Rotation and pain for non-Erling Haaland owners were among the headlines in Gameweek 4 as the Premier League returned following the international break.

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. Lineup frustrations are back – and so are early substitutions

FPL managers were dealt several blows on Saturday as the 15:00 team news broke.

Fulham striker Rodrigo Muniz was benched, Manchester City started without Josko Gvardiol and there was no Joao Pedro in the Brighton squad.

Pedro, the most transferred-in player ahead of Gameweek 4, was a late call-up to the Brazil squad during the international break.

Typically for owners, he picked up a knock while on duty – news that was not revealed in Fabian Hurzeler’s pre-match press conference.

Raul Jimenez started for the Cottagers ahead of Muniz and scored – a concern for those with the Brazilian, who played just 17 minutes.

Muniz has had 11 shots on goal this season but has yet to find the back of the net. A Jimenez goal will have Muniz holders worrying for his minutes in Gameweek 5.

Gvardiol’s benching meanwhile was a surprise, particularly given the injury to Nathan Ake. Rico Lewis started on the left but was replaced by the Croatian at half-time.

A crumb of comfort for Gvardiol owners was that he looked more attacking than he had in the first three games. He created one big chance, had one key pass and three touches in the box.

The Champions League begins in midweek and there were early substitutions for Liverpool attackers Diogo Jota and Luis Diaz, who both came off on the hour mark.

Aston Villa make their debut in the competition on Tuesday but there was no rest for budget FPL pick Morgan Rogers, who played 90 minutes for the fourth game running.

Joao Pedro, Josko Gvardiol and Rodrigo Muniz

2. Salah was the first to falter in battle with Haaland

How FPL managers approached Haaland and Mohamed Salah has largely defined their success to date.

Those who owned both had a head start, with the duo each earning 41 FPL points between Gameweek 1 and 3.

But Haaland now has his nose in front, scoring his eighth and ninth goals of the season against Brentford to take him up to 54 points.

Salah could not keep up, with Nottingham Forest restricting him to three shots and no big chances.

It was a disappointing start for those who finally brought the Egyptian in for his two straight home games.

Owners will be hoping for a better showing against Bournemouth next weekend, with the Reds falling to a 0-1 defeat to in-form Forest.

The one positive was Salah played the full 90 minutes ahead of Liverpool’s Champions League opener, unlike his attacking teammates.

Gameweek 4 captaincy split – top 250k

4. Forest might be good after all…

Our international break stats analysis highlighted how Forest had impressed early on – but their kind fixtures left a question mark.

Could they continue to perform when the fixtures turned?

The answer in Gameweek 4 was ‘yes’, with Nuno Espirito Santo’s men winning at Anfield for the first time in 55 years.

Full-backs Ola Aina and Alex Moreno drew particular praise, limiting the threat from Liverpool’s wide men, and as a whole Forest kept Liverpool to an expected goals (xG) total of less than one (0.9).

The Tricky Trees led the league for total shots going into Gameweek 4 but they took the least here (five), with defence the priority.

Callum Hudson-Odoi’s curling shot was the difference though, nestling into the bottom corner of the goal to give Forest their second win of the season.

Forest defenders will be an option for those on Wildcard in the coming weeks. Only Liverpool and City have a better expected goals conceded (xGC) record to date.

Team expected goals (xGC)

5. Who’s on penalties is complicated in places

Sharing penalty duties is something we’ve seen in the past, including from Arsenal in the early part of last season.

And it appears to be a growing tactic, judging by the weekend’s spot-kicks.

Jean-Philippe Mateta rescued a point for Crystal Palace as the Eagles came from 2-0 down against Leicester to tie 2-2.

Mateta scored twice in the second half, with the equaliser a penalty earned by Ismaila Sarr.

Eberechi Eze was tipped to take the Palace penalties but he looks to have competition from Mateta, something confirmed by Oliver Glasner after the game. He said:

“We have two. We always talk about it before – it’s between Mateta and Eze. We say: ‘You decide on the pitch – talk together.

“Whoever feels better takes the delivery [penalty] and scores the goal.”

It’s the same situation at Bournemouth, who saw Evanilson miss from the spot against Chelsea

Andoni Iraola confirmed after the game that the Cherries’ new striker and Justin Kluivert were the assigned penalty takers, with the pair given freedom to decide in-game who would step up.

“Justin and him [Evanilson] were the ones we had before the game, to discuss in the moment and decide in the game their feelings. They decided to go with Eva.”

Iraola added that Evanilson was a ‘good taker’ and credited Robert Sanchez for the save.

Jean-Philippe Mateta v Eberechi Eze

6. Duran might have to start soon…alongside Watkins

Jhon Duran came on to slam home Aston Villa’s winner against Everton, taking his tally to three league goals.

The Colombian, who was strongly linked with a move away from the club in the summer, has played just 103 minutes and is yet to start.

This could change given his form but Unai Emery usually plays with one striker and Ollie Watkins is the main man at Villa Park.

Watkins scored his first two goals of the season on Saturday and played alongside Duran when he came on.

Speaking after the match, Emery hinted that he would consider starting both if he could get the overall team balance right. He said:

“We will need time because it’s a good possibility. Last year we did it sometimes but not really being positive. Why? Because they need to connect better, they need to be in our structure feeling comfortable with another player.

“This is a process I have in my mind to do, but of course, in the beginning we are happy with one striker and then adding other players scoring goals.

“Those two strikers when they are playing together, they are starting to feel better. I think it’s positive and still keeping good performances of Jhon Duran. For me, it’s not a problem. It’s a really good solution.”

Ollie Watkins v Jhon Duran

7. McNeil could be the standout budget midfielder

Dwight McNeil headed into Gameweek 4 with the best baseline bonus in the league but without enough attacking returns to turn it into points.

The Everton midfielder improved in this regard against Villa though, contributing a goal and assist for two bonus points and a 12 point haul.

McNeil started centrally and scored after stealing the ball from Amadou Onana, before crossing for Dominic Calvert-Lewin.

Over the first four gameweeks, he has created five big chances, one more than any other player.

He also leads the way for chances created (key passes) with 17, ahead of Andreas Pereira and Kevin De Bruyne, and expected assists (xA) on 2.27.

There are a number of options at £6.0m and below but McNeil has the best expected goal involvement (xGI) percentage at 56%.

Bournemouth duo Marcus Tavernier and Dominic Solanke have slightly better expected goal involvements in numerical terms but McNeil’s superb creative numbers put him firmly in the mix of the best budget midfield picks.

Dwight McNeil’s heatmap

8. Wildcard season is in full swing

Gameweek 4 was a popular time to Wildcard, with more than 940,000 Wildcards activated during the break. Brighton and Liverpool players were top of the transfer list.

Hundreds of thousands more are expected to follow suit in Gameweek 6, while the above-mentioned team news could prompt some into reacting ahead of Gameweek 5.

Transfers in ahead of Gameweek 4

Opta stats leaders for FPL Gameweek 4: Players

Here are the Gameweek 4 stats leaders in full:

Shots – Erling Haaland, Eddie Nketiah and Ollie Watkins – 6
Shots on target – Erling Haaland and Ollie Watkins – 4
Shots in the box – Erling Haaland, Eddie Nketiah and Ollie Watkins – 6
Big chances – Ollie Watkins – 4
Goals – Erling Haaland, Ollie Watkins, Jean-Philippe Mateta – 2
xG – Jean-Philippe Mateta – 1.45
Non-penalty xG (NpxG) – Ollie Watkins – 1.27
Key passes – Amad Diallo – 6
Big chances created – Wilfried Ndidi – 3
Assists – Wilfried Ndidi – 2
Expected assists (xA) – Dwight McNeil – 0.72
FPL points – Matthijs de Ligt, Gabriel and Robert Sanchez – 15
Expected points (xPts) – Jean-Philippe Mateta – 9.33

Opta stats leaders for FPL Gameweek 4: Teams

Most shots – Fulham and Brighton – 21
Highest xG – Manchester United – 2.71 (v Southampton)
Lowest xG – Ipswich – 0.35 (v Brighton)

Erling Haaland’s stats

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Eight things we learned from Gameweek 4 and key FPL stats

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