Gameweek 6 Debrief: winners, blanks, and what the underlying numbers say

The round in numbers

These are the figures FPL publishes about the gameweek itself rather than about any one player, and they set the bar every squad is measured against.

Metric	Value	What it means
Average score	58	What the field scored
Highest score	131	The best single squad in the game
Managers ranked	11,008,435	Squads that scored this round
Most captained	Haaland	75.1% owned, returned 6
Most selected	Haaland	75.1% owned

Chips played

Wildcard was the round's most-played chip. A chip played in the same week as everybody else converts a good week into an average one relative to the field, which is the argument for holding until your own squad is ready rather than until the template says go.

Who actually scored

Player	Team	Pos	Pts	Mins	G	A	Bonus	xGI	Owned
Henderson	CHE	MID	18	90	2	1	3	0.19	0.3%
De Cuyper	BHA	DEF	15	67	1	0	3	0.25	34.9%
Dewsbury-Hall	EVE	MID	13	90	1	1	3	0.46	5.7%
João Pedro	CHE	FWD	12	71	2	0	2	0.7	69.3%
Cherif	COV	FWD	12	77	1	1	3	0.33	0.1%
Doku	MCI	MID	12	34	1	1	3	0.14	1.1%
O'Shea	IPS	DEF	11	90	1	0	3	0.25	2.6%
McGinn	AVL	MID	10	90	1	0	3	0.94	2.5%
Ouattara	IPS	DEF	10	90	1	0	2	0.07	0.9%
Cherki	MCI	MID	10	90	1	0	2	0.74	31.3%
Cunha	MUN	MID	10	90	0	1	3	0.29	6.4%
Calafiori	ARS	DEF	9	81	1	0	1	0.61	52.2%

The scoreline against the underlying data

Expected goals measure the chances a player got into. Goals measure what he did with them. Over one round the gap between the two is mostly noise, but it is the right place to look for the returns that have not landed yet.

Beat their chances

Player	Team	Goals	xG	Difference	Mins
João Pedro	CHE	2	0.6	+1.4	71
O'Shea	IPS	1	0.23	+0.77	90
Mbeumo	MUN	1	0.24	+0.76	90
De Cuyper	BHA	1	0.25	+0.75	67
Cherif	COV	1	0.33	+0.67	77
Kamada	CRY	1	0.34	+0.66	89

Created more than they took

Player	Team	Goals	xG	Difference	Mins
Delap	NFO	0	1.01	-1.01	71
Strand Larsen	CRY	0	0.98	-0.98	82
Ødegaard	ARS	0	0.82	-0.82	89
Gonzalo	FUL	0	0.67	-0.67	86
Manzambi	AVL	0	0.54	-0.54	85
Fernandez-Pardo	NEW	0	0.49	-0.49	90

Delap generated 1.01 expected goals and scored 0. That is the kind of return that tends to arrive late rather than never — provided the chances keep coming.

The defensive audit

2 teams kept a clean sheet in Gameweek 6: BHA, MCI. Clean sheets are worth four points to a defender and a goalkeeper, which makes the defensive picture worth as much attention as the attacking one.

Goalkeepers

Player	Team	Price	Pts	Saves	Conceded	Owned
Verbruggen	BHA	£4.5m	9	3	0	21.8%
Donnarumma	MCI	£5.5m	9	6	0	7.6%
Raya	ARS	£6.1m	3	4	1	43.7%
Martinez	CHE	£5.0m	3	3	1	4.7%
Rushworth	COV	£4.5m	3	4	1	0.7%
Benitez	CRY	£4.5m	3	4	1	0.1%

A goalkeeper behind a leaky defence is not automatically a bad pick: save points accumulate in exactly the weeks a clean sheet does not arrive, which is why the busiest keeper in the division is often better value than the one behind the best defence.

Defenders

Player	Team	Price	Pts	Bonus	xGI	Owned
De Cuyper	BHA	£5.1m	15	3	0.25	34.9%
O'Shea	IPS	£4.0m	11	3	0.25	2.6%
Ouattara	IPS	£4.0m	10	2	0.07	0.9%
Calafiori	ARS	£5.9m	9	1	0.61	52.2%
F.Kadıoğlu	BHA	£4.4m	9	1	0.01	1.6%
Vuskovic	BHA	£5.0m	8	0	0.28	4.6%

Attacking output by team

CHE scored the most goals of the round with 5. Team-level attacking output is the cleanest signal available after a single round: it takes eleven players to create a goal and one to finish it, and the finisher changes far more often than the creating does.

The bonus point picture

Bonus is decided by the Bonus Points System, which rewards goals and assists heavily but also pays for tackles, recoveries, clean sheets and passing accuracy. Over a season it is worth roughly a point a game to the players who consistently rank in it, and it is the most overlooked component of a captaincy decision.

Player	Team	Pos	Bonus	BPS	Pts	Owned
Henderson	CHE	MID	3	62	18	0.3%
Dewsbury-Hall	EVE	MID	3	60	13	5.7%
Doku	MCI	MID	3	45	12	1.1%
Cherif	COV	FWD	3	43	12	0.1%
McGinn	AVL	MID	3	36	10	2.5%
N.Jackson	AVL	FWD	3	36	9	2.5%
De Cuyper	BHA	DEF	3	36	15	34.9%
Yeremy	CRY	MID	3	32	9	0.3%
Cunha	MUN	MID	3	31	10	6.4%
Bruno G.	ARS	MID	3	29	9	2.1%

Henderson took the maximum with 3 from a BPS score of 62. Defenders and holding midfielders who accumulate BPS through defensive actions are the ones worth identifying early, because that route to bonus is far more repeatable than the one that runs through scoring goals.

The premium watch

A premium at £10m or more is not competing with the other forwards. He is competing with the two mid-price players you could field instead, and with the 75.1% of the field who already own the most popular of them.

Player	Team	Price	Pts	Mins	G	A	xGI	Owned
Haaland	MCI	£15.6m	6	79	1	0	0.41	75.1%
B.Fernandes	MUN	£11.9m	1	90	0	0	0.16	35%
Palmer	CHE	£9.7m	8	87	0	2	0.07	25.2%
Saka	ARS	£9.6m	2	90	0	0	0.47	16.7%
Isak	LIV	£9.0m	0	0	0	0	0	14.6%

Palmer led the bracket with 8. Isak returned 0, and at £9.0m that is the single largest hole a squad can have in a week. Not owning the most-selected premium is an active bet against 75.1% of the field — a legitimate one, but it should be deliberate.

Enablers and budget gems

The cheapest player who actually starts is worth more than a better player who does not. An enabler's job is to cost £4.5m and play ninety minutes; everything past that is profit that funds the rest of the squad.

Player	Team	Pos	Price	Pts	Mins	Owned
Henderson	CHE	MID	£4.9m	18	90	0.3%
De Cuyper	BHA	DEF	£5.1m	15	67	34.9%
Cherif	COV	FWD	£5.0m	12	77	0.1%
O'Shea	IPS	DEF	£4.0m	11	90	2.6%
McGinn	AVL	MID	£5.4m	10	90	2.5%
Ouattara	IPS	DEF	£4.0m	10	90	0.9%
Verbruggen	BHA	GK	£4.5m	9	90	21.8%
F.Kadıoğlu	BHA	DEF	£4.4m	9	90	1.6%

Henderson at £4.9m returned 18 points from 90 minutes, on 0.3% ownership. Enablers at that price are how squads afford two premiums without hollowing out the bench.

The differentials who paid

Points from a player most of the field does not own are worth more than the same points from one they do. These returned at least six while owned by under 8% of managers, which is where rank is actually won.

Player	Team	Pos	Price	Pts	Owned	Mins
Henderson	CHE	MID	£4.9m	18	0.3%	90
Dewsbury-Hall	EVE	MID	£6.6m	13	5.7%	90
Cherif	COV	FWD	£5.0m	12	0.1%	77
Doku	MCI	MID	£7.4m	12	1.1%	34
O'Shea	IPS	DEF	£4.0m	11	2.6%	90
McGinn	AVL	MID	£5.4m	10	2.5%	90
Ouattara	IPS	DEF	£4.0m	10	0.9%	90
Cunha	MUN	MID	£7.9m	10	6.4%	90

Henderson at 0.3% ownership returned 18. The managers who owned him gained ground on almost the entire field in a single afternoon — that is the whole case for carrying one or two genuine differentials rather than a squad indistinguishable from the template.

Looking ahead to Gameweek 7

FUL have the kindest assignment of the round on difficulty alone. That is a starting point for captaincy rather than an answer — difficulty ratings know nothing about who is injured.