To say last weekend’s Team of the Week was a bonanza of differential picks is perhaps a bit exaggerated, but truth is that only two players featured an ownership above 17% and both of those players wear Liverpool red: Trent Alexander-Arnold and Luis Diaz. The latter, in fact, was (together with Chelsea’s Nicolas Jackson) the highest-scoring player of gameweek 5 with 16 FPL points, thanks to a brace versus Bournemouth. Other well-known Premier League names included Ezri Konsa with 9 FPL, Robert Sanchez with 10 FPL points, James Maddison with 12 FPL points. The big surprises of the weekend were 4.5%-owned Riccardo Calafiori with 9 FPL points, 1.6%-owned Tyler Dibling from Southampton with 11 FPL points and 0.1%-owned Jack Hinshelwood from Brighton.
For the upcoming gameweek 6 then, we are mainly focusing on Arsenal’s home game against Leicester, Liverpool’s visit to Wolves (both on Saturday) and Aston Villa’s visit to Ipswich Town on Sunday. That’s from a fantasy perspective though, because from a football fan’s perspective, gameweek 6 offers us two fantastic fixtures this weekend, plus an interesting sub-top encounter. The gameweek opener is Newcastle versus Manchester City and the gameweek closer is Manchester United versus Spurs, and in between the two, Chelsea will be hosting Brighton.
Don’t forget, the deadline for gameweek 6 (GW6) is set at 11h00 (UK time) on Saturday, September 28th, 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 26th, 2024)
| TRANSFERS OUT | TRANSFERS IN | POSSIBLE REASONS | |
| GK | Alisson (LIV), Henderson (CRY), Pope (NEW) | Raya (ARS), Sanchez (CHE), Fabianski (WHU) | Alisson injury doubt |
| DEF | Porro (TOT), Gvardiol (MCI), Saliba (ARS) | Gabriel (ARS), Greaves (IPS), Mazraoui (MUN) | Arsenal fixtures, Greaves budget |
| MID | Jota (LIV), Salah (LIV), Eze (CRY) | Diaz (LIV), Mbeumo (BRE), Saka (ARS) | Saka five returns in a row, Diaz + Mbeumo form |
| FOR | Isak (NEW), Pedro (BRI), Wissa (BRE) | Jackson (CHE), Wood (NFO), Havertz (ARS) | Wood form + fixtures, Havertz fixtures, Pedro + Wissa injured |
Premium pick
Both of the official fantasy game’s ultra-premium assets were largely rested for their respective side’s League Cup fixtures. Erling Haaland did not see any action in Man City’s victory over Watford, while Mo Salah (£12.8m) got about half an hour away at West Ham. More than enough for Liverpool’s talisman to score a goal and put the game beyond all doubt. That’s not why we have opted for the Egyptian over Haaland this time, though. While both are capable of hauling against any opponent, the Norwegian is visiting St. James Park for the opening game of GW6, while Salah and the rest of the Reds are preparing for a visit to Molineux. In recent times, that would not have counted as an “easy fixture”, but at the moment, Wolves are suffering. Their point away at Nottingham Forest in gameweek 3 is the only point they have won so far, which puts them at the very bottom of the league after five games. On top of that, they boast the joint-worst defence (together with Everton), having conceded 14 goals already. Sure, six of those goals came at Stamford Bridge in gameweek 2, but if Noni Madueke can score a hattrick against them from the right wing, Mo Salah surely can as well, right?
Non-premium pick
For our non-premium fantasy pick of the week, we are sticking with Liverpool. Contrary to the previously mentioned Mohamed Salah, Luis Diaz (£7.9m) did not tread the pitch for the Third Round League Cup encounter with West Ham a few days ago. He was rested and even though his replacement Cody Gakpo did great with a brace, we are pretty certain that he will return to the starting lineup on Saturday. He has, after all, been one of the stand-out performers since Arne Slot took over as manager at Anfield. The Colombian already has 5 goals and an assist to his name, and he has started every league game so far. As a matter of fact, there is at the moment no Liverpool player with more FPL points than Diaz’ 51. The Wolves game looks like a great opportunity to boost those numbers a bit before a small run of more difficult opponents and at £7.9m, the winger (who is listed as a midfielder in the official fantasy game) is still plenty affordable.
The budget enabler
When we mentioned a few of last weekend’s stand-out performers earlier in this piece, we did not mention Morgan Rogers (£5.2m). That was on purpose though, because we already knew that it was time to finally include him in our budget category. The Aston Villa youngster has been great for the Villans so far, starting and completing the 90 minutes in each league game since the start of the campaign, and last weekend, he finally got his first attacking returns. Rogers provided 2 assists in the 3-1 home victory over Wolves, which resulted in 10 FPL points and a spot in the Gameweek 6 Team of the Week. Like Luis Diaz above, Rogers is an attacker who is listed as a midfielder in the official fantasy game and at a price of just £5.2m, he has the potential to be one of the big budget gems of the season. That is, if he keeps returning points, at least every now and then. The fact that he is “off the mark” now, so to say, has us convinced that this might be the right moment to take a gamble on the 22-year-old, especially with a visit to Ipswich Town up next.
The differential
One side that has had a surprisingly good start to the 2024-25 Premier League season is Nottingham Forest. After five games, the Tricky Trees find themselves in eighth place with 9 points, 6 goals scored and just 4 conceded (and a huge confidence boosting win at Liverpool). And they might just be able to keep that good start going for a while to come, seeing as Forest have got a largely favourable-looking set of fixtures coming up all the way until gameweek 10. The likes of wing-back Ola Aina, attacking midfielder Callum Hudson-Odoi and striker Chris Wood all appeal, both budget- and ownership-wise, but we’ve got our eye on an even bigger differential this week. Just before the closing of the summer transfer window, Forest brought in left-back Alex Moreno (£4.4m) on loan from Aston Villa and it looks like the Spaniard was brought in to play. He got a clean sheet at Anfield in GW4, but then was substituted after 45 minutes against Brighton a week later. It looked like a tactical decision though, and we believe Moreno will be part of the starting eleven again when his side host Fulham on Saturday. During his admittedly brief spell at Villa, he showed that relentless attacking intent is part of his game and with games against Fulham (home), Palace (home), Leicester (away) and West Ham (home) over the next five, we feel the Spaniard could have a high ceiling. And his current ownership? Just 0.6%.
The (vice-)captaincy
Coming off 30 minutes mid-week and with 10 goals to his name after five league games, Erling Haaland has to be part of the captaincy discussion, even if Manchester City are visiting Newcastle this weekend. Nevertheless, we are putting the armband on Mohamed Salah for Liverpool’s visit to Wolves.
Alternatively, we like the looks of Luis Diaz away at Wolves and of Ollie Watkins away at Aston Villa as well. On top of that, the likes of Bukayo Saka, Kai Havertz and Gabiel Magalhaes look enticing for their upcoming home game against Leicester.
For further thoughts and discussions on the new FPL season visit FISO’s FPL forum.