football | Tuesday, August 9, 2022 2:53 PM (Revised at: Friday, August 12, 2022 6:03 PM)

Holly Shand’s FPL Tips: Haaland vs Salah Captaincy and Other GW2 Dilemmas

Holly Shand

After an eventful opening weekend of Premier League action, the FPL transfer market is buzzing ahead of Gameweek 2. Here are the top picks you should be selecting for your FPL teams and the bettingexpert recommendations for the weekend.

In this article:

Haaland or Kane?
Salah or Haaland for the Armband?
Avoid Chelsea and Tottenham for GW2?
Seagulls Flying High?

Forward Swap

At the time of writing, Erling Haaland (£11.6m) has been transferred in by over 0.7 million fantasy managers, with Harry Kane (£11.4m) being let go by over half a million managers.

The odds suggest that the move is a wise one: you can back Haaland at 1.44 to score anytime against Bournemouth on Saturday, whereas Harry Kane is 3.02 to score anytime against Chelsea on Sunday.

The underlying form numbers also demonstrate this: Haaland had five shots against West Ham in Gameweek 1, scoring two goals. Meanwhile, Kane had just two shots against Southampton and failed to register an offensive return.

Plenty of managers have done the straight swap, but a change in prices means funds in the bank or additional transfers are now needed, with £0.2 million between this pairing. Expect even more price rises and falls for each of them ahead of Saturday’s Gameweek 1 deadline.

Captaincy Conundrum

When it comes to the anytime goalscorer odds it’s a two-horse race for your Gameweek 2 captain: Erling Haaland (1.44) against Bournemouth and Mohamed Salah (1.82) against Crystal Palace on Monday.

Both players made the Gameweek 1 Kings of the Gameweek: Salah registered a goal and an assist in the 2-2 draw with Fulham, while Haaland scored a brace against West Ham. Salah had one big chance and created another last weekend and both are on penalties.

Since both options have the form, we can split the captain options on fixture difficulty: Liverpool are currently 1.22 to beat Crystal Palace, with Manchester City 1.10 to beat Bournemouth.

The bookies are backing Haaland who has seen his Premier League top scorer odds plummet since his brace at the weekend.

“We originally went back up with Haaland as the 11/8 favourite for top goalscorer, and have been bowled over by more cash,” said Charlie Walker of the Betfred trading room.

“He’s now into 6/5… I think the drastic move for this is down to him taking the penalty rather than it just being down to him scoring twice. If you now factor in that Haaland is going to take the Man City penalties this season, he’s gone from around projected 23 goals to nearing 30.”

That doesn’t sound too bad for FPL managers…

Top Four Clash

A big factor for FPL managers to face in Gameweek 2 is the top four clash between Chelsea and Tottenham Hotspur on Sunday. Chelsea are favourites at 2.32, which means you should certainly play your Chelsea players. Raheem Sterling is 3.6 to score anytime.

Chelsea defenders are very popular in the game, with Edouard Mendy (£5.0m) and Reece James (£6.0m) among the most owned players in the game. A clean sheet against Everton bodes well, with their odds at 4.00 to win to nil.

On the other hand, Harry Kane (3.02) and Heung-Min Son (3.45) are among the favourites to score: Son was the more advanced in the 4-1 win against Southampton in Gameweek 1, with four shots in the box and four key passes. Start them if you own them.

Seagulls Shine

Brighton were the surprise package of Gameweek 1 with a convincing 2-1 win at Old Trafford last Sunday. They now embark on a kind run of fixtures, avoiding playing another top six team until Liverpool in Gameweek 9.

The Seagulls are available to back at 2.50 against Newcastle on Saturday: one of the big favourites for the weekend. Their clean sheet prospects are also high, which bodes well for owners of goalkeeper Robert Sanchez: back Brighton to win to nil at 4.00.

Pascal Groß led the Gameweek 1 scorers after his brace but sits at 8.55 to score against Newcastle this weekend. Neal Maupay, Deniz Undav and Danny Welbeck are well-placed to get on the team sheet, and can each be backed at 3.40 to score anytime.