The FPL Stock Report: Why you should buy Newcastle and sell Arsenal in Gameweek 6

After an unusually long international break, the Premier League is finally back – and with it, another Fantasy Premier League deadline for millions of managers to prepare for, and one that comes with more questions than most.

Plenty of key FPL players have reported back from international duty with injury issues (not least Erling Haaland) and it’s always difficult to assess what kind of form teams might be in after three weeks away or, in one case, 114 guilty verdicts. This isn’t the kind of week for set and forget tactics.

With a lot of head-scratching decisions to be made between now and Saturday morning’s deadline, our resident FPL expert is here to dive into the data to work out which players are trending up and down.

Newcastle & Fulham stars worth signing in the FPL this week

Lewis Hall: I’m still on the fence about Newcastle as a team, and about most of their FPL assets, but they’re about to hit a run of relatively gentle fixtures against teams who don’t score too many goals (Coventry City, Crystal Palace, Aston Villa and Everton) and that makes Hall a very appealing purchase given how good his early-season form has been.

He already has two goal contributions, two double digit-hauls, and has hit the defensive contribution threshold three times in five games, which reflects a huge improvement in his work at the back over the past year or so. He was outstanding for England over the break and there’s little reason to believe that his form will fall off. Among the best buys in the FPL right now, if you don’t already have him.

Gonzalo García: The former Real Madrid striker hasn’t been especially productive since moving to Craven Cottage, but if there was ever a time to sign him, it’s now – because Fulham’s next three fixtures are against the three newly-promoted teams.

García has also been getting into a lot of good positions and while he only has one goal to his name, that came from 2.34xG and players usually snap back towards the mean at some stage. Just before the break, I recommended Thierno Barry as a buy and he immediately bagged a brace. I’m backing García to make the same leap for Fulham. Josh King is also an interesting budget-friendly differential option to consider.

Admittedly, when I told people to think about buying Barry, I also told people to sell Antoine Semenyo. There are no guarantees when you’re going off the stats. No refunds will be offered. But apologies for that particularly brutal miss.

Arsenal & Leeds players trending down ahead of Fantasy deadline

Bukayo Saka & Martin Ødegaard: Arsenal’s key attacking assets have been pretty good so far this season, especially the very well-priced Ødegaard, but things could get a little choppy over the coming weeks between injuries and the fact that they face some stingy defences – Leeds, Liverpool and Everton are among their next four opponents.

Christos Tzolis is likely to miss a game or two, Kai Havertz is likely to miss a month or two, and I suspect that Arsenal will score slightly fewer goals as a whole. I wouldn’t necessarily panic sell Saka or Ødegaard, but I certainly wouldn’t sign them and I might look for opportunities to move on if it lets me get my hands on a player in better form.

Dominic Calvert-Lewin: On the plus side, Calvert-Lewin should be feeling pretty well rested given how little football he played for England. On the downside, Leeds are away for three of their next four matches, starting with a trip to the Emirates, and I’d struggle to back him to score too many.

Calvert-Lewin has, in fairness, been a fine asset and his 3.1xG so far is the fifth best among Premier League players, which suggests that Leeds are feeding him well enough to keep scoring – but among the players ahead of him is Barry, who is cheaper, and García, who has far easier fixtures coming up. DCL will come back around, but I think you can do better over the next month or so.