Is Haaland really worth buying for FPL Blank Gameweek 29?

Some Fantasy Premier League (FPL) managers will be using a Free Hit in Gameweek 29, meaning the capture of Erling Haaland (£14.7m) won’t require any sacrifices.

A Gameweek 29 Free Hit won’t require the services of the blanking Mohamed Salah (£13.8m), Alexander Isak (£9.4m) or Trent Alexander-Arnold (£7.5m), while even Cole Palmer (£10.9m) may be dispensable as the out-of-form midfielder has to visit Arsenal.

However, others just using free transfers to buy the Manchester City forward may need to lose several of these big names – and might want them back in Gameweek 30/31.

Let’s draw on the Members Area numbers to assess whether the eye-wateringly expensive Haaland is worthy of such attention, ahead of home matches against Brighton and Hove Albion and Leicester City.

• READ MORE: Keep or sell Palmer in FPL?

SEASON SO FAR

It’s easy to forget now but Haaland was the most-owned £10.0m+ asset at the start of 2024/25. A huge 63 goals occurred in his first two Premier League seasons, then consecutive Gameweeks 2 and 3 hat-tricks ensured he’d bagged another 10 in these opening five outings. Ownership peaked at over 7.84 million.

But his popularity took a nosedive at the same time Man City’s form did. The four-in-a-row champions had an extraordinary spell of one win in 13, losing nine in all competitions.

Similarly, FPL’s priciest player had a poor 13 league games, collecting just three goals and one assist between Gameweeks 6 to 18, never scoring more than seven points.

In truth, Man City’s results still aren’t particularly great. Wins are interspersed with a 5-1 hammering at Arsenal, two defeats to Real Madrid, a home loss versus Liverpool and Saturday’s disappointment at Nottingham Forest.

Haaland is doing fairly well, though, netting seven times in nine. That puts him on 20 goals – behind only Salah – while he’s second over the season for penalty area touches (176, miles behind Salah) and third for attempts (99) plus expected goal involvement (xGI, 21.65). Palmer is also ahead of him in these.

On the other hand, Haaland is the league leader for shots on target (56) and big chances (37). Neither occurred at Forest, possibly reminding buyers he’s far from essential.

Above: Premier League players sorted by big chances this season

ROLLING SIX-MATCH AVERAGES