As 3 Added Minutes’ resident Fantasy Premier League expert, it’s my job each week to rummage through the stats to figure out which players are worth investing in and which you should be looking to sell in the FPL – and it’s not always as obvious as simply picking out the players who scored points.
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Take the Hull City defence, for example. Consecutive clean sheets suggest that their back line is far better than anticipated, and quite a few players are already buying in – but the data tells a slightly different story.
Hull may not have conceded, but their xG against is already 3.1. That’s not the worst in the league but neither is it all that healthy, and it strongly suggests that their defensive record isn’t sustainable. Coventry City, by comparison, haven’t kept a clean sheet but have a lower xG against of 2.6. If you want £4.0m defenders, Hull may not even be the best place to look in the long run. There are exceptions – Sunderland last season, for instance – but teams and players usually regress or improve to roughly the place that the xG stats say they will, and arguing with them isn’t a winning strategy.
Before we dive in, I also wanted to note that this week’s Stock Report is being written before Monday night’s match between Aston Villa and Arsenal. I’ll generally wait until the end of a Gameweek, but the impending transfer deadline means that we’re a little busy. Apologies if I miss any important information as a result.
Stock Up: Newcastle & Man City stars among FPL transfer targets
Anthony Elanga & Yoane Wissa have found some impressive early-season formplaceholder image
Anthony Elanga & Yoane Wissa have found some impressive early-season form | Getty Images
Yoane Wissa: At £6.0m, Wissa was priced according to his struggles in the 2025/26 season but will be a serious bargain if he can get back to the form we saw at Brentford – and that seems to be happening. He has one goal and one assist already to go alongside 1.34xG’s worth of chances from six shots, which suggests that he isn’t just getting lucky but getting into good positions. He’s up to £6.1m already, and that upward trend could continue given a relatively gentle run of fixtures.
Anthony Elanga: I’m more sceptical about Elanga despite the fact that the Swede has scored two in two – he’s always been a steaky player, and his total xG of 0.42 from four shots suggests that he will struggle to sustain his scoring form, as does his past track record. But buying into streaky players when they’re on form and have good fixtures isn’t a bad idea at all. I don’t think Elanga is a must-buy, but he could be a great short-term pick-up.
Rayan Cherki: Another player whose price has already risen despite starting the season on the bench. The post-Guardiola version of Pep Roulette might claim him as a victim on occasion but he’s picked up where he left off last season, scoring two fine goals over the weekend and looking a cut above most of his rivals at a similar price point. Moving from slightly more expensive players to Cherki in order to free up funds is probably the right move in the coming weeks.
Stock Down: Liverpool & Man Utd players to sell after Gameweek 2
Liverpool have drawn both of their matches so far and conceded four goals in the processplaceholder image
Liverpool have drawn both of their matches so far and conceded four goals in the process | Getty Images
Virgil Van Dijk (and the rest of the Liverpool defence): Andoni Iraola’s pugnacious style of play means that his defences haven’t always been the tightest, and Liverpool have already shipped four goals from 3.9xG. That’s really not great, and suggests that Van Dijk is going to struggle to live up to his hefty price tag.
Fewer FPL players have invested in Liverpool’s full-backs but there’s even more concern there given that Milos Kerkez and Jeremie Frimpong just aren’t getting involved in attacks – they’ve combined for 0.18 expected goal involvements between them, which is pretty abysmal.
Matheus Cunha: Even with Manchester United running rampant against Ipswich Town, Cunha could only manage one assist and 0.26 expected goal involvements. That’s not terrible, but if he isn’t making hay against Ipswich when they’re taking a battering, it’s a problem. More concerning still is the fact that Marcus Rashford’s return to the team could eat into his minutes as the season wears on. It’s time to look at selling Cunha, probably for Cherki and a tidy profit.
Enzo Le Fée: I had the Sunderland midfielder down as a potential must-buy before the season started but he’s put together back-to-back blanks so far – his expected goal involvements of 0.57 is decent, admittedly, but not good enough to overlook the lack of actual points. If Sunderland didn’t have some terrible fixtures on the horizon, I probably wouldn’t worry too much, but combing poor form and tough matches is a good way to ensure that a player struggles to score points.