Cheap defenders topped the ranks in gameweek 3
A wild week saw 13 double digit hauls and a 2.97 average as budget wildcards outscored the premiums.
2.97Average score307 players played
1310+ point haulsled by budget defenders
27Defenders hit thresholdout of 110 defendersGameweek 3 summary data. A high number of big individual scores left the average low.
The average manager score was less than three points per player. Yet 13 different assets broke into double figures. That happens when the points end up in strange places.
Two defenders priced at 4.5m sat at the top of the pile. Mitchell scored twice for 15 points despite his side conceding nearly three expected goals. Bogle kept a clean sheet and bagged a goal for 14 points in 60 minutes.
Top five point scorers in gameweek 3. Highlighted rows were priced at 4.5m.
Some points were earned and some were borrowed
A goal pays four or five points regardless of how it happens. But where those points came from matters before you spend a transfer.
Isak picked up 13 points by scoring twice from 0.21 xG. He converted almost nothing into a huge haul. That is clinical, but it is not a rate he will keep up every week.
Compare that to 
Ødegaard. He returned 10 points with a goal from 0.72 xG and created 0.88 xA for his teammates. His underlying target of 1.60 expected goal involvement shows a player actively running the game.
George scored a goal from 0.04 xG to fetch 10 points. 
Tavernier also scored 10 points, but he built his haul on 1.01 xG. One got lucky, the other was in the right spot repeatedly.
ØdegaardIsakGameweek 3 underlying chance comparison between Ødegaard and Isak.
The cold streak that will not last
Points follow underlying threat eventually. Three matches is a small sample, but the gap between chance creation and actual returns is already widening for a few key players.
Per-90 rates across all three gameweeks. Highlighted row has zero goals so far.
Thiago has four points across three matches. He has zero goals and zero assists. Yet he has accumulated 2.30 xG across 262 minutes, giving him 0.82 xGI per 90. He has missed 2.30 goals worth of chances. That feels painful if you own him, but selling a forward getting almost a goal per game in chance volume is how you miss the eventual outburst.
Foden sits top of the league for underlying rate with 1.14 xGI per 90, yet he has only two assists and 11 total points because he sits at -1.61 goals minus xG.
Hold your nerve on players who are getting into position, and do not buy defenders based on two long-range finishes before the deadline.