FPL GW3 Scout Picks Based on Stats, Analysis and Matchups

Welcome to our FPL GW3 Scout Picks blog! Another blockbuster weekend of Premier League football is upon us, meaning that it’s time for us to reveal our Scout Picks for this round of fixtures… GW2 was generally a tough week with lots of popular assets failing to deliver points. The average score for the top 10k of managers was just 47! We managed to buck that trend however, scoring a decent 58 points and beating the Official FPL Scout Picks by 8 points. If you’re counting that makes it 2-0 to us…

	GW1	GW2
AllAboutFPL Team	62	58
Official FPL Team	56	50

Let’s make it three for three in GW3 with another high-scoring week from our FPL GW3 Scout Picks! As always, our Scout Picks will be based on the eye test, stats, analysis, and in this case also Pre-Season. Let’s first take a look at the fixtures for FPL GW3.

Link to all our FPL GW3 blogs including scout picks, players to target, buy, hold, sell analysis, differentials, captaincy metrics, best forwards, and more. Completely free to access as well!

FPL GW3 Fixtures

FPL GW3 Scout Picks

FPL GW3 Scout Picks – Goalkeeper

Nottingham Forest’s Sels (5.0m) is our goalie for FPL GW3, with Nuno’s team facing a struggling West Ham side at home this weekend. There are a number of good goalkeeping options to choose from this week, with the likes of Sanchez, Pope, Kelleher, and, of course, Sels, all having been considered for this team. Sels comes out on top for a number of reasons. Let’s start with the fixture.

West Ham United sit bottom of the Premier League after two games, having scored just 1 goal and conceded 8. The Hammers are also very low ranked (19th) for expected goals (1.3) and big chances (1). Their midfield is being dragged through games by Paqueta, and their forward line has thus far been isolated and looked disjointed (to say the least). Potter has a real job on his hands… Forest, on the other hand, are a mid-table side with regards to their defensive stats, having conceded 2.43xGA and 2 goals in their 2 games so far this campaign.

In GW1, they conceded 1 goal from 1.49xG, with the goal coming in the form of a penalty, and thus their non-penalty xGA coming in well below 1xGA. In GW2, they conceded just 1 shot against with an xG value of over 0.11 – that shot being Sarr’s 37′ goal (which had an xG value of 0.55). My point here is that Forest do not concede many high-quality chances, a trend which has been carried over from last season. Forest concede few big chances and West Ham struggle to score them – it’s a match made in heaven!

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FPL Gameweek 3 Scout Picks – Defenders

Our back three consists of Cucurella (6.1m), Munoz (5.5m), and Milenkovic (5.5m)…

Milenkovic completes the Forest defensive double-up, joining Sels in the team for FPL GW3. We debated long and hard about whether to back a Forest defensive double up or not, but came to the conclusion that it was a good idea for the following reasons… As mentioned above, Forest have, so far this season, conceded very few big chances/high quality chances, while West Ham have created the second fewest big chances in the league across GW1 and GW2. The Hammers lost late on in mid-week to Wolves in the EFL cup, meaning that they will likely be tired and perhaps even dejected, whereas Forest have had a full 7 days to prepare for this game.

Milenkovic himself has been in great form at the start of this season. He has managed to rack up 15 CBIT points across the first two PL games, but has, as yet, failed to score any DC points. This is in line with his numbers from last season, which would have seen him averaging around 8 CBIT/90 and 0.7 defensive contribution points per start. His teammate Murillo is vastly underperforming in this category, having managed just 11 CBIT in FPL GW1/2 compared to his average of 10.6 per 90 last season. Until we start to see a change in these numbers, Milenkovic is the better of the two.

Next up is Chelsea’s Cucurella. The 6th highest scoring defender in the game, Cucurella keeps his place in the FPL Scout Picks team! 8 points in GW1 and 5 points in GW2, he is, as expected, consistently delivering on all fronts – attacking returns, bonus points, and clean sheets (less so on the DC points). He is the only player to keep their spot in our Scout Picks team from GW1-GW3, which should come as no surprise, as we rated him the best premium defender in FPL prior to GW1!

” 1. Cucurella – Decent fixtures, new contract, little competition, nailed. Expect Chelsea to be better this season. Low CBIT and xGI numbers. “

The Blues face Fulham this weekend, and will be expecting to continue their great start to the new season with another win, having easily dispatched West Ham in GW2. Fulham have scored twice across their two opening games and created just over 2xG, but most fans will be backing Moresca’s side to get the job done against their London rivals this weekend. It’s a derby, so anything could happen, but based on recent form, we’re backing Cucurella to deliver again.

Finally, we have Palace’s Munoz. The flying Colombian wingback has delivered 5 points in each of his first two games of the season, keeping a CS in GW1 and assisting in GW2. Munoz has also delivered 9 CBIT across his first two games, 8 of which came against Chelsea, highlighting just what a great asset he can be in FPL.

Palace face an out-of-sorts Villa side in GW3, and will fancy their chances against the Villains for a couple of reasons. Firstly, Emery’s side have been really struggling to create chances, and are ranked 18th in the league for Big Chances (2). They are also very low ranked for xG, having created just 1.3xG across their opening two matches, and are one of two sides that are yet to score! Palace, on the other hand, looked pretty solid defensively in both Villa, despite travelling to face their opponents in Birmingham.

Further Read: Best Saka Replacements to Consider ahead of FPL GW3

FPL GW3 Scout Picks – Midfielders

Our midfield quartet is made up of Mbeumo (8.0m), Cunha (8.1m), Barnes (6.5m) and Kudus (6.6m)…

Let’s start with the elephant in the room. Manchester United were abysmal versus Grimsby in the EFL cup in mid-week, and had to claw their way back from 2-0 before losing on penalties against the League Two side. Amorim made lots of changes for this game, and the side that started the match looked very different from the one that drew with Fulham in FPL GW2. Look, I’m not excusing that performance, but it is important to note the differences between that match and their Premier League season so far. One could argue that a double-up is a bit excessive, but we’re backing United in this one.

Mbeumo (number 19) has been one of United’s better players (missed penalty against Grimsby aside) since he signed from Brentford over the summer. He’s had 5 shots across GW1 and GW2, with all of them coming from decent positions. His underlying numbers also look good, with 0.21xG/90 and 0.18xA/90 (albeit from a small sample size). What is attractive about Mbeumo is not necessarily his underlying numbers however, it is his ability to equal and overperform them.

Last season, he managed to score 20 goals from 13xG, and the season before, he scored 9 from 9xG. He is a proven PL goalscorer and is Manchester United’s most advanced player (see above heatmap from Fulham match GW2 courtesy of SofaScore). He’s getting into good positions, high up the pitch, and is showing signs of his quality – the goals will come (hopefully against Burnley)!

Cunha is similarly a proven PL player, but has been deployed slightly deeper than Mbeumo so far this season. Cunha has had 7 shots across United’s two matches and 0.79xG. We’ve gone for Cunha as we think he’s a far better asset than Bruno for this fixture, and is more likely to haul. Bruno is a good asset, but his appeal comes from his ability to score points in different ways, with lots of his attraction so far coming from DC points.

With Burnley likely to sit deep, it is improbable that Bruno will reach 10 CBIT again in this match, and thus we’ve gone for the more advanced attacking options of Mbeumo and Cunha. United have looked better this season (Grimsby match aside) and face newly promoted Burnley at home in GW3. Burnley looked decent defensively against both Spurs and Sunderland, but still conceded too many high-quality chances in both games. It’s a risk, but we’re backing the United boys on this one!

Barnes comes into the team for FPL GW3 as Newcastle hope to bounce back from a bruising defeat against Liverpool in GW2. The Magpies face Leeds in FPL GW3, the side who are, in my opinion, the most nailed-on promoted side to be relegated. Leeds were shockingly bad against Sheffield Wednesday in the EFL cup in mid-week, drawing 1-1 with Wednesday’s under-21 side (bar the keeper and one of the strikers) before failing to score any of their penalties in the shootout. This comes after their 5-0 drubbing at the hands of Arsenal in GW2 – they are definitely a side to target.

Barnes has consistently put up excellent underlying numbers for Newcastle, but has often struggled for game time, competing with Gordon for the LW position. He managed to nail down a spot in the team towards the end of last season, and with Gordon suspended for this game, he looks set to star in that role. There is also a possibility that he starts up front for Newcastle in this game, with Isak still refusing to play for the club, Gordon suspended, Osula out of favour, and no new striker through the door, we could well see Barnes at 9 in GW3. Regardless of his starting position, Barnes has proven time and again that he can deliver attacking returns in this league, so a fixture against a struggling newly promoted side is an exciting prospect.

Finally, we have Spurs’ Kudus. The new signing shone for Spurs in GW1 against Burnley, before playing a more reserved role for Frank’s side in their resounding victory against City in GW2. He has shone since joining the Lilywhites over the summer, and picked up 2 assists against Burnley in Spurs’ 3-0 victory. With a favourable fixture run coming up he’s a very hot FPL asset right now!

Spurs face Bournemouth in FPL GW3, a side who have had mixed results this campaign. They lost in mid-week to Brentford with a much-changed side, but looked good in both their 4-2 loss to Liverpool and their 1-0 win against Wolves in the league. This will perhaps be Spurs’ hardest challenge so far, but they will definitely feel up to it, having dispatched City 2-0 in GW2. Kudus and Johnson are both excellent mid-priced FPL midfielders that we should all be keeping our eyes on!

Further Read: FPL GW3 Predicted Lineups, Injuries & Press Conference Updates

FPL Gameweek 3 Scout Picks – Forwards

Our expensive forward line of Haaland (14.1m), Mateta (7.5m), and Wood (7.7m) completes the FPL GW3 Scout Picks team!

The captaincy falls to Haaland this weekend, as City travel to the south coast to face Brighton in FPL GW3. Haaland is perhaps not the most glamorous captaincy option, with many opting for Bruno over the City striker, but we think that Haaland is the safest bet – here’s why. 2.5xG across the opening two fixtures and 2 goals demonstrate that Haaland is seemingly back to his goal-scoring best. Brighton, City’s opponents for GW3, are yet to win a game in the league and have conceded in both of their first two fixtures. Haaland is a proven point scorer with a decent fixture and thus is our captain for GW3.

Next up is Mateta. 0.5xG over the opening two fixtures is not great, but a fixture against a struggling Villa side presents the perfect opportunity to score his first goal(s) of the new campaign. Villa conceded 2 big chances against Brentford in GW2 and 2 big chances against Newcastle in FPL GW1, illustrating their defensive difficulties.

Mateta is a low-volume high quality striker, meaning he takes few shots, but these shots tend to be higher quality – if presented with a big chance, he normally scores it. While many will rightly point to Eze’s departure as a potential problem for Palace going into this fixture, Mateta and Sarr look more than capable of taking more of the goal-creating and scoring burden, making them both excellent FPL assets in the long term!

Finally we have Chris Wood. A forest triple up seemed necessary considering the opponent. As mentioned West Ham are yet to win a game in the league and have conceded 8 goals across their first two fixtures.

Wood continues to overperform his xG at an alarming rate, but, as we know, it’s not a bad idea to target players that are on a hot streak. West Ham have conceded almost 5xG this season and conceded all 5 of their goals against Chelsea in the penalty area, highlighting the fact that they continually give up high-quality and high xG scoring opportunities to opponents. Wood’s goal-scoring run will not last forever, but while he’s in form, it would take a brave man to bet against him!

Further Read: FPL GW3 – Fixtures & Players to Target for Gameweek 3

Full FPL GW3 Scout Picks Team:

Further reads from ALLABOUTFPL ahead of FPL GW3

FPL GW3 – Fixtures & Players to Target for Gameweek 3
FPL GW3 Scout Picks Based on Stats, Analysis and Matchups
Top FPL GW3 Differential Picks(<10% TSB) to Target
FPL GW3 Predicted Lineups, Injuries & Press Conference Updates
FPL GW3 Ultimate Guide: Tips, Differentials, Captaincy & More
FPL Gameweek 3 Transfer Tips: Two Players to Buy, Hold & Sell
Best Saka Replacements to Consider ahead of FPL GW3
Premier League Penalty & Set Piece Takers | 2025/26 PL Season
FPL GW3 Stats Summary and Key Notes

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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What’s next from ALLABOUTFPL ahead of FPL Gameweek 3 of the 2024/25 FPL Season?

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