🚨 GW4: Your FPL cheat sheet 🧠

⏰ Gameweek 4’s deadline is Saturday, 13th September, 11:00 BST ⏰

👀 Howe on Alexander Isak: “We have to build him up gradually”.

🩼 Ola Aina out for three months (The Telegraph).

🤦 Cole Palmer has “one more session” to “see if he’s okay” - Maresca on Friday.

🙏 Ismaila Sarr’s injury is not as bad as first thought, but he’ll miss Gameweek 4.

🤕 Yoanne Wissa and Omar Marmoush are ruled out of Gameweek 4 with knee injuries.

🧠 Use Fotmob to get live updates on this weekend’s goals, assists and FPL points. It’s free!

🌍 Our international break round-up is here. It covers Isak to Liverpool, Postecoglou to Nottingham Forest and loads more.

Keep reading for a passable Wildcard team.

Alright?

The international break did its best, and between it and the transfer window, we almost had something that resembled an entertaining fortnight.

Almost, but not quite. As any seasoned FPL manager will tell you, nothing - not even a 0-5 England win or a record-breaking move - can match the thrill of seeing your captain hobbling off in the 58th minute, ominously clutching at his hamstring.

FPL is back, and if you turn your head in the right direction, you might even be able to smell it coming. It’s the faint whiff of that special type of sweat that can only be produced by watching your double Burnley defence cling on to a fleeting clean sheet.

Here’s everything you need to know ahead of Gameweek 4.

Defensive Contribution points were a good idea that could’ve gone terribly wrong. The art of a successful rule change in FPL is adding something that feels attainable but is still painfully difficult to achieve, and DEFCON is certainly that.

No player embodies this more than Elliott Anderson, who has registered 11 consecutive Defensive Contributions in each of his three games so far this season, falling one short of the target 12 every time.

We use Fotmob to keep track of live defensive contribution points (as well as FPL points, scores, stats and loads more), which definitely makes watching your boring, budget defensive midfielder more interesting (even if that midfielder happens to be Elliott Anderson).

A few of you have already checked out Fotmob, and the feedback has been great. We’ve never had so many “thank yous” from an ad. Click the button below to get involved:

Lazy Summary: Nobody is taking the piss out of you if you do.

When Arthur Chip invented the Wildcard in 1948, he surmised that most managers would use it immediately after Gameweek 3. His theory was based on two pillars of rationale:

Plenty of managers are proving old Arty right this week, including Ross, one of our resident boffins. But unlike some chips, the Wildcard is completely team-dependent. Some of you might have a sorry need for one, others might be a few free transfers away from a solid squad.

Make no mistake: The Wildcard is the most powerful chip in your arsenal. Treat it like a really good whisky: don’t just crack it out for any old reason.

Here’s a ridicule-resistant Wildcard team. It’s not guaranteed to keep out a downpour of ridicule, but it will keep you dry through a strong drizzle:

Lazy Summary: There are probably better weeks, but it’s team-dependent.

The Free Hit is always in the conversation, like Alexander Isak during the transfer window, or Ange Postecoglou’s play style. Some very good managers have found a reason to play it.

But the Professor happens to be our very good manager, and he’s less keen. For him, the Free Hit only makes sense this week if you don’t own Mohamed Salah (who visits Burnley and, spoiler alert, will be the most popular captain as a result).

Here’s a hypothetical Free Hit team that says, “I engage in FPL lore, but I’m also not a boring bastard” (which is saying something, btw, because usually the two are inextricably linked).

Lazy Summary: Perhaps, but keep them for now.

Ah, Villa players. Of all of this season’s disappointments, Villa assets are surely up there (Cole Palmer notwithstanding).

Ollie Watkins is one of the most transferred-out players this week, so let’s focus on him. He’s scored six points in his opening three fixtures, which, just like management consultants or your local MP, means he’s expensive and underperforming. On the face of it, he’s an easy sell.

But one of the big dangers in FPL is transferring out good players right before they hit a nice fixture run. We see it time and time again. Remember what the Italians say: Football in August is a lie.

Aston Villa’s next four fixtures are: Everton (A), Sunderland (A), Fulham (H), Burnley (H). There’s a chance that Watkins continues to disappoint. There’s also a chance he’s the highest scoring forward across these four games.

We’d advise giving him more time. He - and other Villa players - aren’t suddenly bad picks after a poor start to the season. If they’re ever going to come good, it’s surely over the next four.

Maresca’s update on Cole Palmer couldn’t have been less helpful if he’d tried (to be fair, he probably was trying to be unhelpful).

“Cole took part in the session yesterday for the first time, not the entire session. We have one more session this afternoon, and we are going to try with him to see if he's okay, otherwise, he will be out tomorrow.”

It sounds like he’ll either start tomorrow’s game or be out of the squad entirely, which means starting him probably isn’t a huge risk, provided you have someone who can kick a ball first on your bench.

But we acknowledge that he’s been nothing but a headache since Gameweek 1, and over 1 million managers have already sold him off.

If you want to get rid (and nobody is judging you if you do, btw), the most popular replacements are Jack Grealish, Antoine Semenyo, Enzo Fernandez (who is on pens when Palmer isn’t) and Cody Gakpo.

Ooo, careful with these questions, they’ve only just been taken off the hob.

Most of these were answered in our international break recap, but you’re lazy, so if you haven’t read it, here’s a quick run-down of the key stuff:

Should I buy Alexander Isak?

Not yet. Slot has hinted that Isak needs more time, which fits with the assumption that he’s not match fit. He’ll be a good pick in time, but he’s not a must-own for Gameweek 4.

Is Ange Postecoglou going to ruin Nottingham Forest’s defence?

Listen, mate. He might do, mate. We just dunno yet, mate. Wait and see, mate, but don’t panic-sell all of your Nottingham Forest defenders yet unless they include the injured Ola Aina. Mate.

Who should I replace Ismaila Sarr with?

After the news that Sarr’s injury isn’t as bad as first feared, we’d keep Sarr on the bench for now and wait for more news. However, if you need to ditch him due to a weak starting lineup or as collateral, there are plenty of good options in his price range.

It’s Mohamed Salah, away at Burnley. If you own him and you’re not captaining him in a game like this, you need to ask yourself why you own him at all.

If you don’t own Salah, you probably own Erling Haaland, who proved over the international break that he still knows where the goal is.

He also had to have three stitches, owing to a run-in with a coach door, but that’s neither here nor there.

His home fixture against Man United could be worse.

The Prof played his Free Hit last gameweek to moderate success. If it were a degree, it’d be a 2:1. His grandparents aren’t talking about it at social gatherings, but y’know, it demonstrated enough competency to ensure he still gets taken seriously (as seriously as a good FPL manager can, at least).

At 1.2m overall, the Professor is enjoying a better start to the season than usual, but we mention his rank only because some of you get angry when we don’t. To reiterate: it doesn’t matter yet. One gameweek can, and probably will, change it beyond recognition. 

Anyway, this week he was going to roll a transfer, which is what we suspect a lot of good managers will be doing if they can get away with it. 

But then the Cole Palmer comments came out, and now he’s all at sea. He has no idea what to do with him. Such is the intensity of his head-scratching that, were he bald, he would look like Pep after that Feyenoord game.

Here’s what his team looks like now:

To get live WhatsApp updates on the Professor’s final Palmer decision, and all of our boffin teams (including Ross’ Wildcard selection), you can join LazyFPL Premium right here for the cost of a meal deal a month.

Righteo. Gameweek 5 is another Saturday deadline, so we’ll be back in exactly 168 hours, which sounds like the sequel to that James Franco film with the arm.

And with that image now etched in your brain, we’ll say our goodbyes.

Stay lazy,

The LazyFPL Team.