Erling Haaland again won the captaincy battle between him and Mohamed Salah – but there was lots more to learn from FPL Gameweek 5.

In this weekly review piece, we’ll take a look at some of the main highlights from a fantasy perspective before concluding with a round-up of the leaders in all key Opta stats metrics.

If you want details of every goalscorer and assist, plus bonus points and more, see our Match Centre, which updates live during matches.

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1. Captaincy evenly split – but Haaland came out on top

Haaland and Salah were once again the leading captaincy choices in Gameweek 5.

The decision between the two was tricky, demonstrated by the pair having a very similar number of backers among the top 250,000 FPL managers.

Salah, who faced Bournemouth at home, had the edge among the top 10,000. But it was Haaland who was marginally favoured by the top 250,000.

Haaland had the trickier fixture – at home to Arsenal – but the Norwegian still managed a higher score.

His early goal bettered Salah’s assist and gave the Manchester City forward all three bonus points.

Salah recorded four shots on goal – all on target – but none of them were big chances and he only managed six points for his FPL fans.

Captaincy split among the top 250,000 managers in Gameweek 5

2. Diaz could become a popular cover for Salah

Luis Diaz was Liverpool’s main man on Saturday, scoring two of their three goals to come away with the joint-highest FPL points of the week (16).

The Colombian is now up to five goals for the season, with only Haaland in front of him for expected and actual points.

Salah is close behind Diaz in third place, however the £4.9m price difference could persuade many on Wildcard to go with the latter.

Expected minutes could become an issue for those who go with Diaz, with Cody Gakpo bound to get a league start on the left at some point.

Diaz’s form makes him difficult to ignore though.

Some experienced FPL managers would argue that ‘covering’ premium picks with players from the same team is not a wise strategy, with the cheaper choice rarely able to keep up.

But grabbing a piece of the Liverpool attack, which has the second best expected goals (xG) in the league, seems a reasonable play.

Haaland and City have better fixtures than Liverpool over the next few weeks – and while many will still go with him and Salah, those seeking more balance in their squads might move away from the Egyptian.

Diaz will naturally be part of the conversation as a result.

Mohamed Salah v Luis Diaz

3. Kelleher to thank for Alexander-Arnold haul

At the other end of the Anfield pitch, Liverpool kept their fourth clean sheet of the season.

Antoine Semenyo had a goal ruled out for offside but the Reds also had Caoimhin Kelleher to thank for the shutout.

Those with Trent Alexander-Arnold in particular should toast the Irishman’s efforts.

The full-back nearly scored an own-goal after a shot came off the bar and rebounded off him, only for the stand-in goalkeeper to scoop the ball off the line.

Alexander-Arnold picked up his first assist of the season and the clean sheet helped him to two bonus points.

Trent Alexander-Arnold’s stats

4. Playing out from the back could have changed several results

Playing out from the back is an increasingly common tactic.

Inviting pressure so close to goal can sometimes lead to errors – but this was particularly noticeable across the weekend’s matches.

Matheus Cunha pounced on a loose ball to give Wolves the lead against Aston Villa, while James Maddison’s interception led to Dominic Solanke’s first goal for Spurs.

Some of the incidents could have changed the course of games however – and players’ fantasy points as a result.

Spurs goalkeeper Guglielmo Vicario nearly gifted Brentford a goal when Fabio Carvalho dispossessed him – but redeemed himself when he denied Bryan Mbeumo a second goal.

Vicario had an eventful game and could have been in trouble when he handled the ball outside the area, something that was not spotted by the referee.

Fulham and Newcastle both had chances to score from defensive lapses at Craven Cottage.

Joachim Andersen had a shot from distance saved after an error from the Magpies but Fabian Schar had an even better opportunity when he intercepted a Bernd Leno ball later on.

Southampton were another team who were fortunate. Jens Cajuste stole the ball from Flynn Downes at 0-0 but was penalised for a foul.

5. Maddison’s form going under the radar

Maddison scored and assisted against Brentford in a performance that netted him maximum bonus and 12 FPL points.

The midfielder’s form at the end of the last season took the spotlight off him coming into Gameweek 1 – and he still remains an under-the-radar pick, in 4.4% of teams.

His stats suggest he should be in the Wildcard mix this week though.

Maddison ranks second behind Haaland for expected goal involvements (xGI), on 4.1. His total is 0.5 ahead of Salah.

Much of this threat comes from his 2.69 expected assists (xA). He has racked up 1.41 expected goals (xG) too, although a fair chunk of this (0.91) came at the weekend.

No player in the game has a better xA than Maddison and at £7.5m is worth considering in the mid-priced midfielder bracket.

James Maddison is second for expected goal involvements

6. Dibling a new midfield star born

Southampton’s Tyler Dibling was robbed of an assist last week when Cameron Archer missed a penalty he had won.

But the 18-year-old winger scored his first Premier League goal in Gameweek 5, giving Saints the lead against Ipswich.

Dibling has started the last two league matches now and has arguably been their best player in both.

Rotation is inevitable, with Russell Martin showing no one is undroppable given Championship star Adam Armstrong has been benched two games running.

But at £4.5m, those looking for a cheap enabler as their fifth midfielder could do worse than Dibling, who carries more attacking threat than Leicester’s Harry Winks.

Tyler Dibling. Picture by Getty Images

7. De Ligt a goal threat, United more solid at the back

Manchester United drew 0-0 with Crystal Palace in Saturday’s late kick-off, a game Erik ten Hag’s side had plenty of opportunities to win.

Palace should have scored through Eberechi Eze in the second-half but it was largely one-way traffic in the first 45 minutes, with Dean Henderson putting in a man-of-the-match performance.

It was a third clean sheet in five for the Red Devils – the same number as Arsenal and bettered only by Liverpool.

And while they don’t look completely watertight at the back, with a ninth best expected goals conceded (xGC) of 6.5, they do look more solid than last season.

They have conceded the sixth least shots on goal so far, a stat that they ranked particularly poorly for last season.

Additionally, new signing Matthijs De Ligt looks to be a goal threat.

The Dutchman had three shots on target against Palace, more than any other defender, and leads the way on five this season.

He has a goal to his name already and is just 0.3 xG short of Arsenal’s Gabriel, who scored for the second game running in a dramatic 2-2 draw with City.

De Ligt comes in at £5.0m and United have the second best fixtures between now and Gameweek 11.

Matthijs De Ligt’s stats

8. Wood on penalties ahead of Gibbs-White

Nottingham Forest held on to draw 2-2 at Brighton despite going down to 10 men after Morgan Gibbs-White was sent off in the 83rd minute.

Gibbs-White will miss the next match after receiving a second yellow card for a foul on Joao Pedro which left the Brazilian limping.

The Englishman was thought to be on penalties but Chris Wood converted a spot-kick 13 minutes in.

Many Hub members had Wood as a recommended transfer ahead of Gameweek 5 and those who followed it were rewarded with eight FPL points.

Other popular one-week punts including Dominic Calvert-Lewin and Jamie Vardy came away from the weekend empty handed.

Forest have the fourth best fixtures over the next six gameweeks and Wood will be an option for those on Wildcard.

Chris Wood’s stats

Opta stats leaders for FPL Gameweek 5: Players

Nicolas Jackson tore a vulnerable West Ham defence apart with two first-half goals, giving him the joint-highest score of the week alongside Diaz.

Morgan Rogers meanwhile finally rewarded his backers with two assists – his first attacking returns of the season.

Here are the Gameweek 5 stats leaders in full:

Shots – Erling Haaland and Brennan Johnson – 6
Shots on target – Erling Haaland – 5
Shots in the box – Erling Haaland and Brennan Johnson – 6
Big chances – Dominic Solanke – 4
Goals – Nicolas Jackson and Luis Diaz – 2
xG – Dominic Solanke – 1.61
Non-penalty xG (NpxG) – Dominic Solanke – 1.61
Key passes – Son Heung-min – 7
Big chances created – Son Heung-min, Bukayo Saka, Morgan Rogers, Alex Iwobi, Youri Tielemans and Nicolas Jackson – 2
Assists – Morgan Rogers and Son Heung-min – 2
Expected assists (xA) – James Maddison – 0.91
FPL points – Nicolas Jackson and Luis Diaz – 16
Expected points (xPts) – Dominic Solanke – 10.24

Opta stats leaders for FPL Gameweek 5: Teams

Most shots – Manchester City – 33
Highest xG – Spurs – 3.7
Lowest xG – Wolves – 0.53

Dominic Solanke’s stats

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8 things we learned from Gameweek 5 and key FPL stats

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