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Marcus Rashford in, Kevin De Bruyne out - The FPL transfers you need to make this weekend

Kevin De Bruyne and Marcus Rashford in action
-Credit: (Image: Chloe Knott - Danehouse/Getty Images)


It’s been a busy week for most Premier League clubs, with the return of the Champions League group stage (or is it league phase now? I can’t keep up) coinciding with the Carabao Cup third round.

Twelve clubs have been in action since Fantasy Premier League GW4, so it’s worth keeping an eye on who’s fresh and who’s at risk of rotation before locking in your team.

We may be barely a month into the new season, but we’re already seeing some exciting narratives develop. Everton will be desperate to get off the mark at Leicester, Man Utd will have last season’s 4-0 hammering in their minds when visiting Crystal Palace, while another defeat for Tottenham could make for a very exciting Ange Postecoglou press conference.

The highlight of the weekend is undoubtedly Man City vs Arsenal, a match that will give FPL managers a headache as the unstoppable force of Erling Haaland faces the immovable object that is the Gunners’ defence. A few may be chucking the captain’s armband to Mohamed Salah just in case.

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Here’s who we’re tipping in GW5…

Marcus Rashford

Man Utd | £6.9m | CRY (A)

Tom Doyle: Is it time to take a risk on Rashford? The England forward has yet to rediscover the form of his 17-League-goal 2022/23 season, but things are looking up.

Rashford bagged a rare goal in the 3-0 win at Southampton last weekend, and scored two and assisted two more in the 7-0 Carabao Cup rout of Barnsley in midweek. Granted, Barnsley were League One opponents, but Rashford still put the Tykes to the sword.

Rashford is a confidence player and, in this sort of form, he's worth a bet against a shaky Crystal Palace on Saturday - especially with Amad, Alejandro Garnacho, Bruno Fernandes and Christian Eriksen all in form as well.

At £6.9million and with just 3.2% of FPL managers owning him as of Wednesday afternoon, he also looks a good differential bet.

Jamie Vardy

Leicester City | £5.7m | EVE (A)

David Byrom: Thirty-seven-year-old Vardy being a scout pick was not one we had on our bingo cards going into this season, but the Leicester City legend has started the campaign in positive form, scoring two goals.

He’s now facing an Everton side that is leaking goals and, as long as Jarrad Branthwaite remains sidelined for the Toffees, you’d back pretty much any striker to score against them.

Vardy seems a good budget option, particularly with games against Bournemouth, Southampton and Nottingham Forest on the horizon after a GW6 clash with Arsenal.

Danny Welbeck

Brighton | £5.7m | NFO (H)

Ed Syers: When you think of Brighton, you probably think about a team of young Football Manager wonderkids led by the youngest coach in Premier League history. You’d be right, but arguably their most impressive player this season goes against the grain - Danny Welbeck.

The 33-year-old has led the line superbly for the Seagulls under Fabian Hürzeler, netting twice and adding an assist in his four games. Only Erling Haaland and an injured Yoane Wissa can top Welbeck’s 28 points so far.

That makes him the best budget striker by some distance in my book, and the fact he was rested for the midweek tie against Wolves bodes well ahead of what should be a good point-scoring opportunity at home to Nottingham Forest.

And players to potentially avoid…

There are a few injuries to key FPL figures that managers need to be aware of, along with fitness updates on some others.

Kevin De Bruyne suffered a hamstring injury late in the first half of Man City’s goalless draw with Inter Milan on Wednesday and he looks set to miss this weekend’s huge game against Arsenal, who will be without Martin Odegaard for the foreseeable future due to his ankle injury.

Brentford were handed a blow last weekend when in-form Yoanne Wissa went off injured against Man City, and the budget FPL forward is now set to miss a couple of months of action.

FPL managers may be faced with some decisions to make on other players, with Newcastle set to make a late decision on Alexander Isak's availability after a foot injury.

Arne Slot has revealed goalkeeper Alisson may not be able to train ahead of Liverpool’s clash with Bournemouth due to a muscle injury.

Brighton are set to check on Joao Pedro after training on Friday before deciding whether he is fit enough to start against Nottingham Forest after he missed the goalless draw with Ipswich Town last week - FPL has given the forward a 75% chance of playing in the game.

One boost for managers is that Bukayo Saka, who limped off in Arsenal’s win over Spurs last week, was fit enough to start against Atalanta in the Champions League, so should be able to face Man City.

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