Top five Fantasy EPL tips for GW4

The Premier League delivered yet another enthralling round of top flight football last weekend, with only three sides managing to keep clean sheets across the 10 fixtures.

Aside from Chelsea, Wolves and Tottenham assets, defender points were few and far between - and those who selected the right attacking options in their FPL teams benefitted hugely.

Chelsea's Raheem Sterling rolled back the years with a 19-point haul against Luton, Bruno Fernandes finally paid back his owners with a 12-point display against Nottingham Forest and James Maddison continued to tempt managers with an impressive 10-pointer in Tottenham's 2-0 win over Bournemouth.

Meanwhile, Liverpool forward Darwin Nunez went from zero to hero - coming off the bench to score twice against Newcastle - and Aston Villa's players continued to offer excellent value, with Matty Cash bagging 17 points and Moussa Diaby chalking up 12.

With just one weekend left ahead of the first international break of the season, Mail Sport shares its top FPL tips for GW4.

Here are Mail Sport's biggest takeaways from GW3:

Hold fire on transfers

If GW3 taught FPL managers anything, it's that early transfers can go horribly wrong.

Thousands of managers axed Maddison from their squads after he was pictured leaving the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on crutches in GW2, and many brought in Phil Foden as a replacement.

It just so happened that Maddison recovered from his niggle, starting and hauling big against Burnley in GW3, while Foden was benched due to an illness.

Those who went for Foden were unlucky, but news of his absence was speculated on Friday morning and this may have dissuaded managers from going there had they not already made the move earlier in the week.

Furthermore, any Luke Shaw owners who made a transfer before Thursday night were also punished ahead of the deadline, as the Manchester United star was ruled out with a long-term injury.

FPL managers who had already completed their free transfer were forced to either keep Shaw in their squads or take a hit to sort out the issue.

It goes without saying, then, that waiting until Friday's GW4 deadline is even more important given that there are midweek Carabao Cup fixtures to watch out for.

Popular picks Maddison, Mbeumo and Eberechi Eze were all benched in Tuesday's matches, earning a much-needed rest ahead of GW4.

Meanwhile, Richarlison, Axel Disasi and Levi Colwill all started in the Cup, which perhaps casts doubt over their chances of starting this weekend.

What's more, the Premier League's transfer deadline finishes late on Friday evening, and any last-minute deals could impact popular FPL assets.

For example, if Chelsea lure another striker to Stamford Bridge, this could seriously influence Jackson's game time and make him less of an attractive pick.

In bygone seasons, there's been an argument to make early transfers as it allows you to catch price rises and maximise squad value. For example, anyone who took out Gabriel on Monday wouldn't have endured his price drop down to £4.8m.

However, with Harry Kane now at Bayern, Kevin de Bruyne out with injury and Salah potentially off to Saudi Arabia, it's perfectly viable to operate with just one premium this year (Haaland) and spread the funds around instead. If Salah and Trent Alexander-Arnold, the game's most expensive defender, justify their value later on, then things might change.

But for now, as most assets are reasonably affordable, it's less about which players you can afford and more about whether you've selected the right ones.

Keep a watchful eye on the transfer market, double-check how your players fared in the Carabao Cup and hold off on pulling the transfer trigger until Friday.

Don't rush to sell Villa's attackers

In FPL, transfers are like gold dust. With only one free transfer to make to your 15-man squad each week, it's easy to get carried away and take several four-point hits across the season.

This is why it's best to play the long game with assets and view their fixtures six to eight gameweeks in advance, unless you plan to activate the Wildcard soon and take them out for free.

What to do with Aston Villa assets, and Ollie Watkins in particular, is a great example of this ahead of GW4.

Villa take on Liverpool at Anfield on Sunday, historically a very difficult fixture, and at £8.0m he isn't the sort of player you want to leave on your bench for a week.

Of course, if there are no other fires to put out in your team, it's perfectly sensible to move Watkins out for Jackson, Julian Alvarez or Wissa, especially as the trio are all cheaper than the Villa star.

However, with plenty of exciting midfielders emerging like Sterling and Maddison, Watkins is more than fine to hold on to over the next few weeks, seeing as Villa's fixtures are excellent after GW8.

After taking on Liverpool, Crystal Palace and Chelsea, Unai Emery's side face Wolves, West Ham, Luton, Nottingham Forest and Fulham. There are bound to be plenty of goals for Aston Villa in that run, considering they knocked four past Everton and three past Burnley.

More importantly ahead of GW4, Liverpool's defence has looked leaky at the start of the season and now the Reds will be without star defender Virgil van Dijk following his red card against Newcastle.

Jurgen Klopp's side have conceded nine big chances in just three matches and have made two errors leading to a goal. Yes, Sunday's match is at Anfield, but the idea that Aston Villa are facing an elite defence is simply not the case.

Watkins even has a history of doing well against Liverpool. At Villa Park in 2020, the Villa striker bagged a first-half hat-trick as the Midlands club triumphed 7-2 over Liverpool.

To reiterate, selling Watkins this week is by no means a bad option as Jackson and Wissa both have better fixtures in the medium-term before GW8. The same goes for Diaby if you're planning to bring in Sterling, Mbeumo or Maddison.

But with transfers are precious as they are, Aston Villa attackers will likely prove a shrewd hold this week. I certainly wouldn't be taking a hit to remove them.

Go all-in on Chelsea

Chelsea are emerging a superb team to target in FPL and it's for one key reason: value.

Contrary to last season, the Blues' players have come in at very affordable prices in FPL, with Christopher Nkunku the most expensive asset at £7.5m (now £7.4m).

There's no denying Chelsea's stars have plenty of quality, the question was whether Mauricio Pochettino could get them back to scoring goals regularly. And they certainly managed that in the 3-0 win over Luton.

Sterling was no doubt the star of the show with two goals and an assist at Stamford Bridge, and he showed glimpses of what he used to do as a fantastic FPL asset during his Manchester City days.

Let's not forget, this is a player who once had three successive 200-point seasons under Pep Guardiola. If he rediscovers that level of output alongside Pochettino, he could well make a mockery of his initial £7.0m price tag.

Rashford began last season at £6.5m and went on to score 205 points under Erik ten Hag, ending up in pretty much everyone's FPL team.

There is a caveat here and that is that Chelsea played Luton, who have conceded seven goals in just two matches already. Whether Sterling and the other Chelsea boys can keep this up against tougher opposition remains to be seen.

That being said, it's a low-risk move to transfer in these assets ahead of them facing Nottingham Forest, Bournemouth, Aston Villa, Fulham and Burnley in their next five fixtures. One would only expect the goals to continue flowing.

I can't argue with anyone looking to triple-up on Chelsea at the moment but it's important to make sure you get the right three players. If you weren't aware already, FPL limits managers from selecting more than three players from each Premier League team.

Jackson and Sterling boast the highest non-penalty xG at Chelsea so far this season, and there's no guarantee Enzo Fernandez takes the next spot-kick after missing against West Ham.

Meanwhile, Ben Chilwell is second behind Cash for xGI among defenders, still making him one of the best cheap assets to own in the game.

After bagging 14 points against Luton, Malo Gusto is being transferred in by thousands of FPL managers and could earn a double price rise from £4.0m to £4.2m by Friday's deadline.

There's no denying he's a superb option in Reece James' absence, given that he started the season as the cheapest possible player in the game, but transferring him in should come with a warning.

The initial timeframe for James' injury was a few weeks, meaning that the Chelsea captain could well return to the fray soon after the international break. If all goes well, Pochettino will hope to have him back after GW5.

In that event, managers with Gusto won't be able to triple-up on Chilwell, Jackson and Sterling, who right now seem the most consistent Chelsea players in terms of starts, FPL returns and expected data.

Don't sell Bruno Fernandes

I felt like last chance saloon for Fernandes ahead of GW3, given that he and Manchester United failed to impress against Wolves and Tottenham in the opening two weeks of the season.

Several FPL managers who started with Fernandes also started with Rashford, and both were on pretty thin ice ahead of their GW3 clash with Nottingham Forest.

Mail Sport advised holding on to them for at least another week and anyone who went against that recommendation was punished. Fernandes bagged 12 points in United's 3-2 comeback win while Rashford picked up a respectable seven-pointer.

The Manchester United captain boasted promising expected data ahead of the GW3 clash and this time his efforts were rewarded with a goal and assist. And now, he leads the entire league for xGI ahead of his trip to the Emirates in GW4.

If Fernandes keeps this up, he could be on for another monster season, having previously chalked up 244 points during the 2020-21 campaign.

The positive for Rashford, meanwhile, is that he returned to his favourite position on the left flank against Forest and looked significantly better, picking up an assist and winning the crucial second-half penalty.

Rasmus Hojlund has been named in Denmark's squad ahead of the international break, which could mean the £72m man is fit enough to start against Arsenal in GW4. This only bodes well for Rashford's chances of holding on to the left wing spot.

Of course, Arsenal is a tough fixture and there's every chance the pair will struggle this week. But looking over the horizon, United take on Brighton - who have been uncharacteristically poor in defence so far - Burnley, Crystal Palace, Brentford and Sheffield United between GW5 and GW9.

Given Fernandes' excellent xGI numbers and Rashford's threat on the counter attack, the Red Devils duo are more than worth keeping hold of this week, even with a difficult fixture.

Beware of Champions League rotation

We're one match away from the international break, and this means European football is only just around the corner.

The first round of Champions League, Europa League and Europa Conference League fixtures occur between GW5 and GW6 and this could have a major effect on our Manchester City, Arsenal, Manchester United, Newcastle, Liverpool, Brighton, West Ham and Aston Villa assets.

We already have some insight into how Guardiola, Ten Hag, Klopp, Arteta and Moyes will rotate given their European ventures last season, with key players like Haaland, Saka and Fernandes not rested all that often.

However, European matches add even more of a headache when it comes to rotation-prone players like Foden, Jota and Nunez. In most cases, it's impossible to predict whether they're preferred in Europe or in the Premier League week on week.

It's nothing to panic about just yet, particularly with players you currently have in your team. Managers tend to prioritise the Premier League and go full-strength unless they are blessed with deep and healthy squads.

But it may be wise to think twice about bringing in a player whose minutes are already at risk.

De Zerbi chopped and changed his side frequently towards the back end of last season when the fixtures came thick and fast, and you'd think the likes of Evan Ferguson, Joao Pedro, Solly March and Kaoru Mitoma will only suffer in terms of minutes when the Europa League rolls around.

Similarly, Emery is a specialist in European football and is unlikely to throw away Aston Villa's Europa Conference League chances with overly weakened teams during the group stages.

Until we see how these teams manage European rotation, it's a safe bet to target players without midweek responsibilities.

This is why Tottenham, Chelsea and Brentford assets remain firmly at the top of my shopping list.