FPL GW5 Watchlist – Stand Out Players Who Impressed In GW4

What a GW4 it was! A brilliant GW giving us FPL managers a lot to think about. Some interesting results & individual performances by some premium as well as budget gems have made the FPL landscape all the more interesting. The 3 x premium vs 2 x premium players team debate is gathering steam. The 3 premium advocates are basically rallying behind Salah, Lukaku & Ronaldo template, whereas the tried & tested 2 x premium strategy still has its backers with Salah & one of Ronaldo or Lukaku included.

The 2021/22 FPL season is definitely turning out to be one of the best FPL seasons in a long while with a lot of player options in all price ranges. This enhances the variety within teams & gives seasoned as well as newbie FPL managers to prove their skills. Let’s dive into some of this week’s eye-catching player analysis. Please excuse me for not including Ronaldo & Lukaku who had impressive home debuts. They are world class players & can score/perform against any team, so let’s look at some others who are legitimate contenders for our teams.

Before going further, do vote in this week’s FPL GW5 allaboutfpl captaincy poll. The same will be available in the captaincy analysis and metrics blog written by @AK_FPL1. The metrics has been delivering consistently with a 100% record this year. Last week the metric predicted Salah as the best captaincy candidate and he returned once again in GW4. Stay tuned for the GW5 Captaincy metric to see who tops it. Link to all our FPL Gameweek 5 blogs.

[Total_Soft_Poll id=”14″]

The results and the captaincy metric blog will be published soon based on the votes.

FPL GW5 Player Watchlist based on their GW4 Performance

Conor Gallagher – 5.6m mid, 4.4% owned

GW4 performance: 8 points (2 assists)

Crystal Palace looks like a team revitalized under Patrick Vieira and seems to have adapted to his tactics easily. Palace have recruited well & players like Andersen & Guéhi have strengthened the backline. Gallagher, on loan from Chelsea, has been a brilliant piece of business as well. Him along with Kouyaté & McArthur bossed the midfield trio of Spurs in GW4. He has been putting in solid performances for the past 3 GWs (was ineligible to play in GW1 against Chelsea). His tireless runs along with his spatial awareness has been causing problems to opponents & is reminiscent of a certain Frank Lampard. Gallagher is on all set pieces (except penalties) so he has more avenues to points compared to others in his price bracket.

Next fixtures: LIV (A), BHA (H), LEI (H)

Palace visit Anfield next to face an in-form Liverpool team. They are more than capable of providing a counter-attacking threat based on their recent performances. For the price of 5.6m he definitely needs to be considered among the likes of Doucouré & Gray.

Further Read: FPL GW5 Guide To Post Wildcard Strategy | Life After Playing Wildcard

Demarai Gray – 5.7m mid, 13.3% owned

GW4 performance: 7 points (1 goal)

Everton have really been a force to reckon with since the start of the season. They seemed to be a team reliant on Calvert-Lewin, but in his absence, they were still equally effective. Gray has been operating as the counter-attacking outlet & ruthless in front of goal as well. He is what Adama Traoré owners hoped they would have got having scored 3 goals from 3 shots on target! Even though this seems to be unsustainable, his forward runs have been impressive. He was the most advanced Everton player as well.

Abdoulaye Doucouré – 5.5m mid, 2.3% owned

GW4 performance: 10 points (2 assists)

Doucouré has reminded us of his attacking late runs into the box during his stint at Watford. His threat from set pieces makes him a stand out option in this price range. Depending on your inclination & preference, you would not go wrong in going for either Gray or Doucouré as your Everton pick, since both seem to be involved in all goals Everton score. Benitez has used him alongside Allan as a double pivot or as midfield enforcers. Interestingly, Doucouré has been given the license to bomb forward & get into the box more often to be at the end of crosses from Digne & Coleman. With DCL out, Doucouré has all the attributes to emulate the striker’s aerial threat in the box.

Next fixtures: AVL (A), NOR (H), MUN (A)

Everton travel to Villa next & this fixture looks primed for goals. With DCL set to miss out until the next international break, Everton will be reliant on Gray & Doucouré to find the back of the net and create chances. Villa has only kept 1 CS & Norwich is amongst the worst teams defensively.

Below is a comparison of these 3 brilliant budget midfield enablers based on their GW4 performance.

Now, I’ve rated the player’s based on their performances over the last 4 GWs as per certain criteria below.

Further Read: Best forwards to replace Antonio and Calvert-Lewin | FPL Gameweek 5

Nicolas Pépé – 7.2m mid, 1.5% owned

GW4 performance: 6 points (1 assist)

Arsenal started the season in the worst way possible. They had players missing due to Covid, injuries & some returning from international tournaments. Pépé has shown glimpses of his attacking prowess but has found it difficult to remain consistent with his points returns. He has all the facets of the ideal FPL player when analyzing his stats, eye-tests & most importantly the selfishness to shoot at sight! After their much-improved attacking performance against Norwich, Arsenal have the fixtures to turn their season around & without any European distractions to bother, Pépé should prove to be a valuable differential. He could be a slight rotation risk since we have not seen an instance where Arteta has had all his players available, so do keep that in mind as well.

• Big chances – 1
• Chances created – 6 (most in GW4)
• Goal attempts – 6 (2^nd most in GW4)
• Shots inside box – 4
• Penalty area touches – 13
• xG – 0.82

Next fixtures: BUR (A), TOT (H), BHA (A)

Burnley are yet to win a game this season & are amongst the worst defences this season. They will try to attack at home, which should ideally benefit Pépé & Co. to counter attack. Pépé is one of the fastest players in the league & his incisive runs could prove to be major weapon in Arsenal’s arsenal! Spurs is their London derby & it should be a heated affair. Pépé has a good record against Brighton as well. So, he should become a shrewd pick going forward.

Further Read: FPL GW5 Differential Picks To Consider Ahead Of Gameweek 5 Deadline

Before going further, do vote in this week’s FPL GW5 allaboutfpl captaincy poll. The same will be available in the captaincy analysis and metrics blog written by @AK_FPL1. The metrics has been delivering consistently with a 100% record this year. Last week the metric predicted Salah as the best captaincy candidate and he returned once again in GW4. Stay tuned for the GW5 Captaincy metric to see who tops it. Link to all our FPL Gameweek 5 blogs.

Sadio Mané – 11.9m mid, 2.7% owned

GW4 performance: 8 points (1 goal)

Pricing Mané only 0.5m less than Salah, had a very detrimental effect on his ownership when the season started. If it had been around 10.5m or 11m, Mané should have been a decent inclusion for many teams. With the current form Salah is in, you should be brave to not go with him in your team. But with big hitting captain options like Ronaldo & Lukaku in the midst, Salah could be dispensable if your judgement is based solely on stats & the eye test. Leeds really struggled to get hold on his runs & his expertise in making blindsided runs in behind defenders is emaculate.

Having 2 selfish players in the same team can prove to be either good for both or bad for both. Liverpool have Salah & Mané in that mould. But you could say that Salah has tended to be more creative & unselfish when creating chances this season, whereas Mané has remained selfish, but less clinical overall. An unplayable player on his day, he has been missing lot of chances lately, but with easy fixtures still coming up, he should prove to be the ultimate differential. He could be the perfect replacement for Bruno Fernandes or Son in a 3 x premium team along with 2 of Salah, Ronaldo or Lukaku.

• Big Chances – 3 (most in GW4)
• Goal attempts – 10 (most in GW4)
• Shots inside box – 8 (most in GW4)
• Penalty area touches – 14 (most in GW4)
• xG – 1.83 (most in GW4)
• Chances created – 1

Next fixtures: CRY (H), BRE (A), MCI (H)

Liverpool has led the attacking team stats in most metrics this season. Mané’s attacking prowess would be critical for Liverpool’s success this season & they will count on him to improve his goal conversion rate. He has a brilliant record against Palace & eagle-eyed ones among you would have already realized that he scored twice in the last game of the 2020/21 season. Those who captained him or even transferred him in improved their rank by leaps & bounds.

Thanks for your time. If you enjoyed reading the article please share it with other players & look forward to your valuable comments & opinion. May your arrows be green!

All stats & heatmaps are courtesy of Fantasy Football Scout & SofaScore respectively.

Further Reads from ALLABOUTFPL Ahead of FPL Gameweek 5:

FPL GW5 Differential Picks To Consider Ahead Of Gameweek 5 Deadline
FPL GW5 Guide To Post Wildcard Strategy | Life After Playing Wildcard
Best forwards to replace Antonio and Calvert-Lewin | FPL Gameweek 5
FPL GW4 Sunday Stats Review | Leeds vs Liverpool

We have also made an elaborate guide covering every rule and chip available in FPL for the 2021/22 FPL Season ~ 2021/22 Fantasy Premier League Season Rules, Tips | The Ultimate Guide

Check out our Rules and Basics Guide, FPL Chip Strategy, FPL Chips, FPL Team reveals, FPL History, team reveals, FPL Tools here.

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