Aryaman S

Triple Captain Erling Haaland in FPL GW6? The Big Debate

Erling Haaland, Fantasy Premier League

Gameweek 6 of the Fantasy Premier League season presents managers with a familiar yet agonizing question: Is this the week to deploy the coveted Triple Captain chip on Erling Haaland? With a home fixture against newly promoted Burnley, the debate is heating up among FPL managers.

Before we begin, this all depends on your strategy lots of managers are on their wildcard including me (check out my wildcard draft here). So for those managers this is not possible as FPL does not allow managers to use two chips at once. For those whose squads are well setup and have the Norwegian goal scoring machine, the question is should you use your triple captain chip?

The Case for Tripling Up on Haaland:

The argument for using the chip in GW6 is compelling, and it’s built on a foundation of statistics and historical performance.

Elite Form and Fixture: Erling Haaland is in sensational form. He is the top scoring player in FPL, with 5 goals in his first 4 games, and his underlying stats are even more impressive. He leads the league in shots, shots on target, and Expected Goals (xG). The fixture against Burnley at home is arguably the best opportunity in the first half of the season for a massive haul.

Lack of alternatives: Usually we leave the triple captaincy chip for midfielders as they get one extra point for a goal, defcon potential and a clean sheet point. However this season Salah has had his second worst start to his season FPL wise. Palmer & Saka as well are going through injury issues. This leaves Erling as the only big hitter performing this season so far.

Lack of Rotation Risk: Pep Guardiola likes to rotate players during the busy and latter stages of the season. We are currently in the early stages and Erling will likely get a full week’s rest as Pep will likely rotate against Huddersfield in the carabao cup fixture midweek. He will arrive to the match healthy and rested.

The Case Against Tripling Up on Haaland:

While the allure of a huge Haaland score is strong, there are valid reasons to be cautious and save the chip for a later date.

Differential Opportunity: Many managers will likely be using their regular captaincy on Haaland, so using the Triple Captain chip doesn’t offer a significant differential in those cases. Saving it for a more differential pick in a later week could provide a more significant rank boost. Managers on Wildcard will certainly also have Haaland as their captain, his effective ownership will already be very high and will not offer a major rank boost.

Burnley’s Resilience: While Burnley’s overall defensive stats are poor, they have shown a degree of resilience in home games against stronger opposition (e.g. drawing with Forest and losing by only one goal to Liverpool which was a 95th min penalty). While this is a different scenario as they’re away, it does suggest they might not be the total pushover some are expecting. This year the teams to target are not the promoted sides, they are Wolves, Brentford and West Ham.

Ultimately, there is no right or wrong answer. The beauty of FPL lies in these strategic decisions. For many, the prospect of a fit, in form Haaland against a newly promoted side is simply too good to pass up. The question isn’t whether Haaland will score, but how many. And for a Triple Captain chip, that’s a gamble many will be willing to take.

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