Heading into gameweek 3, we’ll try and highlight some interesting players worthwhile signing in goal, defense, midfield and upfront, taking into account a reasonable price, form and the likelihood of picking up points. We’ll go over the popular value players in fantasy at the moment, and recommend value picks that have yet to breach into the mainstream.
Popular Value Players
One way of finding out who you should sign without eating up your budget is seeing who are the most popular player in all of fantasy.
The most popular goalkeeper that costs less than £5 million is Robert Elliot of Newcastle, but with only 4 points after two matches and Newcastle’s overall poor form suggests he might not be a popular pick for long. Someone who doesn’t cost much but has bringing in points is Ben Foster of West Brom, keeping two clean sheets, picking up 13 points and costing only £4.5 million at the moment. He’s owned by 17.7% of teams.
On defense, the most popular “cheap” defender is Ahmed Hegazi of West Brom, costing £4.7 thanks to his popularity (22.5% of teams), but it has yielded 23 points, which is more than anyone who added him imagined.
Willian of Chelsea is the most popular midfielder who costs less than £7.5 million. The industrious Brazilian isn’t known as a massive point producer, but he does have 9 in two matches, and he’s owned by 19.4% of teams. He currently costs £7.1 million.
Chicharito of West Ham costs the same as Willian, and is owned by 27.9% of teams. His two goals in West Ham’s loss to Southampton have lifted him to 15 points. Wayne Rooney has scored a goal in both matches so far. He costs only £7.5 million, and is owned by 19.6% of teams.
Who to Sign
Starting out with goalkeepers and defense, a thing worth paying attention to isn’t just how good a certain team’s defense is, but also how bad the opposition’s offense is. Not only goals, but how many shots at goal they create. Two teams who have done really poorly in that regard are Swansea (with only 9 shots and 0 goals) and Brighton (11 shots and 0 goals). Swansea will be playing another goalless team this weekend, Crystal Palace, who have more talent than the Welsh side. Wayne Hennessey of Palace (£4.5 million, 11 points) is a good choice for keeper. Brighton play at Watford, which means you should think about Miguel Britos, who also scored a goal in the first week.
Midfield recommendations for this week surprisingly include a Newcastle player. West Ham have already conceded 7 goals in two weeks, and it’s probably not going to slow down anytime soon. Christian Atsu of Newcastle, their most dangerous player so far this season, costs only £5 million and could be a bargain pick up this weekend. Another player worth thinking about is Abdoulaye Doucouré of Watford, who has 12 points. The Wasps are facing Brighton, and at £5.1 million he could certainly make a difference.
Up front, Steve Mounie of Huddersfield, who bagged a brace in week 1 and played 90 minutes in week 2, should become a lot more popular. He is currently owned by only 5% of teams, but costing £6.1 million should make him a popular choice, especially if he bags a goal against Southampton. Chelsea’s defense has been shaky so far this season, so a value pick out of Everton, coming to play at Stamford Bridge, could be Dominic Calvert-Lewin. He has 10 points with an assist in each week, and he costs only £5 million, playing 90 minutes in both matches.