GW3 Player Performance Review: Mitchell’s Wing-Back Haul, Isak Arrives, Arsenal’s Two-Goal System
Gameweek 3 produced the biggest individual haul of the season so far, and it didn’t come from a forward. A wing-back brace, a new Liverpool striker’s first big afternoon, and an Arsenal win built on two different scorers rather than one. Here’s what the underlying numbers say about which of it repeats.
A big score tells you what happened. Shots, big chances and xG tell you whether it’s likely to happen again.
GW3 TOP FPL SCORES
Tyrick Mitchell (CRY): 17 points, brace from left wing-back in the comeback win at Fulham
Alexander Isak (LIV): 13 points, brace at Ipswich, both created by Cody Gakpo
Martin Odegaard (ARS): 10 points, matchwinner off a Havertz dummy vs Chelsea
Erling Haaland (MCI): 8 points, decisive header vs Coventry, his 300th career club goal
Jacob Ramsey (NEW): late bench equaliser vs Bournemouth, a cheap differential source
Tyrick Mitchell: The Position That Changes Everything
A defender brace is worth six points a goal rather than four, and that arithmetic is exactly why Mitchell’s afternoon at Craven Cottage produced the single biggest score of the week from any position. Playing as a left wing-back in Palace’s back three gives him license to get forward that a conventional full-back doesn’t have, and he took both chances well rather than benefiting from deflections or scrambles. The question is repeatability: wing-backs in an advancing system pick up shots more regularly than standard defenders, but two goals in one match is still the top end of what should be expected going forward, not the new baseline.
Isak Arrives: Liverpool’s New Number 9
Isak’s brace at Ipswich, both goals created by Cody Gakpo inside the first ten minutes, was the clearest answer yet to the question of who leads Liverpool’s line. He’s now scored in every match he’s started this season, and the price rise that followed reflects a market that’s already decided this isn’t a one-off. The more interesting subplot is Gakpo: four attacking returns in three matches and seven shots plus eight chances created across that stretch make him arguably Liverpool’s most influential attacker right now, even with Bradley Barcola and Victor Munoz pushing for the same forward positions.
Arsenal’s Two-Goal System: Havertz and Odegaard
Chelsea led inside 90 seconds through Morgan Rogers, who became the first player to score or assist in each of his club’s first three league games since Eden Hazard in 2018-19, a stat line that outperformed the result. But Arsenal’s response is the more useful signal for FPL: Kai Havertz equalised, then Martin Odegaard scored the winner off a dummy from Havertz himself. Two different scorers in the same match, from a defence that’s conceded only 0.89 expected goals through three games, is a more repeatable captaincy source than banking on one nailed forward carrying the entire load.
Ownership Shift: Gakpo Becomes the Most Transferred-In Player
Gakpo leads all transfers in ahead of Gameweek 4, with Morgan Rogers, Isak, Yoane Wissa and Cole Palmer rounding out the top five. On the way out, Nico O’Reilly, Dominik Szoboszlai and Bruno Fernandes head the list, a reminder that a slow start against a tough fixture (Szoboszlai) or a hat-trick two weeks ago that hasn’t repeated (Fernandes) can move ownership just as fast as an actual bad performance does.
What Repeats, What Doesn’t
Likely to repeat: Isak’s starting role and shot volume, Arsenal’s multiple-scorer defence, Gakpo’s attacking involvement
Watch closely: Mitchell’s shot volume from wing-back, whether Havertz or Odegaard becomes the more consistent source
Differential to track: Jacob Ramsey’s bench-to-goal impact at Newcastle, cheap and already building an early bandwagon
One big score is a headline. Two or three in a row, backed by the shot and chance numbers, is a trend worth building a squad around.
