An exciting FPL gameweek has passed us by. There was plenty of excitement on the pitch to get the football fans and FPL managers off their seats.
Personally I scored well but it could have been better (isn’t that always the way?!). And as for plans, I’m weighing up a Wildcard this week – it was my original plan but can I get to a similar team that I’m happy with without using the chip?
Don’t forget, if you have any questions about the team selection, FPL in general or topics you want us to cover in future posts, you can contact me on @FPLwithStu on X.
Gameweek 5 review
A solid 75 points (against an average of 58) gave me a lovely green arrow. My overall rank is lower than I would want at this stage, at about 1m, so some consecutive green arrows would be great!
Henderson finally returned with a clean sheet, bonus points and save points. At last! Everton up next so I’m hopeful he can get something again.
For the second week running my defence massively disappointed. I wasn’t expecting much given the fixtures but my likely transfer is to switch out Gvardiol for Rico Lewis and then use those funds to get Gabriel of Arsenal. I’m tempted to take a hit to do it as I only have 1 free transfer.
My decision to remove Bruno Fernandes in gameweek 4 and bring in Diaz paid off. Last week it certainly didn’t but as expected, over the longer term, it was the right thing to do. I also have Diaz the captains armband which was crucial to my overall score.
I didn’t learn from last week’s mistake and again left Smith-Rowe on the bench. It was hard to know who to drop out for him but 8 points on the bench, outscoring 5 of the 7 midfielders and attackers I selected instead does hurt.
Haaland scored despite all the talk about the Arsenal defence doing a number on him and Solanke finally…finally got off the mark. I’m one of those chumps who have had him from the start so to get some return at last is gratifying.
Vardy was my transfer in for Isak and didn’t return this week but I’m quite happy to have him in. Despite the difficult fixture this week against Arsenal, Leicester’s fixtures look great for some time after so he’ll be a pick and forget.
Gameweek 6 team and transfers
I didn’t roll a transfer last week (having transferred Isak out for Vardy). As mentioned, I want to get Rico Lewis in and Gabriel of Arsenal. My defence is probably the weakest area of the team – Gvardiol hasn’t justified his £6m price tag and, apart from Robinson, I’ve largely scrimped on bargain players. I guess you get what you pay for!
To get both Gabriel and Lewis would mean a hit so I’m torn between that and spreading them over the next 2 gameweeks. a 4 point hit doesn’t seem like much but for the sake of bringing a move forward by just 1 week, I’d need an instant return to make it worthwhile.
Im leaning towards Gabriel for Gvardiol and Lewis next week:
Image source: fpl.team
Smith-Rowe in for Vardy who has a tough away fixture versus Arsenal. I’m doubly committed to an Arsenal clean sheet but run the risk of a Vardy goal being missed points from the bench and a loss of Gabriel’s clean sheet.
The rest of the team picks itself and Haaland gets the captaincy again. Diaz and Saka are both contenders but Haaland has been too good and consistent to not keep faith.
I’ve considered Wildcard but I’m not too unhappy with my team so it seems like an unnecessary step to make what might be only 3-4 real changes.
If I were to Wildcard it would look something like this:
Image source: fpl.team
A triple up on Arsenal with Raya the best GK in the game in my opinion, Gabriel probably takes that crown as centre back and Saka has been so consistent I’m sticking with him.
Lewis and Trent make the rest of a strong back 3 with Robinson still in the squad and a bargain £4m defender in Tuanzebe to complete the set.
My midfield really doesn’t change. There’s ways to save money, like downgrading Trent or Eze to try to get Salah but I’m very happy with Diaz as my Liverpool attacker. I would say that on the back of last week but so far he’s a better return for the price.
Vardy and Wood are the top bargain strikers to go alongside Haaland. They can be rotated based on fixtures and both fairly nailed on…oh and Wood has penalties too.
That’s 6 changes from my current squad and a couple like Tuanzebe from Faes and bringing in Trent are somewhat luxury moves.
It’s been a worthwhile exercise and if you’re considering hitting wildcard then draft it out first before actually confirming (team planners can really help). Consider how many changes do you actually want and need to make and whether it’s best use of Wildcard.
Some alternatives that I would consider if Wildcarding is keeping Solanke upfront and finding room for Mbeumo. Semenyo of Bournemouth may be a good enabler to afford those switches but in my opinion I would also need to weaken the bench too much as well.
And remember, if you do your transfers but forget to play the Wildcard chip, you still have until the game week deadline to select the chip. So don’t panic if you forget, just go back in and the 4 points per transfer will not be charged!
Conclusion
The Wildcard is in mind but the upside probably isn’t enough. The only question is do I rush through a double transfer and take a hit?
Get your thoughts over to us, tell us what you plan to do and any questions you want answering to @FPLwithStu on X.
