We're here every week giving you our tips on the best Draft Premier League players to pick up ahead of Fantrax Waiver Wire processing! Acquisitions via waivers can make or break your Fantasy EPL season, so make sure you follow our Gameweek 3 recommendations to help dominate your Draft League.
Essential reading before your weekly waiver requests process!
Waiver Wire Gameweek 3
Here we outline our Fantasy EPL Waiver Wire Gameweek 1 targets that are 40% rostered or below on Fantrax. These players should perform well over the upcoming period! Check out the table below showing our waiver picks' essential stats for the upcoming GW.
New Signings
Jeremy Doku (MCI, FWD/MID)
Prospects: Doku's signing has not been officially announced yet and therefore we are unsure if he is coming into the Fantrax system as a mid or a forward.
Pep finally gets some much-needed depth at the winger position, which was desperately slim even before KDB's injury. With the Belgian out, we are likely to see more of Foden in the CM spot and Grealish, Silva, Palmer, Alvarez and Doku to compete for minutes on the wings. I would not rule out Foden getting wing minutes and Silva CM ones, however.
The headline news is that Doku averaged over 6 successful dribbles per 90 last season. That's a rate up there with Adama in his prime, a stat which can make the Fantasy managers very excited! His other stats are mouthwatering too: He started 13 games in the 22/23 season, he scored 6 goals and got 2 assists on his way to an eye-watering 18.4 points per 90 and 13.8 ghost points per 90.
If we reduce that number to align with our expectation of him getting subbed off early in the initial part of the season, he is still on course to average above 10 points per start (probably closer to 13-14), which is around the expectation of an attacking player on a high-powered attacking team.
The real difficulty in predicting his fantasy value comes from projecting starts for him. If we say Pep is notoriously slow to integrate players, especially wingers, and expect him to get around 15 starts, he is not in the top 100, which means he will be burning a roster spot on your team more times than not (let alone when City play late in the GW and you cannot trust him for starts). If we are more optimistic and see this signing as Pep not trusting his young guys (Palmer, Bobb, McAtee), which would mean he needs to be integrated quickly, we can project 25 starts for him, which would make him a top 50 player.
I am somewhere in the middle. The disclaimer with him, as with every City player: Prepare for rotation! He represents an ideal pickup for teams that already have City rotation nightmares.
Verdict: I would use a high-end (not number 1) waiver or up to 30-35% FAB to get him.
Nicolo Zaniolo (AVL, MID)
Prospects: The former Roma man has had a few seasons of misfortune recently. After he was frozen out at Roma he went to Galatasaray but did not do much better. His last season of note was the 2021-22 season (2G, 1A) when he had 23 starts for 8.1 PP90 and 7.4 gPP90. His role at Aston Villa is not clear yet, let alone his production (Buendia while nailed on in an attacking role, was not a valuable fantasy asset under Emery). I suggest avoiding overpaying (or avoiding altogether).
Verdict: I would use a low-end waiver or minimal FAB to get him.
Lewis Hall (NEW, DEF)
Prospects: The young left-back comes in at Newcastle to provide competition for places in last season's top-performing defence (fantasy and IRL). We expect him to eventually win the spot in the Starting XI, but a lot of substitute minutes and rotation are likely to happen before that happens.
Verdict: I would use a low-end waiver or minimal FAB to get him (slightly higher in deeper bench or dynasty leagues).
Wataru Endo (LIV, MID)
Prospects: Liverpool have finally got their DM and it is not a big name for a huge fee. Endo, the former captain of Stuttgart, comes in to start straight away and hopefully help solidify the leaky Liverpool defence. Fantasy-wise, he is your run-of-the-mill DM with nothing to write home about. Think Fabinho. He had 9.2 PP90 with 7 Ghost points per 90 last season at Stuttgart, adjusted to EPL, those numbers should come down by at least a point.
Verdict: I would not try to get him.
Romeo Lavia (CHE, MID)
Prospects: One of two Chelsea defensive midfielders on today's list. The former Man City and Southampton youngster has been hot property for years now and he finally makes his move to a top club. We expect him to find minutes hard to come by, especially early in the season. Even if he plays, he does not offer enough upside or volume in his defensive stats to warrant holding/streaming.
Verdict: I would not try to get him.
Moises Caicedo (CHE, MID)
Prospects: Holder of the new British transfer record. Feels weird to write down. Caicedo's transfer to Chelsea was a long and topsy turvy saga, but he is finally in London and ready to contribute. He was one of the breakout stars of last season's Brighton team in the hybrid defensive midfield (number 6/defensive 8) position, which he will likely continue to play at Chelsea. He is not a hugely exciting fantasy player, but solid enough amongst the defensive midfielders to warrant picking up on the cheap if you need bodies in midfield.
Verdict: I would use a low-end waiver claim or 0-10% FAB to bring in Caicedo.
Tim Krul (LUT, GK)
Prospects: It is still unclear if he is coming in as a backup or a starter, but if he gets the starting job, I would keep an eye on him for streams as he is still a great shot-stopper (made 100+ saves in both of his previous full EPL campaigns according to Fantrax data) on a team likely to be peppered with shots.
Verdict: I would not try to get him.
Gonzalo Montiel (NOT, DEF)
Prospects: Nottingham Forest have been quiet on the transfers front this off-season, but they have pulled off a typical Forest signing by getting a World Cup hero in to compete and eventually take over the right-back spot (Aurier is rumoured to have Saudi interest). He is one I would suggest to wait and see what happens. Forest defenders are usually nothing more than streamers on a good day, so no need to rush to get him.
Verdict: I would not try to get him.
Tyler Adams (BOU, MID)
Prospects: Bournemouth have finally found their Lerma replacement in Tyler Adams, who after flirting with Chelsea and Liverpool has to settle for a relegation dogfight, but a nailed-on starting spot on the south coast. We expect him to have a similar scoring profile as he did at Leeds, 24 starts, 2 double-digit returns, your average DM.
Verdict: I would not try to get him.
General Waiver adds:
Nathan Collins (BRF, DEF)
Prospects: Ben Mee's injury meant that Collins was thrown in at the deep end not only in the 3 CB formation, but in the 4-3-3 at the weekend too, and he did well against Fulham. Touted by us as a sleeper pick from Brentford, he looks to be a decent pickup for a DEF3 spot on your team.
Verdict: I would use a low-end waiver claim or 3-5 FAB to bring him in.
Jeffrey Schlupp (CRY, MID)
Prospects: Jeff is a constant in our fantasy life. Try as anyone might, he is not going away. He followed up his 10.5-point display in GW1 with an admirable 7 points vs Arsenal. Palace's schedule looks primed for him to nick an attacking return to put the cherry on top of his ghost point exploits (@BRF, WOL, @AVL, FUL, @MUN, NOT). The future is Jeff.
Verdict: I would use a low-end waiver claim or 3-5 FAB to bring him in.
Zeki Amdouni (BUR, FWD)
Prospects: We are only in GW3 and the sub-40% rostered FWD pool looks like a scene from Mad Max (no cars, just a barren desert wasteland). Amdouni's performance might have flown under the radar, as Burnley started the season with a match against Man City, followed by a blank. He recorded an impressive 5 points against City in 60 minutes and we are projecting him to score 8.3 this weekend. If you need a starting forward, look for him on your WW.
Verdict: I would use a low-end waiver claim or 0 FAB to bring him in.
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