We are heading into gameweek 6 after a week of Champions League and Europa League football. For English teams in the competitions it has been both a good week and a week to forget.
Liverpool won 3-2 over PSG at Anfield after a late goal from one-eyed Firmino. It was a good performance though they were close to loose their 2-0 lead. Salah once again blanked and both him and Mané got big minutes and it will be interesting to see if Klopp will rest some of his highly owned attackers for their match against Southampton this weekend. For many Salah and Mané owners it’s for sure tempting to put the captains armband on one of them but at the same time there is a risk one of them are benched or just gets 60 minutes.
Tottenham lost 1-2 against Inter Milan on San Siro after two late goals from the hosts. This means Spurs suffered their third straight defeat for the first time under Mauricio Pochettino. Now they have to bounce back and their fixtures couldn’t be much better. In the next for PL matches they play Brighton (A), Huddersfield (A), Cardiff (H) and West Ham (A). Normally FPL managers would be desperate to get the likes of Kane (12.4m) or Eriksen (9.3m) in their teams for this run of fixtures but his time their ownerships seems to be falling instead of rising.
Paul Pogba (8.2m) was on superb form for Man Utd in Switzerland when they defeated Young Boys with 3-0 and got off to a winning start to their Champions League campaign. Pogba scored the 1-0 and 2-0 goals and assisted Martial (7.2m) for the third. Pogba seems to have his off-days and days when he is unplayable. On Wednesday he had one of the latter.
One of the favourites for this years Champions League title, Manchester City, got a shock start to their campaign after losing 1-2 to Lyon home at Etihad Stadium. Pep Guardiola, who was watching from the stands due to a touchline ban, saw a really sloppy first half performance from his team. In the second half City dominated the match but only managed to score one goal back through Bernardo Silva (7.5m). Sergio Aguero (11.4m), owned by 50 % of FPL managers, played the last 30 minutes of the game and should be fit to play in City’s away game to Cardiff on Saturday. Benjamin Mendy (6.5m) missed out again and is an injury doubt for gameweek 6.
In Europa League Chelsea field a strong team against PAOK and took a routine win by 0-1. Hazard didn’t even travel with the squad to Greece and got a well deserved rest. The most bought player of the week will be a popular captain pick in gameweek 6.
Arsenal rotated the squad a bit more against Ukranian side Vorskla Poltava when only Sokratis, Nacho Monreal and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang were kept in the starting line-up from the weekend. Arsenal won 4-2 in an entertaining game after two goals from Aubameyang and one goal from Welbeck and Özil each.
Gameweek 6 fixtures are:
Match previews:
Man Utd- Wolves
Both of these teams go into the fixture having won their last two Premier League fixtures. In addition to that the hosts had a strong performance i CL in the week. Both teams are on a high and it could become a very interesting fight on Old Trafford.
Manchester United have won their last six league matches against Wolves at Old Trafford. Though United are looking to avoid consecutive home defeats in the Premier League for the first time since March 2014. Their manager Jose Mourinho has never suffered back-to-back home league defeats in his managerial career and will try to avoid it once again. There are still question marks on Man Utd’s defence,which completely collapsed in matches against Brighton and Tottenham but after Mourinho started to play Marouane Fellaini (5.0m) in a defensive midfield role and Chris Smalling (5.8m) and Victor Lindelof (4.9m) as centre-halves they have started to look more solid defensively.
Wolves have started the season under Uno Espirito Santo playing some beautiful football most of the time. Wolves haven't taken a backward step against any opponent this season and for sure they won’t change their playing style because of a trip to Old Trafford. They have gathered eight points from five matches and currently on nith place in the table, only one spot behind Manchester United. Wolves have impressed with their style of play and Santo seems to getting much out of his players withhis 3-5-2 lineup. For me as a FPL manager I have been impressed by their attacking wing-backs, Doherty (4.4) and Jonny (4.4m). Doherty has recorded 7 shots in the box which is the most among defenders and though he hasn’t yet scored he has had two “big chances”.
Possible starting lineups:
Man Utd: De Gea; Valencia, Smalling, Lindelof, Shaw; Herrera, Fred; Sanchez, Fellaini, Mata; Lukaku
Wolves: Patricio; Bennett, Coady, Boly; Doherty, Neves, Moutinho, Jonny; Jota, Costa; Jimenez
West Ham - Chelsea
Chelsea go to West Ham for a London derby on Sunday afternoon. West Ham took their first win of the season in their 3-1 win over Everton last weekend while leaders Chelsea are looking to make it six wins from their first six matches. If Chelsea win Maurizio Sarri could become only the third manager to win his first six Premier League games in charge, after Carlo Ancelotti and Pep Guardiola.
After a poor start to the season for West Ham Manuel Pellegrini decided to ditch his preferred 4-2-3-1 system for a 4-3-3 formation at Everton and it seemed to work out quite well. By sacrificing an attacking player his team got extra solidity which was well needed. Their midfield trio with Rice (4.4m), Obiang (4.4m) and Noble(4.9m) complemented each other well and will have to put in another superb display against Chelsea if they are to end Chelsea’s winning start this weekend.
Marko Arnautovic (7.0m) has been directly involved in 80 per cent of West Ham’s five Premier League goals this season but went out injured last match. West Ham will be desperate to get him fit before Sunday and speaking ahead of the game manager Pellegrini said: "Marko finished with a problem behind his knee. He's having some treatment and we're hoping he will be fit for Sunday."
Chelsea will play less than 72 hours after their EL match against PAOK. Hazard (10.9m) and Luiz (5.5m) were rested while Kovacic (6.0m) was out with a smaller injury. Kovacic (if fit) will come back into the team and play alongside Jorginho (5.2m) and Kanté (5.0m) in their 3-man midfield though Barkley (5.8m) is knocking on the door for a starting place after a strong display against PAOK. Pedro (6.8m) had a collision with the goalkeeper in the EL match and could be out injured. If he’s out Willian (7.4m) will play alongside Hazard and Giroud (7.8m) in the attack. After his display against Cardiff and with Morata without confidence Giroud should be nailed. Giroud has created a chance every 18th minute, that’s the best average of any FPL forward this season. The Frenchman has assisted three goals in the last two Gameweeks.
Possible starting lineups:
West Ham: Fabianski; Zabaleta, Balbuena, Diop, Masuaku; Obiang, Rice, Noble; Yarmolenko, Arnautovic, Felipe Anderson
Chelsea: Kepa; Azpilicueta, David Luiz, Rudiger, Alonso; Barkley, Kante, Jorginho; Willian, Giroud, Hazard
Arsenal - Everton
Two teams with different form. Arsenal have won their last three league matches while Everton are without a win in three fixtures. Looking back in time Arsenal haven’t lost in 24 home matches against Everton in all competition since a 2-1 Premier League defeat in January 1996.
Defensively both teams have been quite poor in the beginning of the season. 0 clean sheets registered by Arsenal and Everton this season could mean an entertaining game at the Emirates on Sunday. No club has made more defensive errors than the Gunners in 2018/19, while only three sides have allowed more shots on target. Arsenal have also conceded 21 chances from the right flank this season. For Richarlison (6.6m) who is operating on the left flank and now is back from his three match suspension this is positive news.
Offensively for Arsenal their most creative player (stats-wise) in recent weeks have been Aaron Ramsey (£7.4m). Since gameweek 3 he has played all but ten minutes and has created third most chances, only bettered by Salah and David Silva. On top of that Ramsey has scored six Premier League goals against Everton, more than he has against any other side in the competition. All six goals have come in his last four matches against them. This could make him an interesting player for Gw 6.
Possible starting lineups:
Arsenal: Cech; Bellerin, Mustafi, Sokratis, Monreal; Guendouzi, Xhaka; Ozil, Ramsey, Lacazette; Aubameyang
Everton: Pickford; Kenny, Zouma, Holgate, Digne; Schneiderlin, Gueye; Walcott, Sigurdsson, Richarlison; Calvert-Lewin
Steem-pick
Last gameweek steem-pick (David Silva) did quite well scoring 11 points. This time I’m going with Alexandre Lacazette (9.4m) who wasn’t Emery’s first choice upfront in the beginning of the season but after a few strong displays Lacazette should (at least for now) be nailed on. Lacazette didn’t score last weekend but managed 3 goal attempts and created two chances. Arsenal is now playing Everton, a team that haven’t impressed defensively, and Lacazette who is a real “6 yard box forward” should have a good chance to score against this Everton team.
Please, let us know your thoughts for gameweek 6
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