Gameweek 3 began with Ivan Perisic (£5.5m) full announcing himself to the world of FPL, gaining an assist, a clean sheet and 12 FPL points as Spurs overcame Wolves by a goal to nil, Harry Kane (£11.4m) scoring the winner. This was followed by wins for Crystal Palace, Fulham and Southampton in the 3pm kick-offs over Aston Villa, Brentford and Leicester respectively, Wilfried Zaha (£7.1m) scoring twice for Palace to take his overall FPL tally this season to 21 points. Saturday concluded with Arsenal comfortably dispatching Bournemouth by three goals to nil on the South Coast to maintain their 100% record in 2022-23.
Sunday was a thrilling afternoon of Premier League football which began with Leeds shocking Chelsea, beating Thomas Tuchel’s side 3-0 with Rodrigo (£6.3m) continuing his hot streak in-front of goal. West Ham once again succumbed to bogey team Brighton, losing 0-2 at London Stadium before Man City contested a 3-3 thriller with Newcastle, a match which saw Erling Haaland (£11.7m) back on the scoresheet. Monday night didn’t disappoint either as Man Utd bounced back emphatically following a miserable start to the campaign by beating bitter rivals Liverpool 2-1 at Old Trafford, Erik ten Hag’s first ever Premier League victory.
As we head into the first round of top flight matches which proceed a full Premier League midweek schedule, we assess the stand out Gameweek 4 fixtures, pointing out the ones most attractive from an FPL point of view and the players who could play a starring role.
GAMEWEEK 4 FIXTURES
Saturday 27th August
Southampton vs Man Utd (12:30)
Brentford vs Everton (15:00)
Brighton vs Leeds (15:00)
Chelsea vs Leicester (15:00)
Liverpool vs Bournemouth (15:00)
Man City vs Crystal Palace (15:00)
Arsenal vs Fulham (17:30)
Sunday 28th August
Aston Villa vs West Ham (14:00)
Wolves vs Newcastle (14:00)
Nott’m Forest vs Spurs (16:30)
COTTAGERS TO FEEL FULFORCE OF ARSENAL?
After three Premier League fixtures, Arsenal sit top of the tree having racked up nine goals in the process. The Gunners have combined attacking potency with defensive stability, also keeping two clean sheets and unsurprisingly, their players are proving extremely popular from an FPL perspective. Next up for Mikel Arteta’s side in Gameweek 4 is Fulham, who have begun very well for a newly promoted side, gaining five points from nine. However, the Cottagers have conceded two goals in two of their three games and it’s hard to see them being able to shut out this Arsenal unit.
It goes without saying that Gabriel Jesus (£8.2m) is as close to a must-own FPL asset as you can get for when taking into account his already monstruous ownership, not to mention his significant attacking threat. Jesus’ last home fixture saw him accrue 19 FPL points with a brace of goals and assists against Leicester. Attacking midfielder Gabriel Martinelli (£6.4m) has gained at least one attacking return in each of his three league appearances so far, whilst Martin Odegaard (£6.4m) also represents excellent value at the same price as it stands, scoring twice last weekend. In defence, William Saliba (£4.6m) looks an absolute bargain and already boasts 21 points to his name this season, more than any other defender.
WILL ERLING OVERTHROW THE PALACE?
History over recent years tells us that Man City usually react extremely strongly after a result doesn’t go their way and they come into Gameweek 4 having failed to beat Newcastle, thus failing to move back to the top of the Premier League. This makes it vital for them to get back to winning ways quickly, starting against Crystal Palace at the Etihad Stadium, who themselves will be hoping to back up not only their 3-1 triumph over Aston Villa, but also holding Liverpool to a 0-0 draw at Anfield.
With three goals across three gameweeks so far, Erling Haaland’s next big step is to score his first Man City goal at home and assuming that Pep Guardiola’s side create the number of chances you would expect them to, Haaland must be fancied to score at least one of them, which bodes very well for his FPL prospects. Kevin De Bruyne (£12.1m) like Martinelli at Arsenal is looking to continue his run of picking up at least one attacking return in every gameweek so far, whilst Joao Cancelo (£7.1m) as always provides multiple points avenues for FPL managers to take advantage of. Don’t sleep on Wilfried Zaha though, who has scored three in his last two for Crystal Palace and will no doubt pose an extremely dangerous threat on the counter attack.
LIVERPOOL TO STRUGGLE AGAINST PARKED BUS?
Defeat against Man Utd, failure to win yet in the Premier League this season and a glut of injuries sees the pressure firmly on Jurgen Klopp’s Liverpool heading into Gameweek 4. Bournemouth at home represents a kind fixture on paper, especially when taking into account that they have conceded seven goals across their last two league matches. However, Cherries boss Scott Parker has beaten Liverpool at Anfield once before as manager of Fulham, so you can rule out any sort of complacency here from the hosts.
Despite an unusually quiet performance by Mo Salah (£13.0m) at Old Trafford, he still managed to get on the scoresheet, reminding all FPL managers of his qualities. Team-mate and fellow premium FPL asset Trent Alexander-Arnold (£7.5m) has not delivered the points expected of him so far this season and his ownership will hope that Gameweek 4 can provide a turnaround in form for him. Darwin Nunez remains suspended, so Luis Diaz (£8.0m) is once again likely to pose the biggest goalthreat for the Reds alongside Salah. When taking into account the defensive frailties shown by Liverpool though since the start of the new campaign. Doubling up on their backline, or owning goalkeeper Alisson (£5.5m) is a significant risk.