Fantasy Premier League: What we learned from Gameweek 5 – Chelsea on the rise and Diaz worries

We saw 30 goals scored in Gameweek 5, with plenty of popular Fantasy Premier League assets returning.

Aston Villa’s Morgan Rogers (£5.2m) finally came good with two assists and Luiz Diaz (£7.9m) was the joint-highest points scorer of the week with 16 points.

Erling Haaland (£15.3m) continued his scoring streak in a scintillating match against Arsenal, while Gabriel (£6.0m) also scored for the second game running.

Here are the main talking points from the weekend.

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Chelsea’s assets are worth a look — in attack and defence

Among the game’s forwards, only Haaland has scored more goals than Nicolas Jackson (£7.7m) as he continues to impress for Chelsea. He now has four goals and two assists in his opening five league matches.

Enzo Maresca didn’t sign a new out-and-out No 9 during the summer transfer window and it looks as though he never really needed to as Jackson has been performing so well. I don’t think his position is under threat and he should get plenty of minutes despite him coming off after 63 minutes during Chelsea’s 3-0 win over West Ham.

Cole Palmer (£10.6m) was also subbed off at the same time and with his team being up 3-0 against their London rivals, it seems like these were ‘game-state’ substitutions. I don’t see Jackson and Palmer being taken off early happening too often going forward.

Jackson has truly thrown his hat into the ring as a serious option for our forward spots. Those with Newcastle’s Alexander Isak (£8.4m) can move to him easily and he is a fine alternative to Ollie Watkins (£8.9m), who might not be affordable.

Chelsea have some good fixtures on the horizon with Brighton (H), Nottingham Forest (H), Newcastle United (H) and Manchester United (A) in their next five games.

The only other Chelsea attacker worthy of consideration is Palmer and he should be on the radar for Fantasy Premier League managers who don’t already own him. The England international has two goals and four assists so far.

Gameweek 6 is a popular time to wildcard and both Jackson and Palmer should be heavily considered.

Chelsea also seem to be clicking into gear and they’ve scored the joint-most goals (11) so far in the league and have kept clean sheets in their last two matches.

Robert Sanchez (£4.6m) and Levi Colwill (£4.5m) look to be the best buys from their defence. Colwill looks the most certain to start from the defenders and it’s clear that Sanchez is Maresca’s number one.

Again, if you are on a wildcard, both are good options. They are a top-six defence, so their defensive options are good value at their prices.

Isak and Newcastle are falling short of expectations

Newcastle were deservedly beaten 3-1 by Fulham on Saturday and to be honest, the signs were there. They have been playing quite poorly since the start of the season but have managed to scrape a few wins, which have papered over the cracks.

They have scored seven goals with an expected goals figure (xG) of 6.7, which ranks them 13th overall for this metric.

Despite some good fixtures against the likes of Southampton (H), Tottenham Hotspur (H), Wolves (A) and Fulham (A), the likes of Isak and Anthony Gordon (£7.4m) have disappointed.

If you own them, they would be high on my sell list. Eddie Howe’s side play Manchester City (H), Chelsea (A) and Arsenal (H) in their next five games.

Both Isak and Gordon have plenty of replacements around their price category. As mentioned earlier, Jackson is an option, Watkins if you can find the money, and even Chris Wood (£6.1m) is a good shout since we learned at the weekend that he is the penalty taker for Nottingham Forest.

For Gordon, Bryan Mbeumo (£7.1m) would be my top replacement. Brentford are about to embark on a great run of fixtures.

They play West Ham (H), Wolves (H), Ipswich (H), Bournemouth (H) and Leicester (H) during the next eight. Mbeumo is nailed to start, will play 90 minutes most weeks, and is on penalties.

Why you shouldn’t get carried away by Liverpool assets

Diaz was the star of the show as Arne Slot’s Liverpool ran out 3-0 winners against Bournemouth.

The Liverpool winger scored a brace and is now the top-scoring midfielder in the game with five goals, one assist and 51 FPL points.

However, going forward, I think barring Mohamed Salah (£12.8m), we should probably look to avoid the Liverpool attackers.

Diogo Jota (£7.6m) was benched for striker Darwin Nunez (£7.2m), who scored Liverpool’s third, and with Cody Gakpo (£7.2m) waiting in the wings, Diaz could be one to make way in one of the upcoming games. The schedule is getting tighter, with both the Champions League and Carabao Cup having started.

At the moment, Salah seems to be the only one of their attackers who looks rotation-proof. Liverpool also have some tricky fixtures coming up, with Chelsea (H) and Arsenal (A) in the next four.

If you already have Liverpool assets, I wouldn’t rush to sell them, but if you’re on a wildcard, I think you can afford to avoid them just now.

Arsenal’s top players remain must-haves

If you are selling your Liverpool assets, then Arsenal players are who you should be targeting. They were perhaps unfortunate to concede a late goal in their 2-2 thriller with league champions Manchester City.

They had some tough fixtures in the opening five matches of the season, namely Aston Villa (A), Spurs (A) and Manchester City (A), but still managed three clean sheets, scoring eight goals.

They now play Southampton (H), Leicester City (H) and Bournemouth in their next three.

Bukayo Saka (£10.0m) has returned in every game and I wouldn’t read too much into his half-time substitution against Manchester City. He was merely the sacrifice for Arsenal to defend their lead once Leandro Trossard (£6.9m) had been sent off (the Belgian will be eligible for Gameweek 6 as he serves his one-game suspension in midweek when Arsenal play Bolton in the Carabao Cup).

Gabriel and Saka should be the top transfer targets from Gameweek 6. The Brazilian defender has now scored in his last two matches and has immense goal threat from set pieces, but more importantly, he plays for the best defence in the league.

Saka is their best attacker and is on penalties. The third spot is still up in the air. David Raya (£5.6m) looks great value, but he was seen limping in the tunnel after the City game, so he is one to monitor.

(Top photo: Justin Setterfield/Getty Images)