Heading into Gameweek 5 of Fantasy Premier League (FPL), two-time Indian FPL champion Lateriser reveals his team and ponders whether to bring forward a Gameweek 6 Wildcard.

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I’ve had a poor start to the season. This seems to be a trend, something that requires more reflection next summer.

However, while I am a bit disappointed about my rank, I haven’t quite hit the panic button just yet. I have made my share of poor decisions (not going into Gameweek 1 with at least one Arsenal defender) but I have had plenty of bad variance as well:

• Trent Alexander-Arnold (£7.0m) not getting an attacking return as yet
• Diogo Jota (£7.6m) missing big chances
• Antony Gordon (£7.4m) and Alexander Isak (£8.4m) dodging returns and playing with ten men in their prime fixture, as was the case with Bukayo Saka (£10.0m)
• Dominic Solanke (£7.5m) picking up an injury before Spurs put four past Everton

It has all added up. The temptation to Wildcard this week was quite strong, to put an end to my downward spiral and get the season back on track. I haven’t pushed the button yet and I don’t think I am likely to.

That said, if I am on the wrong side of injuries by the time Saturday comes around, I might just do it.

BRINGING FORWARD THE GAMEWEEK 6 WILDCARD?

Now, to make sure I am not ‘kneejerking’ into a Wildcard, the right thing to do would be to build a Gameweek 6 Wildcard and then maybe move back from that so I make sure I am not tunnel-vision-focused on Gameweek 5.

The obvious reason for not really liking a Gameweek 5 Wildcard is that Manchester City and Arsenal play each other this weekend, and they are two of the prime teams I would want to target in Gameweek 6.

So, let’s build a Gameweek 6 Wildcard draft to see if I could use it this week. Don’t focus too much on the picks and semantics but instead focus on the team structure.

GAMEWEEK 5/6 WILDCARD – DRAFT 1

As you can see, I have triple Arsenal in place for the two home games against Southampton and Leicester City. Erling Haaland (£15.2m) and Josko Gvardiol (£6.0m) are primed and ready for their great run from Gameweek 6 onwards. Bryan Mbuemo (£7.1m) and a Brentford defender almost pick themselves.

As I mentioned, I want you to focus on the structure rather than the picks because Dominic Calvert-Lewin (£5.9m) could easily be any other cheap striker or Solanke. That would lead to an adjustment in the Jarrod Bowen (£7.5m) spot.

There are many cheap midfielders in play, too, including Antoine Semenyo (£5.6m), Kevin Schade (£5.4m), Dwight McNeil (£5.4m) and Morgan Rogers (£5.1m). I could easily also downgrade a spot, have Mohamed Salah (£12.7m) instead of Saka, and get Gabriel Magalhaes (£6.0m) instead.

Largely speaking, these are the teams I would be targeting on a Gameweek 6 Wildcard. The problem with this draft is that City and Arsenal play each other and don’t really have a great fixture. You probably wouldn’t mind fielding their defenders, given you generally expect not many goals in a Pep vs Arteta game.

It is nice to have Mbeumo against a Spurs team that offers space but outside of that, there isn’t much upside this week to a Wildcard. If you did want to Wildcard in Gameweek 5, I think you need to find some initial upside. Two of the best fixtures this week are Aston Villa v Wolves and Liverpool v Bournemouth, who have been mightily impressive but might afford more space to Liverpool’s experienced attackers than Nuno Espirito Santo’s deep block did.

So, here’s a slight amendment to the Wildcard 6 structure I implemented earlier in a Wildcard 5 draft.

GAMEWEEK 5/6 WILDCARD – DRAFT 2

The picks are largely the same in this draft but I’ve changed Haaland (yes I know!) and Bowen to Salah and Ollie Watkins (£8.9m). Watkins has Wolves (H) and Ipswich Town (A) in his next two, while Salah has Bournemouth (H) and Wolves (A).

I think the ‘aggressive’ play would be to let go of Haaland and try to chase positive variance with Watkins and Salah for the next two Gameweeks. My biggest worry is Haaland is in such prime form at the moment, while the fixture in Gameweek 6 – Newcastle United (A) – is actually a good one given the space the Magpies afford their opponents these days.

Largely speaking, there’s no prime fixture this week outside of Aston Villa, Liverpool and maybe Tottenham Hotspur and Brentford, who face each other. This is why trying to get by this week and hoping to get lucky seems like the better option to me.

LATERISER’S CURRENT GAMEWEEK 5 TEAM

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