Cianan’s Column: GW5 and the Haaland dilemma

There is only one way to start this week’s rendition of The Boar’s FPL column, and that’s with Man City’s Norwegian powerhouse Haaland. He may cost an eye-watering £14.1m, but at the moment he’s the talk of the town following his 13-point haul against Man United last weekend. Not only did he score twice and net three bonus points, but he should have had a hat-trick (after missing an open goal) and an assist (having sent Reijnders, who, on a side note, still looks brilliant at his price point and will be amongst the hauls soon, through on goal). He is clearly an outstanding option who will no doubt end up in most teams over the next few weeks – after all, he is currently the top-scoring player in all of FPL.

With Haaland, it’s less a question of if you should, and more how you could. The obvious answer to that question is Salah, Liverpool’s star attacker, who currently sits in 53.7% of teams despite being even more expensive than City’s number 9 at £14.5m. The so-called ‘Egyptian King’ has interestingly blanked only once so far this season, and yet many have dismissed him as past his FPL prime, as his goal contributions have fallen sharply this season. Funding Haaland likely comes at the cost of selling Salah, and there is certainly an appeal – particularly with City’s exceptional fixture run beginning in GW6, which starts with Burnley (H), followed by Brentford (A) and Everton (H). However, there is cause to hold off this week. This weekend, City face an Arsenal away from home, a side with an extremely sturdy defence, while Liverpool play the Merseyside derby at home. Waiting can help you pick up enough free transfers to avoid hits, reducing points deductions while setting you up to make the most of City’s tantalising fixture run.

But, if you’re going to sell Salah, who do you pick up? There is one option that stands above the rest. Bournemouth’s Semenyo is on fire. He’s £7.5m and is only a point away from being the top-scoring player so far this season. Plus, when Kluivert isn’t on the pitch for the Cherries, he takes penalties, only making his prospects even greater. It’s easy to overthink FPL, but this is a relatively easy decision. The bigger question is whether you make the switch now or wait until next week, with form favouring the former and fixtures favouring the latter.

Palmer is also back amongst it, having come off the bench to end his goal drought against Brentford. There is clearly potential, as he is an exceptional talent, but with a lack of information on his minutes it’s not difficult to recommend holding off until we have more data. Chelsea’s fixtures turn a corner in GW9, when they play Sunderland (H), so he can always be targeted then if he retains his promise. Similar situation with Foden, who will no doubt be a victim of ‘Pep roulette’. We need to see the frequency of his starts before coming to a verdict. If you want a City midfielder, you can’t look past Reijnders, who has played every minute this season, should have more points than he does, and is extremely cheap at £5.7m.

Briefly, two standout knee-jerk transfers are being made this week. Firstly, Caicedo, who costs £5.5m, making him a solid enabler due to his ferocious knack of putting in immense DEFCON shifts. Despite the unquestionable value the midfielder offers, owners should not expect his scoring record to continue. As a steady week-to-week asset, he’s promising, but as a key part of your outfit? I wouldn’t waste the transfer. Secondly, Woltemade, Newcastle’s new striker. He may have netted on debut against Wolves, but they are the weakest side in the league, having scored a whopping zero points in this campaign thus far. Hence, you should monitor him as opposed to buying right away, especially since there will be a rotation risk when Wissa comes back from injury.

Rapid recommendations

• Ekitiké keeps getting subbed early, and with the looming threat of Isak, you need to have a strategy to shift away from him. Probably worth keeping for Everton (H) though.
• Why have almost 160k managers sold Wood when he plays Burnley (A) and Sunderland (H) in the next two games? Unless you’re wildcarding, that’s absurd.
• Aston Villa look terrible. Sunderland (A) is the last chance saloon for their assets.
• Arsenal is one of, if not the, team to own players from. However, the next two fixtures are pretty horrid (City (H) and Newcastle (A)). Still, have a plan to double up (if not triple up) on the Gunners in the near future.
• Kudus looked great against West Ham and was unfortunate not to haul. He should have had an assist for a goal that was wrongly disallowed and forced an almighty save. The minutes are good, so don’t panic, although Simons also showed promise on his debut and is worth considering.

The Boar standings

1st: Ed City, No Pity (264) – managed by Edward Croisdale-Appleby
2nd: leif the door open (262) – managed by Hannah Guthrie
3rd: parths11 (258) – managed by Parth Malik