Gameweek 6 Waiver Wire: Six Claims After the Long Break
Pascal Groß is the best Gameweek 6 waiver claim. Lewis Hall is the defender to prioritize, while Charalampos Kostoulas and Emersonn are the forwards to target at different prices. Harvey Barnes and Jarrad Branthwaite complete the claim ladder.
This is advice for draft leagues, where every player has one owner. A roster rate below 50 per cent means a player is available in many completed private Draft Fantasy leagues, not necessarily yours. Check the live market in your Draft Fantasy Premier League league before building the queue.
The board uses Draft Fantasy regular scoring, which matches official FPL scoring. Custom-scoring leagues calculate points from commissioner-defined values, so extra rewards for chances created, defensive work or other actions can change the order.
The Gameweek 6 claim ladder
| Priority | Player | Pos | Rostered | Current case | GW6 | FAAB |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Pascal GroßBHA | Midfielder | 43.5% | 450 min · 47 pts |
| 10–16% |
| 2 |  Lewis HallNEW | Defender | 49.7% | 449 min · 46 DC |
| 8–13% |
| 3 | Charalampos KostoulasBHA | Forward | 39.5% | 4 starts · 28 pts |
| 7–11% |
| 4 | Harvey BarnesNEW | Midfielder | 40.3% | 450 min · 28 pts |
| 5–9% |
| 5 |  EmersonnIPS | Forward | 35.2% | 5 starts · 1.73 xGI |
| 4–7% |
| 6 |  Jarrad BranthwaiteEVE | Defender | 47.2% | 450 min · 54 DC |
| 2–5% |
Official FPL stats and Draft Fantasy completed-private-league roster rates, 6 October 2026; difficulty runs from 1 (easy) to 5 (hard).
The percentages are editorial ranges from your remaining FAAB, not fixed player prices. Spend near the top only when the claim improves a regular starter. In rolling or weekly-reset leagues, keep the positional order but price the move in waiver priority instead of budget.
Open Draft Fantasy and set your waiver queue before your league processes claims.
Groß has moved beyond speculative pickup status
Groß has played every minute, leads this available-player group with 47 regular-scoring points and has 2.63 expected goal involvements from 1.77 xG plus 0.86 xA. His 14-point Gameweek 5 was not an isolated substitute appearance; it sat on top of five consecutive starts.
The market has noticed without closing completely. His Draft Fantasy roster rate rose from 32.4 per cent in the 1 September snapshot to 43.5 per cent on 6 October. Sunderland away is rated difficulty two, so Groß is worth the strongest claim when he replaces a midfielder you would otherwise bench most weeks.
Hall is the priority defender; Branthwaite is the floor play
Hall missed only one minute across the first five rounds. He added 13 points in Gameweek 5 and now has 31 points, 1.04 expected goal involvements and 46 defensive contributions. Newcastle's trip to Coventry carries a difficulty-one rating, the easiest tier in Draft Fantasy's model.
That combination creates the best immediate defender claim, but a 49.7 per cent roster rate means Hall will not be free everywhere. Do not submit an empty queue behind him.
Branthwaite is the steadier fallback. He has completed all 450 minutes and recorded 54 defensive contributions, compared with only 0.19 expected goal involvements. Add him for role security and Everton's difficulty-two trip to Hull, not because you expect an attacking return. The lower bid preserves budget when the squad already has playable defenders.
Kostoulas is the first forward claim
Kostoulas has started four matches, played 353 minutes and scored 28 points. His ten-point Gameweek 5 came in 75 minutes; across the season he has produced 1.35 xG and 0.06 xA. The role is not as complete as Groß's or Hall's, but forwards with four starts and a favourable fixture are harder to replace after another return.
Use 7–11 per cent of remaining FAAB when he would become a starting forward. If he is only a third-forward bench option, stay near the bottom of the range. Brighton already supplies Groß on this board, so avoid paying top prices for both unless both clearly enter your lineup.
Emersonn has answered the first injury-and-role check
The Gameweek 3 waiver guide advised against adding Emersonn while he was flagged and his minutes had fallen. The current evidence is different: the official feed now marks him available, he has started all five matches, and he played 80 minutes in Gameweek 5.
His 26 points include 1.61 xG and 0.12 xA in 317 minutes. That 1.73 xGI is useful forward process, although the repeated early substitutions keep him below Kostoulas. Ipswich host Fulham in a difficulty-two fixture, making Emersonn the lower-cost claim when the priority is replacing a forward without a secure role.
Changing the recommendation is a feature, not a contradiction. A waiver board should move when availability and playing-time evidence move.
Barnes is a claim only if he is still free
Barnes was the midfield priority in the Gameweek 5 waiver board. Managers who added him should hold: he followed that recommendation with nine points, completed another 90 minutes and now receives the same difficulty-one Coventry fixture as Hall.
For everyone else, his five starts, 450 minutes and 1.10 xGI still justify a claim. His 40.3 per cent roster rate is only slightly above the 38.0 per cent snapshot before Gameweek 5, so the opportunity has not disappeared. Keep him below Groß because the season-long output and expected involvement are lower.
Do not let one Gameweek 5 score set the whole price
Jay Dasilva scored 15 points in Gameweek 5 but has 20 points for the season. He has played 444 minutes and is rostered in only 0.6 per cent of completed private leagues, so he is a valid watchlist player—not evidence that a double-digit FAAB bid is required. Coventry also face the Newcastle players receiving Draft Fantasy's easiest rating on the other side of the fixture.
James Trafford scored ten in Gameweek 5 and has played every minute, but Leeds now go to Arsenal in a difficulty-five fixture. Hold him if he is already part of a useful goalkeeper rotation. Do not move him above Hall, Branthwaite or a more playable goalkeeper solely because of the last score.
Brian Brobbey's 17-point return also needs one more check: the official 6 October feed lists a hamstring issue and a 75 per cent chance of playing. The draft-league injury guide explains why that is a reason to wait for useful news rather than either panic-drop him or make an aggressive blind claim.
Build the queue before the final team-news cycle
Official competition data marks Gameweek 5 finished and data checked. Gameweek 6 is next, all ten fixtures were unstarted in the 6 October snapshot, and the deadline is 10:00 UTC on Saturday 10 October.
Use that time in order:
- Choose the weak position. Groß leads for midfield, Hall for defence and Kostoulas for forward.
- Attach a fallback. Barnes, Branthwaite and Emersonn keep the queue useful if the first claim fails.
- Name the outgoing player. Draft Fantasy waiver requests are one-for-one moves, so every successful claim must leave a valid squad.
- Check the rules and processing time. The fantasy football waiver rules guide explains how FAAB, rolling, weekly reset and immediate free agents change the cost and timing.
- Recheck availability. Four days remain for injury information to change; do not treat a 6 October status as deadline-day news.
Player points, minutes, starts, xG, xA, defensive contributions, event state and availability came from official FPL data and the final Gameweek 5 live feed on 6 October. Roster rates came from Draft Fantasy's current epl26 data, and every displayed fixture rating was joined to the current competition fixture by ID. Use the free fixture-difficulty tool to compare the players who are actually available in your league.
Ready to make the long break count? Start or manage a Draft Fantasy Premier League league, invite your managers and choose the waiver system that fits your competition.