FPL GW3 Wildcard Team & Drafts to Consider | Wildcard Guide

Gameweek 2 was a roller coaster ride for FPL managers with Haaland, Palmer & Son going big and a couple of pre-season favorites like Quansah(Benched in GW2), Murphy(Underperformed), Nkunku(Benched in GW2), Hall(Benched in GW2) & Barco(Left on loan) not living up to the expectations. An early wildcard is always risky but this year with a lot of enablers emerging an early wildcard is also not a bad option as it allows you to get premium assets like Palmer, TAA etc. In this blog, we take a look at the pros & cons of FPL GW3 Wildcard, Ideal FPL GW3 Wildcard team, Drafts, and the Players to Target in your Gameweek 3 Wildcard team.

Link to all our FPL GW3 blogs including buy, hold, sell analysis, differentials, captaincy metrics, transfer targets, and more. Completely free to access as well!

FPL GW3 Wildcard Guide

Pros & Cons of Wildcarding in FPL GW3:

Pros:

• Easily get premium assets like Palmer, Trent, etc in your team.
• Sell underperforming assets like Hall, Murphy, Quansah, etc for Smith Rowe, Robinson, Rogers etc
• Target Aston Villa assets(Watkins, Bailey, Rogers, Konsa) for their great upcoming fixture run.
• Avoid your team value to decrease a lot early in the season

Cons:

• Two gameweeks is still a small sample space to arrive at conclusions
• If you don’t have a lot of injury issues/Assets with low xMins then you can use your FTs and then wildcard later.
• Wildcarding one week before the INTL break is also tricky as there could be injuries from the INTL break

Players to Target on FPL GW3 Wildcard:

Goalkeepers:

Raya, Sels, Areola, Flekken

Defenders:

Premium defenders: Trent Alexander Arnold, Konate, Robertson, Saliba, Gabriel

Budget Defenders(4.5 -4.6Mil): Robinson, Leif Davis, Forest defenders(Aina, Nikola Milenković, N Williams), Rico Lewis, Lewis Dunk

Budget Defenders(4.0 Mil): Kosta Nedeljković, Ben Johnson, Taylor Harwood-Bellis, Wout Faes

Midfielders:

Premium midfielders: Salah, Saka, Palmer

Budget & Mid-priced mids: Diogo Jota, Luis Diaz, Mbeumo, Smith Rowe, Leon Bailey, Morgan Rogers, Minteh, Mitoma, Gordon, Madueke, Gibbs White, Semenyo & Soucek

Bench foder(4.5): Winks, Sangare

Forwards:

Premium forwards: Haaland, Watkins, Isak, Havertz

Mid-priced & Budget Forwards: Joao Pedro, Chris Wood, Muniz, Jackson

Bench foder(4.5): Jebbinson

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FPL GW3 Wildcard Drafts

FPL GW3 Wildcard Draft 1

Goalkeepers:

• Raya is the goalkeeper in this draft, he was termed as a 2 or a 6-point goalkeeper last season but this time he has picked 4 bonus points in the first 2 games and made 6 saves. Arsenal have not conceded in the league yet & their xGC of 1.7 is the 3rd lowest in the league.

Defenders:

• The defence consists of Konsa, Dunk, Robinson, Lewis & Konate
• Aston Villa have an excellent run of fixtures & Konsa is a safe option to consider from Aston Villa’s defence.
• Rico Lewis at 4.5 Million offers a route into Man City defence, he was really close to scoring in GW2 with his shot hitting the post.
• Robinson picked up an assist & two bonus in GW2 & Fulham’s good run of fixtures makes him an ideal player to have in your WC Team.
• Dunk & Konate wrap up the defensive picks, Dunk is a safe option to consider from Brighton. Konate offers a cheaper route into Liverpool defence & helps save funds that can be invested in attack. Liverpool looked strong defensively with only 1 Big Chance conceded, 0.83 xGC from 2 games so far- Top for both the metrics. They have 2 clean sheets

Midfielders:

The midfield consists of: Palmer, Saka, Jota, Morgan Rogers, Smith Rowe

• Last season’s top scorer Palmer played as a No.10 vs Wolves and got a Goal, 3 assists, and 17 Points. Palmer had 5 Shots, 1 Big Chance, 4 Chances created(2 BCC) and 0.82 xGI. Chelsea’s fixtures are great & Palmer is an essential in your Wildcard team.
• Rogers & Smith Rowe are the enablers in the draft, Rogers was unlucky not to return vs Arsenal & with Aston Villa’s great run of fixtures coming up makes him an excellent enabler.
• Little separates Salah, Jota & Luis Diaz from the opening two games & we have gone with Diogo Jota in order to afford Watkins. You can alternatively upgrade Jota to Salah by downgrading Watkins to Joao Pedro.

Salah vs Jota vs Diaz Comparison- GW1 and GW2:

• Shots inside the Box- 7 vs 7 vs 5
• Big Chances- 3 vs 3 vs 2
• xG- 1.21 vs 1.54 vs 1.33
• Chances created- 2 vs 2 vs 7
• xA- 0.4 vs 0.1 vs 0.55
• FPL Points- 24 vs 14 vs 17

Forwards:

• Haaland & Watkins are the starting forwards with Jebbison the bench fodder option at 4.5 Million.

Cons of this draft:

• No Salah or Trent Alexander Arnold
• No Brighton attackers(Mitoma, Minteh, Joao Pedro, Welbeck)
• The defence is slightly weak with no premium options

Further Read: FPL GW3 Transfer Targets & Watchlist Based on Eye Test & Stats

FPL GW3 Wildcard Draft 2

• Haaland + Salah + Saka + Palmer draft – Four premium draft has arguably made the defence slightly weaker with Raya the only premium defensive asset in this 11.
• Pedro(5.5) scored his first goal of the season against Man United. The Brighton attacker had 3 Shots, 0.52 xG, and got a Goal, 8 points. Pedro played 90 minutes while Welbeck played 79 minutes.

Cons of this draft:

• The defence is a lot weaker in this draft

FPL GW3 Wildcard Draft 3

• Palmer to Madueke in this draft has enabled us to get Trent Alexander Arnold & also get Mbeumo ahead of their game vs Southampton in GW3.

Further Read: FPL GW3 Ultimate Guide: Tips, Differentials, Captaincy & More

FPL GW3 Wildcard Draft 4

• Draft with Havertz in the forward line along with Saliba & Trent in defence
• Palmer, Haaland & Salah are in the draft too
• The only con with this draft is that the bench is too weak – Winks, Jebbinson, Nedeljkovic

Further Read: FPL Gameweek 2 Stats Summary & Key Notes

Other players not featured in the drafts that are worth considering in your FPL GW3 Wildcard team:

• Andy Robertson has gone under the radar & could be a good pick, In GW2 he had 2 Shots inside the Box including one Big Chance. Created 3 Chances as well for a Total xGI of 0.49.
• Brighton attackers other than J Pedro: Minteh, Mitoma, Welbeck
• Semenyo, although Bournemouth have some mixed set of fixtures his underlying numbers are great.
• Semenyo numbers: 7 Shots, 0.27 xG, Created 2 Big Chances with 1.23 xA. Top in the league for xGI(1.96) and Joint Top for Shots(12) across first 2 GWs.
• Nottingham Forest defenders: Aina, Nikola Milenković, N Williams, Murillo – Forest have the 4th best xGC in the league so far(1.8). Only Man City, Arsenal, and Liverpool have conceded lesser xGC.
  • Milenkovic(4.5 DEF) on his debut in GW2 had 3 Shots inside the Box, 2 Big Chances, and 1.0 xG. He should have got an attacking return. Aina(4.4) created one Big chance but no Shots. Williams(4.5) had 5 Shots, 0.28 xG, and 1 Big Chance

Further reads from ALLABOUTFPL ahead of FPL GW3

Premier League Penalty & Set Piece Takers | 2024/25 PL Season
FPL Gameweek 2 Stats Summary & Key Notes
FPL GW3 Wildcard Guide- Pros, Cons, Players to Target and Best Drafts
FPL GW3 Scout Selection Based on Stats, Analysis and Matchups
FPL GW3 Transfer Targets & Watchlist Based on Eye Test & Stats
FPL GW3 Tips- Haaland, Nkunku Problem, Best Budget Assets, Wildcard Planning, etc
FPL GW3 Ultimate Guide: Tips, Differentials, Captaincy & More

Link to all our FPL GW3 blogs including buy, hold, sell analysis, differentials, captaincy metrics, transfer targets, and more. Completely free to access as well!

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