We have put together our early Scout Picks for Gameweek 5 of Fantasy Premier League (FPL).

With EFL Cup action and European club fixtures to come, as well as the upcoming Scout Squad nominations, there’s plenty of time for our weekly selection to change.

But this early XI at least provides a glimpse into the players and teams who will be under consideration.

ABOUT THE SCOUT PICKS ‘BUS TEAM’

There are, as ever, certain restrictions for our squad:

• An £83.0m budget for our starting XI
• An overall squad limit of £100.0m
• No more than three players per team

GAMEWEEK 5 FIXTURES

Above: The Gameweek 5 fixtures sorted by difficulty on our Season Ticker.

THE LIKELY LADS

Gameweek 5 is a curious affair, as there aren’t too many stand-out, must-have targets.

The matches are largely tricky to call, with the clash between Arsenal and Manchester City further limiting the Scout Picks player pool.

Mohamed Salah’s (£14.5m) form has been the subject of much debate this season. Notably, the Egyptian’s injury time penalty at Turf Moor on Sunday was his only shot on goal in Gameweek 4. Yet that is precisely why you own Salah, because he is the only Liverpool attacker you can trust to remain on the pitch for the duration of the match.

Two of the last four Merseyside derbies have seen late goals fly in.   

“As for taking Mo off, if you need a goal, it will probably happen this season or maybe next season, but it probably won’t happen a lot.” – Arne Slot on Mohamed Salah

Perhaps the likeliest source of defensive returns will come at Anfield, too.

Liverpool have kept back-to-back clean sheets, and given the uncertainty in both full-back positions, Virgil van Dijk (£6.1m) is probably the stand-out defender option this week. The Dutchman ranks second among defenders for total defensive contributions (DefCons) in 2025/26. It’s also worth noting he would have hit the required threshold for extra points in both Merseyside derbies last season.

Antoine Semenyo (£7.5m) has five attacking returns in four matches ahead of the clash with Newcastle United, having had six Opta-defined ‘big chances’ in that time. Given the Magpies’ schedule (this clash arrives less than 72 hours after their Champions League encounter with Barcelona), Semenyo is a good bet to make the Scout Picks.

We could add further representation from Bournemouth in the form of DefCon magnet Marcos Senesi (£4.6m).

IN CONTENTION

Brighton and Hove Albion and Tottenham Hotspur assets may come into consideration for their upcoming match at the Amex Stadium.

The Seagulls are one of just four teams yet to keep a clean sheet this season, so Xavi Simons (£7.0m) and Mohammed Kudus (£6.6m) are tempting picks.

Simons showed flashes of his quality at the London Stadium on Saturday. Brighton have also allowed 19 key passes to be created from their right side, the highest number of any team except Burnley, so there is significant assist potential for the set-piece taker.

Kaoru Mitoma (£6.4m) and Yankuba Minteh’s (£5.9m) threat down the flanks may lead us to steer clear of Spurs defenders, mind.

Aston Villa, Nottingham Forest and Wolverhampton Wanderers all come up against newly-promoted opposition this weekend, but there aren’t that many players worthy of consideration.

Considering Villa’s lack of attacking threat, Morgan Rogers (£7.0m) and Ollie Watkins (£8.8m) will likely find it tough to get a look-in.

Wolves’ Emmanuel Agbadou (£4.5m) and Rodrigo Gomes (£4.5m), who is unbeaten for shots and expected goal involvement (xGI) among his teammates this season, could perhaps come into the defender conversation. Creatively, opponents Leeds have been lacking thus far:

Above: Leeds have created just five big chances this season, the fourth-lowest tally in the league

As for Forest, we’ll get to gauge their squad under Ange Postecoglou some more against Swansea City on Wednesday night, but initial thoughts turn to Matz Sels (£5.0m), Morgan Gibbs-White (£7.5m) and Chris Wood (£7.6m).

Elsewhere, Maxence Lacroix (£5.0m) and Jean-Philippe Mateta (£7.6m) are names we’ve pencilled in, especially with West Ham United’s record for conceding from set plays (see image below). Yeremy Pino (£6.0m), who was Crystal Palace’s best player against Sunderland last week, is another option to consider.

Fulham, meanwhile, kept a clean sheet last time out and host Brentford in Gameweek 5, so cheap enablers like Joachim Andersen (£4.5m) and Kenny Tete (£4.5m) more than merit a mention.

Manchester United and Chelsea players could perhaps muscle their way into contention. Bruno Fernandes (£9.0m), Bryan Mbeumo (£8.1m), Cole Palmer (£10.4m) and Joao Pedro (£7.7m) may pick up some votes, for example, but there could be better fixtures to target this week.

Finally, with Arsenal and Man City squaring off in north London, we could potentially overlook both sides in the Scout Picks. Viktor Gyokeres (£9.0m) and Erling Haaland (£14.1m) are the likeliest candidates to make the cut, primarily because of the limited availability of other attractive forward choices in Gameweek 5.

Haaland has been directly involved in five goals this season, the joint-most of any player. He also scored against Arsenal both home and away in 2024/25, but was restricted to just one shot and two penalty box touches at the Emirates.

THE LONGER SHOTS       

The likes of Martin Dubravka (£4.0m), Joe Rodon (£4.0m) and Reinildo (£4.0m) could emerge as budget defensive options, but it does feel like others are ahead of the newly-promoted trio, at least for now.

Further forward, Jaidon Anthony (£5.5m), Anton Stach (£5.0m) and Habib Diarra (£5.5m) are potential budget enablers, but are much more likely to warm the Scout Picks bench.

Nick Woltemade (£7.0m), meanwhile, remains an outsider, particularly with Newcastle in European action on Thursday.

GAMEWEEK 5 EARLY SCOUT PICKS