Steem Fantasy Premier League - Gameweek 5 Review

The international break is over. One of the best feelings for club football fans and fantasy managers. After nearly two weeks of no PL football we are back and ready to go again. A lot of football have been played around Europe and while some PL players have got a good rest without national team football most of the players in our fantasy teams have played two matches over the International break.The last matches of international football were played on Wednesday morning in the Americas and a few matches in Europe and Asia late on Tuesday evening. For some players this means there will be just 2 days of training with their club ahead of the Gameweek 5 matches. This could well affect starting lineups so for fantasy managers it could be wise to hear what managers says on their pre press conferences on Friday before taking any big decisions. Another thing to have in mind is the fact that top six teams from last season starts their Europa adventure with CL and EL matches next week so players that aren’t 100% fit coming back from the International break could well be given a rest at the weekend.

There are a handful of players that have stand out with good performances and a handful new injury worries after International games:

Richarlison (6.6m) made his first start for Brazil in their 5-0 win against El Salvador and started his national team career with two goals and a fantasy assist (penalty). Richarlison started the season so well in his new club Everton but then took a red card in gameweek 3 and will serve the final match of his suspension on Saturday in the fixture against West Ham United. Going into gameweek 6 he will be on many managers “one-to-buy” list.

Two players that seems to be in good form are the Belgium duo Eden Hazard (10.7m) and Romelu Lukaku (11.0m). In Belgium’s 4-0 and 3-0 wins over Scotland and Iceland both Lukaku (3 goals, 1 assist) and Hazard ( 2 goals, 1 assists) where on the score-sheet in both matches.

Another guy who who continues to impress is Aleksandar Mitrovic (6.7m). In Serbia’s 2-0 win over Romania he added another two goals to his tally. The Fulham man has now found the net six times in the first six matches of the 18/19 season. In his last 30 matches in all competitions he has scored 23 goals. On Saturday he will try to show his worth away against Man City.

Luke Shaw ( 5.1m) had a nasty collision with an opponent in their match against Spain and reports in press suggest he will be out for Man Utd’s game against Watford on Sunday.

Dele Alli (9.1m) had a minor strain and is doubtful for Spurs game against Liverpool on Saturday.

Republic of Ireland’s captain Seamus Coleman (5.4m) is an injury doubt for Everton after missing Ireland’s game against Poland with some kind of “stress fracture”.

Bournemouth’s Ryan Fraser (5.6m) is doubt (knock) for their home match against Leicester.

One Watford fan had little extra time under the break and realized, when comparing old tables and statistics, that Watford could be one their way to a league win. At least if history repeat itself. In the season 14/15 Leicester finished 14th int Premier league, with 41 points and a record of 11 wins, 8 draws and 19 losses. The following season Leicester won the league. In season 17/18 Watford finished 14th with 41 points and a record of 11-8-19. This season they will...not win the league or will they? At least they have started the season like winners. In the incoming gameweek they take on Manchester United and not like a big underdog this time if you ask me. If you look to the bookies they have Man Utd as a big favourite. Right or not, the upcoming game will tell. Another interesting game is the early kick-off game on Saturday between Spurs and Liverpool, two teams with good starts to their seasons. If Spurs lose the match they will already be 6 points behind Liverpool while a win would put them on level. Some kind of an early 6-point-game for Spurs you could say.

Gameweek 5 fixtures are:

Match previews:

Spurs - Liverpool

This is for sure the "must watch" match of the weekend. Spurs hosts Liverpool at Wembley stadium and the last time they did so (in October last season) the north Londoners thrashed the Reds 4-1. Their last meeting was at Anfield in February and that match ended in a 2-2 draw. This should mean there could be goals and big FPL point scores in this match.

After defeating Manchester United 3-0 at Old Trafford in gameweek 3 everything was going Spurs way but Watford took them down on earth after coming from behind to beat them 2-1 in gameweek 4. Mauricio Pochettino wasn’t happy about his team's performance after the game and he will for sure look for a response from his players in this match. Overall i think Spurs attack hasn’t looked as threatening as it was at it’s best last season. Kane (12.5m) hasn’t looked as sharp and goal minded as last season. An example of that you can find when you compare his minutes per goal attempt stats. In 17/18 season he had an goal attempt every 16.8 minutes while he so long this season has needed 35.8 minutes/goal attempt. This is not good enough to justify his price tag just yet. If Spurs want points from Saturday’s game the likes of Harry Kane, Christian Eriksen and Dele Alli have to step up.

Liverpool is top of the table with four straight wins. They have conceded only one goal in PL this season and oddly for them their defense has looked better than their attack. After theri 4-0 home win against West Ham in gameweek 1 they haven’t looked completely convincing in their next three matches. This, not dropping points when not being at their best, is a positive sign for Liverpool and very important if they’re about to challenge Man City for the title.

Liverpool’s attacking front trio of Sadio Mané (10.0m), Mo Salah (13.5m) and Roberto Firmino (9.5m) have already scored seven goals and 85 FPL points between them with Mané being the stand out player so far. This trio are deadly for any defense in the league and Spurs defenders will have a hard time on Saturday afternoon.

Possible starting lineups:
Spurs: Lloris; Rose, Vertonghen, Alderweireld, Trippier; Alli, Dembele, Dier; Eriksen, Harry Kane, Lucas Moura
Liverpool: Alisson; Alexander Arnold, Joe Gomez, Virgil van Dijk, Robertson; Milner, Naby Keïta, Henderson; Sadio Mané, Mo Salah, Firmino

Watford - Man Utd

Watford, as I mentioned before, has had a really good start to their season and a victory on Saturday would give them a club record of five consecutive wins at the beginning of a league campaign. There isn’t though so much that talks in their favour looking in the history books. Watford have lost 12 of their last 13 matches against Manchester United in league competition and if that wasn’t enough Man Utd manager Jose Mourinho has won five of his six Premier League encounters with Watford, including each of the last three. Beside these old stats, for example recent form (which are quite important) talks more in favour of Watford. Both teams are heading into this gameweek after strong performances in the previous gameweek and I think neaither of the teams are ready to lose this match.

Watford:Foster; Janmaat, Cathcart, Kabasele, Holebas; Capoue, Doucoure,Pereyra, Huges; Deeney, Gray
Man United: De Gea; Valencia, Lindelof, Smalling, Young; Fellaini, Pogba, Matic; Sanchez, Lukaku, Lingard

Steem-pick

My steem-pick this gameweek is a player that I don’t own but a player I’m interested in bringing in and a player I think could be among the top scorers for midfielders in the next three or four gameweeks. The player I’m talking about is David Silva (8.5m). Silva is nicely priced and while he has yet only managed 12 points his underlying numbers are very good.
Despite making only three appearances this season, just two midfielders (Salah and Sterling) have been more active in the penalty box than Silva. He has also created a chance every 19 minutes – which is better than any FPL midfielder (who has made more than one league start). In De Bruyne’s absence he should be one of the more nailed players in the City team. I’m not expecting double digit scores every week from Silva but let say 20 points or more in his next three games. If this sounds okey and you got the money, Silva is your man.

Please, let us know your thoughts for gameweek 5!

This Tournament is sponsored by @blocktrades, check out blocktrades.us for easy and fast crypto exchange and consider voting him for witness!