FPL talking point: Time to triple captain Haaland?

If you still have your triple captain chip left in Fantasy Premier League then Manchester City, with two home games this week – against Brentford and Crystal Palace – could prove your inspiration.

Erling Haaland is the top goalscorer in the league with 25 goals, and top points-scorer in the game with 219 – 10 more than Manchester United midfielder Bruno Fernandes (209).

City midfielder Antoine Semenyo (183) has the fourth-highest points tally, with team-mate Marc Guehi having the 11th best return at 162 – the second best-scoring defender behind Arsenal‘s Gabriel (191).

FPL expert Holly Shand and members of the FPL podcast team assess the situation before gameweek 36. On this week’s podcast Alistair Bruce-Ball, Chris Sutton and Statman Dave are joined by host of Fantasy Football Hub, Jack Ukiah.

Statman Dave: “Looking at the data over the last five games and it all points to picking Erling Haaland as captain. He has the most xG [expected goals] for City and had seven big chances.

“It just makes sense. Nico O’Reilly is interesting if you get double clean sheets.”

Palace are the only other side playing twice in this gameweek, against Everton on Sunday and City on Wednesday, but may not field their full-strength team as they prioritise the Conference League.

Chris Sutton: “I’ve got two free transfers and I’ve already got my three from Manchester City but thinking of Crystal Palace?”

Jack Ukiah: “Oliver Glasner has admitted he plans half-time transfers and the [Premier] league is not his priority.”

Statman Dave: “You want to go with [Daniel] Munoz and [Maxence] Lacroix. It’s hard to see what Oliver Glasner will do with his attack – [Jorgen] Strand Larsen would be the big gamble.”

Holly Shand: “In the short-term, there’s little impact, with Manchester City‘s potential increasingly high. They need to chalk up wins against Brentford and Crystal Palace over the double gameweek to reduce the gap at the top to, at worst, two points – from the current five.

“Erling Haaland is bang in form. He’s scored in three straight games, taking his tally to 25 goals for the campaign, and he has already scored three goals past his upcoming opponents earlier in the season.

“Given he’s gunning for the Golden Boot, there should be no doubts over holding him for the final two gameweeks. Rayan Cherki is also a wise signing: he has four goal involvements in his last four games, and sits joint-top for shots alongside team-mate Erling Haaland. He already has more than 200,000 new owners ahead of this game.

“On the other hand, the motivation for buying Manchester City and Arsenal players because of the likelihood of the title race going down to the wire could change, shaking up how we set up our squads for gameweek 37 and – even more so – in gameweek 38.

“While fantasy managers would normally concentrate their transfers on those players who double this week, the smart play would be to ignore Crystal Palace assets who have their attention elsewhere, banking transfers for the final two gameweeks.

“This gives flexibility to play into the narratives with selections and punt on a differential or two for the final day of the season. If the title is already sewn up at this stage, then there’s also the option to move away from the assets from Manchester City and Arsenal, concentrating on those sides with something still to play for.”

Alistair Bruce-Ball presents the FPL podcast alongside former Premier League winner Chris Sutton and Statman Dave. Just search for ‘FPL podcast’ on the BBC Sounds app and click subscribe.