The unbeaten teams begin to separate

Still the team to beat

Terry Byte stay top after scoring 110.5, the second-best haul of the week, with Cody Gakpo leading the charge and Luka Vuskovic producing a frankly outrageous 17 against an 8 average. Konstantinos Tzolakis, a promoted-club player, added another tidy subplot. Three straight wins is not an accident, even if the league would apparently struggle to lay a glove on them at all. The numbers are beginning to look less like form and more like a nuisance.

The interesting bit is that this was not a one-player rescue act. Gakpo, Vuskovic and Josko Gvardiol gave the lineup shape, while the promoted-club pick did his bit without demanding a parade. Mark has not moved, because there is no obvious reason to move him. Everyone else is now making the case for second place, which is a polite way of saying they are chasing the bus. The question is who can actually catch it.

The climb has proper legs

Al-Halal Coqs rose two places on the back of a 105.75 week, the fourth-best score in the league. Gianluigi Donnarumma produced 18.25 against a 2.13 average, which is the sort of goalkeeper performance that makes everyone else look as though they picked their keeper in the dark. Joshua King and Luke Shaw joined him, and the result was a convincing answer to a rough opening spell. The table has started to take notice.

This is a proper move rather than a lucky wobble. Donnarumma supplied the absurdity, but the spread across the lineup mattered more, with Destiny Udogie also clearing his usual level. Oliver is now eighth overall but second here, which tells you the power table is willing to forgive the record when the football looks sound. The next job is turning a good week into a habit before the league remembers how to be difficult.

The best score still costs a place

Dr Marks scored 112, the best total of the week, and somehow that was not enough to hold second. Alisson Becker, Bryan Mbeumo and Lewis Hall did the obvious work, while Enzo Le Fée produced 15.5 against a 6.5 average. Mbeumo remains one of only 2 players of his nationality in the league and delivered, because apparently even the unusual detail had to behave. Three straight wins keeps the record pristine.

The only reservation is that James Mcatee scored 19.5 on the bench and Antonin Kinsky added 18.5. In a loss, that becomes the inquest; in a week-leading win, it is an expensive footnote. Derek has produced three straight victories and the league’s strongest GW3 score. Dropping a place says more about Oliver’s acceleration than it does about any weakness here.

Winning buys some forgiveness

Los Santos Benders remain unbeaten and remain fourth here, although the 93-point week was only eighth-best in the league. Kai Havertz answered the Arsenal noise with 22, while Christos Tzolis and Danny Ballard gave the lineup enough support to avoid a proper panic. Milos Kerkez, one of only 3 players of his nationality in the league, also delivered. It was effective rather than elegant, which is still a result.

The concern is the gap between the record and the weekly performance. Three straight wins are difficult to sneer at, but an eighth-best weekly score gives the chasing pack something to work with. Tyler has earned room to breathe. The next test is whether the production can start matching the record before the record stops protecting it.

The waiver wire is paying rent

The Golden Company Deux held fifth after scoring 107.5, the third-best total of the week. Tyrique George led the way with 22, Alex Scott added 20 and Mohamed Belloumi supplied 17.75 from promoted Hull, which is a lovely little argument for looking beyond the obvious names. Mike also started Chris Richards, a United States international, because apparently the lineup wanted a passport subplot as well as points.

The team’s record is 2-0-1, and the power ranking agrees that this is more substantial than a lucky afternoon. Belloumi’s contribution matters because it came from a player most of the room probably had filed under ‘later’, where all good surprises go to die. Mike has not moved, but the pressure is not coming from below alone. Keep finding this sort of value and fifth will look conservative; stop, and the draft-room archaeology gets less charming.

The table is being oddly generous

Princess Diana’s Revenge scored 86.75, the 12th-best total, and lost its second straight game. That sounds like a team having a mare until the individual lines arrive: Olivier Boscagli, Pedro Porro and Cesar Palacios all beat their usual numbers, with 15, 15 and 14.5 respectively. The lineup found three pockets of value and still managed to look like it had been assembled during an airport delay. That is a difficult trick.

The power ranking keeps Nik sixth because the underlying week was not entirely cooked, even if the record is beginning to mutter. There is enough evidence of a functioning squad in those three returns, but not enough to pretend the losses are a blip. The league is giving Nik a little rope. It would be wise not to use it as a lasso. The next decent score has to arrive before the good individual performances become merely decorative.

Somewhere between fine and cooked

LittleTaco FC scored 90, the 10th-best total, with Martin Odegaard producing 18 and Eddie Nketiah 13. Ruben Dias added 12.75, which is a useful platform but not the sort of haul that sends the league group chat into hiding. Kevin also started Antonee Robinson, a United States international, giving the week its required piece of trivia. The side has enough competence to avoid disaster and not quite enough force to demand attention.

That leaves LittleTaco FC seventh in the power rankings and ninth in the standings, with the two tables broadly agreeing for once. Odegaard’s week was well timed after the Arsenal coverage, but one strong midfielder cannot disguise a lineup that is still searching for a proper identity. There is no need for a grand rebuild. There is, however, a need for more than respectable numbers and a passport anecdote. Mid-table is not a strategy.

The jump is not imaginary

FC Bosh climbed three places after scoring 103.25, the fifth-best return in the league. Harvey Barnes supplied 17 against a 4.13 average, Ryan Giles added 16 from promoted Hull and Vitaly Janelt matched him. Jan-Paul van Hecke also cleared his usual level, so this was not a single lucky eyebrow raising itself above the rest of the face. Dominik Szoboszlai, one of only 3 players of his nationality in the league, delivered too.

The record is still 1-0-2, which is why the power table is more enthusiastic than the standings. A 14-25 all-league record is not a coronation, but the shape of the week is encouraging and the rise is deserved. Zach has found several useful pieces at once, which is usually when fantasy managers begin making speeches. Best not to. Do it again first, then enjoy the smugness properly. The league has noticed, and it is rarely kind after that.

A quiet week from a loud name

Toe Curlers fell one place after scoring 91.5, ninth-best in the week. Jayden Bogle produced 19.75 against a 9.13 average, Marcus Tavernier supplied another useful return and Florian Wirtz was present without quite taking over the room. It was a competent score, which is often how a team gets moved down while nobody has technically embarrassed themselves. The league is a cruel little office staircase.

The record remains 2-0-1, so Matt is not in trouble; the power ranking simply wants more evidence. Bogle’s outperformance gives the week a proper angle, but it also underlines how much depended on a player who was not expected to be the headline. The squad is still in the hunt. It just needs one of the bigger names to stop sitting in the copy room and start answering emails. Otherwise ninth becomes the whole story.

Two wins change the temperature

Save the wirtz for last posted 101.25, the sixth-best score, with Alexander Isak producing 24.25 and Ronald Araujo and Micky van de Ven both clearing their usual levels by a distance. Two straight wins have steadied the opening, and this one came with enough production across the lineup to feel repeatable rather than rescued.

Zion Suzuki’s 19.25 on the bench is the decision worth revisiting, especially with 140.5 available from the best legal lineup. It does not swallow the result: Dan P still cleared 100 and won. The larger question is whether the recent scoring can last. Do that, and tenth will become difficult to defend; keep donating a major return every week, and the climb stays harder than it needs to be.

The losing streak has company

North Buffalo Football Club fell two places after scoring 74.25, the 13th-best total, and taking a third straight loss. Diego Gomez led the team with 12.25, while Emiliano Martinez and Neco Williams offered modest support. Williams also spent the week at the centre of a VAR argument, which is a lot of attention for 11.75 points and rather less than the lineup needed. The football equivalent of a press conference followed by a shrug.

Josh is now 0-0-3 with a 12-27 all-league record, and the power table has started treating the run as a pattern rather than a quirky opening. There are useful players here, but useful is not the same as competitive when the weekly score keeps landing near the bottom of the league. The next gameweek needs a response, not another post-match explanation.

Results say less than the week

The American Poch rose one place after scoring 97.75, seventh-best in the gameweek. Erling Haaland produced 20.25, as he tends to when the fixture list offers him a microphone, while Nobel Mendy added 14 from promoted Hull and Mikkel Damsgaard supplied 11.25. It was a respectable, well-spread score rather than a one-man rescue mission. The table may not be thrilled, but the power ranking has something to work with.

Dan O’s record is 2-0-1, which makes twelfth look harsh until you remember the league is full of teams doing irritatingly well. Haaland remains the obvious engine, but Mendy’s return is the more useful clue: the squad can find points outside the marquee slot. That is how a team becomes harder to dismiss. The rise is modest, the evidence is not. Another week like this and the table will have to stop pretending it has the final word.

One player cannot carry the samba

Samba FC moved up one place after scoring 87.75, the 11th-best total, despite a third straight loss. Tyrick Mitchell was extraordinary at 28.25 against a 3.13 average, while Virgil van Dijk and promoted-club defender Semi Ajayi supplied useful support. Mitchell’s week also arrived amid a Sky Sports report about the Red Roses, an odd headline pairing for a fantasy football column but a welcome one. The rest of the score did not quite join the party.

The power ranking is willing to recognise the performance without pretending the record is healthy. Against the whole league every week, Samba FC would be 3-36, which is less a warning sign than a weather system. Italo has found one enormous lever and several smaller handles. The problem is that the enormous lever cannot operate the whole machine alone. Three straight losses demand a wider answer, preferably before Mitchell has to score 28.25 again just to make the afternoon look respectable.

The floor has found a basement

Gooner FC fell two places after scoring 69.75, the lowest total in the league. Marc Guehi and Bobby Thomas both managed 15, with Thomas delivering from promoted Coventry, while Yeremy Pino added 10.75. That is not nothing; it is simply nowhere near enough when the rest of the lineup appears to have gone through security and left the points behind. Craig also started Brenden Aaronson, a United States international, for the full trivia package.

The record is now 0-0-3 with a 6-33 all-league mark. This is acute mineral deficiency: not because one player failed, but because the whole week arrived short of almost everything. Bobby Thomas offers a small reason to keep looking, and Pino offers another. The ranking cannot turn those crumbs into lunch. Craig needs a response before the floor starts charging rent.