Update (Saturday 10 October, morning). After Friday’s press conferences, the game changed the flags on several of the most-owned players overnight. The deadline is today at 11:00 UK time. Here is what has changed since Thursday.
- João Pedro (64.9% owned) and Palmer (24.2%) no longer have a flag. Xabi Alonso said on Friday that both, along with Reece James, had trained all week and are ready to face Bournemouth. Our rating for João Pedro has risen from 85 to 88, and the Recommended Squad picks him again. One caveat: some predicted line-ups still have Welbeck up front, and we will only know who starts at around 14:00 UK, after the deadline. João Pedro was the most-sold player of the week (591,000), and since this morning the game lists him as fully available.
- Isak (18.0%) and Gakpo (10.0%) will not play. Andoni Iraola ruled both out of Sunday’s game against City. Isak has a minor thigh injury and Gakpo an ankle problem, but no return date was given. Both now carry an injury status in the game, and our ratings have dropped: Isak to 67, Gakpo to 76. If you have a free transfer, today is a good time to use it.
- Tzolis (8.8%) is also out. Mikel Arteta said he will miss a few weeks, and the game gives a return around 24 October.
- Konsa (17.6%) and Havertz (7.0%) face a matchday decision. Arteta did not commit either way. On Rice (10.7%), he said the club has to manage him after a few minor issues since the World Cup. All three carry a 75% flag. Arsenal play Leeds at 12:30, an hour and a half after the deadline.
- New and worse flags: Pedro Porro (6.6%) moved from 75% to a full injury with no return date, Neco Williams (7.7%) has an illness and a 50% chance of playing, and Igor Jesus has a calf injury with no return date.
- Flags removed: Van Hecke, Reece James, White, Jacquet, Caicedo and Dunk.
- City: Enzo Maresca confirmed Haaland is ready for Anfield. Semenyo (13.7%) and O’Reilly (9.9%) still have 75% flags, and the manager was not asked about them. We will only see City’s team on Sunday.
What about the captaincy? No change. Saka is first in our captain picks, while Bruno Fernandes and Mbeumo have the best profile, with the lowest risk and highest upside, at home to Tottenham. João Pedro is back in our top five. The current Recommended Squad plays a 3-5-2 with Saka as captain and Rogers as vice-captain.
There have been 141 price changes since the Gameweek 5 deadline, 121 of them drops. Groß was the most-bought player of the week (1.4 million).
The Premier League is back after three weeks. The Gameweek 6 deadline is Saturday 10 October at 11:00 UK time, earlier than usual. The international break has left nine popular players with a flag (each owned by more than 10% of managers), and for many of them there is no way to check before the deadline. Below: who to sell now, who to wait on and who to buy.
Deadline and fixtures
The first match, Arsenal v Leeds, kicks off at 12:30, an hour and a half after the deadline, so you will not see a single team sheet before transfers close. The game of the week is Liverpool v Manchester City on Sunday, the only fixture rated 4 for both sides.
| Fixture | Kick-off (UK time) | Difficulty (home / away) |
|---|---|---|
| Arsenal v Leeds | Sat 12:30 | 3 / 5 |
| Ipswich v Fulham | Sat 15:00 | 2 / 2 |
| Sunderland v Brighton | Sat 15:00 | 3 / 3 |
| Chelsea v Bournemouth | Sat 15:00 | 3 / 4 |
| Aston Villa v Brentford | Sat 15:00 | 3 / 3 |
| Manchester United v Tottenham | Sat 17:30 | 2 / 4 |
| Crystal Palace v Nottingham Forest | Sun 14:00 | 3 / 3 |
| Hull v Everton | Sun 14:00 | 3 / 2 |
| Liverpool v Manchester City | Sun 16:30 | 4 / 4 |
| Coventry v Newcastle | Mon 20:00 | 3 / 2 |
Nine flags on popular players
| Player | Ownership | What we know | What to do |
|---|---|---|---|
| João Pedro (CHE) | 64.4% | Knee. According to Sports Mole there is no sign he is back in training | Wait for Alonso’s press conference |
| Palmer (CHE) | 25.1% | Muscle problem, withdrew from England. Previews expect him back on Saturday or a week later | Wait for Alonso |
| Isak (LIV) | 21.9% | Thigh. Iraola: “right now they are both injured” | Blind decision, plays on Sunday |
| Konsa (ARS) | 19.0% | Two issues after England duty. Tuchel: “nothing major” | Wait for Arteta; we rate him only 73 anyway |
| Semenyo (MCI) | 14.9% | Ankle since 24 September, no fresh news | Wait for Maresca; the game is at Anfield |
| Gakpo (LIV) | 12.0% | Ankle. Liverpool have not published the scan result | Blind decision, plays on Sunday |
| Tzolis (ARS) | 11.6% | Hamstring, reports of about 3 weeks | Sell |
| Rice (ARS) | 11.4% | Match previews expect him to be available | Keep |
| O’Reilly (MCI) | 10.7% | Sent home from England duty, flagged since 1 October | Sellable if you have a free transfer (6 points this season, rated 76) |
Three cases need a comment.
João Pedro is the most sold player in the game right now (462,000 managers). On Wednesday Sports Mole still rated him a major doubt. Our model gives him 85 (“Buy”), but the Recommended Squad for Gameweek 6 no longer includes him. Chelsea play at 15:00 on Saturday, and Xabi Alonso’s pre-match press conference (Thursday or Friday) is the last signal before the deadline. If you have a free transfer and do not want to wait, you are not losing much: after three and a half weeks out, it is not clear how many minutes he would get anyway.
Isak and Gakpo. Andoni Iraola told beIN Sports on Wednesday: “Now it’s a matter of if they are going to recover in time to help us in the next game or not.” He added: “But right now they are both injured.” Liverpool host City at 16:30 on Sunday, so you will see their team more than a day after the deadline. If you own both, consider moving one on. We rate Isak only 74 (“Hold”), so he is the first candidate.
Arsenal have six flagged players in total, as we covered yesterday in our piece on Konsa and Scott. Match previews (NBC, LiveScore) are most doubtful about Tzolis and Havertz. On top of that, Bournemouth’s Alex Scott shows 50% in the game, while the media talk of six to eight weeks out.
Who to buy
The top of our model after the break (all without a flag):
| Player | Price | Rating | Ownership | Fixture |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Saka (ARS) | £9.6m | 89 | 14.4% | Leeds (H) (3) |
| Bruno Fernandes (MUN) | £11.9m | 89 | 38.4% | Tottenham (H) (2) |
| Rogers (CHE) | £7.8m | 89 | 41.0% | Bournemouth (H) (3) |
| Mbeumo (MUN) | £7.9m | 88 | 20.4% | Tottenham (H) (2) |
| Barnes (NEW) | £6.1m | 88 | 6.0% | Coventry (A) (2) |
| Tavernier (BOU) | £6.1m | 88 | 6.9% | Chelsea (A) (4) |
| Guéhi (MCI) | £6.0m | 88 | 18.1% | Liverpool (A) (4) |
| Hall (NEW) | £5.3m | 86 | 17.9% | Coventry (A) (2) |
The number in brackets is the official fixture difficulty on a 1–5 scale. A few cheaper options with low ownership:
- Iwobi (FUL, £5.4m, rated 86, 0.7%), Castagne (FUL, £4.5m, 84, 1.0%) and Leno (FUL, £4.5m), currently the highest-rated goalkeeper in the game (74). Fulham go to Ipswich (difficulty 2) and have the easiest schedule in the league for Gameweeks 6–10, as shown in our fixture analysis.
- Le Fée (SUN, £5.7m, 87, 3.3%), at home to Brighton.
- Ndiaye (MCI, £5.8m, 87, 6.6%). Note that City go to Anfield.
Forwards are a problem. The Recommended Squad plays 4-5-1 this week with a single forward, Haaland. That shows how little value the model sees in the fit forwards compared with midfield. If you need to replace João Pedro, the model points to Evanilson (BOU, £6.0m, 84), but Bournemouth go to Stamford Bridge.
Captaincy
| # | Player | Rating | Risk | Upside | Fixture |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Saka (ARS) | 89 | 40 | 80 | Leeds (H) (3) |
| 2 | Rogers (CHE) | 89 | 40 | 79 | Bournemouth (H) (3) |
| 3 | Bruno Fernandes (MUN) | 89 | 33 | 90 | Tottenham (H) (2) |
| 4 | Tavernier (BOU) | 88 | 48 | 69 | Chelsea (A) (4) |
| 5 | Guéhi (MCI) | 88 | 48 | 64 | Liverpool (A) (4) |
| 6 | Haaland (MCI) | 88 | 48 | 68 | Liverpool (A) (4) |
| 7 | Mbeumo (MUN) | 88 | 33 | 89 | Tottenham (H) (2) |
| 8 | Barnes (NEW) | 88 | 33 | 84 | Coventry (A) (2) |
Risk combines minutes security, fitness and fixture difficulty (lower is better). Upside measures how much a player can score. Saka tops the ranking, but the best profile belongs to Bruno Fernandes and Mbeumo: the lowest risk and the highest upside of the eight. United are at home to Tottenham, who are bottom of the table. Haaland is sixth because he goes to Anfield, not because of his fitness. More in our captain picks.
One practical tip: pick your vice-captain from a different match than your captain. If Saka does not play at 12:30 on Saturday, the armband passes to your vice-captain automatically.
The crowd v the model
- Bruno Fernandes is once again the third most sold player (229,000). Before Gameweek 2 the crowd sold him too, and he scored a hat-trick against Ipswich. Before the derby in Gameweek 4 the crowd was right. This time the data is on his side: the best captaincy profile in the game and a home game against the bottom side. He also played two almost complete international matches during the break, so the injury worry we wrote about at the end of September looks closed (our piece).
- Brighton are in fashion after beating Arsenal 3-0. Groß (916,000 buyers, rated 86) and De Cuyper (360,000, 84) are picks the model agrees with. Kostoulas (388,000) is rated only 74 (“Hold”), so the crowd is buying him mainly for his goal against Arsenal.
- Another 202,000 managers are buying Brobbey, who has had a 75% flag since 24 September (our piece on his injury). It is the third week running that the market is buying an injured player.
- Schade (480,000, 87) and Hall (304,000, 86) are picks where the crowd and the model agree.
Prices and the recommended squad
Since the Gameweek 5 deadline there have been 126 price changes, 108 of them falls. Groß rose the most (+£0.2m, now £5.9m), while João Pedro, Bruno Fernandes, Szoboszlai and Tzolis are among those who dropped.
The Recommended Squad for Gameweek 6: Leno; Guéhi, Hall, Gabriel, Bogle; Saka (captain), Rogers (vice-captain), Mbeumo, Tavernier, Barnes; Haaland. £1.6m is left in the bank. The model keeps Bogle despite the trip to Arsenal because it looks at his rating (85) and his points (42), not a single fixture.
Checklist before Saturday, 11:00 UK
- Follow the press conferences: Alonso (João Pedro, Palmer), Arteta (Konsa, Rice, Havertz), Iraola and Maresca before Sunday’s game.
- Do not take a 4-point hit for a player with a 75% flag until the manager confirms something.
- You can sell Tzolis and Scott now. Reports talk about weeks out, not days.
- Vice-captain from a different match than your captain.
- Make your transfers on Friday evening. A Saturday 11:00 deadline is easy to miss.
- Check how you are doing in our league (71 teams, code 3ix1cw). The full injury list is in our Injury Centre.
FPL game data, ratings and captain picks from our AI model as of the morning of 8 October 2026. Sources: ESPN, RTE and beIN Sports (Iraola’s comments), Sports Mole (Chelsea), NBC Sports and LiveScore (Arsenal), Hayters (Konsa). This article was prepared with the help of AI and checked by our editors.