Gameweek 5 transfer tips and team selection
My Team Selection for Gameweek 5
Team selection
My starting 11 this week of course features Dean Henderson in goal as my only playing goalkeeper, and while he has Manchester United this week I feel Crystal Palace have an outside chance of a clean sheet and believe he will also get save points. In my starting back three I have Trent Alexander-Arnold against Bournemouth, I am hoping Liverpool bounce back after defeat to Forest, they did win in the Champions League midweek so I am hopeful. My other two defenders this week are Pedro Porro against Brentford at home and Lucas Digne against Wolves at home. I am confident all three defenders this week can return with all having attacking potential and a clean sheet chance. Porro’s expected data has not been great so I would like to see more from him and although both Trent and Digne started in the Champions League on Tuesday they were both brought off early so I am confident they will start this weekend.
My formation to start this week is 3-4-3 and the midfielder’s I am starting include Mohamed Salah as my captain against Bournemouth at home, Emiie Smith Rowe against Newcastle at home, Eberechi Eze with other issues in my team gets another week against Manchester United at home, he looks dangerous so I am confident of a return. Finally, Morgan Gibbs-White against Brighton away is my final midfielder, meaning I am benching Morgan Rogers against Wolves at home due to his lack of returns so far.
In attack, I am going with the triple threat of the machine Erling Haaland, my new addition Kai Havertz despite both playing each other this week and Joao Pedro. Pedro was not even in the Brighton squad last week against Ipswich in the 0-0 draw and perhaps more alarmingly was again not in the squad in the 3-2 EFL Cup victory over Wolves on Wednesday. However, hopefully with the extra rest he will be ok and he was back in training Wednesday sohopefully he plays against Nottingham Forest. I do have bench cover though with Morgan Rogers at the ready as first substitution if needed.
My complete bench this week features Valdimarsson as Brenftord’s second atriung goalkeeper, Morgan Rogers, then Antonee Robinson for Fulham against Newscastle at home and finally Wout Faes for Leicester versus Everton at home. I am happy with the strength of my bench apart from Valdimarsson and am confident if some issues arise with my starting 11 that they can come on and do a job.
Transfer tips-
During this part of the blog each week I will go through my recommended transfers and give you my thoughts on the top players being transferred into and out of our squads.
Goalkeepers: If you are that desperate and need to make a goalkeeper transfer this week or perhaps you are on wildcard, the best option for me long-term would be David Raya (5.5) of Arsenal with their fixture swing in gameweek 6. Alisson Becker (5.5) of Liverpool is also a great option with Liverpool getting three clean sheets out of the first four games, however, he is an injury doubt for this weekend so probably avoid. However, their prices are high, for more budget-friendly options I would consider Sanchez (4.5) as he looks to have the number one spot at Stamford Bridge and with their upcoming kind fixtures and can score some points. Matz Sels (4.5) of Nottingham Forest and Mark Flekken (4.5) of Brentford look good. Andre Onana (5.0) scored 13 points this week, however, he only had 7 points in three games before that so I would avoid. Fabianski (4.0) of West Ham and Valdimarsson (4.0) of Brentford are the best 4 million options likely to play but are both currently number two.
Defenders: In the premium bracket I still cannot look past Trent (7.0), despite his premium price tag and lack of attacking returns I believe it is only a matter of time and he did pick up an assist against AC Milan on Tuesday. Elsewhere, I would hold off Arsenal defenders until next week when their fixtures improve and Man City premium’s such as Gvardiol (6.0) are not attacking enough to warrant their price tags. The other best premium defender I believe is Pedro Porro (5.5), with his attacking threat and Tottenham's higher potential for clean sheets this season.
If you are looking for budget options, I really like Ola Aina (4.4) of Nottingham Forest after his 8 points against Liverpool last week. Lucas Digne (4.5) of Aston Villa, Joel Veltman (4.5) of Brighton, Noussir Mazraoui (4.5) of Manchester United and Leif Davis (4.5) of Ipswich are all great options too.
Midfielders: Mohamed Salah (12.7) of Liverpool is still for me one if not the best midfield option. However, Luis Diaz (7.8) and Diogo Jota (7.6) are both great options although with the Champions League back rotation is a risk. Jota started midweek while Diaz came off the bench. I also really like Tottenham’s run of upcoming fixtures so Son Heung-min (10.0) is good. Chelsea’s nice run of fixtures means Cole Palmer (10.6) is great, however, I am not convinced any of their other midfielders are options due to rotation.
On the budget end, Antoine Semenyo (5.6) of Bournemouth is good but after good fixtures in 6 and 7, Bournemouth run is tough but he can return against good teams. Dwight McNeil (5.4) of Everton has returned in the last two but I am not a massive fan. I am planning on bringing Bryan Mbeumo (7.1) of Brentford in next gameweek but would hold off as he plays Tottenham this week before a nice fixture run from 6-13.
Attack: If you do not have Erling Haaland by now I do not know what to tell you, he is owned by 69.7% of players and averages 2.25 games a game through the first four. Outside of that, not too many strikers have shown themselves to be really good options so far. However, Ollie Watkins (8.9) of Aston Villa seems to be over the hump. I also like Kai Havertz (8.1) of Arsenal but maybe wait (unlike I did) until Gameweek 6. Jean-Philipe Mateta (7.4) of Crystal Palace and Dominic Solanke (7.5) of Tottneham now he is back from injury and are both great options.
On the budget striker front, I would avoid and sell Muniz (6.0) of Fulham. I nearly went with him in my opening squad but no longer believe him a good option and I think Raul Jimenez (5.4)will continue to play ahead of him. Nottingham Forest’s Chris Wood (6.1) is a great option and if Joao Pedro (5.7) plays he is great. Danny Welbeck (5.7) of Brighton is also a great option especially if Joao Pedro is still injured for this week. Aston Villa’s Jhon Duran (6.0) has returned in three of the first four, however, he has only played a combined total of 103 minutes so I do not think he will keep this up. Joshua Zirksee (7.0) for Manchester United is a great differential option but I would wait to see how he does in the next few weeks.
This weeks top transfers-
Player
Number of transfers in/ out
Great/ good/ could be good/ not good
Notes
Ollie Watkins
363,113 IN
Could be good
Broke his duck of returns last week, bought off early midweek, should be good, minutes good, lack of early returns a concern
Jamie Vardy
313,232 IN
Could be good
Good budget option, not sure he will get too many attacking returns
Luis Diaz
295,142 IN
Could be good
When he plays he is great, a bit of a minutes risk now with European matches back but still good option as can return from bench
Erling Haaland
252,956 IN
Great
It's Erling Haaland, if you don’t have him in your team what are you doing?
Emilie Smith-Rowe
210,737 IN
Could be good
No European matches and his minutes look set to increase, a good budget option, don’t expect the world from him though
Alexander Isak
610,261 OUT
Good transfer out
Possibly still out with an eye injury, has not played as well as we thought or been as good of an asset, definitely overhyped in pre-season
Joao Pedro
339,802 OUT
Not a good transfer out
Even though he missed out last week, he should be back this week, a great asset not sure why so many are selling him, just make sure you have someone to come off the bench if needed
Yoane Wissa
232,435 OUT
Good transfer out
Injured and could be out for a while, avoid, but when he is back is a great option
Josko Gvardiol
220,389 OUT
Good transfer out
Solid for City defence but they always seem to concede, is now a minutes risk and not as attacking as last year, a hard avoid
Bukayo Saka
165,588 OUT
Not a good transfer out
Again no idea why he is being transferred out by so many, yes he has not got too many returns yet and plays Man City this week but fixtures improve after and he is so consistent