Home encounters with West Ham United and Burnley respectively earns three Nottingham Forest and three Manchester United players spots in the best XI for Gameweek 3 of 2025/26 Fantasy Premier League.
Goalkeeper Matz Sels (£5.0m), playmaker Morgan Gibbs-White (£7.5m) and forward Chris Wood (£7.7m), who is named as the vice-captain, are all named in a 3-4-3 formation due to their exploits at the City Ground last season.
As for the Man Utd trio, Bruno Fernandes (£9.0m), who is given the armband at home to Burnley, is picked alongside Matheus Cunha (£8.1m) and Patrick Dorgu (£4.5m).
There are NO Liverpool or Arsenal players selected as the two sides go head-to-head in a tough match at Anfield on Sunday. Fantasy managers who are heavily invested in those two teams, or who have injured players in their squad, could consider using their Free Hit chip to pick this line-up.
Matz Sels (Nott’m Forest) £5.0m
After conceding in both of the opening Gameweeks, the Belgian can claim his first clean sheet of 2025/26 against West Ham. Sels helped his side keep eight clean sheets in home matches last season, joint-top with Newcastle United.
Marc Cucurella (Chelsea) £6.1m
Chelsea’s left-back offers multiple routes to returns at home to Fulham. Cucurella has amassed 13 points in the first two Gameweeks, thanks to an assist, a clean sheet and two bonus points.
Pedro Porro (Spurs) £5.5m
Tottenham Hotspur’s Spaniard entertains AFC Bournemouth on the back of successive clean sheets against Burnley and Manchester City. Porro has also been handed a big share of set-pieces by Thomas Frank, lifting his potential for assists.
Patrick Dorgu (Man Utd) £4.5m
The left wing-back’s cost of £4.5m could prove a bargain at home to Burnley. Dorgu boasted plenty of attacking threat in his last outing at Old Trafford, producing two shots and hitting the woodwork against Arsenal.
Bruno Fernandes (Man Utd) £9.0m
His record against promoted clubs last season shows why Man Utd’s playmaker is one of the best captaincy options for Gameweek 3. Fernandes averaged 9.2 points per match across six such contests in 2024/25, thanks to two goals and seven assists.
Matheus Cunha (Man Utd) £8.1m
The Brazilian is included in the Selection due to the ongoing doubts over Cole Palmer’s (£10.5m) fitness for Chelsea. Cunha played up front for Man Utd against Fulham last weekend and has had team-leading totals of seven shots, five shots in the box and four shots on target.
Morgan Gibbs-White (Nott’m Forest) £7.5m
An ownership of just over five per cent marks Gibbs-White out as a great differential against a West Ham side who have conceded eight goals in the first two Gameweeks. The midfielder produced a team-high seven assists in home matches last season, while his 32 shots and 17 shots in the box both ranked second.
Mikkel Damsgaard (Brentford) £5.9m
Brentford’s Dane offers standout value in midfield against Sunderland. Playing as a No 10 against Aston Villa last week, Damsgaard created three chances and collected two points for his defensive contributions.
Erling Haaland (Man City) £14.1m
Man City’s Norwegian is yet to blank in his five appearances against his hosts Brighton & Hove Albion. Haaland has five goals and an assist across those outing, scoring in both their meetings in 2024/25.
Chris Wood (Nott’m Forest) £7.7m
The Nott’m Forest striker scored twice to collect 13 points against Brentford in his first home match of the season. And his statistics suggest Wood can repeat that feat against West Ham – at the City Ground last season, he had 16 big chances, which are situations where the player is expected to score. That total was at least 12 more than any team-mate.
Joao Pedro (Chelsea) £7.6m
Chelsea’s Brazilian showed why he is the most-owned player in Fantasy last time out with a goal, two assists and 15 points away to West Ham. Joao Pedro could even be on penalties if Palmer fails to recover from injury.