Tips

The Complete Guide to Scout’s tips and advice for FPL Gameweek 5

Welcome to the Fantasy Football Scout Guide to Gameweek 5.

The international break is over – don’t worry, only 23 days to go until the next one – and it promises to be a crucial four-Gameweek period between now and then. The action gets underway this weekend with the Merseyside derby.

This guide aims to pick out all the crucial bits of information to help you ready your FPL team ahead of the 11:00 BST deadline.

The headline news from yesterday’s press conferences was undoubtedly the confirmed absence of Kevin De Bruyne (£11.6m). 

The 34.6%-owned Belgian had been a captaincy contender ahead of Manchester City’s clash with Arsenal, having totalled 33 points across two matches against the Gunners last season. 

But attention now turns away from Pep Guardiola’s troops leaving Fantasy managers faced with a tricky decision. Jan Sienkiewicz summed up the situation in Captain Sensible:

It’s a far from straightforward week concerning the captaincy, with fixtures that would have looked good on paper before the season started suddenly not appearing as favourable.

– Jan

Tottenham Hotspur take on a much-improved West Ham: over the last three Gameweeks, no team has allowed fewer shots from inside their box than the Hammers. And Everton, who face Liverpool, have the next-meanest defence.

But as Legomané humorously observed, it’s nigh-on impossible to tell what constitutes an easy fixture these days.

Az talked up Chelsea’s chances on the Scoutcast, and even revealed that he is planning to captain Kai Havertz (£8.4m) – although that was before he pushed the Wildcard button:

Southampton is the perfect game for the new look Chelsea… I know [Southampton’s] defensive numbers have been better, but I’m looking at them thinking if they play their high line, and you’ve got players like Werner and Pulisic, and Havertz pulling the strings and Ziyech doing all these creative bits in behind, then I think they’re going to really get at them. So I really like this fixture for Chelsea.

– Az

Although caution is perhaps advised for those considering the returning Christian Pulisic (£8.3m), Matt Henley neatly encapsulating the dilemma facing Fantasy managers:

Pulisic is quality but his legs are made of Weetabix.

– Matt Henley 

And in a Gameweek of divided opinions, Joe took a different view on Chelsea:

According to the expected goals stat, it looks like [Chelsea] may have got slightly lucky… the expected goals is 6.87, so very high, but the goals they’ve scored is 10, so they are overperforming.

– Joe speaking in the Captaincy Video

Spurs players appeal most to Joe. And with the news that De Bruyne has been ruled out, the veteran Scoutcaster is considering swapping out the Belgian for Son Heung-min (£9.2m). Could Son even be handed the captain’s armband?

I think Son is a very good captain pick in a week where I don’t think there are many good captains.

– Joe

West Ham have just a 15 per cent chance of a clean sheet, according to the odds supplied by G-Whizz, adding weight to the idea of backing a Spurs player. Harry Kane (£10.6m) gets the nod from BigManBakar:

Kane has created the highest amount of big chances in the league which add to his value. He has the best expected goal involvement (xGI) since the season started of all players in the league, so with great fixtures to come I believe he’s the main asset to own.

– BigManBakar

Schadenfreude and exciting new differentials

Schadenfreude is not the name of a former Spurs midfielder but one of the few German words adopted directly into the English language. If you want to know exactly what it means, take a look at Pro Pundit Sam Bonfield and husband Lee in their Top Five Wildcard Picks video from last week.

Spurs-fan Sam reveled in reminding Liverpool-fan Lee how many goals the Reds conceded to Aston Villa, leading fellow Pro Pundit Zophar to accuse her of “spousal abuse” on the FPL Wire. If that’s not enjoying the misfortune of others, I don’t know what is. By the way, it was seven goals in case anyone had forgotten. 

But all seemed well on Friday with the Bonfields in daring mood, braving the heights at the Tottenham Hotspur stadium. Following their adrenaline rush, will either of them feel emboldened to add Gareth Bale (£9.5m) to their squads?

The video footage released by both Bale and Spurs over the International break shows a player back in full training, looking happy and sharp. He has personally commented on the quality of the care and the facilities at Spurs and, after being overlooked for a few seasons in Spain, may feel he has something to prove (see Rodriguez at Everton for an indicator of what’s possible)… but, for me right now, the form of both Harry Kane and Son Heung-Min are just impossible to ignore, so you should make one or both your first picks from Tottenham’s assets.

– Sam

However, Jose Mourinho was noncommittal about whether Bale would start on Sunday:

He’s there, he’s there. Probably he plays Sunday, if he doesn’t he will on Thursday, but he’s there, he’s very, very close.

– Jose Mourinho

Bale isn’t the only enticing differential ahead of Gameweek 5. Pro Pundits Lateriser and Tom Freeman have both talked up Aston Villa assets during the international break. 

Ross Barkley (£5.9m) and Ollie Watkins (£6.0m) appeal to Lateriser along with Brighton’s Leandro Trossard (£6.0m). The Seagulls midfielder is taking up a very advanced position and producing some impressive underlying stats: only four midfielders have taken more shots.

Meanwhile Zophar pointed out that Ross Barkley was practically a support striker against Liverpool, judging by his shot map. And Tom even suggested he could be on penalties.

The Villa fan also singled out Watkins as his top differential pick, writing in glowing terms of his all-round potential and striking ability. The former Brentford star could benefit from an injury-hit Leicester City on Sunday, with Cağlar Söyüncü (£5.5m) set to miss out and his central defensive partner, Jonny Evans (£5.5m), a doubt with abdominal pain. 

Tom concluded his Pro Pundit piece:

I’m not totally convinced Villa will be good week in, week out, but if the connection between Grealish, Barkley and Watkins continues, they could offer FPL managers some serious value, and the fixtures between Gameweeks 6-15 will certainly give them the platform to impress.

– Tom

Elsewhere, Under-17 World Cup winner, Rhian Brewster (£4.5m), has piqued the interest of many in the FPL Community following his move to Sheffield United. Neale ran the rule over the former Liverpool youngster highlighting his finishing strength during a successful loan period at Swansea. The new recruit also picked up the Golden Boot at the Under-17 World Cup in India back in 2017.

Described as “a gift from the FPL gods” by Zophar, Brewster’s budget price tag enables us to upgrade our squad in other positions. Which could be handy for owners of Tyrick Mitchell (£4.1m) with the news that Patrick van Aanholt (£5.4m) is “back”.

Ahead of an enticing run, Van Aanholt was Joe’s differential pick on the Scoutcast – six of Crystal Palace’s next seven fixtures are rated at just two on the FPL website. 

And on FPL Black Box, Mark gave the Dutchman a ringing endorsement, pointing out that Palace perform very well against weaker opposition – they kept eight clean sheets against teams outside the ‘Big Seven’ (the ‘Big Six’ plus Leicester) – and Van Aanholt averaged five points per match in those games. What’s more, Mark thinks that he could be on penalties and free-kicks.

However, not everyone was so enthusiastic. Granville gave a withering reply when asked if he was a fan of PVA: “yeah, when I’m putting up wallpaper.”

Meanwhile Pro Pundit Holly found it useful to delve into the stats in an attempt to find some clarity during what’s been an unpredictable start to the season. 

The first name highlighted using her sanguine approach was Dominic Calvert-Lewin (£7.6m):

Calvert-Lewin leads the goal-scoring charts with six goals from six big chances, as well as dominating the shots (15) and shots on target (nine) behind just Harry Kane (£10.6m).

– Holy

Sometimes the obvious picks are the best.

Finally, Pro Pundit Andy revealed a stat that few expected to hear at the start of the season:

At 7.72 xGC [Manchester United] are the second worst defence statistically and are only kept off the bottom spot by West Brom, a stat that looks even worse when you consider United have only played three matches.

– Andy

It’s not a pretty picture for followers of the Red Devils: they are one of only four teams in the whole of English professional football to have conceded more goals than they’ve managed shots on target in 2020/21.

Community latest

Site moderator Gregor (real name Graeme Sumner) was invited to join Joe on his popular Meet the Manager series. 

Graeme has managed an outstanding three top 1,000 finishes during his FPL career, the best of which was 29th overall in 2016/17. An advocate of the eye test over stats, Graeme talked about his style of play and plans for the upcoming Gameweeks – he has it all mapped out with Antonio set to be his captain in Gameweek 8 for an enticing home encounter against Fulham. 

Make time to watch the interview if you haven’t seen it already. 

Earlier this week, the Best of the Community feature covered a range of topics from Chelsea’s defence to innovative ideas on how to handle the topsy-turvy start to the season. It also rounded-up all FFScout Mini-Leagues and Community Competitions.

And finally, for those interested in the Head-to-Head Leagues, the main page can be linked to here. The fixtures for Gameweek 5 can be found below:

Use the drop-down menus to show your league and division. To find out which league and division you are in, follow the instructions on the main Head-to-Head page.

Once the Gameweek starts, if you click on your opponent’s name you will be linked to their team on the FPL website.

May your arrows be green!

TopMarx Fan of Fantasy Football and Monty Python. "Archimedes out to Socrates, Socrates back to Archimedes, Archimedes out to Heraclitus, he beats Hegel. Heraclitus a little flick, here he comes on the far post, Socrates is there, Socrates heads it in! Socrates has scored! The Greeks are going mad, the Greeks are going mad! Socrates scores, got a beautiful cross from Archimedes. The Germans are disputing it. Hegel is arguing that the reality is merely an a priori adjunct of non-naturalistic ethics, Kant via the categorical imperative is holding that ontologically it exists only in the imagination, and Marx is claiming it was offside. Follow them on Twitter

1,310 Comments Post a Comment
  1. ClassiX
    • Fantasy Football Scout Member
    • 5 Years
    3 years, 5 months ago

    Kane or Son Cap?

    1. g40steve
      • 6 Years
      3 years, 5 months ago

      Sonny

      1. ClassiX
        • Fantasy Football Scout Member
        • 5 Years
        3 years, 5 months ago

        Cheers

    2. Penang Sandman
      • 11 Years
      3 years, 5 months ago

      Kane

      1. ClassiX
        • Fantasy Football Scout Member
        • 5 Years
        3 years, 5 months ago

        Thanks

  2. JJeyy
    • 8 Years
    3 years, 5 months ago

    reguillon or saiss

  3. shiraz
    • Fantasy Football Scout Member
    • 3 Years
    3 years, 5 months ago

    How does this wc look?

    Ryan (McCarthy)
    Robbo PVA, Saiss (Lamptey, Dunne)
    Salah Son JRod Grealish (Anguissa)
    DCL Jim Maupay

  4. Make United Great Again
    • 11 Years
    3 years, 5 months ago

    Banking on Liverpool coming back hungry after the Villa loss. Salah (C) locked in.

    1. Hazz
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 6 Years
      3 years, 5 months ago

      Too late, GW fail, deleting team.

      1. Hazz
        • Fantasy Football Scout Member
        • 6 Years
        3 years, 5 months ago

        Wrong reply 😀

  5. Hazz
    • Fantasy Football Scout Member
    • 6 Years
    3 years, 5 months ago

    Captain Kane or Son?

    1. Corgz Dark side of the Loon
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 8 Years
      3 years, 5 months ago

      I cheated and gave them both the arm band

  6. GOTHAM City F.C.
    • Fantasy Football Scout Member
    • 7 Years
    3 years, 5 months ago

    Pants

    1. g40steve
      • 6 Years
      3 years, 5 months ago

      Down

  7. Penang Sandman
    • 11 Years
    3 years, 5 months ago

    Next in line penalty taker for Man city is Mahrez isnt it

    1. JJeyy
      • 8 Years
      3 years, 5 months ago

      aguero who will play

      1. Penang Sandman
        • 11 Years
        3 years, 5 months ago

        no way Aguero starting

    2. DA Minnion (Former great)
      • 11 Years
      3 years, 5 months ago

      Sterling.

    3. Binny
      • 4 Years
      3 years, 5 months ago

      Gund or Sterling before mahrez

  8. It’s gonna Ben Mee
    • 10 Years
    3 years, 5 months ago

    Pen is down syndrome

  9. tiger
    • Fantasy Football Scout Member
    • 12 Years
    3 years, 5 months ago

    Panties down

  10. Muchentuchel
    • Fantasy Football Scout Member
    • 5 Years
    3 years, 5 months ago

    Kane my man!
    Get in!!

    1. DA Minnion (Former great)
      • 11 Years
      3 years, 5 months ago

      Scored already.

      1. 2999 - Lady of Legend
        • 3 Years
        3 years, 5 months ago

        Or at least claiming it

    2. Champions League Varane
      • 5 Years
      3 years, 5 months ago

      Let’s gooo

  11. DA Minnion (Former great)
    • 11 Years
    3 years, 5 months ago

    Got Joel ward last minute on wildcard . What has this season come to.

    1. F_Ivanovic
      • 8 Years
      3 years, 5 months ago

      ??

  12. Jimmy Boy
    • 7 Years
    3 years, 5 months ago

    Captain switched to Son at 10:59, bottled out of the all-or-nothing Werner (c)

  13. the dom 1
    • Fantasy Football Scout Member
    • 9 Years
    3 years, 5 months ago

    Pants down - GL all

    Salah cappers lets gooooooooo!!!!!

  14. FPL_trail_runner
    • 3 Years
    3 years, 5 months ago

    Took a last minute look at xGC data. Arsenal midtable , Everton much better.

    Changed captain from Salah to Sterling.

    Hamez and DCL on the bench. Team done.

    Meslier
    Ayling Saiss TAA Robbo Justin
    Sterling (c) Salah Son
    Brewster Antonio

    1. Rasping Drive
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 14 Years
      3 years, 5 months ago

      Wow, massive risk benching DCL and James ahead of Justin and Saiss

      1. FPL_trail_runner
        • 3 Years
        3 years, 5 months ago

        Could be. Its how i see the game going

        I think Liverpool keep a cleansheet.

        1. Rasping Drive
          • Fantasy Football Scout Member
          • 14 Years
          3 years, 5 months ago

          Good luck, at least you’re not sitting on the fence

        2. F_Ivanovic
          • 8 Years
          3 years, 5 months ago

          I've seen you talk a decent amount of sensible on here about backing the odds but then I see you do something like this and it doesn't compute. DCL and Rodriguez have higher chance of goal involvement than the CS from Ayling And Saiss.

          1. FPL_trail_runner
            • 3 Years
            3 years, 5 months ago

            Take your point but In the end there isnt much in it.

            I dont fancy Everton this week so see DCL to get 2 points and Hamez may even start from the bench. So 2 points at best.

            Ayling / Saiss/ Justin / Brewster for just this week have a slightly higher ceiling.

            I see it as a low risk move.

            Hamez and DCL will be locked in my team beyond this week.

            1. F_Ivanovic
              • 8 Years
              3 years, 5 months ago

              Can't see Hamez being benched in one of the biggest derbys in a long time. But fair points. I hope you're right at least about Hamez blanking given I don't own him!

  15. sunzip14
    • 7 Years
    3 years, 5 months ago

    Wasted my WC last gw selling Son+Kane. Now bought them back with a -4 by selling KDB and Ings. Luckily KDB can't punish me this week but expect Ings to score big against Chelsea 😀

  16. Tempestic
    • 5 Years
    3 years, 5 months ago

    Werner captain over Salah, Son and Sterling... what have I done

    1. Weasel Boy
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 11 Years
      3 years, 5 months ago

      like it

  17. Je suis le chat
    • 10 Years
    3 years, 5 months ago

    Balls, forgot about 90min deadline, was going to switch cap from Son to Mo.

    1. DA Minnion (Former great)
      • 11 Years
      3 years, 5 months ago

      You're lucky.

    2. FER FUSCH AKE
      • 7 Years
      3 years, 5 months ago

      I was going to become the first president of the United States but bollocks, was born in 1996.

  18. Party time
      3 years, 5 months ago

      So who did we end up with as captain?

      1. Champions League Varane
        • 5 Years
        3 years, 5 months ago

        (K)ane

        1. Party time
            3 years, 5 months ago

            Mo Salah here

        2. DA Minnion (Former great)
          • 11 Years
          3 years, 5 months ago

          Son

        3. Weasel Boy
          • Fantasy Football Scout Member
          • 11 Years
          3 years, 5 months ago

          Salah

        4. Make United Great Again
          • 11 Years
          3 years, 5 months ago

          Salahhhh

        5. TRIPOS TOPPER
          • 6 Years
          3 years, 5 months ago

          Salah C
          Son VC

        6. g40steve
          • 6 Years
          3 years, 5 months ago

          Son

        7. Yome
          • 12 Years
          3 years, 5 months ago

          Son

        8. It’s gonna Ben Mee
          • 10 Years
          3 years, 5 months ago

          Son

        9. Tempestic
          • 5 Years
          3 years, 5 months ago

          Werner

        10. Piggs Boson
          • 12 Years
          3 years, 5 months ago

          Salah

          12.3m for a very good reason.

        11. Rocky FPL
          • Fantasy Football Scout Member
          • 6 Years
          3 years, 5 months ago

          Mane

        12. dunas_dog
          • Fantasy Football Scout Member
          • 8 Years
          3 years, 5 months ago

          Son

        13. 2999 - Lady of Legend
          • 3 Years
          3 years, 5 months ago

          Jim punt

        14. Binny
          • 4 Years
          3 years, 5 months ago

          Sterling

        15. the dom 1
          • Fantasy Football Scout Member
          • 9 Years
          3 years, 5 months ago

          Mo C with Son VC

        16. Sun Jihai
          • Fantasy Football Scout Member
          • 12 Years
          3 years, 5 months ago

          Werner last chance saloon
          Everton and West Ham look good defensively (two best teams for xG conceded in the league)
          Southampton let in 5 last time they played a good team
          Werner 1G, 1A in the IB in one game

      2. g40steve
        • 6 Years
        3 years, 5 months ago

        Are you keeping KDB or getting rid?

        1. Weasel Boy
          • Fantasy Football Scout Member
          • 11 Years
          3 years, 5 months ago

          thinking if getting rid for Bale.

        2. Yome
          • 12 Years
          3 years, 5 months ago

          Sold for Grealish

        3. It’s gonna Ben Mee
          • 10 Years
          3 years, 5 months ago

          Got rid

        4. korbendallas82
          • 10 Years
          3 years, 5 months ago

          kept. A lack of interesting choices. Possible traps.

        5. 2999 - Lady of Legend
          • 3 Years
          3 years, 5 months ago

          Sold for Sterling

      3. Weasel Boy
        • Fantasy Football Scout Member
        • 11 Years
        3 years, 5 months ago

        Salah (c) o/

      4. Revival
        • Fantasy Football Scout Member
        • 11 Years
        3 years, 5 months ago

        Deadline has passed and still no DCL in my team. Going to be a rollercoaster ride watching the Merseyside derby.

        1. Champions League Varane
          • 5 Years
          3 years, 5 months ago

          Same here

      5. Bury94
        • Fantasy Football Scout Member
        • 6 Years
        3 years, 5 months ago

        Mane captain locked in

      6. Oggle22
        • 7 Years
        3 years, 5 months ago

        Heart said Bruno heart won captained Salah early kick off jinx incoming

        1. Oggle22
          • 7 Years
          3 years, 5 months ago

          Head won dooh haha

      7. Flying Nugget
        • Fantasy Football Scout Member
        • 14 Years
        3 years, 5 months ago

        11 cut off - wtf

        1. AC/DC AFC
          • Fantasy Football Scout Member
          • 8 Years
          3 years, 5 months ago

          Every week

          Since Rockstar!

          1. Meme2011
            • Fantasy Football Scout Member
            • 12 Years
            3 years, 5 months ago

            thought it was 11:30

        2. Meme2011
          • Fantasy Football Scout Member
          • 12 Years
          3 years, 5 months ago

          just realised exactly the same as i went to move my captain from salah to son

      8. Je suis le chat
        • 10 Years
        3 years, 5 months ago

        Anyone else watching the South Korea Netflix series "Stranger"? Excellent, maybe it's a portent for a Son haul.

        1. Weasel Boy
          • Fantasy Football Scout Member
          • 11 Years
          3 years, 5 months ago

          on my list

          1. Je suis le chat
            • 10 Years
            3 years, 5 months ago

            Interesting insight into the culture, long episodes but good escapism.

      9. DaisyDaisyDaisyDaisy
        • 10 Years
        3 years, 5 months ago

        Any chance Chelsea could covert Azpi to a CH to accomodate James and Chilwell?

        1. DaisyDaisyDaisyDaisy
          • 10 Years
          3 years, 5 months ago

          Or go a 3 with WBs?

      10. OverTinker
        • 5 Years
        3 years, 5 months ago

        Damn it!!!
        Kept the captaincy on Salah!!
        Can't wait for next season

        1. Brosstan
          • 9 Years
          3 years, 5 months ago

          Season over...

      11. Champions League Varane
        • 5 Years
        3 years, 5 months ago

        Pulisic please start!

        1. Piggs Boson
          • 12 Years
          3 years, 5 months ago

          Fingers crossed, but it's out of our control now. Time to relax 😎

          1. FPL_trail_runner
            • 3 Years
            3 years, 5 months ago

            Its always out of control. People miss this point.

            Focus on the decisions not the outcome.

            1. Piggs Boson
              • 12 Years
              3 years, 5 months ago

              Very true.

        2. DaisyDaisyDaisyDaisy
          • 10 Years
          3 years, 5 months ago

          Ive a feeling its a 20 min run out but with an attacking return of sorts

      12. AnfieldLad
        • 9 Years
        3 years, 5 months ago

        AZ took Werner out for a hit before ITB, then wildcarded yesterday and went with Werner. Absolute scenes

        1. Mr. O'Connell
          • 11 Years
          3 years, 5 months ago

          Shrewd

        2. korbendallas82
          • 10 Years
          3 years, 5 months ago

          i read the article on fpl, fair enough going with Chelsea punt given Southampton having problem handling their own style of play. im going with no Chelsea this weekend, only scouting.

        3. ThisTimeNxtYrRodney
          • Fantasy Football Scout Member
          • 8 Years
          3 years, 5 months ago

          He's only like the rest of us. "Losing it". In a confusing season like this many more will be making extraordinarily rash decisions.
          Great to be back after IB and genuinely, good luck to all.
          My last minute decision was to switch captaincy from Son to Kane, here's hoping......

      13. Dacra
        • 9 Years
        3 years, 5 months ago

        Ooops, forgot deadline is 90.mins now. Jiminez captain it is..