Fantasy Premier League (FPL) managers who have yet to play their Triple Captain chip have a choice to make: use it on Cole Palmer (£9.6m) – or another Chelsea asset – in Gameweek 4, or save it for later.

Let’s have a look at the pros and cons of backing Palmer this weekend.

This article features data and screenshots from our new FPL Toolkit.

PROS

THE FIXTURE

The visit of Hull City perhaps doesn’t look as favourable as it did a few weeks prior, yet it remains a home match against newly-promoted opposition.

Although Sergej Jakirovic’s men are yet to concede, both Aston Villa and Manchester United have generated more than 1.8 expected goals (xG) in their respective matches with the Tigers.

Furthermore, Palmer is projected to score 7.7 points by Rate My Team (RMT) in this fixture:

That’s the most of any player until Erling Haaland (£15.5m) faces Ipswich Town and Hull (more on that later).

ALONSO HAS CHELSEA FIRING

It’s not just the fixture, however.

Chelsea’s attack looks completely rejuvenated under Xabi Alonso.

The Blues are already the division’s joint-top scorers, with eight goals in three matches:

That’s despite coming up against Arsenal and Brighton and Hove Albion, two of the top three teams for fewest goals conceded in 2025/26.

In terms of underlying data, Chelsea sit fifth for non-penalty expected goals (NPxG), with 5.56. 

SOLID STATS/SET PLAY BOOST

Palmer has bounced back under Alonso.

With more freedom to drift around the pitch, he’s scored two goals and supplied one assist in three matches.

In that time, he has taken the third-most shots of any player (12), behind only Bruno Fernandes (£12.0m) and Haaland.

In a further boost, Palmer is also on penalties, plus a share of set plays.

Austin MacPhee’s choreographed set-pieces look dangerous, too.

GOOD XMINS

With Palmer resting up over the summer and Chelsea not in Europe, it means he is unlikely to be rotated or subbed off early.

Indeed, the 24-year-old is averaging 87.3 minutes per start across the first three Gameweeks.     

Chelsea play Sunday-Wednesday-Saturday this week, but they’ve only been in EFL Cup action in midweek. Palmer was, encouragingly, limited to 45 minutes in the cup – and he scored twice!

LOW-ISH OWNERSHIP OPPORTUNITY

Palmer is only the 12th most-selected player in FPL, with 22.3% ownership.

It will naturally increase as we approach Saturday’s deadline, but compared to Haaland (71.2% ownership) and Fernandes (46.1% ownership), it certainly amplifies the potential impact of the Triple Captain chip.

Joao Pedro’s (£7.7m) effective ownership will likely exceed Palmer’s, too, so there’s no denying its power if he does haul.  

THE CONS

HULL’S DEFENSIVE STRUCTURE

Hull are unbeaten and yet to concede a goal after three Gameweeks.

Is this fixture perhaps less one-sided than we initially thought, then?

Comfortable without the ball, the Tigers certainly have the defensive structure to frustrate Chelsea.

Notably, in their first two matches, when they scored seven goals against Fulham and Brighton, Alonso’s men averaged only 32.6% possession.

Quite a few of their goals have arrived from fast breaks, too, so they’ll potentially have to find new ways to break down Hull’s deep defensive block on Saturday.

GAMEWEEK 16 BETTER?

You could argue that there is a better Gameweek to use the Triple Captain chip.

You might prefer a Haaland home fixture, for example.

The Norwegian plays Ipswich in Gameweek 7 and Hull in Gameweek 16. Rate My Team has both of these matches as the best Triple Captain opportunities in the first half of the season.

• Haaland v Hull (h): Gameweek 16 (8.21 projected points)
• Haaland v Ipswich (h): Gameweek 7 (7.94 projected points)
• Palmer v Hull (h): Gameweek 4 (7.73 projected points)
• Saka v Hull (h): Gameweek 10 (7.47 projected points)
• Fernandes v Coventry (h): Gameweek 14 (7.39 projected points

We don’t know what condition Haaland will be in by Gameweek 16, of course.

In the lead-up to the Ipswich match, Manchester City will also face Liverpool and Paris Saint-Germain.

But even if this puts you off, there are alternatives to consider outside of Haaland and Palmer. You might even want to Triple Captain someone no one else is.

LACK OF INFORMATION

Another potential issue is that we’ve only seen three Gameweeks of action.

Might a few more weeks of analysis be useful, just to learn more about teams like Fulham, Crystal Palace etc?

Fulham have looked shaky defensively in their first three matches under Alvaro Arbeloa, while Palace have already conceded eight times, the joint-most of any team.

If these defensive trends continue, it could throw up further Triple Captain opportunities, such as Haaland at home to Fulham in Gameweek 11.

FINAL WORD

Palmer and Chelsea have made a really positive start to the season.

So have Hull, of course.

Waiting for another Triple Captain opportunity further down the line is perfectly viable, then.

On the other hand, although Hull haven’t conceded a goal in their first three matches, they rank 15th for non-penalty expected goals conceded (NPxGC), with 5.05, so they have been aided by some luck in certain situations.

Indeed, in their match against Aston Villa on Saturday, a team that is yet to score this season, Unai Emery’s men created a couple of very decent opportunities, which are captured below.

In addition, we don’t yet know how Hull will react when they fall behind.

Will they have to adopt a slightly more adventurous approach, potentially leaving space for Palmer and co to exploit?

Certainly, if you want to strike early rather than wait for later, when Enzo Maresca may choose to rotate Haaland during busy periods, this fixture looks like a good one to attack. In FPL, ‘better the devil you know’ isn’t a bad mantra.

If you don’t own Palmer, you could, of course, consider using the Triple Captain on Joao Pedro. However, without penalties, free-kicks or corners, he has fewer routes to scoring points.

Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below…