FPL: What we've learnt after 3 gameweeks...
- Liverpool have been very lethal so far, but is Florian Wirtz’s addition unbalancing their set-up?
Against AFC Bournemouth and Newcastle United, Liverpool’s shaky defence was repeatedly exposed to counter-attacks; the decrease in their defensive numbers points to a softening through the centre. The dilemma: Is it worth it buying Van Dijk (6m) now, or waiting for Liverpool to get their act together defensively?
Their best player, Mohamed Salah, hasn’t even hit form yet. Liverpool have managed just five big chances in their new 4-2-3-1 formation – one fewer than Haaland – signalling that their new attack has yet to click. However, Salah is still a standout captain for GW4 - Burnley, according to fixture difficulty ranking.
- Is Palmer(£10.5) worth it at his price?
Joao Pedro (£7.6), has scored 2 goals and provided 2 assists in 3 games already, making him the top scoring FPL forward. Palmer meanwhile has no returns, and is coming off a muscular injury. Keep Palmer if you own him, as he next plays a leaky Brentford who just lost to Sunderland. However, he is not a buy, especially for those wildcarding in GW4. He might not even start against Brentford.
- Promoted teams to be considerably stronger this season
Sunderland, Leeds, and Burnley have 13 points between them after a collective nine Premier League matches, enough to ensure not a single one of them is in the bottom six. Sunderland have spent heavily and signed some excellent players, while Leeds are an imposing physical side who held their own against Everton and Newcastle.
From an FPL perspective, having at least one £4.0m defender from these teams can be of good value longterm as these teams are proving to be very competitive and solid defensively at home. This will also allow you to spend your budget on 4 top mid-priced(£5.0 +) defenders. Also, captaining against these teams, while still viable, may not always result in automatic captaincy hauls.
- Frank’s Spurs will be refreshingly flexible
The flexibility shown in Frank’s formation and strategy is a welcome change from the chaotic Ange-ball, even if Ange ultimately let go of his principles early in 2025.
- Defensive Contributions in FPL - The New Cheatcode?
Attacking threat has often been a strong consideration when picking defenders in FPL. Centre-backs have frequently been rated according to their ability to score goals from set-pieces rather than their main job of protecting their own penalty box. This season, any defender who reaches a combined total of 10 clearances, blocks, interceptions and tackles (CBIT) in a single match will score two more FPL points. These points lift their base level of FPL returns.
Brentford’s Van den Berg (£4.5m) and Everton’s Tarkowski (£5.5m) - have earned three points in each of the two matches they have failed to keep a clean sheet.
By comparing the output of Van den Berg with Chelsea's Marc Cucurella (£6.1m), we can start to see just how powerful defensive contributions are. Cucurella has yet to blank in 2025/26 Fantasy. His two clean sheets have returned eight points, while he also earned three points for an assist. Combined with two bonus points and a further six for his three appearances, Cucurella has rewarded that collective show of faith with 19 points.
Van den Berg, found in only 1% of squads, has one clean sheet & two blanks. Yet he has still matched Cucurella for value, returning 3.1 points per million spent thanks to his defensive contributions. Whereas Cucurella has yet to collect any points for his defensive contributions, DEFCON already accounts for 42.8 per cent (6 of 14) of Van den Berg's points.
The teams that have accummulated the most Defensive contributions (CBIT) per match are Bournemouth, Brentford, Everton, Palace, and Liverpool in that order.
Bonus: Someone who has maximised value better than anyone in the UK:
When he took charge; It was the “big four”, and Spurs did not have the backing of a sovereign wealth fund or a Roman Abramovich. He still managed to push the club into what became the “big six.”
Instead of cashing out early on Gareth Bale or Harry Kane and letting them go to rivals, he held firm. That gave Spurs the foundation to build a side that finished in the top four consistently.
On top of that, he delivered a world-class stadium and grew commercial revenues to a point where Spurs are now a secure top Premier League club. Spurs could easily have slipped into the cycle we’ve seen at Villa, Newcastle or Everton, battling relegation or dropping to the Championship… but they never did.
He hasn’t delivered as many trophies as supporters would like, but he has delivered stability, financial strength and consistent European football.
