Fantasy Premier League: The non-Haaland captaincy options you should consider

Erling Haland has pretty much broken Fantasy Premier League, particularly when it comes to captaincy. He emerged as a favourite for the armband in Gameweek 2 and back in September, in Gameweek 6, became the most-captained player in a single gameweek of FPL.

But as we enter a condensed period of blank and double gameweeks, there’s an opportunity for some captaincy differentials — certainly over the next four gameweeks.

A double gameweek for both Liverpool and Arsenal wasn’t enough to topple Haaland as the most captained player in Gameweek 25, although we suspect the majority of those who had kept the armband on the Manchester City striker were managers no longer active in the game.

That being said, Haaland still scored 10 points. 

The case against Haaland 

There are good reasons to not captain Haaland in the next four gameweeks. In Gameweek 26, he faces the best defence in the Premier League, Newcastle United.

Manchester City will be favourites to prosper at the Etihad, though, with two-thirds of Haaland’s goals coming on home turf. Haaland scored in the reverse fixture, which ended 3-3 at St James’ Park in August.

Gameweek 27 would ordinarily be a lock in terms of captaining Haaland, with an away trip to Crystal Palace, but fantasy managers are likely to have their heads turned by double gameweek assets from Brentford and Brighton.

This will likely be a trickier decision than in Double Gameweek 25, though, with no clear in-form premium options. 

When it comes to Blank Gameweek 28, we will be forced to look elsewhere, since City don’t have a fixture due to a clash with their FA Cup quarter-final.

Gameweek 29 presents another double gameweek while City have just a single fixture against Liverpool — although their defence has looked particularly fragile recently. 

There’s plenty of premium options from other clubs who play twice in Gameweek 29, including options from Manchester United, providing another opportunity to do something different with captaincy.

Captaincy planner

So if we are to go against captaining Haaland in the next four gameweeks, who should be the key contenders? The following captaincy planner should provide a handy snapshot of the most desirable options. 

In Gameweek 26, we have two key options: Arsenal’s Bukayo Saka has a home game against Bournemouth while Spurs and Harry Kane travel to Wolves.

The case for Saka is compelling, with the Arsenal forward having registered attacking returns in his last four home games. We also need to be mindful that he’s on penalties.

However, the case for Kane is also convincing, especially since he is also on penalties and scored in the reverse fixture against Wolves earlier this season. He’s blanked on just six occasions in this campaign. 

When Gameweek 27 rolls around, we are likely to be most torn between single and double-gameweek options as Brentford and Brighton don’t generally provide us with go-to captaincy candidates.

Ivan Toney is likely to be the most-fancied double-gameweek asset as he is Brentford’s talisman but a looming suspension from the FA after the striker pleaded guilty to multiple betting charges could derail that strategy.

There are plenty of credible candidates from in-form Brighton too for their two fixtures but the challenge here is picking their best attacker, with Kaoru Mitoma the most popular option. 

A new role for Solly March under manager Roberto De Zerbi has seen him produce his best fantasy season, but he missed Brighton’s midweek FA Cup win over Stoke City through injury.

World Cup winner Alexis Mac Allister has also been given a more offensive role in recent weeks and has the allure of being on spot kicks, but he could be moved back to the holding midfielder role at any point.

Among the single-gameweek options, Kane’s name is in the frame when Tottenham host Nottingham Forest. He scored a brace in the reverse fixture, while also squandering a third with a rare miss from the penalty spot.

We can’t ignore Marcus Rashford as a captaincy option in this week, either. The leading FPL points-scorer since the World Cup ended, he has 10 goals in that time and faces a struggling Southampton side. 

Blank Gameweek 28 will be a week of survival for captaincy and while the schedule will be confirmed in the next few days given fifth-round action in the FA Cup, it’s likely that Arsenal options will be in the frame, along with Brentford’s Toney.

Then, beyond that into the Double Gameweek 29, we are likely to be backing Rashford once again for Manchester United’s pair of fixtures, although options from Brighton and other double-gameweek sides might also be considered. 

The sword vs the shield

We have to be mindful that captaincy provides the most variance in the FPL game. Love it or loathe it, it’s the single most powerful element aside from the chips to boost you up mini leagues or see a massive drop in overall ranks.

Captaincy has always been a huge challenge for this reason but Haaland has absolutely levelled the playing field this season with his consistency, leading to more condensed overall rankings than ever before.

You can generally group captain picks as swords and shields. A shield protects rank by going with the masses but a sword pick allows maximum attack — get it right and you’ll fly up the leaderboard but if it flops against the shield pick, then you’ll suffer.

Given the power of captaincy, the business end of the season is absolutely the time to mix things up and go with some aggressive picks in these upcoming gameweeks.

Haaland has seen a drop-off in form from his own high standards since the FPL restart, bringing the consistency of Kane and Rashford back into the frame for this period.

Both Kane and Rashford are on course to produce their best-ever FPL seasons and it’s only the presence of Haaland which has prevented each of them from becoming perma-captain picks in their own rights. 

FPL General on The Athletic FPL Podcast twice a week this season for all his latest tips and tricks.