Last week, the big choice to make (for most FPL managers) was between Mohamed Salah and Erling Haaland, as both superstars were facing favourable opposition at home. We decided to go with the former for Liverpool’s home game against Nottingham Forest and that turned out to be a major disappointment. The Reds lost their perfect score as Forest nicked a 0-1 victory at Anfield, resulting in a blank for Salah. The fact that Haaland then went on to rub salt into the wounds by getting a brace in Manchester City’s home game against Brentford for a 13-pointer only made things worse. It was a coinflip and we bet on the wrong side. That time.
Liverpool didn’t seem too shook up by the surprise defeat though, as they took home the three points from San Siro in the Champions League a couple of days later. With a home game against Bournemouth coming up in gameweek 5, we are considering Salah and co as one of the outfits to focus on again, despite the upset in GW4. Besides the Reds, we also like the looks of Aston Villa at home to Wolves, Spurs at home to Brentford and Brighton at home to Nottingham Forest. The final game of the gameweek is also the clash of the weekend, with Manchester City welcoming Arsenal to the Etihad Stadium.
Don’t forget, the deadline for gameweek 5 is set at 11h00 (UK time) on Saturday, September 21st, 2024. The free to play FPL or pay to play season/weekend/daily games like FanTeam are ideal ways of following the Premier League action.
Most transferred in/transferred out players (as per September 19th, 2024)
| TRANSFERS OUT | TRANSFERS IN | POSSIBLE REASONS | |
| GK | Henderson (CRY), Martinez (AST), Raya (ARS) | Sanchez (CHE), Raya (ARS), Alisson (LIV) | |
| DEF | Gvardiol (MCI), Saliba (ARS), Alexander-Arnold (LIV) | Aina (NOT), Gabriel (ARS), Digne (AST) | Digne back-to-back assists |
| MID | Saka (ARS), Eze (CRY), Odegaard (ARS) | Diaz (LIV), Smith Rowe (FUL), Mbeumo (BRE) | Smith Rowe form, Odegaard injury |
| FOR | Isak (NEW), Pedro (BRI), Wissa (BRE) | Watkins (AST), Vardy (LEI), Haaland (MCI) | Watkins scoring again, Haaland 9 goals in 4 games, Isak + Pedro injury doubts, Wissa injured |
Premium pick
Now, Erling Haaland could easily make it five consecutive league games with at least one attacking return against Arsenal on Sunday, but seeing as both Mo Salah (at home to Bournemouth) and Heung-Min Son (at home to Brentford) have much more favourable fixtures on paper, we decided to once again look past the Norwegian. At our own peril, of course. Instead, we’re sticking with last week’s premium fantasy pick Mo Salah (£12.7m) after his excellent showing against AC Milan on Tuesday. While the Egyptian talisman could not convert his display in a goal or an assist, he was one of the best players on the pitch and hit the woodwork twice. As we mentioned earlier, his blank in gameweek 4 against Nottingham Forest was as disappointing as it was unexpected, but that is now a thing of the past as we look forward to Saturday’s home encounter with Bournemouth. On top of the fact that the Cherries have not yet kept a clean sheet this season, Salah is also the player with the most shots in the box and most big chances in the entire league. He scored in every gameweek until last weekend and we feel he’ll get back to scoring ways again this weekend.
Non-premium pick
After repeating last week’s premium fantasy pick, we are also repeating last week’s non-premium fantasy pick. That might sound a bit boring, but it makes sense, as we recommended both the previously mentioned Salah and Ollie Watkins (£8.9m) in part thanks to their kind schedule on the short term. Where Salah blanked last weekend, Watkins delivered though, with a brace against Everton, which resulted in 13 FPL points. Those were his first two Premier League goals of the season, which makes us hope he is off the mark now with two more favourable fixtures coming up. It’s Wolves at Villa Park on Saturday, followed by a visit to Ipswich Town in gameweek 6. As for the visit of the Wolverhampton Wanderers, the occasion looks perfect for Watkins to make it back-to-back games with attacking returns. Only Everton have conceded more goals than Saturday’s opponent (11 in four games), though it should be noted that 6 of those goals were conceded in GW2 against Chelsea. In any case, Villa are picking up form and confidence, especially after their 0-3 Champions League victory against Young Boys Bern on Tuesday (in which Watkins got an assist), and that could result in more FPL points for Ollie Watkins in gameweek 5.
The budget enabler
For new FPL managers, the inclusion of Jamie Vardy (£5.7m) as our budget-enabling fantasy pick for gameweek 5 in the 2024-25 Premier League season might not seem that special. The veteran has been in fine form for newly promoted Leicester so far, scoring 2 goals in the first four games of the season including 1 goal last weekend. That alone is sufficient for him to be considered in this category, considering his current price tag of £5.7m. For the more seasoned fantasy managers though, this pick will surely feel a bit nostalgic. Vardy was already part of the official fantasy game back in the 2014-15 season after all, when he scored 120 FPL points, and he is most remembered, of course, for his 211 FPL points in Leicester’s incredible title-winning 2015-16 season. What we mean to say here is that, yes, the former England international is now 35 years old, but he is also an absolute legend of the English game who is still more than capable of running defences ragged. The Foxes have got Everton at home this Saturday, followed by Arsenal away and then a nice run of “green” fixtures: Bournemouth home, Southampton away, Forest home and Ipswich away. We wouldn’t be surprised to see the experienced forward put a few more knots on his belt over the coming weeks.
The differential
Everton have had quite a horrid start to the season so far with 0 points from the first four games and the worst defence in the league (13 goals conceded), though it should be noted that their opening schedule was not the easiest. Despite that, two of their players have nestled themselves in the top ten for highest-scoring players in their respective categories after four games: Dominic Calvert-Lewin amongst forwards and Dwight McNeil (£5.4m) amongst midfielders. We were doubting which of the two to include as our differential fantasy pick for gameweek 5, but seeing as DCL is currently carrying a yellow flag in the official game, we’ve opted for McNeil. The former Burnley man sits in just 1.4% of all teams at the moment of writing, but already has a goal and 2 assists to his name. He prepared one goal versus Bournemouth in GW3, and then got a goal and an assist against Aston Villa last weekend. In other words, McNeil looks to be in form despite his side’s overall results and he has now got a great run of fixtures coming up, starting with Leicester away. After that it’s:
| GW | OPPONENT |
| GW6 | Crystal Palace (home) |
| GW7 | Newcastle (home) |
| GW8 | Ipswich Town (away) |
| GW9 | Fulham (home) |
| GW10 | Southampton (away) |
| GW11 | West Ham (away) |
| GW12 | Brentford (home) |
| GW13 | Manchester United (away) |
| GW14 | Wolves (home) |
Talk about a differential pick on a budget for the long-term. And we didn’t even mention yet that after four games, no player in the league has given more key passes and created more big chances than McNeil, and that he is on practically all of Everton’s set-pieces (apart from penalties) as well.
The (vice-)captaincy
Despite last weekend’s captaincy fail when we gave Salah the armband, we’re inclined to go with the Egyptian once again this gameweek. Liverpool are coming off an impressive 1-3 victory away at AC Milan and they’ll be looking to redeem themselves league-wise against Bournemouth at Anfield after last weekend’s disappointment against Forest.
Not as confident in a redemption story as we are? Then Heung-Min Son at home to Brentford could bring home serious FPL points, while there is, of course, Erling “9 goals in 4 games” Haaland at home to Arsenal as well. Besides them, we also like the look of Ollie Watkins at home to Wolves, while the fit-again Dominic Solanke against Brentford could be an interesting punt.
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