Most of those who were still doubting that last season was perhaps an anomaly for Cole Palmer will have had to revise their views after last weekend. The Chelsea star bagged a cool 25 FPL points as a result of becoming the first player in Premier League history to score four goals in the first half. More about Ice Cold Palmer later though, because he wasn’t the only one to shine in gameweek 6. Dwight McNeil, who we tipped as a differential FPL pick for GW5 due to a good run of 10 consecutive GW fixtures, finally managed to express his importance to Everton with a brace against Crystal Palace (15 FPL points), while, for the first time in a long time, we found Gabriel Martinelli in the Team of the Week as well, thanks to a goal and an assist against Leicester, good for 13 FPL points.
When it comes to the fixtures for gameweek 7, we admit that we were a bit surprised to see so many Liverpool players amongst the most-transferred-out assets so far this week. The Reds are in good form, full of confidence and facing Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park on Saturday. Right afterwards, Arsenal are kicking off at home against Southampton, which will undoubtedly attract plenty of interest from fantasy managers as well, as will Manchester City’s home game against Fulham. Sunday offers just three games, but great ones at that: Aston Villa hosting an under-pressure Manchester United side, Chelsea at home to Nottingham Forest and finally, Brighton versus Tottenham Hotspur at the AmEx.
Don’t forget, the deadline for gameweek 7 is set at 11h00 (UK time) on Saturday, October 5th, 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 October 3rd, 2024)
TRANSFERS OUT | TRANSFERS IN | POSSIBLE REASONS | |
GK | Martinez (AST), Henderson (CRY), Raya (ARS) | Sanchez (CHE), Raya (ARS), Fabianski (WHU) | |
DEF | Saliba (ARS), Alexander-Arnold (LIV), Porro (TOT) | Gabriel (ARS), Konaté (LIV), Van de Ven (TOT) | |
MID | Eze (CRY), Salah (LIV), Fernandes (MUN) | Palmer (CHE), Mbeumo (BRE), McNeil (EVE) | Palmer 25-point haul in GW6, Mbeumo + McNeil form |
FOR | Pedro (BRI), Isak (NEW), Welbeck (BRI) | Jackson (CHE), Raul (FUL), Delap (IPS) | Jackson + Raul form, Delap fixtures, Pedro injury, Isak injury doubt |
Premium pick
We opened this piece with Cole Palmer (£10.7m) and said that we would get back to him later on, so here we are. In a Chelsea side that seems to be picking up some steam of late, the former Man City youngster is simply irreplaceable. Before gameweek 6, he already had 2 goals and 4 assists, which was a decent return from five league games, but perhaps slightly below what you’d expect for pick worth £10.5m+. Well, after gameweek 6, those numbers suddenly read 6 goals and 4 assists from 6 league games, thanks to an unprecedented 4 goals in one half versus Brighton. And suddenly, Palmer’s back up there with the official fantasy game’s very best, much like last season. It makes sense to put him on top of your watchlist, especially with Nottingham Forest coming to Stamford Bridge on Sunday, but that’s not at all. Cole Palmer, after all, has not been registered for European football by Chelsea this first half of the season, which means that the ice-cold man on fire will have a full week’s rest in the build-up to GW7.
Non-premium pick
With an ownership above 22%, Bryan Mbeumo (£7.4m) is not exactly an uncovered gem anymore. It took fantasy managers a moment as well to get on the Mbeumo train, which explains why his price has already risen by £0.4m this season. The Brentford man has more than deserved that price rise though, as he has been instrumental to a Brentford side that has had a bit of a difficult start to the 2024-25 campaign. It should be noted though, that in their first six games, the Bees did face Liverpool, Man City and Spurs (all away). Those three game were lost, but from the remaining three, Brentford took 7 points and Mbeumo has been ticking along nicely all that time. At the moment of writing, the Cameroon international sits on 5 goals, including a goal in each of the last two gameweeks. Next up are Wolves and what better opponent to make it three in a row for Mbeumo? Wolves, after all, have conceded the most goals out of all teams in the Premier League so far (16). On top of that, Mbeumo is on penalties, which is always a nice bonus in FPL.
The budget enabler
If we can call Brentford’s start to the season “a bit difficult”, then what should we call Everton’s start of the campaign? While a few bookmakers even started paying out bets on the club’s relegation already, the Toffees have been giving some signs of life lately. After a draw at Leicester in gameweek 5, Everton finally booked the first victory of their 2024-2025 Premier League campaign at home against Crystal Palace last weekend. The big man on Everton side? Dwight McNeil (£5.6m), who you might have read about as our differential in a couple of our gameweek previews earlier this season as well. The former Burnley star scored both of Everton’s goals for a 15-point haul, making it 3 goals and 2 assists from six league starts this season. The moment to bring him in was back in the build-up to GW4, when he grabbed a goal and an assist versus Villa, but it’s still not too late. McNeil is still very affordable and even though this week’s opponent are Newcastle, he has a sea of green fixtures to look forward after that. That includes games against Ipswich, Fulham, Southampton and Wolves between now and GW14. He is the main man when it comes to attacking moves and set-pieces in this Everton side, and at just £5.6m, he looks like an ideal fifth or even fourth midfielder in any squad.
The differential
A player who has been ticking along quite nicely in the relative FPL shadows so far is Gabriel Martinelli (£6.9m). It’s true that the Brazilian winger had a slow start to the season with his first attacking return only coming in gameweek 5 at Manchester City, but it’s slightly surprising to see Arsenal’s starting left winger with a current ownership of just 3.5%, nonetheless. On top of that, he has started five of the six league games so far this season and he played 90 minutes in the Champions League versus Atalanta on Wednesday as well. We feel two whole days of rest should be enough for Martinelli to be fit and raring to go again on Saturday afternoon, when Southampton visits the Emirates Stadium. The Saints are yet to keep a clean sheet this season and start to look more and more like the weakest of the promoted sides. Martinelli could be the differential to take full advantage of that situation this weekend.
The (vice-)captaincy
Another interesting captaincy debate this weekend, with Erling Haaland playing Fulham at home, Mo Salah visiting Crystal Palace, Cole Palmer hosting Nottingham Forest and Arsenal playing at home to Southampton. Still, if you have Haaland, we recommend slapping the armband on him. We are, anyway.
All of the previously mentioned players are excellent alternatives, though. That includes the likes of Bukayo Saka and Kai Havertz at home to Southampton. More differential captain picks include Bryan Mbeumo against Wolves at home, Jarrod Bowen at home to Ipswich Town and Ollie Watkins at home to Manchester United.
For further thoughts and discussions on the new FPL season visit FISO’s FPL forum.