I've almost forgotten what it feels like to have top-level club football featuring over a weekend.
Alright, perhaps that was a slight exaggeration but the extended international break spanning a three-week period through mid-September to mid(ish)-October leaves us with a somewhat unfamiliar feeling to the domestic calendar - perhaps more so than the December of 2022 with the World Cup taking place.
Because we've always had breaks for national side action at this stage but they've never been combined. If it went on any longer I fear my phone may have offloaded the Premier League app to save some space. It's usage dropping drastically when there's no FPL to worry about.
The phrase 'worry about' probably the best way to describe the game. It's fun but fun in a way which is annoying if you get what I mean - I'm hoping regular players do.
It's also easy to lose track of everything which has happened over the internationals given the sheer amount of games. Hopefully, this column will clear a few things up to aid those tricky Gameweek 6 selections.
🚨 A note - this piece was published shortly after the international games reached their conclusion but I'll include the line here: any noteworthy team news updates will be added back to this on Friday.
What's been somewhat remarkable in the opening exchanges of the season is that very few of the big hitters are leading the points scoring after five games.
Pascal Groß (now £5.9m from £5.5m) leads the way with 47 points, followed by Everton's James Tarkowski (now £6.2m) with 43. The latter of those perhaps less surprising given that only four defenders now carry a higher price tag.
Leeds' Jayden Bogle has delivered 42 points already despite the fact his price tag is still at £4.6m. Brentford's Kevin Schade three points behind and yet he's available at £6.2m.
Is it time to transfer out Bruno Fernandes?
A total of 15 players have returned more points than Bruno Fernandes whose price now stands at £11.9m. What's far more concerning is the fact that 23 of his 31 points came in Manchester United's victory over Ipswich. The remainder of his outings being two-point blanks.
I suppose a reasonable question at this point is 'do I transfer out Bruno?' given those performances. It's a big price tag to carry for little return although he is his side's highest points scorer this season. Given Man United's showings so far though, are we truly desperate enough to get their players into the 15-man squad?
A fixture list of Tottenham (H), Leeds (A), Bournemouth (H) and Chelsea (A) is intriguing and should present some opportunities in front of goal, whether that be scoring himself or delivering assists. That said, you'd think the same of Fulham (A), Everton (A) and Hull (A) - all of those with the dreaded two points.
There's always a risk when considering a departure of a previously high-scoring player on the game but it's a sizeable price tag for what has ultimately been average fantasy performances. While it's a slight hit on price tag if he was someone in from the very start, those are funds which could be utilised elsewhere.
Who was injured during the international break?
It's worth pointing out here that I am not focusing on any specific player when I make this statement. However, take a lot of the 'injury' news you'll have seen during, and particularly prior to, the international break with a pinch of salt.
Time and time again we've seen players remove themselves from contention for their national side and then suddenly be fit enough to feature for their club sides in their first game back. It's odd you never see that during major tournaments though...
There are some names to avoid at this point though. One of those is Brian Brobbey who may be a tempting pick for many given his hat-trick against Manchester City in Sunderland's last outing.
The striker went off with a hamstring injury in the Netherlands' 1-1 draw with Germany early into the international break. It's unclear when he'll be back but some Dutch media reports suggested it'll be a few weeks. For Gameweek 6, he isn't one to bring in unless Regis Le Bris comes out and explicitly says he's fit enough to start against Brighton.
- FRIDAY UPDATE: It appears that Brobbey's injury isn't as bad as first feared, although the Brighton contest in GW6 will come too soon and he won't feature. Centre-back Dan Ballard (2.3% ownership) is likely out until the next international break in November.
In that same game, Arsenal's Kai Havertz (8.1% ownership) also went off with a hamstring injury. While that game was the first of the four for nations in this break, he's another one I'll be avoiding. The positive being that it apparently isn't a long-term injury yet it's not worth taking the risk for their game against Leeds.
Christos Tzolis (11.8% ownership) was a relatively popular early season pick given his performance in the Community Shield where he delivered two assists against Manchester City.
However, he was another to pick up a hamstring issue after going off early into Greece's draw with the Netherlands. Some reports at this stage claim that the winger could be out for up to three weeks, making him a figure to avoid in FPL teams.
Other reports suggest at this point it's unclear if Ezri Konsa (19.2% ownership) will feature against Leeds. It's not believed to be serious but in the short term, he's certainly a figure to monitor.
One positive for Arsenal is Declan Rice's (11.4% ownership) absence from the England squad seems to be a simple case of load management and he'll be back for Gameweek 6.
On the Chelsea side of things, I'd fully expect to see Cole Palmer involved in their clash with Bournemouth after he also missed the Three Lions' latest camp.
- FRIDAY UPDATE: Media reports have indicated that Palmer has overcome the setback and should be fit for the weekend.
The one figure I do hold some minor GW6 concerns about though is Joao Pedro with further updates needed from Xabi Alonso. It felt initially like the nature of his knee injury may well keep him out until a later stage in October - he is certainly someone in focus given that he's the second-highest selected player in the game at 64.7%.
The fact Pedro missed their 3-0 defeat to Brentford suggests it wasn't simply a move to keep him away from his national team's games.
Alonso's update after the game provides a bit of optimism: "We tried, but we expect to use the international break for him to be back in the next game against Bournemouth."
Liverpool's Alexander Isak withdrew from the Sweden squad during the break to be assessed for what was described as a 'minor' injury.
His international boss Graham Potter's statement that "It’s not a big one" will deliver confidence for the 22% of players who have him in their side. It seemed to more be a case of a high number of games in a short period making him unavailable for Sweden and he could be in the side as Liverpool host Manchester City on Sunday.
Cody Gakpo caught the eye with 12 points returned against Newcastle in GW1 and an 11 points haul against Ipswich in GW3, but he withdrew from the Netherlands squad with an ankle injury early into their win over Serbia.
Head coach Xavi said “I don’t think so" when asked if he believed it was a serious injury but some reports in the Dutch media have since claimed it could be a problem which keeps him out for several weeks.
- FRIDAY UPDATE: Andoni Iraola has confirmed that both Gakpo and Isak will miss the game against Manchester City.
For City - who will face a lovely atmosphere at Anfield I'm sure given the news which emerged during the international break - they await further news on Antoine Semenyo.
He sustained an ankle injury in the 5-3 win over Sunderland which forced him to pull out of international duty for Ghana. He's another where updates are required from Enzo Maresca.
Who are the players to transfer in?
I'm still surprised at LUKA VUSKOVIC's low ownership rate (3.8%) considering his performances for a Brighton side who are going strongly in the opening exchanges.
The defender carries at £5.0m price tag which feels a bargain when you focus on the points return.
His only blank (which was 0 points) came in their 4-3 defeat to Chelsea and yet around that he's been very reliable. Six points have come in wins over Aston Villa and Coventry, eight from the victory against Arsenal and 12 in the 1-1 draw with Leeds.
He's averaging 8.86 defensive contributions per game so even if the Seagulls concede, you've got a good chance of seeing a few extra points.
Gameweek 6 sees them away at a Brobbey-less Sunderland so it could be another strong points haul for the Croatia defender.
One potential risky transfer I am half-tempted by for GW6 is Nottingham Forest's LIAM DELAP. The forward has seen a high shot volume over the past two games and that returned a goal against Aston Villa.
While the Forest attack has been little to shout about, facing this Palace side should deliver some opportunities to score - no side has allowed more in terms of the expected goals against (xGA) in the first five games.
Delap's last two games had a significant total of ten shots, and while we'd have liked to have seen a few more of those on target, he's only been subbed off once in that period and that was for Chris Wood on 90+1' to waste a bit of time.
At a £5.6m price tag and with an ownership rate standing at 2.7%, the striker could be a low-risk, high-reward move in a week where other forwards across the game may be unavailable.
Another figure whose ownership rate will likely rise if he keeps ticking away is Brentford's VITALY JANELT - the midfielder in just 2.5% of teams at the time of writing.
He's not the most glamorous option but he's worth consideration for a few reasons. One of those is simply the price (£5.0m), opening up budget to be used elsewhere with a fair few players opting to carry a cheap midfielder for that reason.
Janelt's been contributing a healthy enough amount of points. His only game of the five so far which has seen fewer than two is the away draw at Leeds. Around that, it's been positive.
He scored in games against Spurs (H) and Sunderland (H) but yellow cards had a small hit to his points total. Yet he's shown he can be a defensive contributions monster - a ridiculous total of 20 came in their away point at Bournemouth.
Gameweek 6 takes the buzzing Bees to Aston Villa in a game which should be competitive. I therefore wouldn't be surprised at all to see two defensive contribution points next to his name at the end of it.
The same applies for a goal or an assist. With three realistic avenues to regular points, Janelt's worth involvement at such a low price.
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