As annoying and pointless as the international breaks are, particularly this early in the campaign, they do give FPL managers a chance to pause and reflect on the early part of the season and the run of games to come.

Here's our analysis of what's past so far and what managers should be considering as we move into September and October.

Late transfers

The dust has now settled on another busy transfer window with a number of high profile deals concluded very late on. Moves which may be of particular interest to FPL managers include

Chalobah (DEF) - The 25-year-old was always likely to be on the move after being told that he had no place at Stamford Bridge under the new regime. The constant merry-go round of managers in West London plus a couple of unfortunate injuries have stunted Chalobah's development but there is a high-quality player there. He joins a Palace side who were defensively excellent towards the back end of last season and his lack of game time so far has already seen him drop to £4.4mil. That might prove a bargain if he can establish himself with the Eagles.

Nelson (MID) - Another talented Arsenal youngster moving to West London this summer is Reiss Nelson who follows in the footsteps of Emile Smith-Rowe. Nelson made his Premier League debut way back in 2018 but has always struggled for game time. Despite only playing 202 Premier League minutes in the 22/23 season, the winger returned 6 goal involvements. His style of play should fit in well at Fulham who were keen to bring in a player of his ilk to replace the outgoing Willian.

Ward-Prowse (MID) - JWP has been a favourite amongst FPL managers for some time, not least of all because of his season on season consistency. In the last 4 FPL seasons he's scored between 142 and 159 points. Of course a good deal of those points have resulted from dead-ball situations, so managers will be keen to see whether he'll take over corners, free-kicks and most importantly penalties from Morgan Gibbs-White who himself has enjoyed a strong start to the season.

Sterling (MID) - The highest profile signing of transfer deadline day was Raheem Sterling's loan move to Arsenal. At his peak, Sterling delivered 3 consecutive 200+ point seasons with City and he therefore had a price point to reflect that. More recently, that price has fallen to £6.8mil as a result of his lack of game time. The big question now is whether he'll get sufficient minutes to tempt managers in again. If he does, then he's currently cheaper than any of Arsenal's other attacking midfield options.

The underperforming v the over-performing XIs

The underperforming XI

The underperforming XI is comprised of players whose underlying stats are not, at the moment, being transferred into FPL points.

Sa (GK) had a torrid time of it in the first 2 GWs conceeding 8 goals and making just 6 saves. The 6 he conceded against Chelsea saw him drop to the bench as new signing Johnstone (GK) came straight into the team. A swift fall from grace for a player who in previous years has been a popular FPL pick and still appears in 2% of sides this season.

At the back, it might seem unfair to pick 2 Liverpool defenders given that they've delivered 3 straight clean sheets. However if you're paying premium value then I'd assume you'd want more than just clean sheets. Neither TAA (DEF) nor Robertson (DEF) has managed a goal involvement yet this season despite having a combined xGI of 2.4. Liverpool's fixture list continues to look favourable over the next few games so managers will expect an attacking output to come sooner rather than later.

Milenković (DEF) and possibly quite a few other Forest players should be assets on FPL managers watchlists. At 1.95m tall, the big Serbian is an obvious threat from set-pieces but hasn't found the back of the net just yet despite recording xG of 1.0 in his first 2 EPL appearances. In fact, the big man failed to score for Fiorentina last season too, having had a good goal record for them prior to that. Can the addition of JWP to the Forest side bring out the best in him?

Into midfield and the obvious additions of Fernandes (MID) and Garnacho (MID) who have both been guilty of missing big chances for United in the first few weeks. Do you dare believe that this United side can turn things around?

De Bryune (MID) got a goal and assist against Ipswich but blanked against Chelsea and West Ham despite favourable underlying stats. The Belgian managed just 15 Premier League starts last year and only 28 the season before that so expect his workload to be managed as City embark on their European campaign and Foden (MID) returns to the fold.

Marcus Tavernier (MID) has long been a player I've had on my watchlist because every time I see him play for the Cherries, he looks dangerous. His stats this season suggest the same with expected goal involvements of 2.3. If he could translate this into points and nail down a regular starting place, he'd be great differential to have with current ownership of 0.3%.

I'd highlighted McNeil (MID) as a player to potentially consider as a budget midfield option this year but I'd imagine that not many managers are rushing to pick Everton players just now. It's pretty unfair to highlight McNeil as the under-performer, he actually delivered plenty of telling balls into the box and it's Everton's forwards that are not helping to convert those into FPL points.

Up top and Ollie Watkins (FWD) seems to be suffering from a Euros hangover with the missed chances v Arsenal particularly costly. Villa have a very good looking run of fixtures coming up but equally they embark on their first top flight European campaign for decades and in Durran (FWD) they do have viable options to at least rotate Watkins who has been subbed on the hour mark of all 3 games to date.

We finish with another Wolves player in Cunha (FWD) who is a top quality forward, capable of linking play and getting into scoring positions but who just lacks that clinical edge to really make him worthwhile pursuing in the FPL. Add to that, the fact that Wolves have a horror run of early fixtures. He might be one to revist come November by which time he could have found his scoring boots.

The over-performing XI

The over-peforming XI is comprised of players who are scoring more FPL points than their underlying stats suggest.

First things first, stats like xG (expected goals) and xGI (expected goal involvements) are important factors when choosing your FPL team but they are not the be all and end all.

Ultimately, they are based on an average expectation across all players in a similar situation. It would be fair to say that Haaland (FWD), Salah (MID) and Saka (MID) are not 'average players', you would expect them to perform well above the standard and indeed they consistently do so which is why they are 3 of the 4 most expensive players in the game.

Whether Cole Palmer (MID) can claim to be in that category remains to be seen. Certainly he's priced as such and FPL managers are backing him to pick up where he left off in the 23/24 season, he's currently the 3rd most popular pick in the game.

You'd imagine that with all that credit in the bank and the fact that he's been left out of the Europa Conference squad that he'll be one of the first names on the Chelsea team sheet for the Premier League but where he actually plays will still be a point of interest. He started on the left-side against City and was fairly anonymous before moving into more central or inside-right positions in GW2 & 3 which is where he found great success last year.

One player who doesn't have quite that security over his position at Chelsea is Madueke (MID). A hat-trick from a game in which he recorded xG of just 0.57 was very impressive. His follow-up performance against Palace was less so. Over a million managers brought him in for that match and while Chelsea have a favourable looking run of fixtures, it remains to be seen if some of the other, better paid, options they have won't usurp him in the starting XI.

Nick Pope's (GK) price has shot-up as a result of managers flocking towards him and his generous 4.5mil price tag. Newcastle might appear more defensively sound this year but Pope has been forced into making 12 saves to date with the Magpies on the back foot in most of their games. You can look at that 2 ways. Lots of bonus points for saves or; ultimately teams will find a way past him to wipe out the CS bonus.

Sugawara's (DEF) consolation goal against Brentford might have aroused a bit more interest if he were priced at 4mil but I don't think many managers will be flocking towards a 4.5mil Southampton defender. Ait-Nouri (DEF) certainly has the potential for attacking returns but as we've seen to date he's not playing in a side that keeps many clean sheets.

The bigger name within the back 3 is Porro (DEF) who currently features in 35% of FPL teams. He scored away at Leicester and recorded 0.38 xGI away at Newcastle. Interestingly that xGI fell to 0.14 in the 4-0 home win against Everton as Spurs tweaked their shape and personnel. With Spurs porous defence and a tough run of fixtures then he'll need to keep up those attacking returns or managers might want to look at alternatives.

Further forward and we have 2 players left who are currently exceeding previous expectations in regards goal scoring. Danny Welbeck (FWD) has never hit double figures in a Premier League season and this will be his 17th try. Brighton are playing some nice football but whether Welbeck can continue his hot streak and remain fit is another question.

Similarly, Luis Diaz (MID) vastly underperformed his xG in 23/24 but has pulled off a couple of very neat finishes so far this season. If his and Liverpool's form continue then he's a very attractively priced player in a season where FPL managers are still looking to uncover a few bargains.

What does AI know?

There are lots of options for FPL managers to seek the assistance of AI when planning their teams. Here's what one of those services suggested as a wildcard team for the coming weeks.

Interestingly it's gone for

• A double up on Liverpool defenders and overall, 3 premium priced defensive assets including Gvardiol whose City team have a fairly tough run of games coming up
• De Bryune in midfield. If he starts all of the next 3 Premier League games I'd be very surprised
• No Haaland
• No Chelsea players whatsoever despite a potentially decent run of fixtures
• Not a single outfield player from Villa who have arguably the best run of games through the early autumn

What do you reckon? Are you smarter than the algorithm?

League updates

It's early doors but let's have a quick look at the various league tables and perhaps more importantly, who has gone early in using a chip or 2 to bolster their score.

Classic League

Some monster scores early on in the competition. @borran 's impressive tally of 259 points ranks him 30,299 globally which is some achievement given the millions of FPL players across the world.

@samostically is not far behind and he hasn't used a chip yet in acquiring 245 points which is very impressive.

We know that Haaland as Triple Captain in GW2 was a very popular and ultimately productive option for managers but it's interesting to see that a good number of sides towards the top third have also used other chips during the first 3 weeks. That might come back to bite them later in the season. It certainly gives those below them a chance to catch up!

H2H Division 1

It's tight. It's very very tight! Most matches are won by a handful of points based on 1 or 2 choices that these elite managers make.

We're only 3 weeks in and no one has managed a 100% win record. @yagman01 are top and are the only unbeaten team in the division so far.

At the other end, it's been a tough start for reigning H2H champions @shamzy whose total score of 181 is well off the pace, as is that of @gvkanten who won the classic league last season but are 62 points off the top already this year. Plenty of time to go though!

H2H Division 2

By contrast, Division 2 has 7 teams who still boost a 100% win record!

That includes Lame Ducks who are 1 of 6 teams without a linked Hive account.

The first rule of Hive FPL is .... You can **definitely ** talk about Hive FPL! But, if you're going to share the joining codes with your mates then be sure to get them to sign-up to Hive as well so that they can claim their rewards.

If you know who any of these guys are then just drop a message in the comments with the Hive account and I'll link it now!

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Good luck surviving the weekend with out the Premier League!