FPL Focus: Tips as stars collide in Gameweek 5

Following the first round of Champions League matches, the Premier League returns this weekend and with that, Fantasy Premier League is back with a bang for Gameweek 5.

Sunday sees us back at Emirates Stadium following our 2-0 victory at Athletic Club on Tuesday, with Manchester City visiting in a blockbuster clash with many of the division's biggest stars on show.

We overcame Pep Guardiola’s men 5-1 in this fixture last season, and are unbeaten in our last five against Sunday’s opponents - but should that factor into your thinking when selecting your Fantasy sides for this weekend?

ZUBIMENDI, HAALAND AND CITY

Last time out in FPL, Martin Zubimendi (£5.4m) outscored every player in the league to secure a 16-point tally for his 3.1% ownership. Another clean sheet against Nottingham Forest last Saturday saw Gabriel (£6.1m) add nine points to his total, while £5.7m star Jurrien Timber’s seven points reinforced his status as this season’s highest-scoring defender (34 points). Riccardo Calafiori is tucked in behind with just a point fewer, available at the same price.

For City, Erling Haaland has his eye in, with a double against rivals Manchester United in Sunday’s 3-0 win. Now owned by 35.9% of managers, Haaland (£14.2m) matched his opening weekend tally of 13 points, to comprise a total of 37 - a league high. The second-most successful City asset so far, namely £5.7m bargain Tijjani Reijnders, has under half the points of their talisman. The Dutchman passed up chances against United, but has 17 points from his opening four games - albeit 10 of those were bagged in GW1 as he netted on his debut at Wolves.

In 2024/25, Calafiori and Gabriel both netted in the away fixture at the Etihad Stadium, while Declan Rice’s two assists in the 5-1 victory in north London earned him vital midfield points as an FPL budget option.

THE STRIKER MARKET

Last season, many in the FPL community considered forward assets to be scarce, with many attack-minded players registered as midfielders such as Mohamed Salah, Cole Palmer and Jarrod Bowen. The West Ham captain (£7.8m) is one of several, however, to have been moved to a forward berth this season, and joins esteemed options such as Joao Pedro (£7.8m, 66.8% ownership), Hugo Ekitike (£8.8m) and our very own Viktor Gyokeres (£9.0m).

The aforementioned trio are all just behind Haaland as this season’s highest-scoring strikers in FPL, and are consequently highly sought-after assets commanding rapidly rising prices. Of course, they can now be joined by Liverpool’s new No. 9 Alexander Isak (£10.4m), who made his first start for his new club in the Champions League on Wednesday - playing just under an hour. This suggests that the Swede is gradually returning to full fitness and will soon rise above 10% ownership.

A glaring occurrence is the consistent blanking of Ollie Watkins (£8.8m). Aston Villa remain the only side in England’s top seven divisions not to have scored in the league in 2025/26, with owners of Watkins (eight points) and his attacking teammates alike suffering for their faith. However, the England man is still owned by 15% of Fantasy bosses, and faces Sunderland, Fulham and Burnley in his next three Gameweeks. The consensus is that the goals will surely come, which could also boost the points of Morgan Rogers (£7.0m) and John McGinn (£5.5m).

Crystal Palace’s Jean-Philippe Mateta (£7.6m) has just 10 points in his opening four. The Frenchman has played a lot of football across three competitions already this term, leading manager Oliver Glasner to hint at a rest. After losing the supply line of Eberechi Eze, Palace signed Yeremy Pino (£6.0m) who had multiple chances against Sunderland last weekend and is owned by just 0.2% of managers, almost entirely undiscovered.

ART OF THE ‘DEFCON’

Defensive contributions or ‘DefCon’ points are a major new feature for 2025/26. As a reminder, an extra two points are added to a defender’s total should they make at least 10 of these ‘contributions’ in one match, encompassing clearances, blocks, interceptions and tackles. For a midfielder, 12 of these actions in a game will capture the two-point bonus.

While a goal, assist or clean sheet - even goalkeepers’ save bonuses - can be immediate to calculate into a total, it’s much harder to tally up DefCons - so naturally, we’ll take a look at who tops the charts and could be worth an investment in GW5.

Chelsea’s Moises Caicedo (£5.6m) has rewarded his managers not only with two goals in four matches, but also extra points from 59 DefCons - an average of just under 15 per game, three above the midfielder bonus threshold. As a result, the Ecuadorian has a points total of 29.

Bournemouth pair Marcos Senesi (£4.6m) and Tyler Adams (£5.0m) have 55 and 51 DefCons respectively, shortly followed by premium Liverpool defender Virgil van Dijk (£6.1m) on 50 and Nottingham Forest midfielder Elliot Anderson (£5.5m) on 48. Anderson, frustratingly, fell just one DefCon short of the bonus in each of his opening three Gameweeks, but registered 15 at Emirates Stadium last weekend to add two more points to an otherwise standard two-point blank. He takes on Burnley and Sunderland in his next two.

Adams, interestingly, is owned by just 0.4% of managers, even at his budget price - but is an example of a player who could gradually rise in popularity compared to defensive midfielders in seasons gone by, thanks to consistent DefCon returns. In terms of fixtures, Bournemouth face no upcoming matches rated higher than a ‘three’ on the FPL difficulty scale until GW10.

Reliance on DefCons has become a significant tactic for some FPL managers, who prefer to strive for a subtle but regular points return out of this new element of the game. An expectation for the popularity of a differential like Adams to grow is based on evidence elsewhere - such as a solid 7% ownership of Everton centre-half James Tarkowski, despite a defender-hefty £5.5m price tag, because of his combative style of play to enable DefCon opportunities. This also applies to Chelsea’s Trevoh Chalobah (£5.1m), who with 8.5% ownership has a strong 41 DefCons; Tarkowski has 47.

Click here to read article