Fantasy Premier League

FPL Gameweek 3 Manager of the Week

By The Scout 30 Aug 2016
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The Scout checks in with an FPL Manager who reaped the reward of midfield investment

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Arsenal's Alexis Sanchez (£10.9m) powered Hafizan Zakaria to the Fantasy Premier League manager of the week crown.

The Chilean's goal, two assists and three bonus points, earned in the 3-1 win at Watford, provided the platform for Hafizan's "Vroooommm FC" to prevail.

An FPL veteran of 11 seasons, Hafizan's decision making played its part in the Gameweek 3 success story.

Not only did he hand the armband to Sanchez, he also backed the Gunners winger with the Triple Captain chip, boosting his return to a huge 48 points.

Only 0.7% (25931) of FPL managers opted for Sanchez as skipper, with just 674 of 119,606 FPL managers playing their Triple Captain looking to the Arsenal man.

The Malaysian manager's XI was also somewhat unique due to the absence of both Manchester United's Zlatan Ibrahimovic (£11.7m) and Manchester City’s Sergio Aguero (£13.1m).

Over 65% of squads went into Gameweek 3 with one of that pair in place as their captain.

Instead, Hafizan's two-man forward line consisted of Leicester City's Jamie Vardy (£9.9m) and Middlesbrough's in-demand Alvaro Negredo (£6.8m).

The latter endured a frustrating afternoon at the Hawthorns, although Vardy delivered for Hafizan with a first goal of the campaign against Swansea City.

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Eden Hazard scored Chelsea's opening goal in Saturday's 3-0 victory over Burnley

But "Vroooommm FC’s" real inspiration came from the middle of the park.

The contributions of Chelsea's Eden Hazard (£10.2m, 11 points) and Manchester City's resurgent Raheem Sterling (£8.2m, 15 points), backed the Sanchez triple haul to justify Hafizan's hefty spend in midfield.

Even when he was forced to spare funds with his selection, Hafizan's options delivered.

His decision to opt for Crystal Palace's Jason Puncheon (£5.5m), found in just 1.2% of FPL squads, was inspired.

The Eagles playmaker laid on the assist against AFC Bournemouth, claiming the three bonus points for an eight-point haul.

With a best finish of 552,853 back in his first season in 2006/07, Hafizan will now be looking to build on his Gameweek 3 accomplishment over the remainder of the campaign.

Hafizan’s Triple Captain was one of more than 433,000 chips in play over Gameweek 3.

Ali Ragab’s "elmohandes" squad deployed the most effective Bench Boost, earning 17 points from his second string.

There was a two-way split for the most profitable Wildcard - Niclas Olander’s Stringline FC shared a total of 98 points with Mr. Phorcet’s QQ FX – another Malaysian manager amongst the Gameweek’s top ranks.

There was also a tied situation at the other end of the spectrum.

Ricky Zaccheo from USA and England’s Dave Roberts both suffered the indignity of leaving 40 points on their bench.

Dave’s starting XI neglected Raheem Sterling’s 15 points, along with Jermain Defoe’s (£7.1m) 9-point haul at St Mary’s.

Meanwhile, Ricky opted to keep Alexis Sanchez (16 points) benched and watched on while he ran riot, along with Chelsea’s Willian (£7.4m, 11points) in the Stamford Bridge win over Burnley.

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