Aryaman S

FPL GW 5 Lessons: Sanchez Red Card, Palmer Update, Arsenal Fixture Swing

Fantasy Premier League

Gameweek 5 of the Fantasy Premier League season delivered a mix of predictable returns and surprising outcomes, leaving managers with plenty to ponder. As the dust settles on another round of fixtures, here’s a look at the key talking points and takeaways that will shape FPL decisions in the coming weeks. It was yet again another low scoring gameweek with the average score being just 42.

The Problematic Double Villa Attack

Watkins and Rogers the duo that had us dreaming with their returns in pre season. However the reality in the league has been vastly different both of them have not managed a single return this season. We were hoping for consistent returns however the only consistency Watkins has delivered is a barrage of 2 pointers.

Aston Villa in general have been woeful, they have only scored a single goal which also came from a stunner from Matty Cash. They were playing against 10 men of Sunderland for 70 minutes yet they were outperformed on xG 1.10 to Sunderland and just 0.66 for Villa, managing just 2 shots on target.

Unai Emery is to be partly blamed for this, he has been setting up with the same formation and keeps picking Buendia who just does not seem like a player who should be on the pitch. Harvey Elliot a creative outlet is being benched each week.

So a lot of people are wondering what do we do with our Villa assets, I have activated the Wildcard and hence transferred them out and I would recommend you to do the same with/without the wildcard. £8.8m and £7.0m for Watkins and Rogers respectively is a lot of money which you could be using for much better players.

The Palmer/Sanchez Situation

For Sanchez and Dubravka owners it was a painful 7 point swing as Sanchez made a horrible mistake leading to a straight red card in the 5th minute which meant he scored -3 points. This caused a flurry of substitutions as Maresca subbed off Neto and Estevao for Jörgensen and Tosin.

Luckily for Sanchez owners he will be available against Brighton as he only received a one match ban which he will serve against Lincoln City midweek in the Carabao cup. However the Chelsea defence looks vulnerable without Colwill as they have conceded 7 goals in their last 3 games.

Jörgensen also looked great after coming on and could replace Sanchez against Brighton as well. I would keep him and play him if you have got Dubravka as cover if you are not on a Wildcard, however if you are on Wildcard a switch to Raya or Donnarumma makes much better sense.

One of the substitutions, Marseca made was subbing off Palmer for a more defensive player in Andrey Santos. Marseca claimed it was a groin injury rather than a tactical substitution, Palmer was seen with an ice bag on his thigh when he was sat on the bench as well. He looked fine to me and could be in line for a start against Brighton, i would personally keep and bench him if there is an issue with him.

Wirtz Woes: Is It Time to Cut Your Losses?

Just like the double Villa attack, Florian Wirtz is one match away from the infamous 007 stat. He has managed 0 goals and 0 assists for Liverpool in 6 games so far. He was also benched for one of Liverpool’s most important matches of the season, the Merseyside derby. He would come on and get a yellow card which would bring his FPL score to 0 points this week. To make matters worse, Liverpool dominated Everton and scored 2 goals in his absence.

He has also dropped in price to £8.3m and is currently the most sold midfielder with over 200,000 transfers out. I would also recommend you to sell him and do it quickly as lots of people have activated their Wildcard and his price could drop further. At this price range Semenyo, Foden, Ndiaye, Eze and Kudus all look like much better options.

Arsenal Assets: Who to Target for the Fixture Swing

One of the main reasons lot of people have activated their Wildcard (me included) is to target the Arsenal fixture swing as lots of us went into the season without any Arsenal assets. If you are looking to offload Sanchez, Raya is a great pick at £5.5m.

For defenders it is upto your playstyle if you can afford to take risks, Calafiori and Timber are £0.4m and £0.3m cheaper than Gabriel respectively. They offer more goal threat but are however subject to rotation with competition from White and Lewis-Skelly. If you want to go with Saliba who is £0.1m cheaper than Gabriel you can do that as well, he made his return from injury against Manchester City and played the full 90.

Eze is a great midfield pick at £7.5m and could be a great option if you want to offload Wirtz. He has gotten 2 assists in just 143 minutes for Arsenal. The ball to Martinelli for the equalizer was superb and there is a case had he started, Arsenal could have challenged for the win. Arteta likes to play defensive against top teams and hence his benching but he should be in the starting eleven against Newcastle.

Saka also came on after half time alongside Eze marking his return from injury and looked brilliant he was constantly being fouled and looked dangerous everytime he was on the ball. The only issue is his price £9.8m could be an issue if you want to go for a Haaland and Salah team.

Gyokeres is one interesting player, I am personally not sold on him, his £9.0m price tag looks very expensive and looks very sluggish. He will score goals but is his price justifying his goals I do not think so. He could also not be on penalties with Saka’s return and it is tough fitting him in alongside other heavy hitters on a Wildcard.


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