With Gameweek 2 of Fantasy Premier League (FPL) just a day away, we’re getting some top insight from our team of pundits and Hall of Famers.
Here, three-time top 200 finisher Lateriserdiscusses why FPL managers should maybe wait before rushing headlong to buy Erling Haaland (£14.0m).******
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Lateriser triple Forest
The first week of FPL is on the tape, and as usual, we’re questioning a flurry of things and trying to gauge the Meta. Should we jump the gun or should we show some more patience? That is pretty much the thought on the mind of every Fantasy Premier League (FPL) manager and the answer is a rather subjective and contextualised grey. Apologies if you were in the market for a black or white.
HAALAND: GIVE IT ANOTHER WEEK?
FPL notes: Pep on Marmoush's "impact" + Haaland's fitness
So, the big talking point is obviously Erling Haaland (£14.0m) and how good and rejuvenated both he and Manchester City look. This was something most of us were expecting anyway but to put things into context, Wolverhampton Wanderers did play into their hand a bit with a block not so deep.
I am expecting a very different kind of game against the pragmatic Tottenham Hotspur (how much can change in a year…) managed by Thomas Frank. Watching that game will tell us how quickly we need to jump on Haaland but it is worth noting that he will have testing ties against Manchester United (says he, optimistically) and Arsenal in Gameweeks 4 and 5 which might allow us the luxury of time to assess the landscape.
A lot of FPL managers have already come to the conclusion that Mohamed Salah (£14.0m) + Haaland might be the way to go this season (which well might be the case) but there’s a lot to learn. If a certain striker moves to Liverpool, how does that affect goal share for one of the most attacking teams in the country? How do the two Peps’ team (the new Pep has a lot to do with a faster, more direct City) perform against a deep block?
The main (boring) advice that I have for FPL managers is: be a sponge. There might well be a case where Haaland braces against Spurs and we might say enough is enough. In that scenario, sure, push those buttons.
THE £5.5M QUESTION – AND OTHER CAVEATS
Best £5.5m+ defenders for FPL 2025/26 4
Many people will be looking at something along the lines of Cole Palmer (£10.5m) + Ollie Watkins (£9.0m)/Viktor Gyokeres (£9.0m) striker to Haaland + Elliot Anderson (£5.5m)/Tijjani Reijnders (£5.6m), which are perfectly good moves.
If it is a worst-case scenario this weekend for Haaland non-owners, I don’t mind people getting trigger-happy with their transfers. I do want to urge some caution, though.
The £5.0m-£6.0m midfield bracket doesn’t look heavy with options. So, if you have a midfield with two £5.5m-ish picks and they don’t seem to perform for 2-3 weeks in a row, you might find yourself cornered into a position which might be difficult to get out of.
If you’re someone who jumps the gun into an early Wildcard to get both Haaland and Salah, the pressure to get the other 13 picks right (at pretty modest prices) is very high. One Gameweek is not enough to take clear, well-thought-out shots. They are very much half-baked shots in the dark. Are we confident which £7.0m striker is best? Do we know which £9.0m-£10.0m premium is best? Are we certain which defender has genuinely emerged as a defensive contribution (DC/DefCon) monster?
We will take time to assess these things and have more proof in the pudding. I just feel that the downside of getting 4-5 of these things wrong on an early Wildcard might well put you in a rather, messy, ummm…pudding?
MORE TWISTS AND TURNS IN THE TRANSFER WINDOW
FPL notes: Isak + Trippier injury updates,
One of the biggest elephants in the room is the fact that the transfer window is still open and the domino effect of some of the transfers still pending is quite substantial. I mean, we don’t even know who the striker at Newcastle United is going to be – and that is a pretty big piece of information to get. So basically, calm down and be a sponge (says he before a knee-jerky minus four in Gameweek 2).
But I say this because I realised last season that transfers spent in tranches of three and four are much more potent than one or two transfers used together.
The opening Gameweeks can be an exception, so long as you are confident of the information behind your decisions. No matter which way you look at it, though, transfers stacked up for three to four weeks will always put you in a position of strength, even though you’re acting maybe 2-3 Gameweeks late. At the very least, you’re less likely to be wrong, which you could be if you move now or next week, for example.
As an innately aggressive, pro-active FPL manager, this is something I am working hard to wrap my head around and is the constant dialogue I am having with myself because I truly believe there is value in accumulating transfers. It can’t be a hard-and-fast rule; it has to just be an intent. At the weekend, if you feel like you’ve seen enough, press those buttons and unleash the chaos. Until then, be the best sponge you can be.
FPL pre-season: Malen + Watkins again, Xhaka debut, secretive Man City 2