In this article, we will look at the best forwards to pick for your Fantasy Premier League team in the Gameweek 5 of the 2025/26 season.
Let’s dive in and look at our watchlist. Here are the forwards to pick from, with our comments and ratings of each.
Read more about GW5 in our guide: FPL Gameweek 5: Tips, Captain, Transfer Targets & Team Selection
Forwards watchlist for GW5 and beyond
Erling Haaland (MCI, 14.1) — The most reliable forward in terms of volume (xGI/90 ≈ 1.59), elite PPG (≈ 9.2), and amazing form (≈ 8.0). Slight underperformance (xGI diff ≈ −0.97), but remains the top pick despite a tough next fixture vs Arsenal (avg diff ~3.10). Rating: 9.5/10
João Pedro (CHE, 7.8) — Excellent value considering the output (xGI/90 ≈ 0.46), great form (≈ 10.3), but big overperformance (xGI diff ≈ +3.33). Fixtures are decent (avg diff ~3.13), and he’s highly owned. Rating: 7/10
Chris Wood (NFO, 7.6) — Output isn’t spectacular (xGI/90 ≈ 0.52), but decent short-term pick with favorable fixture vs Burnley and avg diff ~2.40. Rating: 7/10
Ollie Watkins (AVL, 8.8) — underperforming (xGI diff ≈ −1.30). Fixtures excellent (avg diff ~2.27) – bounceback potential. Rating: 6/10
Evanilson (BOU, 7.0) — Solid involvement (xGI/90 ≈ 0.27), okay form (≈ 5.0), and good fixtures ahead (avg diff ~2.53). Could become a decent differential. Rating: 5.5/10
Jean-Philippe Mateta (CRY, 7.6) — Not involved enough (xGI/90 ≈ 0.56) and underperforming (xGI diff ≈ −1.17), form remains low (≈ 3.0). Rating: 5.5/10
Woltemade (NEW, 7.0) — Strong early impression (xGI/90 ≈ 0.39) in a small sample. Fixture run is mixed (avg diff ~3.70), but he’s looking sharp. Rating: 5/10
Over/Underperformers among Forwards before GW5
Tips for picking the best forwards for your FPL team
1. If you pick a premium forward, make sure he is also a good captaincy option.
- Usually, if you pick 10m+ player, you want him to be a captaincy contender in gameweeks to come
2. Do not overlook talimans
- Also, consider forwards who are talismans for their teams – that are heavily involved in almost every goal of their team (for example, Wood for Nottingham last season)
3. Consider probabilities when picking forwards in FPL.
- Let bookies any time goalscorer odds to help you with that. You can find them here: Premier League Goalscoring Odds.
4. Defensive contributions will not affect forwards, expect that the points shift towards the midfield, and defence
- Forwards will benefit the least from defensive contribution points
- You will rarely see some forward getting DEFCON points.
- For example, Bowen had the most defensive contributions last season among forwards – 211 in 34 games, which is 6.21 DEFCONs on average per match. Now, in order to forward to get extra 2 points for defensive contributions, he would need 12 per game – that is a huge gap
- This is a huge factor when choosing a formation. I think playing on 3 forwards is out of the question (at least for me) for this season, and I am leaning towards playing 4-4-2. If we had 2 playing 4.5m forwards (but we do not), I would play 4-5-1.
5. Forwards are overpriced and have very few routes to points
- Forwards are my least favorite category in FPL
- They tends to be overpriced, and they do not have as many routes to points as MIDs or DEFs.
- There are seasons, when even 5.5m defenders tend to score more points over the season than 7.5m forwards, and with the introduction of defensive contributions, 2025/26 could be that season again.
6. Have realistic expectations from your forwards (and patience)
- Usually, the top-scoring forwards can get around 180-230 points per season (on some occasions even more, but this is the realistic expectation from premium FPL forwards) – that is 4.7 – 6 points per match
- Good mid-priced FPL forwards (usually 6.5m – 9m range) can get approximately 140-180 points per season, so expect around 3.7 – 4.74 points per match on average
- Budget forwards can get around 90 – 120 points per season = 2.4 – 3.15 points per match
- The points of midfielders and forwards usually came in waves or in clusters – so the run of “form” can be followed with a run of blanks.
Reliable FPL forwards with stable points output in the previous 3 seasons
Read more in our article: Best long-term FPL picks for 2024/25 season
hello, I just read your articles about the best players in every position, which says buy hold sell, etc
but now I am confused about something maybe you can help me with it
if you mention a player to BUY, but at the same time to buy that player I’ll have to sell a player that you say HOLD, so in this situation what should I do?
i only sell the players that you suggest to SELL only?
And what about the players you don’t mention at all either buy or sell or hold, that means I shouldn’t have them at all?