FPL Gameweek 3: The Optimal XI To Pick

My Best XI This Week: Fernandes Gets the Armband, Not Haaland

The headline from my numbers: Bruno Fernandes, not Erling Haaland, wears the armband in my best £100m squad this week. Fernandes projects for very nearly 50 points over the next six gameweeks — the highest total in the game on my board — and he does it at £12.0m against Haaland's £15.5m. About 5 in 10 managers own Fernandes; roughly 7 in 10 own Haaland, so the City man is your safety net as vice, but Fernandes is my pick to lead.

The real story in this XI, though, is Phil Foden. At £7.0m he projects for almost as many points as Haaland over the next six — a genuinely elite return at less than half the price — and hardly anyone owns him, about 1 in 20. That's the single biggest opportunity in the game right now. He can go massive on his day, and if he does, almost nobody else benefits. If you buy one player this week, it's him.

Elsewhere it's a template spine: João Pedro (£7.7m, roughly 7 in 10 own him) and Mbeumo (£8.0m, about 3 in 10) both project for solid returns most weeks, with Szoboszlai the fifth attacker at £7.0m. The back line is where the value lives — De Cuyper at £4.7m and Lewis Hall at £5.1m are my two favourite budget defenders for clean-sheet potential, Guéhi anchors things at £6.0m, and John Egan at £4.0m is the cheapest playing defender worth having, owned by fewer than 1 in 20. Verbruggen at £4.5m keeps the goalkeeper spot cheap without sacrificing much.

The honest caveat: to fit all this in, the XI leaves out some heavily-owned names — Cherki, Calafiori, Raya and Gabriel among them. If those players haul, this squad takes a rank hit. That's the trade you're making: Foden and the budget defence give you more total points on my numbers, but less protection when the crowd scores.

My calls: build around Fernandes, Haaland and Foden. Captain Fernandes, vice Haaland — and get Foden in before his price and ownership catch up with his output.