Seven of Gameweek 4’s ten matches are done and the average score is 42 points — once again below what most managers expected. Saturday will be remembered for two things: the promoted sides took points off the favourites, and one of our Friday warnings proved right to the minute.
Gakpo played 30 minutes. 663,000 managers had bought him
For two days running we wrote the same thing: do not buy Cody Gakpo before this deadline. The 75% flag was still there, his match started ninety minutes after transfers closed, and asked directly whether the Dutchman would play, manager Andoni Iraola said: “I don’t know. I hope so, but I don’t know.”
Gakpo came off the bench and played 30 minutes. He scored 1 point.
663,000 managers bought him during the week — he was the second most-bought player in the entire game. We take no satisfaction in this, because it was not a hard call: all it took was reading what the manager said and setting it against the kick-off time. It is the simplest rule in this game — do not buy a flagged player if you will not see the team sheet before the deadline.
Liverpool drew 0-0 with Fulham. Szoboszlai played the full 90 for 3 points, Isak managed 2.
The promoted clubs wrecked half the league’s plans
Saturday’s two biggest shocks came from teams that appeared in all our tables as the easiest opponents available.
Chelsea 2-2 Hull. The promoted side left Stamford Bridge with a point, and the hero was Belloumi — two goals, 13 points, owned by 1.7%. For managers that stings twice over: Chelsea were widely treated as a banker this week, and the fixture carried an official difficulty of 2.
Crystal Palace 2-3 Ipswich. The second promoted side won away, and the best player of the day across the whole game was Davis at £4.0m — a goal, two assists, 14 points. Emersonn added 12. Both are owned by under 6%.
Our captaincy five, settled
On Friday we published a ranking of eight captaincy candidates. Here is what those who have already played delivered:
| Our rank | Player | Points | What he did |
|---|---|---|---|
| 4 | João Pedro (CHE) | 12 | goal, assist, 3 bonus |
| 1 | Rogers (CHE) | 8 | goal, 1 bonus |
| 3 | Saka (ARS) | 8 | goal, clean sheet |
| 6 | Rice (ARS) | 6 | assist, clean sheet |
| 2 | Szoboszlai (LIV) | 3 | 90 minutes, 0-0 draw |
| 5 | Mitchell (CRY) | 1 | 76 minutes, defeat |
Honestly: our fourth choice came out on top, while the second and fifth failed. João Pedro delivered exactly what we expected of him, but Szoboszlai ran into a goalless game and Mitchell into Palace’s only Saturday defeat. The model picked the right fixture (Chelsea at home) — it just happened that Hull scored twice in it and the clean sheet vanished.
Two candidates from our eight — Haaland and Bruno Fernandes — do not play until today. And that is the most interesting part of this gameweek.
The Manchester derby is today. This is where our main argument is tested
At 16:30, Manchester United host Manchester City. It is the only fixture of the round rated difficulty 4 for both sides — which is exactly why on Friday we placed Haaland and Bruno only seventh and eighth among captaincy candidates, despite ownership of 71.7% and 42.8%.
Both rate 88 with a “buy” verdict. The point was never that they are poor players — it was that their fixture carries the highest risk of the round and the lowest ceiling of the whole eight. By this evening we will know whether that was well-judged caution or overcaution.
Where things stand before kick-off:
- Luke Shaw (11.6% owned) still carries a 75% flag — Michael Carrick said he has a chance of featuring, but he is competing for a starting place with Patrick Dorgu, who was man of the match in United’s last game.
- O’Reilly (13.2%) is completely clear — his flag was removed on Friday after Enzo Maresca’s comments.
- Doku will not play — calf injury, expected back around 20 September. City’s wide options stay thin, which helps Semenyo‘s minutes (16.1%).
- United are also without Baleba, Amad, Ugarte and De Ligt.
Beyond Haaland and Bruno, this match is packed with popular names: Cherki (29.3%), Mbeumo (23.6%), Gvardiol (20.6%), Guéhi (18.5%). If four or five of them are in your squad, tonight decides your entire gameweek.
Saturday’s heroes: cheap and unfashionable
| Player | Club | Price | Points | Ownership |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Schade | BRE | £6.0m | 15 | 4.2% |
| Raya | ARS | £6.0m | 14 | 39.3% |
| Davis | IPS | £4.0m | 14 | 5.4% |
| Belloumi | HUL | £5.0m | 13 | 1.7% |
| João Pedro | CHE | £7.8m | 12 | 74.1% |
| Emersonn | IPS | £5.5m | 12 | 1.9% |
Two things stand out. First, five of Saturday’s six best performers cost £6.0m or less. Second, Schade, with his two goals, appeared in Friday’s cheat sheet under best value at £6.0m or under — rated 85 at barely 4% ownership.
Worth noting too: Tavernier (BOU) took a goal, two bonus points and 8 in total at 4.1% ownership. On Friday we flagged him as one of the best transfers available at £6.0m.
What is still to come
The gameweek is not over. Today at 14:00 Coventry host Brighton, featuring De Cuyper (22% owned, one of the week’s most-bought players) and Verbruggen (22.2%). The round closes with Monday’s Leeds v Newcastle at 20:00, where Calvert-Lewin (22%), Wissa (18.4%) and Hall (14.2%) can still score.
Our full gameweek review — with our mini league table and every pre-match argument settled — goes out after Monday’s game.
Current ratings for every player are in the AI Rankings, and next week’s side in the Recommended Squad. To compare your score with other readers, join our mini league — code 3ix1cw.
Results and points come from official game data read on the morning of 13 September; bonus points may still change while the gameweek is unfinished. Ratings come from our AI model — we explain the methodology on How our AI Rating works. This article was produced with the help of artificial intelligence, using our own engine’s data and the official Fantasy Premier League API.