Welcome back to the Hive FPL for GW4 of the season.
I hope you've managed to survive the international break and are ready to get back into some more Premier League action.
Since our last post the transfer window has also slammed shut but not before most clubs did a bit of last minute business. Are you going to bring in any of the these players?
The Gunners are hardly short of options at the back and so new signing Hincapie might have to wait for his opportunities. That being said, there are doubts over William Saliba's fitness coming into the weekend and so the Ecuadorian's debut might comer sooner than expected.
Hincapie is more of a defenders defender with just the 12 goal involvements during his 4 seasons with Leverkusen. However, with the new points scoring for defensive contributions this year that needn't be considered such an issue. His defensive prowess was on show over the international break as Ecuador defeated world champions Argentina 1-0.
Less introduction is needed about Garnacho and what he can offer FPL managers. The good news is that if you do fancy brining him in, he's already cheaper than at the start of the season!
The bad news is the level of competition that Chelsea have in those wide areas means it's difficult to imagine that any single player is assured of week on week game time, especially with European competitions starting up this week.
When has played, his stats show he's capable of a goal involvement every other game. Good but not spectacular. In his own mind he clearly thinks he's better than that but can he deliver?
Having lost the talismanic Eze during the summer, Palace were certainly in need of attacking reinforcements and Uche is the man they've identified to fill the void.
Perhaps disappointingly, he's been listed as a forward. While he certainly can and does play in that centre role for club and country he can also play in a number 10 position and off the left i.e. just like Eze and with Mateta the Eagles go to guy in the centre forward role, you'd imagine that most of Uche's opportunities will come in a deeper role.
The good news for Palace fans is that he joins having in form, having got a goal and an assist in the first 3 games of La Liga this season. With Sarr also out injured for this weekend and possibly longer then Uche may be required to make an immediate impact at Selhurst Park.
Don't be put off by the name, I'm assured by people who know much more about Brazilian footballers than I do that Fulham have not signed one of the Minions.
A tricky winger with an eye for goal, Kevin was voted Shaktar's player of the season in 24/25 and has scored 17 goals in 57 matches for the Ukrainian giants. Make of that what you will because for obvious reasons, the Ukrainian league isn't up to it's previous standards.
I could have included new City signing and the much more high profile keeper Donnarumma and quite frankly if you want to spunk £5.5mil on a City goal keeper then good luck to you.
Lammens comes in at a slightly lower price point no doubt due to his lack of profile. There are still major question marks over the defence that sits in front of the young Belgian and of course we've seen over many years that coming into United as the new Number 1 is not an easy feat. Massimo Taibi anyone?
I love how he looks at his boots. Yeah, it's their fault mate!
With Onana gone then it does look increasingly likely that Lammens will become United's new number 1 but Amorim appears not to be keen on throwing in at the deep end against City this weekend.
With his goal scoring record and reasonable price point, I'm sure a lot of FPL managers would have been hoping that Wissa completed his move to Newcastle a lot sooner than he ultimately did!
With very little match fitness behind him and a new system to adapt to it'll be interesting to see how quickly the former Brentford man can get himself up and running in 25/26.
A home match against lowly Wolves definitely looks like the perfect opportunity to open his account but he is of course competing with Newcastle's over big money signing Woltemade who is in fact 0.5mil cheaper. It might be worth seeing how the pecking order establishes itself before diving in for either.
Some might say that the signing of Zinchenko, a central midfielder converted to an inverted full-back was probably the pre-cursor to Big Ange taking over from Nuno at Forest. After all, the Aussie does love to move his full-backs into those central areas.
Zinchenko can't play in GW4 because his move to Forest is only on loan and of course they play his parent clubs, Arsenal. Thereafter, Burnley away and Sunderland at home look like much more promising fixtures for the Ukranian, playing in his 10th Premier League campaign, to get himself up and running for his new side.
If at first you don't succeed, try, try again. Spurs have been attempting to bring in a playmaker all summer and finally sealed the deal for Xavi ahead of their match against Bournemouth.
The Dutchman was in crowd that day rather than on the pitch but he'll have seen first hand why he's been brought to North London. With the injuries to Maddison and Kulusevki plus the departure of Son, Spurs are crying out for someone with technical quality and the ability to conjure something from nothing. Can Xavi be that man?
There's no such thing as an easy game in the Premier League but then again Spurs don't have any massive fixtures through until the start of November. At £7mil and without the kind of competition for places you might find at other 'Big Clubs' Xavi could well become a must have if he hits the ground running for his new side.
Last but certainly not least is the man whose transfer saga has dominated the summer, Alexander Isak.
Already in over 8% of teams despite not having kicked a ball in anger for a couple of months, the former Newcastle man has been a must have in the FPL over the last 2 season and for good reason. 54 goal involvements in 61 Premier League starts is some record.
Can he replicate that at Liverpool? No offence to Newcastle who are very decent side but playing in this Liverpool attack he will be surrounded by a whole different calibre of player. Yes, that's right I'm saying that Florian Witrz is a better player than Joelinton and than Mo Salah just about shades it over Jacob Murphy. Deal with it!
On the other hand, he comes into the side without much football, with far more competition for places and with a massive price tag hanging over his head. How he'll deal with that is perhaps going to be the biggest question here because there is no doubt that he is one of the elite centre-forwards in world football at this time.
I think we'll see a lot of wildcards dropped over the next few game weeks and one of the primary reasons of doing so, will be to accommodate the Premier League's record signing.
Division 1
GW3 Results
GW4 Fixtures
Division 2
GW3 Results
GW4 Fixtures
GW4 Player Picks and Tips
Got a free transfer or 2 to use or maybe you're thinking cashing in a free hit or wildcard. Here are our tips for the GW4
What to do with Watkins?
It's been very slow start for Villa and their main goal scorer. Ollie Watkins was in just over 20% of sides at the start of the season but that's already fallen to 17.1% at the time of writing.
Villa have an away trip to Everton who have looked good going forward but have ridden their luck a bit at the back at times. Only Wolves, West Ham and Burnley have a higher xG against than the Toffees in these first 3 games. Villa also have a nice run of fixtures through to the international break with games against Sunderland, Fulham and Burnley to come.
Individually Watkins is certainly not to blame for Villa's poor start. His expected goal involvement for the team is 50% i.e. he's expected to be involved (either score or assist) in half of Villa's goals. Of current forward players, only Haaland carries a bigger burden for his team with 72%. For Watkins this comes through being both a focal point for goals, his xG is 1.13 and he's had 8 shots in the box (2nd most in the league) with 1 big chance, but also his ability to create for others with 3 key passes to date.
Watkins OPTA stats 25/26
There may be a time to ditch Watkins and look at other options up front which could even involve bringing in Isak but not just yet. His consistency over the past few seasons demands a little more patience in my opinion.
Mass-exodus on Forest defenders
Having at least 1 Forest defensive asset in your squad has been pretty much a given for the past 18 months but the team's terrible capitulation against West Ham and then the decision to sack Nuno, the man responsible for making them such a tough team to beat has sent shockwaves through the FPL community.
After all, this season, the likes of Milenkovic, Murillo, etc aren't exactly cheap! In fact, for many managers, a Forest defender will be their most expensive player in the back line so they can't just bench them and see how it goes over the next couple of weeks.
Is Big Ange going to make this Forest side play in the manner that his Spurs team did? I mean it was great when it worked and he had a fully fit squad to select from that included a ball playing centre-back like Romero and a whippet like Van de Ven but he's certainly not inheriting that profile of player at Forest.
The Big Ange high-line has the potential to make even Gyokeres look like a decent striker in Forest's clash with Arsenal this weekend
His Spurs team also conceded 65 goals last season and 61 the year before that which is why you didn't find many Tottenham defenders in people's FPL squads!
If you're looking to jump ship on the Forest defenders then here are your options
Any Liverpool defender - Yes, they've looked a bit jittery at the back in the first couple of games but they were much more solid against Arsenal and they have a nice run of fixtures over the next few weeks. The failure to get Marc Guehi over the line also means there is less competition for places than there would otherwise have been.
Any Palace defender - And there are plenty to choose from at some attractive price points too. They've conceded just once this season and face Sunderland and West Ham over the next 2 weeks.
Dan Burn - The big man has been an ever present for Newcastle and benefited from the new DC scoring system to add an additional 4 points to his tally + 1 BP to date. Newcastle play 3 of their next 4 games at home.
Joachim Anderson - An FPL favorite at times during his Premier League career but only in 2.8% of teams at the moment. Again, 4 DC points have already boosted his season total but he can play as well with 2 key passes to his name and an xA of 0.66 to date. Fulham have home games against Leeds and Brentford and then an away day at goal shy Villa.
Marcos Senesi - with the exodus of Bournemouth defenders, you did wonder how they'd manage at the back but Marcos Senesi has stepped up in a big way! The Argentine already has 25 points to his name with 6 of those coming from defensive contributions and 4 of them from bonus points. Bournemouth also have a nice run of fixtures up until the start of November.
The cheap and the cheerful
As well as thinking about your big money signings, FPL managers always have to consider how they are going to balance the books with the budget signings.
Some of these players are obvious players to bring in from the start but it's very often the case that they emerge across the first month or 2 of the season and you've got a wildcard still to play then you'll particularly interested in them.
Here's the budget squad of the season so far comprising
- Keepers under £4.5mil
- Defenders under £4.5mil
- Midfielders under £5.5mil
- Forwards under £6.0mil
You'd have a healthy budget of £25.5 million left to spend with this squad making it the Daniel Levy of FPL squads (RIP).
Of course, there are a good number of newly promoted players in there but on that front, it does look like we'll at least see a bit of fight from those clubs this season.
Other notable budget options to consider would include Fulham's Josh King who would probably have made this squad if his goal against Chelsea in GW3 wasn't chalked off for no apparent reason. He's only £4.5mil and has started all 3 games to date.
Enzo Le Fee started his first Premier League game against Brentford last week and looked dangerous before scoring from the penalty spot. His price has actually dropped to £4.9mil after he started on the bench in GW1 & 2 so one to watch regarding minutes in the coming weeks.
A slightly more familiar name for consideration is Callum Wilson. He's made 3 substitute appearances to date but did score his first West Ham goal against Forest last time out and with Fulkrug out injured (again) he's likely to see more time on the pitch.
If his tackle against Jarrod Bowen is anything to go by then he might get you a few DCs too!
Have you considered any of the above for your squad?