Fantasy Premier League GW5: Scout picks including Liverpool player to avoid

The Scout Picks are back for GW5 - here's who we're tipping to boost your FPL points tally this weekend The Champions League group stage has returned, coinciding with the Carabao Cup third round, making it a busy week for most Premier League clubs. Twelve clubs have been in action since 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 v 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.



Click here to sign up to our FPL newsletter, sending scout picks, injury news and talking points to your inbox every week, along with the chance to win prizes in our mini-league, reports Birmingham Live . Here's who we're tipping in GW5..

.. Marcus Rashford.

Man United | £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 netted a rare goal in the 3-0 victory over Southampton last weekend, and added two goals and two assists in the 7-0 Carabao Cup thrashing of Barnsley midweek. Granted, Barnsley are League One opponents, but Rashford still made light work of them. Rashford is a player who thrives on confidence and, in this kind of form, he's worth a punt against a shaky Crystal Palace on Saturday - especially with Amad, Alejandro Garnacho, Bruno Fernandes and Christian Eriksen all firing on all cylinders as well.

At £6.9m and owned by just 3.2% of FPL managers as of Wednesday afternoon, he also looks a good differential bet.

Jamie Vardy. Leicester City |£5.7m | EVE (H).

David Byrom: We didn't expect to see 37 year old Vardy as a scout pick going into this season, but the Leicester City legend has kicked off the campaign in fine form, netting two goals. He's now up against an Everton side that can't stop conceding goals and, as long as Jarrad Branthwaite remains out for the Toffees, you'd back pretty much any striker to score against them. Vardy seems a good budget option, particularly with fixtures against Bournemouth, Southampton and Nottingham Forest coming up after a GW6 clash with Arsenal.

Danny Welbeck. Brighton | £5.7m | NFO (H).

Ed Syers: When you think of Brighton, the image that probably comes to mind is a team of young Football Manager prodigies led by the youngest coach in Premier League history. You wouldn't be wrong, but arguably their most impressive player this season has been the veteran - Danny Welbeck. The 33-year-old has been leading the front line impressively for the Seagulls under Fabian Hurzeler, scoring twice and providing an assist in his four games.

Only Erling Haaland and an injured Yoane Wissa have managed to score more than Welbeck's 28 points so far. In my opinion, this makes him the best budget striker by a considerable margin, 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.

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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 dealt 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 might have to make some tough calls, as Alexander Isak's availability for the next match is still uncertain due to a foot injury. Liverpool's goalkeeper Alisson may not be able to train before their match against Bournemouth due to a muscle injury, as revealed by Arne Slot. Brighton will assess Joao Pedro's fitness after Friday's training session before deciding if he can start against Nottingham Forest.

He missed last week's goalless draw with Ipswich Town, but FPL has given him a 75% chance of playing in the game. On a positive note for managers, Bukayo Saka, who had to leave the pitch during Arsenal's victory over Spurs last week, was fit enough to start against Atalanta in the Champions League and should be available for the Man City match..