AllAboutFPL Founders Tackle GW5: Surya's Wildcard vs. Srini's Free Hit

Gameweek 4 left chaos in its wake. Leeds were the only side to win at home, popular picks misfired, and penalty drama swung ranks all over the place. Out of that noise, the two men behind AllAboutFPL, Surya and Srini, have taken very different, very aggressive routes into GW5.

Both have a chip active. That’s where the similarities end.

Surya: Free Hit frustration to early Wildcard

GW4: 78 points, wrong Arsenal trio

Surya’s Free Hit in GW4 returned 78 points – a decent total on paper, but one that felt flat in context.

He backed the Arsenal triple-up and got the idea right, but the names wrong. No David Raya. No Bukayo Saka. Both delivered huge swings with penalties at either end of the pitch – one saved, one scored – and that was enough to turn a solid Free Hit into a frustrating one.

Add in an injury concern for Joao Pedro and a raft of other fires, and Surya has decided he’s had enough of patchwork fixes.

The Wildcard is active for GW5.

Why pull the Wildcard now?

There’s a three‑week international break straight after GW5. Most managers fear that window: injuries, rotation, and new information can wreck an early Wildcard.

Surya is ignoring the fear. He calls his current squad “a mess” and sees GW5 as the chance to reset into a long‑term structure he trusts:

• Erling Haaland up front
• Cole Palmer and Saka as premium midfielders
• Morgan Gibbs‑White as a key mid‑price asset
• Double Arsenal defence as the backbone

Around that core, he wants cheap, reliable picks from clubs with strong upcoming fixture runs. The draft he’s working with has been rated at 91% and projected 59 points by Fantasy Football Hub’s free AI Team Rating tool, but the bigger story is the shape of the squad rather than the rating.

Defence and goalkeepers: double Arsenal and DEFCON gems

For Surya, double Arsenal defence on Wildcard “is a no‑brainer.” Clean sheet potential, bonus points, and nailed minutes make them the anchor.

Konsa, at 4.5m, is the value pick that unlocks the rest of the squad.

Alongside them, Muharemovic and Silva are what he calls “DEFCON defenders” – steady, low‑drama assets capable of churning out four-pointers almost every week regardless of fixture difficulty. They’re there to tick over.

Munoz is the upside play. With Coventry, Crystal Palace and Ipswich in the next four, he’s the attacking full-back punt aimed at squeezing extra points out of those kinder fixtures.

Midfield: penalties, talismen and one quiet machine

Saka and Palmer headline the midfield. Both are on penalties. Both are talismen for their sides. Both are capable of double‑digit hauls in any given week.

The medium‑term plan is already in Surya’s head: one of them could become Bruno Fernandes around GW11/GW12 when Manchester United’s fixtures turn. For now, though, they stay.

Gibbs‑White is the statistical heartbeat of this midfield. The numbers are hard to ignore:

• 1st among midfielders for Big Chances Created (4)
• 5th for xGI (2.57)
• Joint‑2nd for Bonus Points (6)
• 11th for total FPL points (26)

He has multiple routes to returns – creativity, set pieces, bonus – and a plum home fixture against Coventry in GW5.

King is the budget differential. He faces three promoted sides in three straight weeks from GW6–GW8 and operates in an advanced No.10 role, constantly arriving in dangerous areas. Surya is backing him to finally turn strong positions into FPL returns.

Janelt completes the midfield as the eighth attacker and budget glue. The numbers behind him are striking:

• DEFCON scores: 13, 10, 12, 20 from GW1–GW4
• 13.75 DEFCON per 90
• A share of corners and set pieces, with 8 corners taken already
• 2 goals this season
• Just 2.5% ownership

At 5.0m, he’s the quiet enabler with a very real ceiling.

Forwards: Haaland, the data monster Barry, and a final toss‑up

Haaland needs no explanation. He’s in. He’s captain. He’s the first name in the squad.

Next to him, Barry is the headline Wildcard punt. Priced at 5.6m, playing 90 minutes, and with two promoted teams up next, he brings both volume and opportunity. The underlying numbers are elite:

• Only Haaland beats him among forwards for xG and xGI
• Only Haaland beats him for shots, shots in the box and big chances

He has just one goal so far, which feels out of step with those metrics. Surya is betting that “fixtures breed form” and that this is the start of a scoring run.

Wissa is the third forward, chosen for a run of four appealing fixtures: Hull (H), Coventry (A), Aston Villa (H) and Crystal Palace (A). Two promoted sides and two out‑of‑sorts teams, with no European distractions for his club. Garcia is the other name in contention, and Surya admits that final slot is still not completely locked.

Captaincy: no gamble against Haaland

Surya flirted with the idea of captaining Gibbs‑White at home to Coventry, especially with predictive models giving him a projected 6.1 points. The temptation was real.

He’s walked it back.

Owning Gibbs‑White should be enough of a differential if he hauls. Going against Haaland – who once again tops AllAboutFPL’s own GW5 captaincy metrics – feels like risk for the sake of it. The armband stays on the Norwegian.

Srini: underwhelming GW4, aggressive GW5 Free Hit

GW4: punished for going without Saka and Raya

Srini’s week unravelled in familiar fashion.

No Pascal Gross. A double‑up on Liverpool midfield that didn’t quite explode. A Chelsea attacking triple‑up that did its job but was widely owned, blunting its impact.

And then the big swing: no Saka, no Raya. Just like Surya, he watched those penalty moments go against him, only this time without a chip to soften the blow. The rank damage was obvious.

His answer is blunt: Free Hit in GW5.

Why Free Hit now?

Srini’s strategy is clear – attack specific home fixtures in one concentrated burst:

• Everton vs Ipswich (H)
• Forest vs Coventry (H)
• Newcastle vs Hull (H)
• Leeds vs Crystal Palace (H)
• Manchester City vs Sunderland (H)

He wants to load up on players facing promoted or struggling sides, maximise upside in a single gameweek, and then drop back to his original squad once the chip expires.

The Joao Pedro situation only strengthens that call. Xabi Alonso has said no one is officially ruled out, but refused to reveal the exact nature of Pedro’s issue. The manager hinted Pedro could play the next match and then miss Brazil duty, but the expectation is that he likely sits out GW5, recovers over the international break, and returns around GW6.

For Srini, that uncertainty is another reason to detach GW5 from the rest of his season and attack it with a one‑week squad.

Only two or three players from his original team are expected to survive into his Free Hit XI. The draft he’s currently leaning towards has a 95% rating and a projected 62 points on Fantasy Football Hub’s free AI Team Rating tool.

Locked‑in core and flexible slots

There are six names Srini calls non‑negotiable for his GW5 Free Hit:

• Haaland
• Barry
• Dominic Calvert‑Lewin
• Bruno Fernandes
• Gibbs‑White
• Munoz

Around them, five spots remain fluid. He’s weighing different combinations but has set a few rules for himself:

• There will be Manchester City defensive coverage
• There will be a Leeds defender
• There will be an Everton defender

He’s “very likely” to stick with the draft shown in his internal build, though he admits he likes alternative option 1 and option 3 as well. The final call will come closer to the deadline.

Captaincy: rested Haaland, prime home fixture

For Srini, the armband is not up for debate.

Haaland got his midweek rest and now faces Sunderland at home. City carry the highest goal‑scoring odds of the gameweek, and history says when City score, Haaland is usually involved.

The captaincy goes on him and stays there.

Two founders. Two chips. One gameweek that could send their seasons on wildly different paths. The only question now: does the early aggression pay off, or will the international break make them both sweat?