September 23, 2023

RAENSPORTS

FPL Tips, News and Chip Strategy

GW5 captain picks: the best GW5 captains – Erling Haaland or Mo Salah

Last gameweek was a bit of a bitter one for those FPL managers that captained Mo Salah, the pain we all felt watching Liverpool score 9 goals and Salah not even assisting one is a different kind of hurt.

Mo Salah wasn’t that bad, but and was really unlucky. That’s the nature of the game, sometimes stuff like that can happen. This week however, promises to be another exciting one, with a lot of really good FPL captain picks.

In this article, we’d be taking a look at some of the best GW5 captains, we’d be ranking them from bottom to top and after which we decide who our ideal GW5 captain would be.

How did our GW4 captain picks perform

Well last gameweek, we had five players on our list of potential captains and only two those players turned up and gave reasonable amount of points.

In fifth position last gameweek, we had Rodrigo who gave just 2 points, in fourth, we had Gabriel Jesus who returned just the one point, in third we had Erling Haaland who was the pick of the bunch and he returned the most points with 17, in second place we had Harry Kane who did well and could’ve bagged a hattrick(if he scored that penalty) and in the first place we had Mo Salah who just didn’t turn up and gave three points.

Our main GW4 captain however was Harry Kane and tbh he did quite well and he was a better pick than Mo Salah. This week we’d be doing the same again, we’d create another five man shortlist and then we’d decide on who we’d captain in GW5.

Five of the best gameweek 5 captain picks

5. Ilkay Gundogan

Gundogan is number five on our list of captain picks and as usual we always like to throw in a differential captain pick when we’re making these posts and there’s no better differential GW5 captain than Gundogan.

The Man City man has been superb this season and has been given off 2020/21 Gundogan season vibes, when he was getting into the box and scoring goals for fun.

Man City are playing against Nott’m Forest this gameweek, a Nott’m Forest side that has been giving away a lot of chances so far this season and that’s why Man City assets are going to be really valuable this gameweek.

Gundogan is a really good GW5 captain and that’s because of the license he has to get into the box, he’s also one who is benefiting really well from the addition of Erling Haaland.

Gundogan has scored 2 goals so far this season and has blanked only once as well. He is currently owned by just 5.1% of FPL managers and would be a good differential captain this gameweek.

4. Trent Alexander-Arnold

Trent is another really nice player to captain this gameweek, the Liverpool full-back did really well against Bournemouth getting himself a goal and an assist, plus a clean sheet.

He’d definitely be another really nice GW5 captain and he’d be the best defender pick slightly behind Cancelo. Trent has always shown his ability even when Liverpool were struggling to keep clean sheets.

He was always involved heavily in the attacking side of things and it’s no surprise the full-back hauled massively against Bournemouth.

Liverpool play against Newcastle and Trent could be amongst the goals as well if Liverpool do get a couple. His attacking threat most times can make up for Liverpool’s defensive frailties and if they keep a clean sheet that’s even better because Arnold is a bonus point magnet.

If you don’t feel comfortable going for Trent, then Joao Cancelo is the next best defensive alternative.

3. Kevin De Brunye

Kevin De Brunye has been a really good FPL asset this term and just like every other Man City asset, De Brunye is another one that could be worth captaining in gameweek 5.

The game against Nott’m Forest is one that we really can’t ignore and it’s one we’re looking to target this week and to get the most out of it, it’d be better to captain a city player.

If you don’t want to go for the obvious pick in Erling Haaland(the guy we all should captain), then Kevin De Brunye a guy owned by just 26.1% of FPL managers is one you could for.

De Brunye is a guy that can be really explosive, we saw him score 4 goals against Wolves last season and it’d not be the strangest thing if he were to outscore Erling Haaland this gameweek.


For some more GW5 tips, check out GW5 articles:

GW5 wildcard draft: some of the best wildcard draft for gameweek 5

GW5 team selection: transfer targets, scout picks and differential picks

FPL chip strategy guide: When to wildcard, bench boost and free hit


2. Mo Salah

Second on our list is FPL royalty Mo Salah. If you don’t have Haaland or any Man City asset then going for him is the next best thing.

Salah, even though he failed to score against Bournemouth was really lively, the Liverpool winger had an xG of 1.35 while the rest of his teamates had an xG of 2.46.

That just shows how unlucky Salah captainers were last week. However, the good thing is that he is still having goal scoring chances and he’s even creating more chances this season.

In his match against Bournemouth he created 2 chances, took 4 shots in the box and had 14 touches in the penalty area. He was also the player highest up the pitch only that he was wide.

A lot of people are saying that him being wide is one of the reasons why he failed to bag a goal, but I don’t believe that – he was just really unlucky.

1. Erling Haaland

After his hattrick last gameweek, there really is no question about who to captain this gameweek. A lot of FPL managers long before Haaland’s hattrick against Bournemouth, have been targeting this game against Nott’m Forest and if you had any doubt before, then the hattrick should have cleared such doubts.

Haaland has been superb so far this season and he hasn’t blanked this season as well and we’d be hoping he carries his impressive form into the game against Forest.

A lot of people have concerns about Erling Haaland’s minutes and that’s actually normal, as long as he’s in Pep’s team, he’d be rotated.

But the good thing about players like Haaland is that they don’t need to play all 90 minutes to haul massively, he could play 30minutes or 60minutes in a game and still grab a couple of goals.

This gameweek it’s a no brainer we all should captain Erling Haaland.

Raensports GW5 captain

Our GW5 captain would be no other person than Erling Haaland. The league’s top scorer coming up aganist a defense that gives a way chances, it is really hard to not pick Haaland this gameweek.

As for our differential captain, it’d be Ilkay Gundogan. The Man City man has already got his rest last time out against Palace and he’s expected to start this gameweek.

His late runs into the box alongside plus his creativity means Gundogan can not just get a goal, but he can also assist. Gundogan would be a really nice differential to captain this gameweek.