FPL Gameweek 5: Wildcard Strategies and Free Hit Insights
Gameweek 4 was chaos. Leeds were the only side to win at home, penalties swung ranks all over the place, and for the AllAboutFPL founders, it ended with one chip already burned and another one slammed down for GW5.
Both Surya and Srini go into Gameweek 5 with a chip active. One on a Wildcard, one on a Free Hit. Two very different routes, one shared aim: repair the damage and set up for a long stretch of green arrows.
Surya: Free Hit Fallout and an Early Wildcard
GW4: Arsenal triple-up, wrong Arsenal triple-up
Surya’s Free Hit in GW4 returned 78 points. On paper, not a disaster. In context, frustrating.
He backed the Arsenal triple-up and got the logic right, but not the names. No David Raya, no Bukayo Saka – both of whom scored and saved penalties – and the week flipped from “big green” to “missed opportunity”.
Throw in Joao Pedro’s injury concern and a squad riddled with issues, and Surya didn’t wait around. The Wildcard is active for GW5.
Why pull the Wildcard now?
An international break looms after GW5. Three long weeks of training-ground knocks, press conference riddles and late injury flags. Wildcarding before that is a risk.
Surya has gone straight through the warning signs.
His assessment is blunt: the team is “in a mess”, and the upside of restructuring now outweighs the risk of what might happen over the break. The Wildcard isn’t just about GW5; it’s about locking in a shape he trusts for the medium term.
The core of that structure:
- Erling Haaland
- Cole Palmer
- Bukayo Saka
- Morgan Gibbs-White
- Double Arsenal defence
Around that spine, he wants value from sides with strong fixture runs and cheap, reliable picks. His current draft, run through Fantasy Football Hub’s free AI Team Rating Tool, lands at 91% and is projected for 59 points.
The names may still change before deadline. The strategy won’t.
Surya’s Wildcard Draft: Defence and Goalkeepers
Double Arsenal at the back is the foundation. In his words, a “no-brainer” on Wildcard.
Alongside them, Konsa comes in at 4.5m, offering what Surya sees as “tremendous value” for the price. He’s building a backline that doesn’t just rotate; it scores and ticks along.
Muharemovic and Silva are his DEFCON darlings – defenders he expects to grind out four-pointers almost every week regardless of opposition. They’re there for reliability, not glamour.
Then there’s Munoz. This is the upside play. With Coventry, Crystal Palace and Ipswich in the next four, Surya is willing to chase attacking returns from a defender who can exploit those matchups.
Midfield: Penalties, talismans and one DEFCON gem
The midfield tells you exactly how Surya wants to play the game.
Saka and Palmer are his premium anchors. Both are on penalties. Both are central to everything their teams do. That combination – volume, responsibility, and spot-kicks – is non-negotiable in his setup.
There is a longer-term twist, though. Around GW11–GW12, when Manchester United’s fixtures improve, he’s already eyeing a potential switch from one of Saka/Palmer to Bruno Fernandes. The door stays open.
Then there’s Morgan Gibbs-White. This isn’t a vibes pick; it’s a numbers pick.
Among midfielders, Gibbs-White currently ranks:
- 1st for Big Chances Created (4)
- 5th for xGI (2.57)
- Joint 2nd for Bonus Points (6)
- 11th for FPL points (26)
Multiple routes to points. Key creator. Bonus magnet. He’s in.
King is the budget enabler with upside. From GW6 to GW8, he faces three promoted sides in a row. He operates in an advanced No.10 role, consistently getting into scoring positions. Surya is backing the idea that this is the season King finally converts that promise into FPL returns.
Vitaly Janelt completes the midfield as the eighth attacker and bench option. The appeal is simple: he’s cheap, nailed, and strong on defensive metrics and set pieces.
Surya leans heavily into his DEFCON model here:
- GW1: 13 DEFCON
- GW2: 10 DEFCON
- GW3: 12 DEFCON
- GW4: 20 DEFCON
Add to that:
- A share of corners and set pieces (8 corners taken already this season)
- 13.75 DEFCON per 90
- 2 goals so far
- Just 2.5% TSB – a classic low-owned “DEFCON gem”
He’s not just bench fodder. He’s a live option every week.
Forwards: Haaland, the data monster behind him, and a punt
Up front, there is no debate. Haaland is locked. Everything else is built around him.
Next to him stands Barry, who Surya sees as the standout budget forward in the game right now. Two promoted teams in the next two Gameweeks, 90 minutes every match, and no rotation risk at just 5.6m.
It’s not just fixtures. On underlying numbers, Barry is only behind Haaland among forwards for:
- xG
- xGI
- Shots
- Shots in the box
- Big Chances
He’s been unlucky to have just one goal so far, but Surya is backing the old FPL truth: good fixtures can spark form. He expects these next two matches to ignite a scoring run.
The final forward slot is between Wissa and Garcia, with Wissa currently ahead.
Wissa’s appeal is clear: four strong fixtures – Hull (H), Coventry (A), Aston Villa (H), Crystal Palace (A). Two promoted sides, two struggling teams. With Newcastle not in Europe, there’s less rotation to fear and more minutes to chase. It’s a calculated punt with a defined fixture window.
Surya’s Armband: Tempted, but not reckless
Captaincy is on Haaland.
There was a moment of temptation with Gibbs-White, who faces Coventry at home and is projected at 6.1 points by Fantasy Football Hub. But Surya reads the game correctly: just owning Gibbs-White at his current ownership is differential enough. Going against Haaland, who once again tops AllAboutFPL’s GW5 captaincy metrics, is a risk too far.
Haaland gets the armband. The upside elsewhere comes from structure, not captaincy roulette.
Srini: Regrouping with a GW5 Free Hit
GW4: Edged out by big swings
Srini’s GW4 unravelled on two key calls.
He went without Pascal Gross. He doubled up on Liverpool midfield. Chelsea’s attacking triple-up did its job, but with heavy ownership, it didn’t move the needle.
The real damage came from the Arsenal omissions. No Saka. No Raya. The same penalty double-swing that hurt Surya hit Srini too, only harder.
So he’s gone the other way on chips. Where Surya resets his entire squad, Srini is targeting one week with maximum aggression.
The Free Hit is active for GW5.
Why Free Hit now?
Srini’s strategy is crystal clear: attack home fixtures against promoted and struggling sides in one concentrated burst.
The targets:
- Everton vs Ipswich (H)
- Forest vs Coventry (H)
- Newcastle vs Hull (H)
- Leeds vs Crystal Palace (H)
- Man City vs Sunderland (H)
He wants to load up on these matchups without being tied to those squads long-term.
The Joao Pedro situation adds another layer. Xabi Alonso has confirmed no one is ruled out for the next game, but refused to clarify the exact nature of Pedro’s issue. Alonso said Pedro could play the upcoming match and then miss Brazil duty. The expectation, reading between the lines, is that Pedro likely misses GW5, recovers over the international break, and returns around GW6.
On a Free Hit, Srini doesn’t need to carry that uncertainty. He can simply remove Pedro for one week and reassess later with his original squad intact.
Only two or three players from his original team make it into his GW5 Free Hit draft. This is a full one-week reset.
The draft, again run through Fantasy Football Hub’s free AI Team Rating Tool, scores 95% and is projected to hit 62 points.
Srini’s Core Picks and Flex Spots
There are six names Srini considers untouchable in his Free Hit XI:
- Haaland
- Barry
- Dominic Calvert-Lewin
- Bruno Fernandes
- Morgan Gibbs-White
- Munoz
Those six form the spine of his GW5 attack.
Around them, five spots remain open to combinations he’s still weighing up. The constants in those discussions:
- At least one Manchester City defender
- A Leeds defender
- An Everton defender
He’s leaning towards sticking with the draft shown in his current build, but has outlined multiple variants – “option 1” and “option 3” – that tweak the balance between defence and midfield. The final decision will land closer to deadline.
Srini’s Captaincy: No overthinking
Haaland is his captain too.
The Norwegian’s midweek rest removes any lingering fear about minutes. At home to Sunderland, with City holding the highest goal-scoring odds of the Gameweek, Srini sees no reason to get clever.
His logic is blunt: when City score, Haaland is usually involved. Free Hit or not, the armband stays on the league’s most reliable FPL asset.
Two managers. One on Wildcard, one on Free Hit. Both reacting to the same brutal Gameweek 4 swing, both trusting their numbers and instincts.
GW5 won’t just define their immediate ranks. It might set the tone for the rest of the 2025/26 FPL season.
