Fantasy Premier League, Gameweek 5 tips: Hold your wildcard, trust Eden Hazard and bank on Bournemouth

An international break is an average football fan’s worst nightmare. A week without club (real) football can be painfully long, especially if your team has lost the previous weekend, or if you have had a gameweek to forget in the Fantasy Premier League.

The urge to put things right after a disastrous FPL gameweek can be quite strong. But with the next gameweek more than a fortnight away, patience needs to be embraced.

There’s a way around it though. And it’s called the wildcard. You can pacify your urge by initiating surgical operation of the team using the wildcard and spend the two weeks of football hibernation working your wits on the FPL website.

International breaks are favoured by many FPL managers as the time to rebuild their teams. The first international break of the season is among the more popular choice for managers to use their wildcards, as it allows managers with misfiring teams an early route to redemption.

Injuries to players on international duties are also considered a prime reason for playing the wildcard in international breaks, but the impact of possible injuries on FPL teams is often over-emphasised. There are few occasions these days where a host of top owned players return from the national teams carrying injuries, and there is rarely a situation that a couple of transfers can’t fix.

Hold your wildcard! It’s a bit too early to panic

If you feel that using a wildcard this week is an absolute must, then you are either in dire straights, or you are panicking after a rough few weeks. There’s a chance you fall in the second bracket and hence some calm is advised.

With an average of 44 points, the previous week was a low scoring one. The big three — Harry Kane, Sergio Aguero and Mohamed Salah, all drew blanks, causing a large number of their owners ending up with low scores.

Another problem with using the wildcard in GW 5 is that the next wildcard will only be available after 15 weeks. That’s a long time, and you could be forced to carry through the busy festive period in December with a squad in need of a surgery. Usually, the positive impact of a wildcard lasts for 10 GWs, beyond which the squad’s performance depends on how well have you played in those 10 weeks after you have used your wildcard.

So instead of panicking, it’s fair to give the squad that you have built over the first four gameweeks more time to deliver. Keep faith in your selections.

Maybe, using the wildcard around GW 8-10 would be a better idea for two reasons. Firstly, you will have a better idea of the teams and which players are likely to perform well over the course of the season, and secondly, the fresh team can see you through till the new year when the next wildcard becomes available.

The hazards of keeping Eden, a thing of the past?

Eden Hazard is perhaps the best player in the Premier League. When he dazzles with the ball at his feet, few players are more eye-catching than the nimble-footed Belgian. But genius can’t always be measured in numbers, and that’s where Hazard who has always cost over £10m, hasn’t been a favourite of the FPL managers. The Chelsea star’s best season was in 2016/17 when he scored 16 and assisted 9. But for a player of his cost and calibre, the returns haven’t been too encouraging for FPL managers to spend that cash on the Belgian. A lack of consistency too has hampered his selection in FPL teams.

However, under new manager Maurizio Sarri, Hazard has been received the ball much higher up the pitch and thus has been involved in a goal in every match he has appeared in. This new-found consistency and a kind fixture list make Hazard the third-most purchased midfielder this week.

Against Cardiff, every Chelsea attack is expected to go through Hazard, and it will be surprising if he doesn’t end the evening with a bagful of points. Maybe, it’s time for Eden Hazard to be a regular member of your FPL teams as this could be his biggest season in terms of FPL points.

Bournemouth and bargains

Even though Bournemouth saw their unbeaten run end at Chelsea, Eddie Howe’s side have started the season very well. Their performances are likely to shoot up in the coming weeks with Howe’s team up against fairly evenly-matched opponents.

Striker Callum Wilson, who’s available at £6.2m is a steal. The striker has already netted twice this season and could add to that tally in the coming weeks. Joshua King, who’s been another consistent performer for Bournemouth over the past seasons will come to life sooner rather than later. At £6.4m, he’s also worth a shout.

Bournemouth have been a lot tighter defensively this season. It hasn’t reflected in the score lines, but the clean sheets will come. Nathan Ake and Steve Cook are a handful in the opponents’ box as well and could be good options for your defence in the coming weeks. New signing Diego Rico, who made his first start for his new club against Chelsea, is defender worth considering especially coming at a cost of £4.5m.

Bournemouth’s next five fixtures are: Leicester (H), Burnley (A), CrystalPalace (H), Watford (A) and Southampton (H). If this is not enough for you to bank on some of their bargains, then I’m not sure what is.

Apart from Bournemouth, in-form Watford also offer plenty of bargain players. Full-back Jose Holebas, who has provided four assists so far, is a very desirable but at a price of £4.8m. He is the most-purchased defender this week. With his returns almost matching Marcos Alonso, it’s not too surprising. Leicester City too have a fairly easy run of games. Midfielder James Maddison, full-back Ricardo Perreira and centre-back Wes Morgan are some of the players that are available for good value.

The affordable forwards lead this week’s shopping list for most FPL managers. Aleksander Mitrovic, who has been in fine goalscoring form in the past few weeks, leads the in-demand forwards. He is followed by Bournemouth’s Wilson, Southampton’s Danny Ings and Watford’s Troy Deeney. Wilson, however, considering the fixture lists is the pick of those forwards followed by Mitrovic.

Your team is always better with Sergio Aguero or Harry Kane in your side, so ditch any plans you may have of trading them for other players. But if you have made up your mind, Arsenal’s Alexandre Lacazette and Romelu Lukaku, who were both on the scoresheet in the previous gameweek, are excellent options with both teams heading into a generous run of games.

Whom to captain?

With Tottenham Hotspur playing Liverpool at Wembley, the likes of Salah, Sadio Mane and Kane are risky options. That leaves us with Aguero, Lukaku, Lacazette or Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang as other options. The Argentine forward is always a safe bet, but my pick for captain this week is Hazard. The Chelsea playmaker has slowly grown into the season, and with a fine goal in his previous game, Hazard could be about to explode this week.