Should chasers use the Triple Captain on Haaland?

Our team of Hall of Famers and guest writers provide Fantasy Premier League (FPL) tips and advice throughout 2023/24. Here, two-time Indian FPL champion Lateriser gives his opinion on Erling Haaland (£14.4m) as Triple Captain, asking if those chasing should try something riskier.

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Opinions on whether to Triple Captain Haaland are everywhere this week but I thought I’d give my thoughts, too. Especially in the position of someone who might not be happy with their season and is in a ‘chasing’ position.

SHOULD YOU TRIPLE CAPTAIN THIS WEEK?

Realistically speaking, this is probably one of the best opportunities you’ll have to use the chip. Tom Freeman cited some incredible stats in his article but this is my favourite one: Haaland’s 27 home league games at Manchester City have brought 30 goals, 10 assists, nine double-digit hauls and just four blanks.

In this season’s reverse fixtures, the champions scored four goals at Chelsea and three at Brentford, with Haaland totalling 21 points. Team-mates Kevin De Bruyne (£10.8m) and Phil Foden (£8.0m) are in incredible form and we all know about the relationship between these three – especially De Bruyne and Haaland.

• READ MORE: FPL Gameweek 25-29: Which teams have the best fixtures?

Together, you’d really like the ceiling for this Triple Captaincy. Combine that with Man City having a Saturday-Wednesday-Saturday turnaround before a fifth-round FA Cup tie against Luton Town and the expected minutes for him look pretty encouraging, too. However, it’s worth mentioning that Haaland’s grandmother did pass away at the weekend. We’re waiting to hear if this will have any impact on his involvement during Double Gameweek 25.

All things considered, we’re talking about one of the best FPL assets this game has ever produced having a couple of home games and being fed by two of the best midfielders around. The case for not using Triple Captain on him isn’t very strong. Unless you’re instead using a Free Hit, of course.

We don’t know if this competitive title race will still be so in Double Gameweek 37 and we might be using either a Free Hit or Bench Boost in Double Gameweek 34.

WHAT ABOUT THOSE CHASING?

If, like my 348k team, you’re sort of chasing and wondering what to do, these are my thoughts. Firstly, the rational and best thing on paper to do is to Triple Captain Haaland because, simply put, he’s the best option.

Secondly, know yourself and know your risk tolerance and threshold before committing to a move. There are multiple ways of going about this. You could expose yourself to lesser risk this week by not using the chip and instead just captaining Haaland in a standard way, where you’re still covering 200% of his effective ownership (EO).

Then you use the Triple Captain chip at a later date on Dominic Solanke (£6.9m) for his Double Gameweek 28 or put it on either Haaland, Mohamed Salah (£13.0m) or Son Heung-min (£9.6m) in one of the later doubles.

Personally, I think if you want to be even more extreme with it, try using it on a Liverpool attacker like Darwin Nunez (£7.6m) or Diogo Jota (£8.3m) this week. The Uruguayan has a high ceiling but you have to consider his finishing ability before making this move.

Above: Darwin’s last four league starts

It’s probably a fool’s game to think that finding a day where everything goes in for Darwin and he doesn’t get another silly yellow card that costs him a few bonus points is possible. But if you’re someone who has an even higher tolerance for risk and will happily pit yourself against a huge Haaland EO, maybe you consider this.

But even then, you should be mentally prepared for the possibility of being 50+ points down. That’s the risk you are taking for someone who mightn’t even start both games now that all Liverpool attackers (including Salah) are fit. Also, they have the EFL Cup final immediately after Double Gameweek 25, which Klopp will give importance to given it’s his last season on Merseyside. Swansong trophies will matter.

A SLIDING DOORS MOMENT

I feel like this is a decision that could potentially throw your season away. Alternatively, it might get you right back into things. The moderate move of at least captaining Haaland at the normal level may just be better for the heart.

Even then, I think the odds of something like this paying off are low. Haaland makes way too much logical sense. Then again, we still have 35-40% of the season still to play so it might be too early to make such a call.

As things stand, I’m 90% likely to Triple Captain the Norwegian this week but I do have a 10% lingering thought in my head. It all comes down to my mood (and potential leaks) on Saturday morning. I likely won’t listen to that thought and I certainly won’t recommend you doing it because, again, using the chip on Haaland this week just makes too much sense.

If you choose to do something else, please be mentally prepared that it could be season-ending.

Below, I discuss this and Trent Alexander-Arnold (£8.6m) replacements in depth with fellow Pro Pundits Pras and Zophar:

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