Fantasy Premier League (FPL) is back! After a mammoth break, the last of the internationals is over and attention returns to the domestic game.
Ahead of the Gameweek 6 deadline, we’ll be hearing from our team of regular contributors – starting here with FPL Milanista, aka Obay.
Obay, who you can find here on X, has six top 10k finishes to his name, as well as a further five in the top 25k.
After 19 days without Premier League football, FPL managers have had something they rarely get during a season: time.
But has it been too much time?
WHAT WE KNOW VS WHAT WE FEEL
The international break has given us almost three weeks to analyse our squads, watch highlights, read injury updates, reconsider our Gameweek 1 decisions and, inevitably, convince ourselves that we need to make more transfers than we actually do.
The biggest challenge heading into Gameweek 6 could very well be separating what we know from what we feel.
After five Gameweeks, the temptation is to buy the players who have already delivered, those at the top of the points charts and names who everyone is suddenly talking about.
So, perhaps the question we should be asking before every Gameweek 6 transfer is simple: are we buying with our head or are we buying with our heart?
I will go through a few players now and assess them individually.
PASCAL GROSS
There may be no better example than Pascal Gross (£5.9m) here.
Three goals, four assists and the highest FPL points total in the game make him almost impossible to ignore. More than 800,000 managers have brought him in ahead of Gameweek 6.
The heart has a convincing argument: he’s cheap, in-form, producing attacking returns and Brighton are flying.
The head, however, looks at what comes next:
Albion’s fixture run is, arguably, among the least appealing over that period. So, are we buying Gross because we genuinely believe he is one of the best midfield options for the next five Gameweeks? Or are we buying him because we are afraid of missing the points he has already scored?
If you already own him, selling after seven attacking returns would be difficult to justify. But if you don’t own him, waiting may be the more sensible move. A good player isn’t automatically a good transfer.
JOAO PEDRO
The same thinking applies to the injury situation surrounding Joao Pedro (£7.7m). The Chelsea forward has been one of the most productive FPL assets so far, with 33 points in four appearances.
The natural reaction to an injury concern is to sell. But the better question is: if Pedro is completely fit, would I still want to sell him?
If the answer is no, perhaps the correct move is to wait for more information rather than transferring him out simply because we are uncomfortable with uncertainty. Sometimes the smartest FPL transfer is the one you don’t make yet.
BRUNO FERNANDES
Moving on to Bruno Fernandes (£11.9m).
The Manchester United midfielder has 31 points and remains heavily involved in his team’s attack, yet he has been one of the most sold players ahead of Gameweek 6.
That tells us something about FPL psychology. We don’t judge premium players only on what they are doing; we judge them against what we expected them to do when we bought them. One blank becomes two, and suddenly the player who looked essential three weeks ago becomes someone we cannot wait to sell.
But has Bruno’s role actually changed? Is he still on penalties and set pieces? Is he still involved? And with Manchester United facing Tottenham Hotspur at home in Gameweek 6, is this really the moment to abandon him?
The answer might still be yes. But it should be based on what we expect from him going forward, not simply frustration with what has already happened.
FULHAM + NEWCASTLE PLAYERS
While Brighton dominate the conversation, Fulham and Newcastle United offer something exciting – and that is good fixtures.
The Cottagers have, arguably, the best fixture run over the next five Gameweeks, while Matthias Jaissle’s outfit also has an appealing sequence of fixtures:
They might not generate the same excitement as a player who has just scored 14 points, but that’s the point. We tend to love buying points, but the better approach is often to look at what happens next. Don’t just buy the player who scored last week, but buy the player who has a good chance of scoring next week.
FINAL THOUGHTS
So, what should we do in Gameweek 6?
The answer isn’t to ignore form, ownership or points, as those things matter. It’s to put them into context. Before making a transfer, ask yourself: would I still buy this player if he had blanked last Gameweek? Am I buying the player, or am I buying the points he has already scored? Has his role actually changed? What do his next five fixtures look like?
And, perhaps most importantly, ask: what am I afraid will happen if I don’t make this transfer? If the answer is, “I’m afraid he’ll score and everyone else will have him,” then we’re probably not making a football decision. We’re making an emotional one.
After such a long break, it is tempting to treat Gameweek 6 as a fresh start and tear everything up, but I don’t think we need to. The best approach is somewhere between the head and the heart. Keep the players you still believe in. Don’t chase points simply because they arrived during the first five Gameweeks. Don’t sell good players simply because they have blanked. And don’t ignore a fixture swing because a player isn’t fashionable yet.
That means being cautious with the rush for Brighton assets, patient with players whose injury situations are still unclear, and willing to look beyond the obvious names towards teams with better fixtures. Most importantly, don’t let three weeks of FPL content convince you that your team needs to change completely.
The international break has given us plenty of time to think. Now, perhaps, the smartest thing we can do is think a little less emotionally. Because in FPL, the best transfer isn’t always the one that feels best. Sometimes, it’s the one that makes the most sense.
Good luck, everyone. Finally, we have Premier League football back!
