Week 3 Player Picks!

Welcome to Week 3! First up, the ideal fixtures:

Manchester United vs Newcastle, Sunderland vs Swansea, Watford vs Southampton

Strikers:

Aguero (15) – It will be a bit more tougher for him away to a seemingly improved Everton side, but anyone who watched even just the highlights of the match against Chelsea would easily be seduced into bringing him in. 

Gomis (9.5), Ayew (9.0) – The anyone against Sunderland option, it’s really just a question of which of the Swansea attack will be in the goals.

Rooney (14.5) – A chance for Rooney to get out of his funk. I don’t see why you shouldn’t hang on to him for this week if you already have him, unless it was to get Aguero in. Newcastle’s defense from last year hasn’t changed, if you didn’t notice. If he fails again...

Depay (11.5) – okay, everyone was ooh-aahing him midweek, but can that translate into the Premier League? Against Newcastle, that should happen, as long as LVG quits his experiments and let’s Depay play in his preferred position tomorrow. It's annoying that he's listed as a striker though.

Kane (12.5) – The last time Spurs played Leicester, Kane ended up with a hat-trick in a 4-2 thriller. This will be a great chance of Kane to open his account.

Sakho (9.3) - With no other senior strikers available, he will need to step up, and with Payet behind him, he'll be gunning for it.

Midfielders:

Silva (12.8) - I can't argue if people want to double up with Aguero. 

Sigurdsson (10), Shelvey (8.8), Montero (8.8): Take your pick. Dirk Advocaat may have talked about working on the defense, and bringing back O'Shea for organisation, but the personnel involved just does not inspire any confidence. 

Mane (9.6) – Ooh ooh, Manchester United suddenly interested, will Mane’s performance crank up a notch? He played midweek though, so be wary, and Southampton have not been at their best, with their defense all over the place.

Mahrez (7.5) – no secret really. He is in form and enjoying himself to boot. His price is a steal!

Dark horse: Matt Ritchie (8.6) to open his account against the Hammers, who are missing Adrian.

Defenders

Darmian (5.9), Shaw (5.9), Smalling (5.9) - all worthy of consideration for their attacking value and potential CS against Newcastle at home.

Kolarov (5.7) - I can't see how Clichy can displace him. He's been defensively solid and works very well with Sterling and Silva.

N. Taylor (4.9) or Ashley Williams (5.1) - covering the likely Swansea CS.

Goalkeepers

Fabianski (5.3) - With Sunderland deciding to emphasise on defense, a clean sheet is on the cards for Swansea.

Romero (6.1) - Look out for last minute news on De Gea, but Romero should start.

McCarthy (3.8) - Aston Villa have only scored 1 goal so far, and I can't see their shots ratio improving anytime soon. Apologies I wrote Speroni earlier but he's not back yet. McCarthy is pretty cheap though!

Hart (6.5) - Expensive, but Manchester City are in top form so he merits consideration.

Note: Adrian would be in the list against Bournemouth, one of two teams that have yet to score, but since he's been banned, I can't see West Ham keeping a CS.

The Euro options

If you haven’t used it up already, then choose between Messi (16), Ronaldo (16) and Lewandowski (14.9). Barcelona are coming off a disappointing period after getting knocked out of the Spanish Super Cup, so it's doubly important for them to kick off on a positive note. Having said that, they are playing with Atletic Bilbao, who are responsible for knocking them out in the first place. Meanwhile, Benitez will be experimenting in the absence of Benzema, so Ronaldo will most likely be up front, which is a plus point. And they're playing Sporting Gijon, a promoted side. Lewandowski has a tougher match, but he's started the season already last week, with a goal and assist.

Of the three you should probably pick Ronaldo.

Wrapping up

Here's my squad (Currently 1624/9554 in the rankings):

Dropped Courtois for Fabianski, and dropped Benteke for Aguero.

If I get the bonus transfer, I will most likely change Koeman to Monk or Pellegrini.

Where the Captaincy is concerned, if you have Ronaldo, then put it on him. Otherwise, Depay, Aguero or one of the Swansea midfielders are pretty good options too.

Good luck!