“Guys, the noise will always be there,” was Enzo Maresca’s rallying cry when the Manchester City players reconvened for the first time since the club’s guilty verdict. “It’s our duty to make our noise.”

Faced with the righteous fury of Anfield and beyond, knowing that resentment and hostility will be hurled in Manchester City’s direction for the remainder of the 2026/27 campaign, Maresca has adopted the classic siege mentality. City will bring the noise; will fight fire with fire.

It’s the obvious play - but it bumps up against City’s usual tactical setup. It isn’t said often enough (certainly not by tactical analysts) that the psychological and the tactical are symbiotically linked. Mentality triggers tactical battles; tactical preparation sets the emotional tone. For that reason, you wouldn’t expect Maresca - the chess-loving purveyor of calm possession football – to be the right manager to convert indignation into a playing style to match.

Manchester City went direct against Liverpool, with Erling Haaland's role tweaked

That’s what makes the tactical pattern of City’s 3-0 victory at Liverpool so interesting, because putting aside the red herring of Rayan Cherki’s goal – a flowing team move that emphasised City’s man advantage and Liverpool’s broken spirit – here was a new Maresca: direct, forward-thinking, ugly; almost Mourinho-esque in converting a siege mentality into tactical principles.

Long passes were pumped forward, mostly for Erling Haaland to challenge aerially, but some to move the ball quickly into the wingers. City, before the red card especially, decided to bypass Andoni Iraola’s high press and create a wilder contest, essentially leaning into chaos and disorder. It was a radical departure from Maresca norms that stepped up to the unique challenge of playing in limbo and against the backdrop of seething anger.

These are unprecedented times, after all. Maresca was smart and bold to cast aside the more placid football we are used to seeing from his teams. He met the moment, in other words, with direct football that laid the groundwork for Jeremy Doku – the ultimate vertical player, a knife to the heart of defences – to come off the bench and turn the game, first causing the red card and then creating two City goals.

However, it’s important to note that prior to the red card Liverpool were the better side precisely because Man City had been so unusually direct, therefore stretching their own shape lengthways and making the pitch extremely big. Ryan Gravenberch repeatedly galloped straight through the middle, turning Elliot Anderson (often left all alone in midfield) and getting Liverpool into the final third at pace. Had Alexander Isak been fit to make runs ahead of him, the hosts probably would have won the game.

That only makes Maresca’s battle plan more curious; more obviously linked to a mentality shift. Historically, Maresca would double down on calm and order for games like these, attempting to suck the life out of more frenetic opposition. That he didn’t, risking collapse, is instructive.

Instead City embraced the noise, telling us Maresca knows his plans went out the window as soon as the verdict came through. The new message, blaring loudly from aggressive tactics, is unrepentance – and freedom.

Watching Haaland recast as a battering ram old-school number nine, and watching Man City fans Poznan with inflatable bananas in hand, it seems both manager and supporters have come to the same conclusion: if this whole thing is about to come crashing down, if fans are going to boo and hiss your every move, well, you may as well let go and have some fun with it. You may as well bring the noise.

Brentford were Brentford on Friday night: ruthlessly organised, with the physical strength and tactical diligence of their man-to-man pressing wrestling Chelsea into patterns they didn’t want to form. They broke up play, they made it scrappy, and then they capitalised in key moments: set-pieces (goals one and three) and counter-attacks (goal two).

It was textbook, and although sometimes Brentford at their absolute best are simply unstoppable, particularly at home, it does beg the question: had Alonso done his homework?

Put bluntly, this was not the time to trial a brand new midfield partnership featuring two players making their full Premier League debuts, one a youngster who has only played a handful of games in England and one a veteran who never had the agility or dexterity to play through Brentford-style pressure.

Henderson-Barco pivot problems

As I highlighted a fortnight ago, Alonso’s two-man midfield contains tactical flaws that might just be unsolvable. They definitely won’t be solved by a Jordan Henderson and Valentin Barco pivot, not against Brentford’s midfield.

Here’s a typical example of where it went wrong. Brentford hold their ground, forcing Lacroix to keep the ball for 13 seconds before attempting an ambitious long ball out to the left. He has no options because Brentford’s man-to-man press prevents it; because neither Barco nor Henderson can be trusted to get on the ball, resist pressure, and break the lines.

Brentford’s second goal, scored on the break, resulted from the same issue. Henderson gets on the ball here and, with nothing in the pocket to play, fires an ambitious pass that gets intercepted, leading to the goal:

Malo Gusto and Romeo Lavia, both on the bench, would have been far better suited to the challenge, although, more importantly, Alonso should have adapted his 3-4-2-1 formation.

Already, that 3-4-2-1 is too easy to read, too easy for someone like Keith Andrews to prepare for. Chelsea needed Morgan Rogers or Cole Palmer to drop short and wide, or one of the wing-backs to come infield to create an overload, or… anything, really, that would have been unexpected; that might have bamboozled Brentford or at least pulled a man-to-man marker out of position.

Chelsea attempted 28 crosses in this match, each one predictably swatted away. They got done by Brentford like Brentford used to do teams in their first season in the Premier League, which is to say Alonso just didn’t look adequately prepared.

If Chelsea are to challenge for honours, he needs to adapt much faster than this.

The way Johan Manzambi and Nicolas Jackson juggled the ball between each other ahead of the latter’s goal was the high point on an insistent theme, reminiscent of school friends playing at lunchtime, always looking for each other in that nonchalant (ok, smug) way that kids sometimes do.

Poetically for Villa, it was two new signings flourishing precisely because two new Tottenham signings were failing.

More damning still, the Manzambi-Jackson connection resulted from an Unai Emery tactical battle-plan that had targeted Tottenham’s midfield from the outset; the epicentre of Tottenham’s £300 million summer splurge was the very place Emery had identified as their weakness, their soft target.

Villa’s setup was unorthodox for Emery, who did not pick a speedy winger on one side (usually a non-negotiable) and instead had Emiliano Buendia and John McGinn invert from the wings with Manzambi – nominally the ten – dropping deep in what almost looked like a free role.

It caused problems for Tottenham throughout the match, most notably when Manzambi ghosted into the box to score the opener, although the tactic really came off in the second half, when Villa were able to walk through the middle again and again:

But the best example of this phenomenon was Buendia’s winning goal, which ended a nine-pass, 31-second Villa move defined by cutting open Spurs’ midfield no less than three times, the third being Buendia’s finish in open space:

In Fantasy Premier League (FPL) finding the right differentials at the right time is often what makes the difference between a good season and a great one.

A differential is any player owned by 15 per cent or fewer managers, and these can help you surge up the rankings in a way that would take weeks to achieve through more predictable choices.

With four gameweeks of data now available the picture is clear enough to find the players who are really performing under the radar. Here are six worth considering this week:

Best FPL Differentials in 2026/27

Bukayo Saka - Arsenal

Price: £9.5m

Owned by: 12.3%

GW5 Fixture: Brighton (a)

Saka has been sharp all season. The numbers back that up as Saka is top among midfielders for Expected Goals (xG) so far.

What has been most encouraging is the minutes - 90, 89 and 90 - in his three Premier League games. A rest in the Carabao Cup during midweek means he arrives into this gameweek fresh and ready to perform. The upcoming schedule beyond GW5 is also very good with captaincy potential in GW6, GW8 and GW10.

Morgan Gibbs-White - Nottingham Forest

Price: £8.0m

Owned by: 12.5%

GW5 Fixture: Coventry (h)

A home game against a Coventry side that has let in the most goals in the league without scoring any of their own is a very good chance to pick up points.

Gibbs-White is on set pieces and penalties, making him Forest's obvious talisman. His chance creation makes him a constant bonus point magnet as well. He earned all three bonus points in GW4 from an assist, which shows how involved he is in everything Forest do going forward.

Thierno Barry - Everton

Price: £5.6m

Owned by: 6.6%

GW5 Fixture: Ipswich (h)

Probably the most interesting differential on the entire list is Thierno Barry. His place in the starting line-up is secure and Iliman Ndiaye’s departure has opened the door for him to take penalty duties.

At £5.6m, he allows significant upgrades across the rest of the FPL squad as well. The data only strengthens the case further with Barry sitting among all forwards for xG this season, behind only Erling Haaland. That is not a number you can ignore.

James Tarkowski - Everton

Price: £6.1m

Owned by: 13.3%

GW5 Fixture: Ipswich (h)

Playing in a defence that has let in just three goals across the first four matches, Tarkowski heads into this gameweek with newly-promoted pair Ipswich Town and Hull City as his next two fixtures.

Reliable for defensive contributions, he brings an aerial threat from set pieces and is certain to start. A simple choice for those looking to strengthen at the back.

Jan Paul van Hecke - Tottenham Hotspur

Price: £4.9m

Owned by: 6.7%

GW5 Fixture: Aston Villa (h)

Much like Tarkowski, Van Hecke is completely reliable, solid for defensive contributions and brings aerial threat from dead ball situations. Spurs have kept back-to-back clean sheets heading into this weekend and face an Aston Villa side that has scored just once all season.

The upcoming home fixtures make him a more appealing long-term hold and at under £5.0m the price is great for what he offers.

Tarik Muharemovic - Leeds United

Price: £5.0m

Owned by: 4.0%

GW5 Fixture: Crystal Palace (h)

The player who has impressed the most so far this season belongs to Leeds. Muharemovic has adapted to Premier League football with ease, is second among all defenders for defensive contributions after four matches and brings real set piece threat on top of that.

A home game against Crystal Palace this week, with an ownership of 4% and a price that allows the rest of the team to be built around premium players, the Bosnian really is the Rolls Royce of budget defenders right now.

Enzo Fernandez sauntered off the pitch with a wry smile, blood trickling from his nose, a job well done. He was, of course, the villain, the catalyst, encapsulating the grit and steel behind Manchester City’s battling victory at Old Trafford.

But that telling of Sunday’s game is flawed, the smirk largely unearned.

In order to beat Manchester United, Enzo Maresca had to plan around Fernandez, not with him. The adaptation to Phil Foden’s red card – flipping the tactical pattern of the match – benefitted Manchester City only because it tamed Fernandez, whose presence was proving more disruptive to City than Foden’s absence.

Release the hound

To play Fernandez is to release the dogs of war. He pulls at the chain until it snaps, which can be extremely useful in a Manchester derby but also, to be frank, a liability. The tactical story of City’s win is one of how Maresca reined him in.

In the first half, before Foden’s red card and after it, Manchester City’s new midfield was a mess. Elliot Anderson (magnificent throughout, but overworked) was stationed alone at the base with Rayan Cherki and Fernandez nominally deployed as eights in front of him, a bold attacking move from Maresca that backfired when Fernandez moved wildly out to the left flank or into the forward line, leaving Anderson isolated.

Fernandez’s strange positioning emptied the middle for City, limited their passing options and, in turn, forcing slow and hesitant sideways possession. Below, he is too far wide (image 1) or too high (image 2), allowing Manchester United to surround Anderson and/or dominate empty space:

Maresca told Sky Sports after the game that his initial plan with Cherki and Fernandez as eights had been to “attack a little bit [more] to create an overload in the middle against the extra midfielder”, ruling out the possibility Fernandez’s positioning – so wide, so high, so weird – was a tactical instruction from the dugout.

It allowed Manchester United to grow into the contest, pinch possession in that vacated middle, and transition quickly, just as Michael Carrick would have hoped. It was the exact tactical battle everyone had predicted (City possession, United counters) and clearly United were on top, harassing and frustrating the visitors until Foden snapped, and the tactics were reversed.

Well, eventually. At first, Fernandez kept making the same bizarre decisions despite being part of a two-man midfield. City remained all at sea:

Here is a typical example of how Fernandez’s positioning left City overly stretched and, therefore, vulnerable to being caught in transition when the ball was lost:

It wasn’t until half-time that Maresca found a way to pull on the leash. He brought on Illiman Ndiaye for Cherki and instructed his players to sit back, therefore compressing space between the lines with a simplified defensive structure in a 4-4-1 formation, conceding the ball to United but, counter-intuitively, regaining the initiative.

Gianluigi Donnarumma started playing long balls up the pitch, punting it into the United half to prevent Manchester City from even attempting to build out from the back. The idea was to cut out midfield, win the second balls that fell around Erling Haaland, and get Ndiaye weaving through the lines.

The passing football – which had lured Fernandez into his ultra-expansive mindset – disappeared, and as a consequence the spaces shrank. City were now compact off the ball (falling back instead of pressing) and on it (pushing up to receive long balls, rather than spreading out in their own half to play through United).

The long balls up for Haaland were played again and again until one of them – Haaland challenging, Ndiaye picking up the pieces – led directly to the controversial winner:

Before kick-off, Maresca said his team needed to “embrace the noise, embrace the chaos,” a call to lean into the atmosphere and ride out the madness of derby day. Nobody embodied that mentality better than Fernandez and, in that respect, his role was important.

But ultimately, what defined this match was a tactical rewrite enforced by Foden’s red card yet designed to tame Fernandez’s excesses.

Fernandez embraced the chaos. Maresca contained it.

If Gameweek 3 was the week of the Wildcard, Gameweek 4 is the natural follow up window for those who held off.

The transfer window is firmly shut, minutes are becoming clearer by the week and the fixture picture is sharp enough to build a squad with genuine long term conviction.

Without further ado, here is the team worth constructing right now.

GOALKEEPER

In goal, Bart Verbruggen is the standout budget option. He's reliable, consistent for save points and probably the best of the cheaper goalkeeper options available this season.

The backup slot can honestly be filled by any £4.0m goalkeeper from a team you are unlikely to triple up on, as there are no truly nailed-on options at that price point right now.

DEFENCE

The defensive unit leans into three teams with strong fixture runs and players who bring more than just clean sheet potential.

Riccardo Calafiori and Ezri Konsa give double Arsenal coverage in the best defensive unit in the league, with Konsa remaining an absolute steal following the Mosquera injury situation.

Tarik Muharemovic has been a defensive contributions machine for Leeds United, brings aerial threat from set pieces and represents reasonable value for his price.

Luka Vuskovic is probably the most secure Brighton defender for the long term, offering similar set piece threat and a solid record for defensive returns.

Finally, Jan Paul van Hecke rotates really well with the rest of the defence, is particularly strong in home fixtures and carries good aerial ability from dead ball situations.

MIDFIELD

The midfield is where this squad truly shines. Bukayo Saka looks sharp, his minutes appear very secure and with penalty duties and a run of strong fixtures ahead, he is the standout Arsenal attacking option to own right now.

Cole Palmer and Morgan Rogers give strong Chelsea representation from a side that has looked genuinely dangerous under Xabi Alonso, with neither carrying any European fixture concerns to threaten their minutes.

Palmer at home to Hull this week is the optimal captaincy choice on paper, particularly in a gameweek where Manchester United host Manchester City. Dominik Szoboszlai is the set-and-forget Liverpool hold, confirmed on penalties and guaranteed minutes for the foreseeable future. Regan Slater rounds out the midfield as a budget filler who enables the rest of the squad through his low price point and will rarely if ever need to come off the bench.

ATTACK

Up front, Erling Haaland is essential cover for the captaincy in Gameweeks 5 and 7, where he looks comfortably the best armband option on paper.

Joao Pedro has been in the top three FPL point scorers among forwards across the opening three gameweeks, carries no European football and looks like one of the most stable and consistent picks in the game right now. Thierno Barry is the interesting differential of the forward line at just £5.5m. With Ndiaye gone, he looks set to inherit penalty duties at Everton, and the budget he frees up across the rest of the squad makes him a very attractive inclusion at a price that enables genuine quality elsewhere.

The beauty of this squad is the balance it strikes between premium quality at the top end and serious value throughout the supporting cast. The front three is locked in, the midfield offers multiple captaincy options over the coming weeks and the defensive setup is built for long term accumulation rather than short term speculation. If you are Wildcarding this week, this is the blueprint worth following.

A pattern has developed during Michael Carrick's early tenure as permanent Manchester United boss, and he must address it.

Every time Bruno Fernandes shapes to send a curling delivery into the box from the half-space, and every time Bryan Mbeumo cuts inside to send a dangerous ball towards the back post, the pattern becomes impossible to ignore.

Man United are built to attack from wide areas, but lack the aerial profile inside the 18-yard box to capitalise on it.

Manchester United need to make tactical tweak three games into the season

Data gleaned from Gradient Sports paints an interesting picture of Man United’s opening games.

Carrick’s side currently rank first in the Premier League for total inswinging crosses attempted (39) - 10 more than the next-highest team - and second overall in total crosses (84). Individually, Bruno Fernandes leads the division for inswingers attempted, while summer addition Bryan Mbeumo ranks third.

The intent is clear: Man United are overloading the flanks and using their playmakers to deliver high-value, whipped service into the penalty area.

Despite dominating the delivery metrics, Man United rank only fifth for their cross completion rate. The quality of the service from Fernandes and Mbeumo is rarely the issue - rather, it is the lack of a complementary target profile inside the box when the ball arrives.

Matheus Cunha has spent much of the early campaign leading the line, but the Brazilian's natural game does not suit an aerial bombardment. Cunha is fundamentally a 'nine-and-a-half' - a fluid, technician who thrives when dropping deep to link play, driving at defenders from tight pockets, and unleashing shots from distance.

Asking him to engage in physical battles against Premier League centre-halves on whipped inswinging crosses doesn't quite get the best out of his strongest attributes.

When crosses flood the box, Cunha is occasionally out of position or outmatched in aerial duels, leaving the team's creative output feeling unrewarded.

The remedy for Carrick is sitting on the bench: Benjamin Sesko.

Unlike Cunha, Sesko provides the exact physical profile needed to transform Man United's crossing volume into goals. The Slovenian international offers physicality and height and box presence.

At 6ft 5in, Sesko gives Man United a genuine aerial presence capable of winning contested headers against deep defensive blocks. He is a player who will instinctively attack the landing zones of inswinging deliveries, too.

If Fernandes and Mbeumo continue to cross with such frequency, adding Sesko to the starting XI is a requirement.

Lost in the noise that buzzes around Chelsea and Xabi Alonso is an obstacle that, to surmount, will require a radical rewriting of the Premier League tactical playbook. Alonso wants to challenge for honours using that so gauche, so ungodly formation: the dreaded three at the back.

If you want to know what English football thinks of a 3-4-3 just ask Ruben Amorim’s ghost, which still haunts the Premier League and looms much larger than Antonio Conte and the back three that won Chelsea the title in 2016/17.

Alonso must know this, which is why we ought to look upon his maverick moment on Sunday – a central midfield of right-backs – and see it as classic misdirection, drawing our attention towards personnel and away from the kind of systems scrutiny that killed Amorim dead.

3-4-3 = five-on-two

The 3-4-3’s fatal flaw is a two-man midfield. In theory, this is offset by having two attacking midfielders in front (making a box: a four-on-three against the opponent’s midfield) and/or having a centre-back step up to join the midfielders. The reality, as Arsenal showed on Sunday, is often quite different.

Mikel Arteta worked the formation from two angles. Riccardo Calafiori drifted into the middle from left-back and Kai Havertz dropped off the front, giving Arsenal an overwhelming five-on-two advantage in the middle that cut through Chelsea many times before eventually leading directly to the winning goal

It happened a lot, in both the first and second, and there was nothing Chelsea could do to close the spaces, as we see here ahead of Arsenal’s first goal, following a period of dominant possession in central areas:

The good news is that Chelsea were competitive and won’t face a game as tough as that again. The bad news is that Arsenal’s template – drop bodies into the middle; surround the misplaced right-backs – is there for everyone else to copy, which hints at a fundamental problem beginning to take hold.

It is intimately connected to the very nature of the 3-4-3 that Chelsea sit 19th in the Premier League table for possession, their scarcely believable 36.3% almost half that of league-leaders Manchester City (71.9%).

Alonso’s Bayer Leverkusen averaged 62.1% in their 2023/24 peak, so whatever game-state caveats you put forward, Chelsea’s numbers are not intentional. They are instead reflective of an emerging problem that sleight-of-hand tricks will only cover up for so long.

Of course, better midfield options would help. Conte had N’Golo Kante – essentially two players in one – to cover up the two-man problem. Losing Enzo Fernandez and failing to replace him is a blow; there is no denying that.

But Conte also won the league at a very different time. Back in 2017, just before Pep Guardiola and Jurgen Klopp reinvigorated English football, the Premier League was a tactical desert. Players wafted about in 4-4-2s. Emphasis was placed on winning 50-50s and dominating your individual battles. Systemic pressing, orchestrated transitions, positional play: these were completely alien concepts.

There is currently no evidence that in the modern tactical landscape a 3-4-3 formation can succeed at the top of the Premier League. That is the mountain facing Alonso. If Gusto and James is the dynamic duo upon which he must depend, he will be climbing it with one hand behind his back.

Isak embodies the best (and worst) of Iraola’s chaos-ball

Andoni Iraola’s football is fine-tuned to a fault, so intricate that even a microscopic flaw triggers a meltdown like a grain of sand in a microchip. It produces chaotic heavy-metal football, slow starts while players learn the methods, and, unfortunately for you, painfully-detailed tactical analysis threads like this one.

But the devil really is in the detail, and so we must.

First, the positives. Liverpool’s best chances in their 2-0 victory over Ipswich Town - including both goals - resulted from a combination of Iraola’s high press and his vertical football, which is a significant departure from last season:

The opener came from a high turnover following a classic Iraola man-to-man press, then the second saw Alexander Isak make a darting run, throw his arms up in disgust when he wasn’t hit early, then make a second run found by Cody Gakpo.

Direct runners, getting the ball forward as quickly as possible, and rushing up to press: it’s great when it works. Carnage when it doesn’t.

Isak had been restless from the off, and the first time we saw him throw his arms up was when a press went wrong:

Incredibly, within 10 seconds of the screen grab above, Liverpool have a three-on-three in the Ipswich half. That’s what comes of chaotic football and a not-yet-polished press: a wide-open game that springs from one end to the other in no time at all.

Isak was brilliant in the final third, yet his performance showed the best and the worst of Iraola’s tactics. A more assured side than Ipswich would have punished Liverpool’s press.

Tielemans is the totem of a growing Carrick problem

Youri Tielemans is the unwitting yet inevitable symbol of Manchester United, the totem at whose feet the Man U industrial complex will throw all charges.

He is tailor-made for it: loosely Casemiro-shaped, plonked into the sinkhole that is the Manchester United midfield, and possessing lopsided traits (elegance on the ball, leggy off it) that were hidden by Unai Emery’s coaching but re-revealed by the absence of grand ideas at Old Trafford.

It wasn’t Tielemans’ fault that Everton players kept getting space on the edge of the box to shoot, a pattern that eventually told when Ainsley Maitland-Niles picked his spot in injury time, presumably having practised the shot in his head while sat on the bench watching teammates fluff their lines.

No, it’s Michael Carrick’s deep-lying 4-4-2 - and the improvisational nature of the United press - that was at fault. Nor was Tielemans to blame for failing to find line-splitting passes, instead dallying in possession, unsure of where the next pass ought to go.

Again, that’s on the coaching; on Carrick’s inability to create the choreographed possession patterns that characterise the world’s best coaches, from Emery to Arteta. At Villa, Tielemans knew exactly where his teammates would be, taking the decision-making out of the equation, whereas at Manchester United he must waste time thinking and analysing in the moment, as in this example, when he spent a remarkable 13 seconds on the ball, hesitating endlessly in search of an option.

The shape in that third image (bearing in mind Manchester United have had the ball for well over 30 seconds) is wildly disordered, the spaces vast.

When paired with Carrick’s low block and lack of pressing (United fall into a safe 4-4-2 very quickly), it creates slow football defined by individual moments. Whether that offers enough complexity for the modern Premier League, particularly when combined with exhausting midweek Champions League football, is the big question hovering over their season.

The Wildcard debate has been raging since the season started, and for a growing number of FPL managers, Gameweek 3 is the answer.

Here is the case for pulling the trigger this week.

1. Sell Man United before the fixtures turn

Manchester United have had their fun. Hull and Ipswich in the opening two Gameweeks were as good as it gets, but Manchester City away in Gameweek 4 signals the end of the easy run.

It is tough to sell Bruno Fernandes and Bryan Mbeumo on the back of what were mega hauls against Ipswich last Gameweek, but the best FPL managers are proactive rather than reactive. Selling at peak value before the fixtures turn is almost always the right call, even when it feels uncomfortable in the moment.

2. Load up on Chelsea, Man City and Newcastle at the right time

Gameweek 3 is the ideal entry point for three teams whose fixtures are about to turn very green.

Man City host Coventry this week and Sunderland in Gameweek 5, Chelsea have an appealing fixture against Hull in Gameweek 4 and Newcastle are coming into a much friendlier run after a tough opener against Liverpool.

Getting in before the bandwagon fully forms is always the smarter play.

3. Nail the captaincy with Haaland and Palmer

This is arguably the biggest reason of all to play that Wildcard chip. Haaland faces Coventry at home this week and not owning him is not for the faint-hearted.

Palmer is also perfectly set up with Chelsea's run, and owning both permanently from this point forward gives you genuine captaincy flexibility every single week.

4. Clear out the assets who have served their purpose

Alexander Isak, the Sunderland assets and Iliman Ndiaye, who is arguably a worse asset at Manchester City, all become harder to justify holding onto beyond this point.

Christos Tzolis is another name to address. He was picked up by over 22% of managers on the back of strong early signs, but his minutes have not been as reliable as initially hoped, making him another one who is better sold now rather than held in hope.

5. Exceptional value waiting to be unlocked

Ezri Konsa at £4.4m, Elliott Anderson at £6.4m, Mamadou Sangare at £5.6m and Pascal Gross at £5.5m are all gifts at their respective price points.

These are the kind of players who are difficult to fit in through normal transfers but become straightforward additions with unlimited moves available. Joao Pedro and Dominic Szoboszlai are already obvious long term holds, and Yoane Wissa alongside the Newcastle defensive options represent strong differentials to the broader template.

6. The transfer window is closed and the picture is clearer

One of the best reasons to Wildcard in Gameweek 3 is the information advantage it gives you. The transfer window has now shut, squads are settled, minutes trends are emerging and penalty takers are close to being confirmed. Building a team now is a far more informed exercise than it was earlier.

7. Wildcarding now beats a Free Hit in Gameweek 3

This is the chip logic that seals it. Using the Wildcard in Gameweek 3 means you own Haaland and Palmer permanently going forward, offload the bench spend that came with the early season structure and start building genuine team value.

A Free Hit in Gameweek 3 gives you one good week but leaves the underlying squad unchanged. More importantly, Wildcarding now keeps the Free Hit flexible for the rest of the season, while Free Hitting now likely forces and Early Wildcard anyway.

Gameweek 3 is the window. The case has been made.

Gameweek 1 doesn't always go to plan, and for managers who found themselves on the wrong end of a difficult opening week, the Wildcard is already on the table.

Whether it was loading up on players who didn't start, getting the squad structure badly wrong or simply finding yourself miles off the template, sometimes the cleanest solution is a full reset.

If that sounds familiar, here is the squad worth building around heading into Gameweek 2.

Goalkeepers

David Raya (£6.0m) is the standout set-and-forget option in goal, playing behind the best defensive unit in the league and as reliable a starting point as any manager could ask for.

Martin Dubravka (£4.0m) fills the backup slot as an affordable placeholder that keeps the budget flexible elsewhere.

Defenders

The defensive unit is built around depth and value across every price bracket.

Virgil van Dijk (£6.5m) leads the line at the back, as safe and reliable as ever, the kind of player who quietly accumulates points week after week without ever needing to be the centre of attention.

Josko Gvardiol (£5.5m) got off to the perfect start with a goal in Gameweek 1 and is the Manchester City defensive pick of choice heading into a stage of the season with some very appealing fixtures on the horizon.

Malick Thiaw (£5.0m) comes in as a solid mid-price option, nailed to start and well set up for defensive contributions. Ezri Konsa (£4.5m) may not start in the next week or two, but he is the cheapest route into the Arsenal defence and is surely expected to force his way into the starting eleven before long.

Getting ahead of the curve on him now while the price is low feels like a smart play. Dara O'Shea (£4.0m) rounds out the defence and what a start he has made, racking up 18 defensive contributions in Gameweek 1 alone. As reliable as they come at this price point.

Midfielders

The midfield is where this squad really delivers. Bruno Fernandes (£12.0m) anchors everything as the highest scoring FPL player since Carrick took the reins at Old Trafford, ranking first for expected goal involvement and returning in 14 of his previous 18 starts.

Dominic Szoboszlai (£7.0m) took Liverpool's penalty in Gameweek 1, which gives real assurance that he is the designated taker. That additional route to points only strengthens the case for owning him alongside his set piece involvement and defensive contribution potential. Elliot Anderson (£6.5m) was a defensive contributions machine last season and looks well placed to replicate that output at Manchester City, following the template that Rodri set so effectively in that role.

Iliman Ndiaye (£6.0m) is nailed on for minutes at Everton, on set pieces and potentially on penalties, making him one of the best value picks in this price bracket. Meanwhile, Pascal Groß (£5.5m) rounds out the five as an affordable and reliable accumulator, completely safe for minutes and with penalty potential of his own following Welbeck's departure.

Forwards

Erling Haaland (£15.5m) is the foundation the entire squad is built around. Beyond the obvious points about ownership and pedigree, he is close to essential for Gameweek 3 and Gameweek 5, with Coventry and Sunderland both visiting the Etihad. Those are the kind of fixtures Haaland was made for, and having him in the squad for both feels non-negotiable.

Joao Pedro (£7.5m) is in excellent form after an 11-point return against Fulham in Gameweek 1, leading Chelsea's attack as the No. 9 with no European commitments in midweek to eat into his minutes. At his price he represents outstanding value for a player already delivering at the top end of his potential.

Sindre Walle Egeli (£4.5m) completes the forward line as the most affordable option available who is likely to see any meaningful minutes, keeping the budget as flexible as possible across the rest of the squad without leaving a completely dead slot at the bottom of the bench.

With Haaland anchoring the attack, Fernandes driving the midfield and a defensive unit packed with value across every price point, this is a squad built to compete from Gameweek 2 onwards and well beyond.

Let me be honest with you. There is no magic formula. No secret algorithm. No single template that guarantees a top finish every season.

What there is, however, is a way of thinking about the game that separates the managers who consistently finish well from the ones who spend half the season wondering where it all went wrong.

Here is how I approach it.

1. Process over panic

The first thing to understand is that FPL rewards process over panic. It rewards the manager who spends twenty minutes on a captaincy decision over the one who goes with their gut at 11pm on a Tuesday.

It rewards the manager who checks the next five fixtures before making a transfer over the one chasing last week's points. None of this is complicated, but it requires discipline, and discipline is harder than it sounds when your rank is tanking and your mini league rivals are pulling away.

2. 'How' over 'whether'

Start by thinking about how a player scores points rather than whether they score points. A midfielder who takes penalties, wins bonus points regularly, contributes defensively, and rarely misses a minute is worth far more to your squad than a flashier name who hauls a banger every four gameweeks and disappears in between. Build around reliability first and upside second, not the other way around.

3. Fixtures, fixtures, fixtures

Fixtures matter more than most managers give them credit for, especially in the opening weeks of the season. The early gameweeks can shape your entire rank before September arrives, and a premium asset stuck in a brutal run of away games at title contenders can cost you weeks of progress before they find any rhythm. Map out the first six fixtures for every team in your squad before you finalise anything. Do this every single week when you are making transfer decisions. It takes ten minutes, and it will save you countless headaches.

4. Captain holds the key

Captaincy deserves its own conversation because it genuinely cannot be overstated. Double points from your captain means a single decision defines your week. I have had gameweeks where nine players barely contributed and still posted a score worth smiling about purely because the armband went to the right player. The reverse is equally brutal, and there is nothing worse than watching a popular alternative haul while your captain sits on eight points. Take it seriously every week without exception.

5. Think hard about Haaland

Now for the one that trips people up more than almost anything else. Ownership. Erling Haaland is over 70% owned heading into this season. Seventy percent. And right now, I am building a Bench Boost Gameweek 1 squad without him. Not because I think he will blank, but because it suits my squad structure and chip strategy at this particular moment. The lesson here is simple: ownership figures tell you what other people are doing, not what you should be doing. Pick a player because you believe in them. If you are putting someone in purely because you are scared of what happens if you do not, that fear is not a strategy. That is just noise.

5. Beware new signing syndrome

New signings are another annual trap. Pre-season excitement has a way of inflating expectations for arrivals who then spend their first two months adjusting to a new league, a new system or a new country. Unless the minutes are genuinely nailed down, patience is almost always the smarter call.

6. Chipping forecast

Chips are powerful and they are finite. Have a rough plan for each one before the season starts. Not a rigid schedule, but an idea. Managers who use chips reactively after bad weeks tend to waste them. Managers who have a framework tend to deploy them at exactly the right moment.

7. Trust the process (even if you're in six millionth place)

And finally, be patient with your process. Last season I was ranked around six million overall after Gameweek 5. Six million. I changed nothing. I finished ranked 837. The process works if you give it time, and the managers who end the season at the top are almost never the ones who were making the most noise in October.

Trust yourself, do the work and back your convictions. The rest tends to take care of itself.

Rejoice, Manchester United fans: you have a new manager who has played for the club before. Finally, someone who understands what Old Trafford is about and won't be about to bring any of that three-at-the-back rubbish with him.

Manchester United seem to oscillate wildly between philosophy: David Moyes, Ole Gunnar Solksjaer and Jose Mourinho were all ‘traditional’ in their tactics, their aura and their will to firmly replicate the Sir Alex Ferguson model for how to manage in the Premier League, with Louis van Gaal, Ralf Rangnick and Ruben Amorim continental choices designed to bring fresh, modern ideas to a club gone stale.

And so, Old Trafford's overton window has shifted back again towards a former Ferguson disciple, with fans wanting to see ‘United DNA’ once again with Michael Carrick. But will the former midfielder even bother to offer the style of play that United fans yearn for?

How will Michael Carrick play at Manchester United?

Whisper it, but Michael Carrick plays with a back three… only in build-up, though. Most often at Middlesbrough, Carrick would operate with a 4-2-3-1, which would morph into a 3-2-5 shape.

One full-back would push on into the line of attack, with another staying behind in the back three: as you can see below, that's the left-back who's bombed ahead, with the right-back building up. The two midfielders would then roam, waiting to pick up the ball from the backline and progress forwards. It's all very modern and Pep Guardiola, isn't it?

There are other similarities with the sky blue side of Manchester. Like most modern coaches – including Pep, yes – Carrick set up his side in a 4-4-2 shape out of possession, with markers pressing zonally.

The Boro boss wanted to be pressed, too. Carrick would often ask for three or four defenders to stay deep and invite pressure during goal-kicks, even with one of Dan Barlaser or Jonny Howson dropping from the double-pivot between the two centre-backs.

No, it's not particularly ‘United DNA’. Those who want attacking football may be pleased to see that no one scored more goals than Boro during Carrick's first season. They ranked high for possession, so there's certainly the intention to be protagonists with the ball.

But according to Opta, Middlesbrough were the third-slowest team in terms of attack during 2022/23. Yes, the stats bods caveat that by adding that, “Only Coventry had more shots from fast breaks than them (21)”.

This isn't their Unai Emery: it's certainly not a second coming of Sir Alex. It's more like Enzo Maresca or Mikel Arteta. United, like others before them, have fallen down the positional play pipeline (not that it's the worst thing in the world).

Who are the winners and losers of Michael Carrick becoming United boss?

Perhaps it's damning on Amorim's philosophy that the biggest winners are the attackers and the biggest losers are the defenders.

There's one fewer centre-back spot up for grabs now, Manuel Ugarte has lost the man who got the best out of him at Sporting, and Bruno Fernandes could well be finally free of playing a deep-lying midfield position, re-deployed as a no.10 at last.

Patrick Dorgu is a big winner, as one of the more dynamic full-backs who will surely be tasked with the role of being the more advanced of the two: Amad Diallo, meanwhile, is surely a loser of Carrick's arrival, given that Amorim's entire system seemingly only benefited him at times.

He will surely have to now play as a right-winger – and compete with Bryan Mbeumo – or be the advanced full-back under the new boss… and he's not really a full-back. Other big casualties would depend on how Carrick adapts his template at Old Trafford: Luke Shaw can surely only play the more conservative full-back role these days, Mason Mount is a fit for left-wing or no.10 depending on whether Fernandes or Cunha start, and several centre-backs (such as Ayden Heaven and Leny Yoro) might have futures as full-backs if the other full-back in the system is more attacking.

Arguably the biggest question, however, is around Kobbie Mainoo – and it's not certain that Carrick will rely on him any more than Amorim did.

The 3-2-5 build-up shape of United resembles Amorim's. There are stark differences between how the two managers get to that shape but Mainoo remains likely to play as one of those ‘2’ – and considering he is better suited to a three-man midfield, Carrick may be as reluctant as his predecessor to place the youngster in such an exposed role.

He'll have to hit the ground running: Manchester United take on Manchester City this weekend when Premier League action resumes.

Liverpool began this season as huge favourites to retain their Premier League crown, but Manchester City put a huge dent in those dreams at the Etihad Stadium.

Not only did Pep Guardiola’s side – in the Catalan’s 1000th game in football management – defeat the incumbent champions, they made them look weak and flustered.

Although the Reds had the ball in the back of the net at 1-0 – before a contentious VAR call – there was no question the hosts were good value for their three-goal win.

Arne Slot threw everything at Jeremy Doku and didn’t land a punch

Usually, in such an emphatic performance by City, this sentence would lead into a stream of paragraphs waxing lyrical about the unstoppable force of Erling Haaland.

And he did, as per usual, get himself on the scoresheet, netting the opener shortly after seeing a penalty saved by Giorgi Mamardashvili.

But in the tale of this game, Jeremy Doku is the protagonist.

It is his goal, City’s third in the Sunday evening clash, that will pop up as you scroll through your chosen social media platform on Monday morning.

However, boiling his performance down to that one moment, an admittedly sensational curling strike from outside of the box after cutting in on his right, is to diminish his overall impact on the game.

Starting on the left wing, he found himself up against young right-back Conor Bradley.

The 22-year-old is no slouch, having kept former Ballon d’Or runner-up Vinicius Jr quiet in that same one-on-one battle earlier in the week.

Against that backdrop, Doku drifted over to the right flank a couple of times early in the game, likely deemed to have a better chance running at the slower and older Andy Robertson on that side.

But after a couple of runs at Bradley, it quickly became apparent such overthinking wasn’t necessary.

The Belgian had the beating of his man, and not only his man, but his man’s cavalry as well.

Taking a look at Ibrahima Konate’s heatmap from the Etihad meeting, you’d be forgiven for thinking Slot had started the Frenchman at right-back.

He may as well have done, based on the amount of time he spent over on that side with doubling up on Doku with Bradley.

It made little impact, highlighted best when the pair rushed over to retrieve the ball, only to botch the interception and gift Doku the ball back, which led to Haaland’s chance from the spot after the winger was tripped by Mamardashvili.

Konate didn’t have the greatest day in the office, City having seemingly set their press up to direct the ball to the Frenchman, leading to multiple turnovers – a point Guardiola wouldn’t be drawn on in his post-match interview with Sky, so as not to single out and embarrass the centre-back.

And it was to the 26-year-old that the unenviable task of trying to stop Doku’s shot for the third goal fell, the Belgian’s blink-and-you’ll-miss-them feet making Konate look well off the pace in comparison.

But the blame cannot fall solely at Konate’s door, as Ryan Gravenberch’s heatmap also shows a suspicious trend towards Doku’s zone.

As the game went on, with the Konate-Bradley tandem not laying a glove on Doku, Slot appeared to drag the Dutchman into the dance to spare Konate’s blushes and allow him to focus more on Haaland.

At that point, however, the damage was done.

Doku was withdrawn in the 74th minute to a standing ovation at the Etihad, having put in one of his most complete performances to date.

Job (not quite) done, Bradley was ordered to stand down just under 10 minutes later, still dizzy from the onslaught he’d been subjected to.

The same trio that had kept Vinicius Jr and co quiet on Europe’s biggest stage just days earlier had been bamboozled by one tricky Belgian.

Slot told Sky pre-match that he’d analysed City 250 times that week. He’d seen Doku coming; he just couldn’t stop him.