With matchday six just around the corner, fresh off the first midweek Premier League fixtures of the season, now is when things can start to get tricky.
Some regular starters will likely be rested, and some new faces could emerge and force their way into the calculations going forward.
In a sink-or-swim week, it will be important to focus on players considered too important to their respective side to leave out – but who are those players?
Using Opta data, Stats Perform is here to help, with four suggestions of players that are in form that is impossible to ignore.
David Raya (Brentford v Leeds United)
Brentford s David Raya produced one of the more unlikely goalkeeping performances of the season in his side s 4-0 win over Manchester United – although maybe it should not have been unexpected.
The Spain international has only the one clean sheet to his name this season, but he ranks second in saves-per-90-minutes, and since the start of last season, he ranks second in save percentage.
Only Jose Sa (75.7 save percentage) has a higher save percentage than Raya s 74.2, and only Dean Henderson (five saves per 90 minutes) stops more shots per game this campaign than Raya s 4.4.
Joao Cancelo (Manchester City v Aston Villa)
Manchester City s Portuguese full-back has established himself as one of the most reliable fantasy picks as a crucial part of one of the Premier League s best defences, while also proving to be a consistent source of goals.
Since the start of the 2021-22 season, Cancelo ranks fourth out of all defenders for goal involvements with two goals and seven assists, while only Virgil van Dijk (22) is credited with more clean sheets than Cancelo s 21.
He gets a friendly matchup against Aston Villa as well, who this season have scored four goals and conceded nine from their five matches, placing them in the bottom-five in both categories.
Bukayo Saka (Arsenal v Manchester United)
Arsenal are enjoying their best start to a Premier League season since 2003-04, with five wins from five matches, and 20-year-old winger Bukayo Saka is a big reason they are such a threat going forward.
Among Arsenal players, Saka ranks second in both assists (two) and chances created (10) – and it is no product of a small sample size.
Since the beginning of last season, only Kevin de Bruyne (102), Mohamed Salah (84) and Son Heung-min (80) have created more chances than Saka (78) – with a gap back to Mason Mount in fifth (66).
Aleksandar Mitrovic (Fulham v Tottenham)
It should never be a surprise to see Aleksandar Mitrovic scoring goals, but to be going at a goal-per-game in a newly promoted side is evidence of the special talent the Serbian possesses.
Only Erling Haaland has more goals than Mitrovic s five so far, and he is tied with the Norwegian for the Premier League lead in both shots (22) and shots on target (12).
Mitrovic s hot start follows his Golden Boot win in the Championship last season, where he netted 43 goals in 44 appearances. Out of England s top four leagues, Mitrovic is 19 goals clear of any other player since the start of that campaign.
