Arsenal-Chelsea Headlines a Wide-Open Gameweek 3

Gameweek 3 kicks off tonight with Ipswich hosting Liverpool at Portman Road, and there’s real intrigue given how stretched Iraola’s squad is — Ekitike, Bradley and Leoni all remain long-term absentees, though Joe Gomez is nearing a return and could be involved. Ipswich have their own scare over club-record signing Emersonn, who jarred his knee against United last time out but has been given the all-clear to feature. Saturday is the busiest day of the round: Manchester City host Coventry and should be far too strong, Newcastle welcome Bournemouth in what looks a tighter affair, Brighton take on Leeds with their injury list still brutal (Mitoma, Ferguson and Minteh among those out) while Leeds have just lost Joe Rodon for two months with a hamstring issue. Forest host Tottenham with Oliver Glasner cautiously optimistic about Liam Delap’s sharpness. Brentford face Sunderland without the injured Habib Diarra. Fulham take on Crystal Palace with Tom Cairney their only fresh absentee, and Hull welcome an Aston Villa side still missing suspended João Gomes.

Sunday saves the best for last. Everton host Manchester United at 2pm, with Bruno Fernandes fresh off his Gameweek 2 hat-trick. Then the standout fixture of the whole round closes out the weekend at 4:30pm: Arsenal vs Chelsea, with Arteta still without Saliba and a doubt over Jurrien Timber, while Bruno Guimarães could be an option off the bench after picking up a knock. Chelsea, meanwhile, are monitoring Jordan Henderson’s return from a World Cup wrist injury and may lean on Romeo Lavia in midfield. All told, it’s a weekend stacked with genuine 50-50 fixtures and a few sides desperate to arrest slow starts, so expect goals and a few surprises before Sunday evening’s done.

Servers

We’re proper eager beavers here at FL HQ, always squeezing every last drop out of our suppliers. Our game servers don’t just wake up and stroll in five minutes before kickoff — they get the full 3-4 hour warm-up, stretching, hydrating, doing their pre-match media duties, all so they’re primed and ready the moment the ref blows the whistle.

Game Rules and where are they located

It’s been a proper whirlwind few weeks/months in Manager Support, and we’re genuinely proud to say we’re turning around most queries inside the hour. We’d love to see any of our so-called “esteemed” competitors in the fantasy football world match that anywhere — but that’s a story for another day, and we’ll leave it there before we get carried away.

What all this inbox traffic has taught us, though, is that an awful lot of you don’t actually know the Game Rules exist — or just how thorough they are. They’re sitting right here, patiently waiting for you: https://game.fantasyleague.com/gameguide#summary — covering everything from team management to the scoring rules in more detail than you’d think a game about football needs. Genuinely worth five minutes of your time. It might just save you an email, and it’ll definitely save us one too. 😉

Fantasy League Manual assist Summary

Manual Assists Awarded

5th September 2026

Newcastle v Bournemouth 5th September – 1230 -for the Thiaw OG, Scott provided the cross

Brentford v Sunderland 5th September – 1500- Isidor fouled for Le Fee’s penalty, no assist due to a defensive clearance for Brentford’s opener

Not awarded

Newcastle v Bournemouth 5th September 2026 – no assist as per our game guide for either the Tavernier or Ramsay goals as the last touch on both came from defenders.

Fulham v C Palace 1500-Both Fulham goals plus Palace’s second and third all resulted from defensive interventions.