GameDay Squad EPL Gameweek 5 preview

Round Five is here and after a poor round four, I’ll be looking to bounce back. Here’s my thoughts on the upcoming matchups for the week.

Liverpool v Everton: A fiery derby is expected, as are more fouls than normal so expect to see some minus points in this one. I’m predicting Everton to set up in a fairly similar way to what Burnley did against Liverpool in the previous round, which Everton have been successful at when deployed this season. Everton also appear far less likely to concede key stats (like Burnley do), although they do appear in the top five for accurate crosses, which is likely to favour Gakpo’s game. Everton have not kept a clean sheet at Anfield since 2021. Salah has a successful record against Everton with five goal contributions in his past five games against them, and with his form from the midweek Champions League game he once again might be a must pick. Given the way Everton are likely to set up, van Dijk will continue to be a good option, while Grealish may also come into play given the lack of defensive skill from likely opponents Frimpong or Szoboszlai, albeit Bradley is sturdy defensively.

Wolves v Leeds: A game likely to be far more GDS relevant than most think given its two of the poorer performing teams of the season clashing. Aside from the 5-0 loss to Arsenal, Leeds have been reasonable in defence as they have only conceded one other goal (which was an own goal). Leeds have kept clean sheets against quality teams in Newcastle and Everton, however they have lost both of their away games this season. Leeds have also struggled to score with only one goal so far. Wolves are having similar struggles as they have scored only two goals so far this season. Two sets of 1-0 losses against Bournemouth and Newcastle have shown their defensive capabilities, although they have struggled at home by conceding seven goals in two games. Last season Wolves, however, did manage to keep clean sheets in two of the three home games against promoted teams. I think there’ll be at least one clean sheet in this game, but being able to pick the team that keeps one is the tricky thing. It does mean there’s potential options in Darlow (as it appears Perri is out again), Rodon, Gudmundsson, Johnstone and Agbadou.

West Ham v Crystal Palace: Arguably the best defensive team in the competition comes up against the lowly West Ham. There’ll be a lot of stacked defenses full of Crystal Palace players this week, and rightfully so. This means all of Henderson, Lacroix, Munoz, Guehi, Mitchell and Richards are viable, while lead attacker Mateta should also be considered having scored four times in his last three starts against West Ham. The West Ham options appear few and far given most will favour their attackers not scoring.

Brighton v Tottenham: Tottenham’s excellent defensive start to the season warrants selection of their defenders in van de Ven, Romero and Porro, albeit beware of rotation after Champions League midweek (all three played full games). Brighton have only failed to score once this season (against Everton) in a game that included a saved penalty and a missed one on one with the keeper. On the other hand, Brighton have conceded in every game this season, which means attacking options such as Kudus, Richarlison and Simons could all come away with goal contributions. Spurs do have the attacking talent to rotate with the likes of Solanke, Johnson and Tel all capable of playing instead.

Burnley v Nottingham Forest: Burnley were impressive in their defending last game against Liverpool and could continue to frustrate against Nottingham Forest, who should be far more of an attacking threat under Postecoglu. While Burnley may end up keeping a clean sheet, making Dubravka a potential option, they are still in the top five in the league for conceding shots on target, key passes, successful dribbles, accurate crosses and aerial duels won making Forest attacking players such as Gibbs-White, Wood, Ndoye and Hudson-Odi great options regardless of if they score. Do be careful of rotation though, as the new coach looks to find his best lineup among all his new attacking options. Anderson is another option to pick as he’s top three for Forest in all of those five categories the Burnley concede.

Man Utd v Chelsea: The interesting game of the round. United are struggling and they really need to win this one, but a likely fired up Chelsea (after their loss to Bayern) is going to be hard to overcome. There are a lot of question marks on this game, as Chelsea manager Maresca was less than assured on Palmer’s availability (after he played 90 minutes in their midweek game) and when Sanchez would be rotated out of the team. In the last eight games between these two only once have both teams not scored (most recent game). I think there’ll be goals here, which makes Joao Pedro, Pedro Neto, Palmer, Bruno Fernandes, Sesko and Mbeumo all viable choices. Bruno Fernandes appears pretty safe in most games, so he might be a logical option.

Fulham v Brentford: This one appears to be a genuine 50/50 matchup, which usually makes the keepers (Leno and Kelleher) both options. One thing to note though, is that Brentford have scored in every game they’ve played, which includes games against Chelsea, Sunderland, Aston Villa and Forest, however they have conceded in three of the four games too. Surprisingly, Harry Wilson has five goal contributions in his last five appearances against Brentford, with three of those from the bench (including a 92nd minute sub on). Wilson’s spot is nowhere near assured though, so be careful choosing him as newly signed winger Kevin could start over him.

Sunderland v Aston Villa: There are a lot of coaches high on Sunderland defenders and their keeper Roefs this week, which is reasonable as they are coming up against a team who is yet to score. I do think a team of Villa’s quality will turn it around eventually, and this may be the game they are able to do so. Watkins had five goal contributions in his games against promoted teams last season and could continue to feast on them in this one. Xhaka, Hume and Reinildo are all performing well with with Xhaka being in the top three for Sunderland in four GDS relevant stats, while Hume and Reinildo appear in three. Aston Villa are in the top five in the league for conceding key passes, accurate crosses, interceptions, tackles and clearances, which are the stats the previous three perform well in. If you think Sunderland will keep the clean sheet then Hume and Reinildo may be the better picks, although I do not think they will.

Bournemouth v Newcastle: Another 50/50 game where if either team can keep a clean sheet then their defenders and goalkeeper might be very valuable picks. I do think both teams may concede in this one however. There have only been two clean sheets kept in the past ten fixtures. Semenyo’s form is hard to ignore, especially given he’s had a goal involvement in each of their past three fixtures against Newcastle. Kluivert scored a hattrick the last time they played one another, however his involvement appears limited from the bench given Bournemouth’s good start to the season and settled team. Bournemouth are top five in the league for conceding successful dribbles, aerial duels won, fouls drawn, tackles, clearances and saves. Livramento is top three for Newcastle in four of those categories, making him a likely pick and an even better one if they do not concede. Newcastle did play Champions League football this week and Livramento was involved in the full game, so there is a chance of a rotation with Hall. Woltemade got off to a great start in his first game for Newcastle and that could continue against Bournemouth who struggle in aerial contests.

Arsenal v Man City: The game of the round makes it hard to pick the likes of Haaland and Gyokeres, as both teams (particularly Arsenal) are likely to be very stingy when it comes to conceding goals. While I would have favored Arsenal to be the ones to score, the signing of Donnarumma makes that even harder to predict. I do not mind selecting Arsenal defenders here, given they’ve only conceded once and are yet to concede in open play. It makes the likes of Raya, Gabriel, Timber and Calafiori options, albeit risky ones. As usual if you have Haaland he might be a must pick regardless of fixture in case he goes nuclear. This might be the week, if there was one, to fade him though.

After considering all of the above, here’s my top 10 (top 5 for goalkeepers) for every position, in no particular order, for the round. Plus a few extra uniques.

Goalkeepers:

●     Henderson ⭐️

●     Raya

●     Pope

●     Vicario

●     Alisson

Uniques: Johnstone and Dubravka

Defenders:

●     Milenkovic

●     Munoz

●     Burn

●     Livramento

●     Van Dijk

●     Guehi

●     Mitchell

●     Gabriel

●     Tete

●     Lacroix  ⭐️

Uniques: Rodon and Hume

Midfielders:

●     B Fernandes

●     Kudus

●     E Anderson

●     Gibbs-White ⭐️

●     Simons

●     Stach

●     Mbeumo

●     E Fernandez

●     Xhaka

●     Palmer

Uniques: Wilson and Garner

Forwards:

●     Haaland

●     Joao Pedro ⭐️

●     Gakpo

●     Salah

●     Wood

●     Mateta

●     Watkins

●     Richarlison

●     Woltemade

●     Semenyo

Uniques: Hudson-Odoi and Thiago

…And that’s a wrap! Best of luck with round FIVE.