The third instalment of Championship Fantasy did not disappoint as a whole host of things to consider were thrown up, as well as the usual good, bad and ugly…

Top Point Scorers

Name Team Position Price Points Taylor Charlton Forward £9.5 27 Borja Swansea Forward £7.0 25 Hernandez Leeds Midfield £11.5 25 Bowen Hull Forward £11.5 23 Grant Huddersfield Forward £10.5 22 Bamford Leeds Forward £9.5 22 Gallagher Charlton Midfield £5.0 22 Swift Reading Midfield £6.5 15 Bryan Fulham Defender £6.5 21 Hutchinson Sheff. Wed Defender £4.5 20 Woodman Swansea Goalkeeper £5.0 20

Charlton’s Lyle Taylor sits on top of the points board after making it 3 goals for the season over the weekend. Last weeks leader Pablo Hernandez drops down to third as Swansea’s forgotten man Borja Baston jumps from nowhere into second with 25 points after 2 goals, 1 assist and 3 bonus points.

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Huddersfield forward Karlan Grant and Hull’s Jarrod Bowen both scored and bagged all 3 bonus points to remain in the top ten. They were bettered by Leeds United forward Patrick Bamford who scored 2 as well as 3 bonus points to enter the chart at 6th place.

A 13 point haul for Charlton midfielder Conor Gallagher moves him up to 7th place, following a goal, an assist and 3 bonus points. This impressive tally was bettered by Reading midfielder John Swift with 14, adding 1 clean sheet point to his goal, assist and 3 bonus points.

Sheffield Wednesday defender Sam Hutchinson remains in the top ten despite only gaining 2 appearance points over the gameweek, and the top ten is completed with our first goalkeeper, in Swansea’s on-loan stopper Freddie Woodman, who also only gained 2 appearance points, but after last weeks 15 point score, which included a penalty save, a clean sheet and 3 bonus points was enough to claim 10th place.

Talking Points

The First Managerial Casualty

The Friday night clash of ex-Premier League duo Huddersfield Town and Fulham was always going to be a cagey affair, as over the last 20 home games Huddersfield have lost 15, scoring only 11 times, whereas over the last 20 away games Fulham have lost 17 times, scoring just 12.

The pressure was firmly on Huddersfield’s German Head Coach Jan Siewert after 3 defeats and a draw so far this season, and 1 win in his 19 competitive games in charge left him with a win rate of just 5.3%. After a 2-1 defeat, new chairman Phil Hodgkinson wasted no time in dispatching of him (literally less than an hour after the match), with First Team Coach Mark Hudson taking temporary charge while a new Head Coach is appointed.

Goals, Goals, Goals

In previous articles, we spoke about Talismen, but this week it was the forwards who proved their worth as four men hit double over Gameweek 3, those being Bamford of Leeds, Borja of Swansea, Martyn Waghorn of Derby (£8.5) and George Puscas (£7.5) of Reading. Attacking midfielder Grady Diangana (£4.5) also bagged a brace for WBA after coming on as a half-time substitute.

3 in 3

After 3 games only 2 forwards have scored in each game, with Grant and Taylor being the in-form players. Huddersfield face Cardiff away, while Charlton entertains Nottingham Forest in Gameweek 4.

A Competitive League

So far no team has a 100% win rate, with everyone in the league drawing at least 1 game. At the top, 5 teams have won 2, drawn 1 (including promoted Charlton), while at the bottom, 4 teams have drawn 1 and lost 2 (including relegated Huddersfield).

What can we draw from this in Championship Fantasy terms? For one thing the unpredictability of the results can go against potential clean sheets, yet on the plus side the attacking returns are far greater than you would expect, especially for defenders, having already touched upon the attacking returns of the Luton backline in previous articles. Martin Cranie (£4.5) produced a stunning 25-yard assist for their goal against WBA.

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Goals Per Game

Of the 12 weekend fixtures 7 of them had 3 goals or more, with 1 game having 5 goals and 2 games having 4 goals. There were no games ending in 0-0 in a record Gamesweek for penalties, with 4 of the 5 being converted, with Preston’s Daniel Johnson (£7.5), Martyn Waghorn, Blackburn’s Danny Graham (£7.5) and Lyle Taylor all converting. Reading’s Yakou Meite (£8.5) was the unfortunate one who saw his penalty saved by Cardiff’s Alex Smithies (£5.0).

Popular Transfers

Plenty to think about this week with several new faces presenting themselves for our consideration, including Borja, a good price at £7.0 for a starting, scoring forward and Woodman in goal at £5.0.

Looking under the radar is Preston midfielder Daniel Johnson, who missed the first Gameweek, but has hit 9 points in the previous 2 games with 1 goal (a penalty), 2 assists, 1 clean sheet and 2 bonus points.

Going one better, with 14 points in a 45-minute debut was Diangana, who, at £4.5 could be a great pick, if he can guarantee a starting spot in a West Brom attack rife with attacking options.

Fantasy Divisions Leaders

Last weeks leader Gra’s Team slipped to 4th place after being overtaken at the top spot by Anthonystaddon, whose front 3 of Lyle Taylor, Karlan Grant and Aleksander Mitrovic all found the net, with Grant captained to earn double points.

Hot on his heels with just 1 point less is Mumbojumbo, whose forward line also included Karlan Grant and Aleksander Mitrovic, with captained Jarrod Bowen also making the scoresheet. Also in the side is Nottingham Forest midfielder Joe Lolley (£10.5), whose goal, assist, clean sheet and 3 bonus points earned him 14 points to take Mumbojumbo to within 1 point to set up an exciting Gameweek 4 encounter.