It’s time to load up on Arsenal assets for your Fantasy Premier League team as they face promoted Leicester and Southampton at home in succcessive games, then Bournemouth away.
It’s a run that brings back memories of the 21 goals they scored in four games back in February, so you’ll want at least one attacking Arsenal player in your line-up if you can.
This week’s team of the week has gone for the triple up, with Gunners talisman Bukayo Saka as captain.
The team of the week is selected based on current FPL prices to fit within a £100m budget, as if you were playing a Free Hit.
* Luis Diaz’s price increased from £7.9m to £8m overnight on Thursday
How did the last team of the week do?
After a flying start, it has been two down weeks in a row, with a rather average 57 points from last week’s team.
The heartbreak of a 96th-minute clean sheet and bonus wipeout for budget Southampton defender Yukinari Sugawara will take a while to get over!
And another quiet week for Liverpool’s Mohamed Salah – where he was again outscored by Erling Haaland – has me, and likely many other FPL managers, wondering whether to hold on to him.
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Goalkeeper and defence
Mark Flekken, Brentford, keeper, £4.5m – home to West Ham
West Ham were really poor at home to Chelsea in week five and they’ve only managed 18 shots on target this season.
Flekken has also made more saves (28) than any other keeper this season.
Gabriel, Arsenal, defender, £6.1m – home to Leicester City
I’d go as far as to say Gabriel is the essential FPL defender – especially at a million less than Trent Alexander-Arnold.
Seems an obvious statement as the Brazilian is the top-scoring defender and has netted in back-to-back games.
But it has become crystal clear that you can play your Arsenal defenders every week – don’t get fancy trying to dodge awkward-looking fixture runs.
And Gabriel is the best option as his goal threat is huge. His expected goals (xG) in 2022-23 was a massive 5.04, last season is was 4.48.
Could he score in a third-straight game?
Matthijs de Ligt, Manchester United, defender, £5m – home to Spurs
Speaking of xG, big Dutchman De Ligt has only started three games for United, but he has two clean sheets and a goal.
If you’ve watched United’s past two games, the eye test will tell you he’s regularly getting on the end of corners and his xG last week at Palace was 0.49.
So, despite a tough match-up at home to Spurs, De Ligt is a great value pick.
James Tarkowski, Everton, defender, £4.8m – home to Crystal Palace
Everton have got to improve at some point, right? This is a team that managed 10 clean sheets last season – being defensively tight is manager Sean Dyche’s trademark – and their defensive players are largely unchanged from 23-24.
Injuries have been an issue but Jarrad Branthwaite is likely to be back this week to partner Tarkowski and they face a Palace side who have yet to perform at their best.
Midfield
Bukayo Saka (captain), Arsenal, midfielder, £10m – home to Leicester City
This man is about as reliable as they come in FPL. A return every game so far but still feels like he has yet to hit top form.
Why captain Saka over Haaland? This is a tricky call and it’s fine to play things safer with Manchester City’s star man.
Saka, who scored 16 goals last season, is an upside choice and it feels like Arsenal will run riot at home to Leicester.
Gabriel Martinelli, Arsenal, midfielder, £6.9m – home to Leicester City
Martinelli’s FPL stock plummeted last season and he only has one return in 2024-25.
This is a gut-feel pick though – everything is in place for the Brazilian to have a good game and give us a glimpse of 22-23 Martinelli.
Luis Diaz, Liverpool, midfielder, £8m – away at Wolves
The Colombian is flying this season and is even ahead of team-mate Salah in the FPL points chart.
Diaz is outperforming all of his underlying numbers but sometimes you just have to roll with it, especially in a team that can’t afford Salah.
As long as you’re prepared for a random benching, Diaz is superb value at £7.9m and faces a Wolves side who have let in 14 goals so far this season.
Antoine Semenyo, Bournemouth, midfielder, £5.6m – home to Southampton
A favourite of this column, Semenyo still tops the charts among all midfielders for shots taken, with 24.
Bournemouth haven’t scored in two games – defeats v Chelsea and Liverpool – but they are a team who, when everything clicks, could run up a hatful.
They had 19 shots on goal in both their previous games. Hard to see Southampton keeping them out here if they can repeat that.
Bryan Mbeumo, Brentford, midfielder, £7.2m – home to West Ham
The Cameroon forward is the best value FPL player so far this season.
Four goals in three games, with blanks only in two of the toughest away trips in the league – at Liverpool and Manchester City.
Get him in your line-up, play him every week and enjoy.
Forwards
Erling Haaland, Manchester City, striker, £15.3m – away at Newcastle
Hopefully Haaland has calmed down a bit since the end of the Arsenal game and doesn’t go charging head first into any of Newcastle’s defenders.
He hasn’t let us down this season and Newcastle’s defensive statistics are worring. They are bottom three for shots on goal conceded (in general, in the box and on target) as well as big chances conceded.
Chris Wood, Nottingham Forest, striker, £6.1m – home to Fulham
Just a super consistent FPL pick at the moment, Wood has had six big chances this season, which puts him in the top four (Haaland and Ollie Watkins lead the way with 10).
And when he scores he picks up bonus, a bargain at £6.1m.
Subs bench
Hakon Valdimarsson, Brentford, goalkeeper, £4m – home to West Ham
Flekken’s back-up.
Dominic Calvert-Lewin, Everton, striker, £6m – home to Crystal Palace
DCL let me down last week so has been relegated to the bench. But still a great choice in this price range for Everton’s welcoming run of games coming up.
Milos Kerkez, Bournemouth, defender, £4.5m – home to Southampton
An FPL darling during double gameweeks last season, he faces a Saints side with just two goals so far in 24-25 and is a threat going forward.
Tyrick Mitchell, Crystal Palace, defender, £4.9m – away at Everton
A solid choice with an assist in him, and a Palace clean sheet is definitely not out of the question.
Total cost: £98.8m
Player to watch
Tyler Dibling, Southampton, midfielder, £4.5m
We’re always on the lookout for budget midfielder options and 18-year-old Dibling looks like another star to emerge from Southampton’s famed academy.
He returned 11 points last time out and, if he carries on starting games, Dibling could be the best option in this price bracket.
Team to target
Leicester City – Arsenal (a), Bournemouth (h), Southampton (a)
Looking past this week’s daunting trip to Emirates Stadium, Leicester have home games against Saints and Forest in the next four and their budget options (Jamie Vardy, £6m and Stephy Mavididi, £5.3m stand out) could be worth a flyer.
View from Fantasy 606…
Gameweek six is proving a very popular week for managers to play the wildcard.
The trick is to try to find those two or three differentials in among the more obvious picks of the Arsenal trio of David Raya, Gabriel and Bukayo Saka, as well as Bryan Mbeumo and the inevitable Erling Haaland.
There’s quite a few options among the strikers, with Dominic Solanke, Dominic Calvert-Lewin and Chris Wood all coming in at under 10% ownership.
I’m also keen on getting some more Manchester City players into my squad despite the obvious risk of Pep roulette. Savinho is a huge differential and a potential bargain too at just £6.5m, but I also want to have a plan to be able to bring in Phil Foden if he gets regular starts again.
Antoine Semenyo looks like a very good short-term option for Bournemouth’s next two games against Southampton and Leicester, while Statman Dave has been recommending Everton’s Dwight McNeil to our listeners as a longer-term prospect in the same price bracket.
Our manager for the listeners’ team has also decided to play the wildcard this week and has spent most of the cash on Cole Palmer and Ollie Watkins, while going for four cheap defenders, Harry Winks and Ipswich striker Liam Delap to balance the books.
If you’d like to come on the podcast to manage the listeners’ team one week then please send us an e-mail on fantasy606@bbc.co.uk
