Goal projections for those Fantasy Premier League Gameweek 3 contests

Manchester City have already scored 6 goals in their opening two fixtures; an ominous sign for the rest of the division. The Citizens have been the highest scoring team in each of the last three English Premier League seasons recording figures of 71 in 2015/16, 83 in 2014/15 and a remarkable 102 when they pipped Liverpool to the 2013/14 title. The Reds also scored an impressive 101 times that season before ‘cracking’ in the run-in, as they attempted to clinch that long-awaited title.

City’s neighbours United may have dominated the Premier League era since its inception but their best ever goal return under Alex Ferguson was the 97 they accumulated  in the 1999/2000 campaign.

Pep Guardiola arrived at the Etihad with a CV that smells of goals. In four La Liga seasons at Barcelona his side amassed an astonishing 412 goals, with their highest return being 114.

In his three seasons at Bayern Munich, the Bavarian giants scored 254 league goals but it’s worth pointing out that the Bundesliga schedule is only made up of 34 matches per team. That still equates to an average of almost 2.5 goals per game, which eclipses the 2.24 goals per game City have averaged over the same time period.

As we look ahead to Gameweek 3, it is no surprise to see City again having the highest goals expectancy.

Fantasy football managers cannot afford to ignore this and Guardiola’s preference for a 4-1-4-1 approach is making it somewhat easier for managers to determine which players need to be on their radar. However, the former Bayern Munich boss did put a bit of a spanner in the works in Gameweek 2 by including Jesús Navas in his starting line-up.

We can expect to see Sergio Agüero’s ownership and captaincy levels off the chart again this week, in both FPL and daily fantasy formats, even though City are up against a West Ham United side that were one of the most-improved teams last term.

Chelsea are also expected to be amongst the goals in Gameweek 3 when they entertain Burnley. Antonio Conte’s side averaged a shade under 2 goal per game during his 3 year stint at Juventus and he has been flirting with an attacking 4-2-4 formation at times, since taking over the reins at Stamford Bridge. Eden Hazard is starting to show glimpses of the form that made him a FPL must-have, a couple of season ago, so he’s certainly one for the short-list!

How many goals will Pep Guardiola’s Man City side score during the 2016/17 English Premier League season?

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