FPL tips: Backing Gallagher to roll with it while Alexander-Arnold excels

Conor Gallagher‘s storming start to life with Crystal Palace makes him a hot property in Fantasy Premier League as gameweek five begins on Friday.

The Chelsea loanee has delivered back-to-back star performances to top our Transfer Score recommendations, which rate players based on form, cost, ownership and difficulty of upcoming fixtures (FDR).

Trent Alexander-Arnold, Demarai Gray and Gabriel Jesus are also among the names in consideration this week.

Goalkeepers

Gameweek four’s top pick Hugo Lloris drops out of the top three entirely after Tottenham’s dreadful loss to Gallagher’s side, leaving Alisson Becker as the top pick in goal.

The Liverpool keeper was cleared by Brazil to feature against Leeds at the weekend and he kept his third clean sheet in four games. Barring another attacking outburst from Palace, his upcoming fixtures offer encouragement and his ownership remains low at 7.3 per cent.

His transfer score of 68 out of 100 is one point ahead of Wolves’ Jose Sa and Chelsea’s Edouard Mendy, with Lloris and Manchester City’s Ederson just behind.

Defenders

Liverpool’s defensive record, with just one goal conceded so far, also lifts Alexander-Arnold, who is back to his best and leads all defenders with 34 points so far.

He has a pair of assists along the way and even in the Chelsea game, which was a blank for him otherwise, he picked up two bonus points.

Wolves recorded their first clean sheet against Watford as their luck began to turn and after creating both goals at the other end, Fernando Marcal slots in right behind Alexander-Arnold with a transfer score of 78.

Manchester City’s Joao Cancelo completes the podium, with his low ownership hauling him clear of an otherwise identical fantasy asset in team-mate Ruben Dias.

Midfielders

Gallagher followed up his brace against West Ham with a pair of assists in the rout of Tottenham and incredibly has already matched his goals and assists tally from last season, which he spent with relegated West Brom.

He faces Liverpool this week and Palace have Leicester and Manchester City on the horizon as well, but the fixtures around those offer hope and he scores highly in every category aside from FDR for a league-high transfer score of 81.

Gray has scored in three straight Everton games to match Gallagher’s 26 fantasy points – his price is similar but his ownership, at least for now, is higher at 13.5 per cent.

Ferran Torres is an even more popular pick already but in an attacking role for Pep Guardiola, the possibility of more performances like his two goals and an assist against Aston Villa will tempt still more armchair managers.

Forwards

Michail Antonio‘s suspension opens up a vacancy up front for many managers and Jesus has made the strongest claim so far to step in – while operating largely on the wing with Torres central, he has a goal and three assists to his name already and his ownership remains low.

He is slightly more expensive than Antonio at £8.6million so Patrick Bamford presents a strong alternative, particularly as Leeds go through the remainder of September and all of October with five games rated two on FDR and a solitary three against West Ham.

Norwich, though struggling so far, have a similarly appealing run with only one FDR4 fixture in their next 10 – a chance for Teemu Pukki to get up and running, and reflected in his transfer score of 62.