GAFFR Fantasy Championship is heading into its third week with over 6000 players and a leaderboard dominated by Fantasy Football Scout members.
We’ll take a look ahead at some of the matchups ahead in Gameweek 3, but first let’s review some of the key moments from last week’s games and some of the players worth considering.
The week started with a five-goal thriller at St Andrew’s as Coventry took on QPR in the Friday night fixture. Matt Godden (5.1) is making a mockery of his budget price tag having scored in both Coventry’s fixtures so far. But it was Callum O’Hare (5.1) and Gustavo Hamer (5.5) pulling the strings from the midfield who really impressed for the Sky Blues. They picked up a goal, an assist and the lion’s share of the performance points between them and will be key if Coventry are to survive in the Championship. Bright Osayi-Samuel (6.5) was the standout player for QPR as he continues to try to fill an Eze shaped hole in the team’s attack.
Blackburn were ruthless in their five-goal demolition of newly promoted Wycombe. New signing Tyrhys Dolan (5.5) was given a surprise start and looked electric – the eighteen-year-old winning a penalty before scoring himself in the first half. But Adam Armstrong (7.7) was the star of the show, the forward’s hattrick returning a massive 19 points for his owners.
Norwich struggled at home against Preston, conceding a penalty in the first half which was dispatched by Scott Sinclair (6.0) before Teemu Pukki (10.0) pulled them level thanks to some poor goalkeeping from Declan Rudd (6.5). Right-back Darnell Fisher (6.0) put The Lilywhites ahead again just before halftime, and Preston looked likely to take all 3 points before new signing Przemysław Płacheta (6.5) evened things up with a goal in the 85th minute. Pukki almost clinched a win at the death, but Rudd atoned for his earlier mistake with a fine save to put it over the bar. For anyone willing to ignore Preston’s next two tricky fixtures, Sinclair was their biggest threat racking up 5 shots and could be a bargain at only 6 million.
Dominic Solanke (8.1) continued his impressive start to the season, scoring Bournemouth’s only goal from an Arnuat Danjuma (6.6) corner in a one-all draw with Middlesbrough. Solanke missed a 1 on 1 to put the game to bed in the second half and will be doubly disappointed to have missed as substitute Marcus Browne (4.5) scored an equalizer shortly after to bag Middlesbrough’s first point of the season.
Brentford put their gameweek 1 struggles behind them with an impressive performance against Huddersfield. It was 58 minutes before Josh Dasilva (7.5) managed to break the deadlock – slotting the ball home from the edge of the box. But it was Bryan Mbeumo (9.0) who stole the show in the final five minutes. First setting up a tap in for substitute Marcus Forss (7.0) before scoring an injury time belter, picking up a total of 14 points.
Nottingham Forest continued their terrible start to the season with a 2-nil defeat to Cardiff. While new signing Kieffer Moore (7.0) bagged both goals for Cardiff, Forest were particularly wasteful in front of goal. Both Lewis Grabban (9.0) and Ryan Yates (6.5) missed gilt edged opportunities to get Forest back in the game.
All eyes will be on the early kick-off Saturday afternoon to see whether Swansea can cement Wycombe’s whipping boy status. Swansea have struggled offensively in their opening two matches, with Morgan Gibbs-White (7.1) scoring their solitary goal against Preston. Andre Ayew (10.0) will be hoping the home defence will be as obliging as they were for Blackburn so he can get his season started. Jake Bidwell (6.6) also looks likely for attacking returns. The wing-back has been one of Swansea’s most dangerous players this season, having assisted their single goal and hit the crossbar in their opening fixture.
The first time relegated sides have met this season and both teams will be hoping to establish themselves as favourites to bounce straight back to the Premier League. Neither side’s defence has looked particularly impressive this season so we’re expecting goals here. Up front, Dominic Solanke will be hoping to make it three in three and Pukki will need to start racking up some goals if he wants to catch Armstrong in the race for the golden boot.
Nottingham Forest desperately need a win to kick start their season and an away trip to a goal shy Huddersfield provides the best opportunity of the season so far. Both teams have yet to score this season but Forest have looked the liklier of the two. Luke Freeman (7.0) came close to an assist last weekend, whipping in a cross that Grabban really should have converted and Sammy Ameobi (6.5) had a spectacular long range effort saved in the second half. Huddersfield look completely bereft of ideas up front with Karlan Ahearne-Grant’s (8.5) future at the club in doubt. But Harry Toffolo (4.5) could be an option at the back for anyone predicting a drab nil all.
Brentford looked back to their brilliant best last weekend (albeit against a struggling Huddersfield) and will be looking to carry that momentum into their trip to The Den. Jed Wallace (10.0) was gifted Millwall’s only goal against Rotherham last weekend and they’ll need to step up their game if they want to breach the Brentford backline. New signing Ivan Toney (9.0) will need to start justifying his starting role up front for Brentford, with Marcus Forss (7.0) scoring from the bench last weekend and then converting a penalty in Brentford’s midweek cup victory over West Brom.
High flying Luton visit a Watford side struggling to hit form. The Hornets have scored just one goal in two games but may be encouraged by the club’s suggestion that Troy Deeney (9.5) and Ismaila Sarr (10.0) will now be available for selection.
Nathan Jones is doing an excellent job and his Hatters have been one of the surprise packages this season. Luke Berry (4.5m) is a threat from midfield while James Collins (6.5) has been a handful up front. We expect a tight match and a narrow Watford win to get their season back on track.