Welcome to the Hive FPL for GW6 of the season.

First off a shout out to 6 teams who have made the perfect start to the head to head season with 5 wins out of 5! They've obviously been reading these posts and gaining valuable insights that have driven their success (crickets chirping).

Those managers are

Can they keep their run going for a 6th game week?

I wrote in the match preview post earlier in the week, that it feels like the season is really starting to get going now and for FPL lovers that's also a positive as we get to see which teams and players have found a bit more consistent form.

Chips are such an important part of a successful strategy and I'm sure that this is the time of the season that a lot of managers will considering using their first wildcard of the season so that they can bring in those players who look capable of being a mainstay this year.

Remember this year you get 2 wildcards. The first to use between GWs 1 - 19 and the 2nd to use from GWs 20 - 38. But that's not all!

Managers are also having their free transfers topped up to the maximum of 5 during GW16 to account for the start of AFCON. So if you like, it's almost as if managers have 2.5 wildcards this season.

Let's have a look and see who has used which chips so far...

It perhaps won't surprise you to learn that in the first 5 weeks of the season only 7 out of the 20 Division 1 players have played any chips at all. These guys are seasoned pros, will probably have picked a solid team to see them through the early season, allowing them time to assess before pulling the trigger on a complete overhaul.

Division 1

@deniskj is the only Division 1 player to use multiple chips to date but it wouldn't surprise me if this list grew in GW6 & 7.

Equally, Cunha Do Sum' 4 Mee are top of the Classic League and have won 4 out of their opening 5 head to head matches. Having a chip or 2 up your sleeve is a good thing but ultimately playing them at the right time, whether that's GW1 or GW38 is what matters most!

After all, none of the sides occupying the bottom 7 places in Division 1 have used a chip yet. Yes, it's very early days and certainly not worth publishing a league table at this stage but there are already a few sides whose squad probably needs a shot in the arm to get them up and running for 25/26. That includes last year's Classic League champion @sperosamuel15 who has just 1 H2H victory so far and the Division 1 H2H champion from 24/25 @blockchainfpl who has 2 wins out of 5.

No one has so far deployed the triple captain chip but with Haaland being passed fit for the game against Burnley then I'd imagine we'll see a few players giving it to him on current form.

Division 2

We have 17 players in Division 2 who have deployed a chip so far and 1 of them @valchiz (Valchiz FC) who played a chip in each of the first 4 weeks!

The tactic hasn't really paid off though, as he sits 53rd in the Classic League and has secured just 2 wins in H2Hs.

We've also seen several other players using their Wildcard as early as game week 2! @saif-ul-wahab and @gentleshaid are clearly not easy men to please! They pushed the button on their squad after just 1 appearance.

It's also worth mentioning those who haven't played a chip yet but have enjoyed a strong start to the season. @leebennett (Blue Mooners), @belemo (Bankai) and @suttercane (Sutter Kane) are flying in Division 2 and have 4 chips left to use over the next 13 weeks. A chance to really establish themselves as strong contenders for promotion!

Division 1

GW5 Results

GW6 Fixtures

Division 2

GW6 Fixtures

GW6 Player Picks and Tips

Again, as the season starts to settle out we there are some really appealing fixtures and match-ups developing.

The obvious fixtures to target particularly from an attacking sense are

Man City vs Burnley Spurs vs Wolves Everton vs West Ham Brentford vs United

Will the real Pep Guardiola please stand-up?

Despite the memes and banter around the way Man City set-up away at Arsenal last weekend, I think it's safe to say we'll see a return to a much more possession based style of play with City dominating large phases of their match against Burnley this weekend.

From an FPL manager point of view, what's probably more of an interest/concern with Guardiola teams is his love of squad rotation. If you've played FPL for more than 5mins, you've undoubtedly been burnt by a Pep change of personnel. Regardless of form or fitness, he likes to switch things up.

However, that's not been the case in recent weeks. Man City's starting XI has been exactly the same for the last 3 games in all competitions. Will Pep go with the same side in this match?

We know that Kushanov is out injured so a change will have to made in defence. However, with Marmoush, Cherki and Kovacic all still unavailable switching up the midfield options might prove trickier, while Haaland remains the only fit forward they have.

Oscar Bobb is certainly a possibility to come back in, having started the first 3 matches while we wait to see if Savinho is allowed off the naughty step following a summer of transfer speculation which it appears he did little to quell.

So the question is, do you go in for a player like Phil Foden who got a goal and 2 BP in his last home match knowing that the last time he started in 3 or more back to back Premier League games was in February? It's always a high risk, high reward pick with Pep!

Ndiaye or Grealish?

The clamour to get Jack Grealish into fantasy squads continues. The Man City loanee is now in just under a quarter of FPL squads making him the 5th most popular midfielder in the game this season and pushing his price up to 6.9mil from it's starting point of 6.5mil

His performances have certainly warranted attention, particularly for a player in that 6.5 to 7.0mil bracket but are we getting caught up in the moment?

There seems to be a lot of love for Jack 'the lad' as much as there is for his footballing ability. What do the underlying stats suggest?

Source: Opta stats

His points haul to date has been bolstered by 4 assists, 2 each versus Brighton and Wolves but are those returns something you can bank on game after game? After all, assists are probably the most fickle of stats. You might lay it on a plate for a forward to blaze it over from 6 yards one week, and the next knock a 5 yard square pass to a teammate who smashes it in from 30 yards.

For me, Ndiaye represents a far better bet if you want an Everton midfielder at this price range for this week or the foreseeable future.

Firstly, he is much more of a goal threat, both in open play and by the fact that he's Everton's first choice penalty taker. He's already got 2 this season and he scored 9 last year from 29 starts. Grealish has never managed more than 8 goals in a Premier League season and that coming in a much freer role for Aston Villa way back when.

As the stats above show, Ndiaye has also got the highest expected points return for an Everton player this season which really say it all. Add to that the fact that he's 0.4mil cheaper and in only 10% of teams and it feels like he might be the better option.

Doctor Tottenham - medical cover you can rely on

Spurs at home to bottom club, no points this season, worst defence in the league, couldn't hit a cow's ass with a banjo, Wolverhampton Wanders. It's a no brainer right? Fill your boots with attacking and defensive returns from this Thomas Frank team!

Well, if you've been watching Tottenham for as long as I have you know that these are the games that you fear the most as a Spurs fan. If ever there was a side to play when you really need a win, it's us and we have a terrible recent record against Wolves to boot.

If however, you're more of a glass half-full kind of person (you're clearly not a Spurs fan) then yes, this game looks full of potential points.

Wolves have got the most ineffective attack in the league this season, returning the lowest expected goals of any side. Add to that, the fact that they have conceded the most goals so far this year from open-play situations (9 compared with 2nd worst Brentford's 6) and you can see that they do have the perfect recipe for relegation brewing which is probably why they've just given their manager a new contract.

Richarlison is proving a popular pick for GW6 transfers. The Brazilian returned to the starting line-up against Brighton and scored his 4th of the season. That's a goal in each of his EPL starts this year. He along with Kudus were rested for Spurs midweek win against Doncaster so should be fresh and raring to go for this one.

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/E0j8vg2evpg

Xavi and Kudus are likely to be Spurs main threat against Wolves

If you're looking for a slightly less popular pick, then perhaps Spurs new signing Xavi Simons is the way to go. He got an assist on his debut versus West Ham and had a positive impact off the bench against Brighton. He did play midweek and did so in a more central role with Odobert off the left. Might he play in a similar position in this one?

He's owned by just 3.9% of clubs but his value is already climbing and will probably go even higher if he can orchestrate a win and deliver points in this one.

Who are you picking for GW6?