Round 3 of this season’s Premier League campaign starts Saturday lunchtime with an all-London local derby between Chelsea and Fulham at Stamford Bridge in a 12.30pm kick-off.
This week we have assembled a starting XI that represents real value for money with plenty of expected upside along with a few hidden gems all within an overall budget of less than €70.0M!
Formation: 3-5-2
Matz Sels (Nottingham Forest vs West Ham) – €6.0M
Matz Sels has made a relatively slow start to this season’s Fantasy League season picking up just 5 points in the opening two games of this campaign but the Nottingham Forest stopper has a great chance to improve his points tally when his side play host to West Ham on Sunday afternoon.
The 33 year-old Belgian goalkeeper finished runner-up behind Everton’s Jordan Pickford in the goalkeeping points section in last season’s Fantasy League and having won each of his last three appearances against West Ham along with conceding just 1 goal and keeping 2 clean sheets, Matz Sels is our selection between the sticks this weekend.
Michael Keane (Wolves vs Everton) – €5.0M
Everton travel to the west midlands to take on early strugglers Wolves at Molineux on Saturday afternoon and The Toffees will be in confident mood having won their last two games on the trot; a 2-0 home win against Brighton followed by a 2-0 midweek home win against Mansfield Town in the EFL Cup.
Everton defender Michael Keane has registered Sofascore ratings of 7.3 and 7.5 respectively in these last two wins for Everton and further points look likely against a wolves outfit who have yet to hit the back of the net in this Premier League campaign.
Reinildo Mandava (Sunderland vs Brentford) – €4.1M
The former Atletico Madrid left-back was one of Sunderland’s highlights in an otherwise drab performance from the Black Cats in last week’s 2-0 defeat to Burnley at Turf Moor as Mandava achieved a Sofascore rating of 7.0 equal with fellow defender Dan Ballard.
Sunderland now return home to their Stadium of Light for this upcoming fixture against Brentford and at a cost of a mere €4.1M, Reinildo Mandava will be included in our defensive line-up for this weekend.
Neco Williams (Nottingham Forest vs West Ham) – €6.5M
The Welsh defender produced a solid display in Nottingham Forest’s defensive unit as they picked up a point in a 1-1 draw in the nation’s capital against Crystal Palace with Williams earning a Sofascore rating of 7.2 and second only to Callum Hudson-Odoi (7.4).
Neco Williams has won three of his previous four appearances against West Ham and the east midlands club look set to put an ordinary looking Hammers outfit to the sword at the City Ground on Sunday afternoon.
Jack Grealish (Wolves vs Everton) – €6.1M
After finding himself in something of a footballing wilderness at Manchester City under former coach Pep Guardiola, Everton’s Jack Grealish looks to have shaken off Pep’s strict tactical shackles and has been given a new lease of life at The Toffees.
Grealish provided two assists in Everton’s 2-0 home win against Brighton last weekend on his way to earning a Sofascore rating of 8.7 and grabbing the Player of the Match award. The former Aston Villa playmaker looks to be returning to his old self under Everton manager David Moyes.
Joao Palhinha (Tottenham vs Bournemouth) – €5.5M
Portuguese defensive midfielder Joao Palhinha produced an excellent performance in the middle of the park against Manchester City last weekend at the Etihad Stadium as Tottenham registered an impressive 2-0 win under new boss Thomas Frank.
Palhinha earned Player of the Match for his exploits in midfield where he scored Spurs’ second goal and also earned himself a Sofascore rating of 8.4 in the process. Just think what he could do against Bournemouth at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Saturday afternoon!
Bruno Guimaraes (Leeds United vs Newcastle United) – €8.5M
Newcastle United almost pulled off what seemed like being a highly unlikely point at home against Liverpool on Monday night as The Magpies found themselves 2-0 down and reduced to 10 men after Anthony Gordon was sent off.
Eddie Howe’s side responded in the second half though by producing a roaring comeback and scoring two goals to level the game at 2-2 as Newcastle United midfielder Bruno Guimaraes grabbed the game by the scruff of the neck, recording a Sofascore rating of 7.3.
The Magpies eventually lost to a last-gasp goal but expect Guimaraes to control the midfield against Leeds United.
Nico Gonzalez (Brighton vs Manchester City) – €6.0M
Despite being on the losing side at home to Tottenham last weekend, Manchester City midfielder Nico Gonzalez still produced a performance that earned him a Sofascore rating of 7.0 and was one of the shining lights in an otherwise forgettable match.
Indeed, Nico Gonzalez has now achieved ratings of 7.0 or over in each of his last three games overall and we are not only expecting another consistent performance from the Spanish defensive midfielder on Sunday, but also a vastly improved performance from Manchester City overall at the AMEX Stadium.
Mohammed Kudus (Tottenham vs Bournemouth) – €7.3M
The Ghanaian winger has flourished at Tottenham under new coach Thomas Frank as he has been part of a Spurs side who registered a 3-0 home win against Burnley (providing 2 assists) and a 2-0 win away from home against Manchester City at the Etihad Stadium.
Mohammed Kudus was second only to Manchester City’s Jeremy Doku in terms of number of successful dribbles in last season’s Fantasy Premier League and having already earned Sofascore ratings of 8.8 and 7.0, he is also joint-third highest points scorer so far in this campaign.
Eliezer Mayenda (Sunderland vs Brentford) – €5.5M
Sunderland return to the Stadium of Light for this upcoming clash against Brentford on Saturday afternoon no doubt looking to bounce back from last week’s disappointing 2-0 defeat away from home at Burnley.
Sunderland are likely to be on the front foot in front of their noisy partisan crowd which means we can expect a high-tempo display from striker Eliezer Mayenda who hit the back of the net in Sunderland’s opening home game of the season against West Ham in a 3-0 win which in turn earned him a Sofascore rating of 7.4.
Dango Ouattara (Sunderland vs Brentford) – €7.5M
The Burkina Faso winger was instrumental in Brentford’s 1-0 home win against Aston Villa last week at the Gtech Community Stadium with Dango Ouattara also hitting the back of the net in a performance worthy of his Sofascore rating of 7.6.
We are expecting a fairly even tussle between Sunderland and Brentford at the Stadium of Light on Saturday afternoon and as such, we will back Dango Ouattara to shine once again for The Bees.
