Fantasy Premier League (FPL) Gameweek 6 was a big one. It was nice to see after such a lacklustre gameweek 6.
I’m coming off a fairly good green arrow after FINALLY making a good transfer in FPL gameweek 6. This feels huge after a dreadful week last week. Watkins finally scored, and my move of Rashford and Sterling to Salah and Nakamba paid off.
As always we will do some match reports, but with six games’ worth of data these are starting to become less valuable and a bit repetitive (e.g. Haaland scored again… shock). So, we will start with the top talking points before moving on to what are hopefully shorter match reports.
Top Talking Points
Chilwell Benched Again
There were conflicting reports last time as to why Chilwell was benched. Was it tactical or injury related? Well, I decided to give him another week and he rewarded me and you with another 0 pointer in Gameweek 6.
I’m now firmly out on him. It’s clear that Poch doesn’t see him playing every week, and I’m not prepared to spend this much on a guy that plays 30 mins off the bench every week. I think you should sell him too.
Newcastle Defence Delivers
Unless you had Schar of course… Well, at least he got a clean sheet, which is more than most of us get from our defence each week.
Trippier got 3 assists before being subbed at 70 mins, and both Burn and Botman scored. Don’t expect this every week… Burn generally scores one goal a year, and Botman didn’t score at all last year.
Even Trippier isn’t this good. He got at xA of 0.68 this game taking his total xGI for the season to 1.4 from 6 games. He really hasn’t been that impressive going forward this year, and with the added pressure of Champions League minutes on those relatively old legs (he is 33), I wouldn’t be panicked about not having him going forward.
In terms of bonus points for the season, the order goes like this:
- Trippier
- Botman
- Burn
- Schar
All this is to say, I’m looking to ship Chilwell. I can’t afford Trippier because I bought Salah, and I’m happy to have Botman instead.
Mitoma vs Mbeumo
It was a question we all had at the start of the season. I went Mitoma and was feeling pretty bad about it two weeks ago. After FPL gameweek 6, I feel a bit better as Mitoma has more points (39 to Mbeumo’s 36), but I think I have to accept I got a bit lucky here.
Statistically, Mbeumo is the better one to have, and he has the better fixtures. Mbeumo’s xGI is 5.4 for the season and Mitoma’s is 3.6. This week and next I don’t mind owning either, but Mbeumo is more nailed and I do not want to play Mitoma in 9 against City.
Hold Those Knees – EFL Cup Midweek Games
That’s right, another cup match in between FPL Gameweek 6 and 7.
I know, you desparately want to sell Chilwell for a Newcastle defender. But hold off in case one of them gets injured. Money doesn’t win your FPL mini-league, points do. So, prioritise points.
Match Reports
Sheffield United 0-8 Newcastle
xG: 0.94-3.92
This was an absurd game. Sheffield United had 9 players missing (8 injured and 1 suspended). Sheffield weren’t actually that bad in the first 20. But then… they were absolutely abysmal. So many men left free in the box, dreadful defending, and woeful goalkeeping.
At one point, the Sheffield defence headed the ball to Isak who was open and through on goal. Of course he put it away.
Having watched the game against Spurs, this just seemed like a different team and, whilst I think they will be relegated, I don’t think they are actually this bad. Luton remain the whipping boys of the league to me.
I’ve covered the Newcastle defence in the top talking points, but it’s also worth noting that Barnes went off injured, which probably makes Gordon a better pick in the near term. Gordon was super good here.
Arsenal 2-2 Spurs
xG: 2.04-1.46
For those Saka owners, like myself, it was a pleasure to see him step up and slot the penalty as well as get a cheeky “assist” off the Romero own goal. He remains the best Arsenal option.
More annoyingly, Trossard and Martinelli were injured, so it was a strange Jesus and Nketiah combination that ran out. I’m definitely happy to see Jesus start though, and possibly offer us another option going forward.
As with every game this year for Spurs, Maddison was pivotal. Of course, he was outscored by Son who bagged both goals that Maddo assisted. I love both of these picks at the moment.
Man City 2-0 Nottingham Forest
xG: 1.33-1.03
Man City were a little lucky to come away with three points in FPL Gameweek 6, but you can be below your xG when you are this good and still win. Foden and Haaland returned again. Alvarez looked lively but didn’t get enough opportunities.
Rodri got sent off. I expect he will serve his full 3 match ban for violent conduct, as I don’t think that can be appealed. Lucky for him, and those who own City defenders, one of those games will be against Newcastle in the EFL Cup in the week
If you ran Awoniyi out for this game then you were a little unlucky, as he failed to put away a good chance. But, let’s be frank, you weren’t expecting much from this game were you?
Brentford 1-3 Everton
xG: 1.03-1.90
This scoreline looks the wrong way around, right? Well, in Gameweek 6 Everton finally delivered and scored some of the goals they had been missing.
Beto looks like a solid addition to the squad, and was holding the ball up well, even if he only got one shot on target away. Doucoure though was the actual focal point of attack, in a role reprised from two years ago when he was not a half bad asset, at least in FPL Draft.
Brentford, on the other hand, looked woeful. They really struggled to assert themselves in this game, with Mbeumo and Wissa looking pretty poor. We aren’t panicking yet, hopefully this was just a bad day at the office and these guys are good assets to keep. Similarly with the defence.
Burnley 0-1 Man United
xG: 1.09-0.97
If you needed confirmation that Man United aren’t a team to be feared right now, then this was it. Of course, they have huge injury problems, but they were dreadful. They dominated the game but only by virtue of Burnley being terrible, and even then only managed 4 shots on target.
I’m firmly out on the attacking double up of Fernandes and Rashford right now.
Chelsea 0-1 Aston Villa
Ollie Watkins finally delivered me a goal! Such relief. I feel much better about holding him for the good fixtures upcoming.
Matty Cash had 3 attempts on goal and I’m considering him as a Chilwell replacement. He is now on 2.9 xG for the year. That’s a goal every other game. If they can tighten up a bit at the back then he’s amazing value.
Diaby was a bit quiet, but Chelsea defence isn’t that bad so don’t panic.
Chelsea were dreadful again. They’re awful. Sell them all. It is time to panic on them. Both Jackson and Gusto are now banned for the next game, and I cover Chilwell at the top.
Liverpool 3-1 West Ham
xG: 3.03-1.10
Salah delivered a 10 pointer off a single goal which is very rare for him. He normally misses so many shots that he won’t get all the bonus. Darwin scored again but he doesn’t play enough minutes, same for Jota.
Bowen for West Ham is far more interesting. He is the 6th best midfielder in FPL at the moment and is just ticking away. He’s got to be on your watchlist.
Brighton 3-1 Bournemouth
xG: 1.85-1.14
Another week, another lack of clean sheet for Brighton. I’m still happy to have Estupinian and feel fine about benching him in bad games. And why wouldn’t I feel that way after he returned again? If I was on wildcard, I’d probably rather have Cash and save the… ahem… cash. But, he’s a great hold.
I covered Mitoma a bit above but suffice to say I was livid when I saw him benched and delighted by the final whistle. He’s just a class above his team mates.
Solanke remains a great option on draft.
Crystal Palace 0-0 Fulham
xG: 0.30-0.59
Both teams were absolutely abysmal. It’s probably time to accept that Eze doesn’t have the ceiling of the likes of Mbeumo, Mitoma or Diaby. I still like him as a pick in Draft, but the team is awful at attacking.
In contrast, Palace’s defence in FPL Gameweek 6 was classically brilliant again. They’ve gone under the radar but, as we keep saying, they are brilliant at defending and we don’t think this is an easy fixture for any attack.
Luton 1-1 Wolves
xG: 2.17-0.59
Luton couldn’t even beat ten man Wolves who are incapable of scoring.
No fantasy options here, besides Morris in draft who remains a good option. I know, they have a double gameweek coming up but I just don’t care.
That’s it.
FPL gameweek 6 was a tasty week in the end. Hope you enjoyed it as much as I did!
Don’t forget to hold those transfers and check the website, follow us on Twitter/X or follow us on Reddit for more content heading into Gameweek 7.