In this blog the Top Five Fantasy Premier League (FPL) Key Players for Gameweek 5 are discussed. Every FPL Gameweek, picks will be in the below format:

1x Defender or Goalkeeper

2x Attackers less than £8.5m

2x Attackers £8.5m or over

Erling Haaland (whu)

Haaland has already found the net six times this season and as the Stats Sandbox image below shows, the Norwegian International is top amongst all players for goals (six), shots (20), shots on target (SoT) (10), ‘Expected Goals’ (xG) (4.40) and FPL points (39). Man. City have scored 11 goals this season and only Brighton (12) have been more prolific. The reigning Champions are fourth for both shots (68) and xG (8.65). West Ham have only conceded four goals in as many matches but the London side are yet to keep a clean sheet. Only Bournemouth (80) and Sheff. Utd. (86) have allowed opponents more shots than West Ham 72, which indicates that the Hammers have been riding their luck. Our Fix Algorithm currently projects a point score of 6.5 for Haaland.

Evaluate players with Opta statistics.

Mohamed Salah (wol)

Salah has notched four FPL returns (two goals, two assists) in as many games and the Egyptian international trails only Eze (19) for shots (14) amongst midfielders. Only Maddison (eight) has landed more SoT than his seven, while only Mbeumo (3.85) has notched a higher xG than Salah’s 2.71. As the below image from our Predicted Lineups feature shows, he is one of the most reliable assets in the Reds' attack with a 100% rating to start. Liverpool have found the back of the net nine times this season with only Spurs, Man. City (11 each) and Brighton (12) being more prolific. Despite playing a large chunk of their Gameweek 3 fixture against Newcastle with 10 men, the Reds are still ranked eighth for shots (65) and 10th for xG (7.86). Wolves have conceded eight goals in four games and the Midlands side (48) trail only Man. Utd. (50), Fulham (52), Sheff. Utd. (56) and Bournemouth (57) for shots in the box (SiB) conceded. They also rank 16th for ‘Expected Goals Conceded’ (xGC) (8.14). Our Fix Algorithm currently projects a point score of 6.0 for Salah.

James Maddison (SHU)

Maddison’s 29 FPL points’ total trails only Bowen (30) and Mbeumo (33) amongst midfielders. The England International is top for SoT (eight), while he has also attempted 10 assists and only eight midfielders have attempted more. As the below image from our Transfer Analytics feature shows, he is the second-most transferred in player this week with nearly half a million FPL managers bringing him in. Brighton (12) are the only side to have scored more goals than Spurs (11) this season and the Seagulls (83) are the only team to have taken more shots than their 72. Sheff. Utd. have conceded seven goals in the opening four games with no side allowing opponents more shots (86) than the blades. Only Bournemouth (10.04) and Fulham (11.22) have notched a worse xGC figure than their 9.55. Our Fix Algorithm currently projects a point score of 5.4 for Maddison.

Evaluate transfer analytics to see which players are popular with other managers.

Taiwo Awoniyi (BUR)

Awoniyi’s three goals and one assist have seen him rack up 25 FPL points which is third behind only Alvarez (28) and Haaland (39) amongst forwards. As the above image from our Match Stats feature shows, over Forest’s last five matches he is top amongst their players for goals (four) and xG (2.0), while he is also second for attempted assists (five). Forest have scored in every game of the 2023/24 season (six), however, they are still ranked 17th for ‘big chances’ (six) and xG (3.77), which is largely down to the calibre of opposition they have faced, having had to compete against Man. Utd, Arsenal and Chelsea away from home. Burnley have conceded 11 goals in just three matches, the worst defensive record in the league. Only Bournemouth (2.51), Luton (2.73) and Fulham (2.80) average a worse xGC per game tally than Burnley’s 2.42. Our Fix Algorithm currently projects a point score of 5.5 for Awoniyi.

Pedro Porrro (SHU)

Despite missing out in Gameweek 1 Porro (seven) is second only to Cash (nine) for shots amongst defenders. The 24-year-old has also attempted four assists and his ‘Expected Assists’ (xA) (1.08) trails only Young (1.22), Chilwell (1.42) and Estupiñán (2.09). Spurs have conceded just four goals in as many matches and have kept two clean sheets. Only Liverpool (three) and Man. City (two) have been more leaky at the back. The London side are ranked 13th for shots conceded (60) and eighth for xGC (6.64). Sheff. Utd. have scored only four goals, with only Burnley (three) Luton and Everton (two each) more blunt in front of goal. The Blades are ranked 18th for shots (34) and 19th for xGC (3.46). Our Fix Algorithm currently projects a 40% chance of a Spurs clean sheet and a point score of 3.8 for Porro.

Use predictive FPL statistics to increase your Gameweek points.