Fantasy Premier League (FPL) managers look set to challenge the mantra “never back the early kick-off” with Erling Haaland (£14.2m) the early armband favourite ahead of Gameweek 24.
But, as usual, the Captain Sensible article is here to highlight which assets have the best chance of hauling – including a host of big-hitting differential options.
First, we will assess the fallout of the captain poll, before then analysing the best options, Rate My Team (RMT) and the Premier Fantasy Tools ratings ahead of Saturday’s 11:00 GMT deadline.
THE CAPTAIN POLL
Erling Haaland tops the captain poll for the second successive Gameweek following the Norwegian’s grand comeback to the Man City starting XI.
The former Borussia Dortmund marksman failed to find the net as Man City dismantled Brentford 3-1 but provided a tidy lay-off for Phil Foden (£7.9m) to complete his hat-trick.
Haaland registered three shots at the Gtech Community Stadium, all of which came inside the box, and his big, one-on-one chance was smartly denied by Brentford custodian Mark Flekken (£4.5m).
Haaland is backed by just over half of our users to return to his goal-scoring pomp against Everton at the Etihad Stadium in Saturday’s lunchtime kick-off.
Meanwhile, Kevin De Bruyne (£10.8m) made it four attacking returns in the last three, with the Belgian arrowing a delightful cross for Foden to nod Man City ahead.
The playmaker also completed his first full Premier League game of the season – and his second consecutive start – as he rebuilds his match fitness.
In a solid all-round display, the midfielder supplied four key passes – including one big chance – while finding the target himself with shots on two occasions.
The maestro is backed to continue his red-hot form by just over one in seven of our users.
Diogo Jota (£8.1m) occupies third place with 10.55% of the vote, followed by Phil Foden with Darwin Nunez (£7.4m) some way further back.
THE PLAYER STATISTICS – LAST SIX MATCHES
2 months, 22 days agoPeople considering using a wildcard around gw26 to avoid a couple of blanks for Liverpool or Spurs could get burnt.
It's only one game they miss, maybe gw29 but you'd want to wildcard to get them back in ideally!
I always think a wildcard is best held to get you out of a tricky situation or to respond to right away changes like the Haaland opportunity before Christmas.