FPL 2026/27 So Far: Best Players and GW6 Transfer Targets
Five gameweeks in, the Premier League has stopped for three weeks, and the table has settled into something worth reading. A £5.8m Brighton midfielder is top of it, four of the top seven are defenders, and the game’s most expensive midfielder has scored 23 of his 31 points in a single week. Since the Gameweek 5 deadline, meanwhile, the market has been buying the one club whose fixtures are about to turn hardest. Here is what the opening five settled, and where the transfers should go before Gameweek 6.
The top ten after five gameweeks
| Rank | Player | Club | Price | GW1 | GW2 | GW3 | GW4 | GW5 | Tot | Sel | GW6–10 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  GroßMID | BHA | £5.8m | 2 | 13 | 1 | 17 | 14 | 47 | 28.5% | SUN (A) gameweek 6, difficulty 3: AverageCRY (H) gameweek 7, difficulty 2: EasyLIV (A) gameweek 8, difficulty 4: DifficultMCI (A) gameweek 9, difficulty 5: Very DifficultBRE (H) gameweek 10, difficulty 3: Average |
| 2 |  TarkowskiDEF | EVE | £6.1m | 6 | 12 | 3 | 8 | 14 | 43 | 16.2% | HUL (A) gameweek 6, difficulty 2: EasyCHE (H) gameweek 7, difficulty 4: DifficultARS (A) gameweek 8, difficulty 5: Very DifficultNEW (A) gameweek 9, difficulty 3: AverageCOV (H) gameweek 10, difficulty 2: Easy |
| 3 |  BogleDEF | LEE | £4.6m | 6 | 2 | 14 | 15 | 5 | 42 | 7.0% | ARS (A) gameweek 6, difficulty 5: Very DifficultMUN (H) gameweek 7, difficulty 4: DifficultSUN (A) gameweek 8, difficulty 3: AverageBOU (A) gameweek 9, difficulty 3: AverageTOT (H) gameweek 10, difficulty 2: Easy |
| 4 |  HaalandFWD | MCI | £15.6m | 2 | 13 | 9 | 9 | 6 | 39 | 73.8% | LIV (A) gameweek 6, difficulty 4: DifficultIPS (H) gameweek 7, difficulty 2: EasyAVL (A) gameweek 8, difficulty 3: AverageBHA (H) gameweek 9, difficulty 3: AverageNFO (A) gameweek 10, difficulty 3: Average |
| 5 |  SchadeMID | BRE | £6.2m | 3 | 10 | 2 | 15 | 9 | 39 | 11.2% | AVL (A) gameweek 6, difficulty 3: AverageLIV (H) gameweek 7, difficulty 4: DifficultHUL (A) gameweek 8, difficulty 2: EasyNFO (H) gameweek 9, difficulty 3: AverageBHA (A) gameweek 10, difficulty 4: Difficult |
| 6 |  De CuyperDEF | BHA | £5.0m | 17 | 0 | 4 | 11 | 6 | 38 | 27.6% | SUN (A) gameweek 6, difficulty 3: AverageCRY (H) gameweek 7, difficulty 2: EasyLIV (A) gameweek 8, difficulty 4: DifficultMCI (A) gameweek 9, difficulty 5: Very DifficultBRE (H) gameweek 10, difficulty 3: Average |
| 7 |  GvardiolDEF | MCI | £5.7m | 9 | 5 | 8 | 11 | 4 | 37 | 26.7% | LIV (A) gameweek 6, difficulty 4: DifficultIPS (H) gameweek 7, difficulty 2: EasyAVL (A) gameweek 8, difficulty 3: AverageBHA (H) gameweek 9, difficulty 3: AverageNFO (A) gameweek 10, difficulty 3: Average |
| 8 |  CherkiMID | MCI | £7.8m | 8 | 14 | 3 | 1 | 8 | 34 | 28.3% | LIV (A) gameweek 6, difficulty 4: DifficultIPS (H) gameweek 7, difficulty 2: EasyAVL (A) gameweek 8, difficulty 3: AverageBHA (H) gameweek 9, difficulty 3: AverageNFO (A) gameweek 10, difficulty 3: Average |
| 9 |  TzolakisGKP | HUL | £4.7m | 10 | 10 | 6 | 2 | 6 | 34 | 12.7% | EVE (H) gameweek 6, difficulty 3: AverageFUL (A) gameweek 7, difficulty 3: AverageBRE (H) gameweek 8, difficulty 3: AverageIPS (H) gameweek 9, difficulty 2: EasyARS (A) gameweek 10, difficulty 5: Very Difficult |
| 10 |  IsakFWD | LIV | £9.1m | 2 | 8 | 13 | 2 | 8 | 33 | 22.5% | MCI (H) gameweek 6, difficulty 4: DifficultBRE (A) gameweek 7, difficulty 3: AverageBHA (H) gameweek 8, difficulty 3: AverageARS (H) gameweek 9, difficulty 4: DifficultCRY (A) gameweek 10, difficulty 3: Average |
Groß has earned the top spot the hard way: three goals, a league-high four assists and nine bonus, with 44 of his 47 points coming in Gameweeks 2, 4 and 5. At £5.8m he has returned more than any premium in the game, and the gap to Haaland, 39 points at £15.6m, is the clearest value argument of the season so far.
The defensive picture is the surprise. Tarkowski (£6.1m, 43 points), Bogle (£4.6m, 42), De Cuyper (£4.9m, 38) and Gvardiol (£5.7m, 37) all sit in the top seven, and none of them is in more than 28% of squads. Bogle’s total is the most striking — two goals and back-to-back 14 and 15-point weeks, in 365 minutes. De Cuyper has the most volatile line of the four, a 17 and a blank in his first two games, and he has also taken the biggest price rise in the game, up £0.4m since the season opened.
Schade (£6.2m, 39 points) is the other budget midfielder to crack the top five, and the market has noticed: more than 330,000 managers have bought him since the deadline, the second-biggest move in the game. Brentford’s next two, Villa away and Liverpool at home, are both graded 4, so he is one to hold rather than buy this week. In goal, Tzolakis (£4.7m) leads every keeper on 34 points with three clean sheets for Hull.
The template, five weeks in
| Rank | Player | Club | Price | GW1 | GW2 | GW3 | GW4 | GW5 | Tot | Sel | GW6–10 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | HaalandFWD | MCI | £15.6m | 2 | 13 | 9 | 9 | 6 | 39 | 73.8% | LIV (A) gameweek 6, difficulty 4: DifficultIPS (H) gameweek 7, difficulty 2: EasyAVL (A) gameweek 8, difficulty 3: AverageBHA (H) gameweek 9, difficulty 3: AverageNFO (A) gameweek 10, difficulty 3: Average |
| 2 |  João PedroFWD75% chance | CHE | £7.7m | 11 | 9 | 1 | 12 | – | 33 | 65.3% | BOU (H) gameweek 6, difficulty 3: AverageEVE (A) gameweek 7, difficulty 3: AverageTOT (H) gameweek 8, difficulty 2: EasyMUN (H) gameweek 9, difficulty 4: DifficultSUN (A) gameweek 10, difficulty 3: Average |
| 3 |  CalafioriDEF | ARS | £5.8m | 9 | 11 | 2 | 6 | 1 | 29 | 50.5% | LEE (H) gameweek 6, difficulty 3: AverageNFO (A) gameweek 7, difficulty 3: AverageEVE (H) gameweek 8, difficulty 3: AverageLIV (A) gameweek 9, difficulty 4: DifficultHUL (H) gameweek 10, difficulty 2: Easy |
| 4 |  RayaGKP | ARS | £6.1m | 6 | 6 | 3 | 14 | 1 | 30 | 42.2% | LEE (H) gameweek 6, difficulty 3: AverageNFO (A) gameweek 7, difficulty 3: AverageEVE (H) gameweek 8, difficulty 3: AverageLIV (A) gameweek 9, difficulty 4: DifficultHUL (H) gameweek 10, difficulty 2: Easy |
| 5 |  RogersMID | CHE | £7.7m | 8 | 5 | 6 | 8 | 2 | 29 | 40.4% | BOU (H) gameweek 6, difficulty 3: AverageEVE (A) gameweek 7, difficulty 3: AverageTOT (H) gameweek 8, difficulty 2: EasyMUN (H) gameweek 9, difficulty 4: DifficultSUN (A) gameweek 10, difficulty 3: Average |
| 6 |  B.FernandesMID | MUN | £11.9m | 2 | 23 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 31 | 38.6% | TOT (H) gameweek 6, difficulty 2: EasyLEE (A) gameweek 7, difficulty 3: AverageBOU (H) gameweek 8, difficulty 3: AverageCHE (A) gameweek 9, difficulty 4: DifficultAVL (H) gameweek 10, difficulty 3: Average |
| 7 |  SzoboszlaiMID | LIV | £7.0m | 8 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 20 | 32.9% | MCI (H) gameweek 6, difficulty 4: DifficultBRE (A) gameweek 7, difficulty 3: AverageBHA (H) gameweek 8, difficulty 3: AverageARS (H) gameweek 9, difficulty 4: DifficultCRY (A) gameweek 10, difficulty 3: Average |
Haaland is the one the template has got unambiguously right: five goals, the most in the game, nine bonus, and the most-captained player in every one of the five gameweeks. Nothing about his numbers or his price says sell.
João Pedro is the call the break will make for you. He is in 65.5% of squads, scored nothing in Gameweek 5 and carries a knee flag at 75%, and more than 300,000 managers have already sold — the biggest exit in the game since the last deadline. Three weeks is long enough for that flag to clear, and Chelsea’s run has no fixture above a 3 until United visit in Gameweek 9. That volume of sales puts his price under pressure, so waiting for team news risks a drop. Either is defensible, but a sale made on day one of a three-week break is a sale made without the information the break exists to provide.
Fernandes is the harder conversation. His 31 points are really 23 and four 2s — 31 points for £11.9m, against Groß’s 47 for £5.8m. The underlying numbers argue for patience — his expected goal involvements are the third-highest in the game, behind only Haaland and Saka — but patience at £11.9m is expensive, and moving him to Saka frees £2.4m at current prices.
Szoboszlai has 20 points in five starts at £7.0m and a third of the game still owns him. Liverpool’s run opens with City at home and includes Arsenal in Gameweek 9, so there is no window arriving to rescue the pick. Gakpo (£7.2m, 32 points) is the sideways move at the same club for anyone who wants to keep the Liverpool exposure.
The Brighton question
| Player | Price | Pts | Val | Sel |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| GroßMID | £5.8m | 47 | 8.1 | 28.5% |
| De CuyperDEF | £5.0m | 38 | 7.6 | 27.6% |
 VerbruggenGKP | £4.5m | 23 | 5.1 | 21.6% |
 GomezMID | £5.0m | 24 | 4.8 | 4.0% |
 YalcouyéMID | £4.5m | 20 | 4.4 | 4.0% |
 KostoulasFWD | £5.6m | 28 | 5.0 | 3.9% |
 VuskovicDEF | £5.0m | 32 | 6.4 | 3.6% |
 F.KadıoğluDEF | £4.4m | 13 | 3.0 | 1.6% |
Three of the four biggest net buys since the Gameweek 5 deadline are Brighton players: Groß, with more than 700,000 managers in, then Kostoulas and De Cuyper at over 250,000 each. They are buying the club at exactly the point its fixtures turn. Brighton’s next five average 3.60 — joint-worst in the league with Leeds — and there is no 2 anywhere in them. Liverpool away and City away arrive back to back in Gameweeks 8 and 9.
That is a middling squad with no soft patch, which makes it a value hold, not a buy window. If you own Groß and De Cuyper, keep them: at £5.8m and £4.9m, a quiet fortnight at Anfield and the Etihad costs very little. The mistake is adding a third. Kostoulas has two 10-point weeks in 353 minutes, and the next time he faces a fixture graded 2 is beyond this run.
Where the fixtures turn
| Team | FDR | Team strength, averaged across home and away | GW6 | GW7 | GW8 | GW9 | GW10 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FULFulham | 2.4 | IPS (A) difficulty 2: Easy | HUL (H) difficulty 2: Easy | COV (A) difficulty 2: Easy | AVL (A) difficulty 3: Average | NEW (H) difficulty 3: Average | |
| COVCoventry City | 2.8 | NEW (H) difficulty 3: Average | TOT (A) difficulty 3: Average | FUL (H) difficulty 2: Easy | SUN (H) difficulty 3: Average | EVE (A) difficulty 3: Average | |
| NEWNewcastle | 2.8 | COV (A) difficulty 2: Easy | AVL (H) difficulty 3: Average | CRY (A) difficulty 3: Average | EVE (H) difficulty 3: Average | FUL (A) difficulty 3: Average | |
| ARSArsenal | 3.0 | LEE (H) difficulty 3: Average | NFO (A) difficulty 3: Average | EVE (H) difficulty 3: Average | LIV (A) difficulty 4: Difficult | HUL (H) difficulty 2: Easy | |
| CHEChelsea | 3.0 | BOU (H) difficulty 3: Average | EVE (A) difficulty 3: Average | TOT (H) difficulty 2: Easy | MUN (H) difficulty 4: Difficult | SUN (A) difficulty 3: Average | |
| IPSIpswich Town | 3.0 | FUL (H) difficulty 2: Easy | MCI (A) difficulty 5: Very Difficult | NFO (H) difficulty 3: Average | HUL (A) difficulty 2: Easy | BOU (H) difficulty 3: Average | |
| MCIMan City | 3.0 | LIV (A) difficulty 4: Difficult | IPS (H) difficulty 2: Easy | AVL (A) difficulty 3: Average | BHA (H) difficulty 3: Average | NFO (A) difficulty 3: Average | |
| MUNMan Utd | 3.0 | TOT (H) difficulty 2: Easy | LEE (A) difficulty 3: Average | BOU (H) difficulty 3: Average | CHE (A) difficulty 4: Difficult | AVL (H) difficulty 3: Average |
Arsenal: the hold window
| Player | Price | Pts | Val | Sel |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| CalafioriDEF | £5.8m | 29 | 5.0 | 50.5% |
| RayaGKP | £6.1m | 30 | 4.9 | 42.2% |
 GabrielDEF | £8.0m | 25 | 3.1 | 22.7% |
 ØdegaardMID | £6.8m | 29 | 4.3 | 19.8% |
 KonsaDEF | £4.6m | 12 | 2.6 | 19.4% |
 SakaMID | £9.5m | 32 | 3.4 | 13.6% |
 TzolisMID | £6.3m | 16 | 2.5 | 12.2% |
Arsenal have the easiest run of any of the league’s strongest sides: Leeds at home first, Hull at home last, and the single 4 is Liverpool away in Gameweek 9. Strong squad, clean run — go to three players and stay put.
Most squads already hold Calafiori and Raya. The move is Saka: 32 points at £9.5m, the second-highest expected goal involvements in the game behind Haaland, and in only 13.6% of squads. Ødegaard (£6.8m, 29 points) is the cheaper route into the same attack, though 377 minutes from five starts say he is often withdrawn early. Gabriel is harder to justify at £8.0m when Calafiori has more points for £2.2m less. Rice, Havertz and White all carry 75% flags, which leaves Tzolis — 16 points and sold by nearly 120,000 managers since the deadline — as the one Arsenal asset the market has clearly given up on.
Newcastle: nothing above a 3
| Player | Price | Pts | Val | Sel |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 WissaFWD | £6.2m | 15 | 2.4 | 18.7% |
 HallDEF | £5.3m | 31 | 5.8 | 17.2% |
 BarnesMID | £6.1m | 28 | 4.6 | 5.6% |
 ThiawDEF | £5.0m | 14 | 2.8 | 2.2% |
 HorníčekGKP | £5.0m | 14 | 2.8 | 1.5% |
 BotmanDEF | £5.0m | 15 | 3.0 | 0.7% |
 WillockMID | £5.0m | 22 | 4.4 | 0.5% |
Coventry away, then four fixtures graded 3. Newcastle’s run has no ceiling and no trapdoor, which suits cheap, reliable picks rather than big money. Hall (£5.3m, 31 points, 13 of them in Gameweek 5) is the one the market is buying, with over 200,000 in. Barnes (£6.1m, 28 points in 450 minutes) is the differential route at 5.5% owned.
Wissa is the Newcastle player to move on from. He is the club’s most-owned asset at 18.7%, but 15 points at £6.2m and a blank in Gameweek 5 is a poor return for a forward slot, with Hall and Barnes the better routes into the same run.
Fulham and the promoted clubs
Fulham top the table on paper: Ipswich away, Hull at home and Coventry away, all three against promoted clubs and all graded 2. The problem is the squad. Their best scorer, King, has 24 points at £5.5m, and Castagne (£4.5m, 20 points) is the cheapest route to the clean sheets. They are bench enablers for the next three gameweeks, sized so that the Villa trip in Gameweek 9 costs nothing — not a destination for real money.
The captain for Gameweek 6
Haaland goes to Anfield in a fixture graded 4, and nearly three quarters of the game owns him. For rank protection, he stays the captain; City’s home games against Ipswich in Gameweek 7 and Brighton in Gameweek 9 are where his armband weeks really sit. Saka at home to Leeds is the alternative — a fixture graded 2 for a player with the second-best underlying numbers in the game. It is a mini-league move, and the week it makes most sense is this one.
Using the break
Three weeks is long enough for the flags to change. João Pedro, Palmer, Semenyo and Brobbey all sit at 75%, and between them they are in the majority of squads. Make the moves after the press conferences, not before — the Gameweek 6 deadline is Saturday 10 October at 11:00 UK — and run the three checks worth making before every deadline once team news lands.
If four or five of the calls above apply to your squad, the break is the natural window for a wildcard. Plan the run past Gameweek 10 on the FDR planner, and track who the market is moving on the transfer market page.