzeler seems to be getting the best out of the veteran striker, He has only blanked once so far scoring twice and providing an assist while facing tough opponents, with 21 points he is Brighton’s highest point scorer and the Seagulls welcome Ipswich and Nottingham Forest to the Amex in the next two weeks expect Welbeck to add to his tally.
Captaincy Pick
This is a straight shootout between Erling Haaland and Mohamed Salah, if you are brave enough to look beyond those two then Cole Palmer who scored 17 points in his last away fixture faces Bournemouth and Bukayo Saka has returned in all three gameweeks so can’t be overlooked.
Let’s get back to Haaland v Salah. Both have favourable fixtures on paper with Man City facing Brentford and Liverpool hosting Nottingham Forest. The Bees seem to be the easier defence to breach based on underlying data so far conceding 4 goals 32 shots in the box and 7 big chances with Forest only facing 12 shots in the box conceding 2 goals.
It’s hard to go against Haaland here while his 50% shot conversion is unsustainable over the course of a season, Brentford look likely to cough up a lot of chances to him and considering he’s owned by 67% of managers it feels like there’s no option but to give the big Norwegian to armband this weekend.
Press conference round-up
Arsenal - Calafiori and Odegaard are out of GW4, Declan Rice is suspended
Aston Villa - Leon Bailey has a slight hamstring issue but should be fine
Bournemouth - Travers is set to start in goal
Brentford - Kristoffer Ajer has been back in training and is available
Brighton - James Milner is being assessed, Joao Pedro flew back from international duty on Wednesday and is expected to be available
Chelsea - Cole Palmer is fine despite not going on international duty
Crystal Palace - No News
Everton - Seamus Coleman is touch and go after picking up an injury on international duty
Ipswich - Omari Hutchinson is available after withdrawing from the England U21 squad with a hamstring injury
Leicester - No news
Liverpool - Harvey Elliot suffered a broken foot during the international break and will be out for the foreseeable future
Manchester City - Nathan Ake was injured on international duty, Savio remains out, Foden should be available after illness
Manchester United - Mason Mount and Leny Yorro remain out. Manuel Ugarte is available to make his debut
Newcastle - No News
Nottingham Forest - Chris Wood will be assessed following a late return from international duty
Southampton - Brereton Diaz is expected to be ok after being subbed off for Chile
Tottenham - Van De Ven picked up a knock but should be available. Solanke is close but might not be fit to start
West Ham - Niclas Fullkrug has a minor problem and will be assessed tomorrow, Areola has recovered well after going off in GW3
Wolves - No News
