Better late than never if you were waiting on Erling Haaland (£12.1m) to deliver you the points in Gameweek 15. The Norwegian was brought off the bench by Pep Guardiola with Man City down to ten men and the match locked at 1-1. After having a header ruled out for offside through VAR, a penalty deep into stoppage time saw Haaland seal the win and 5 FPL points for his vast ownership. It could have easily been a lot worse, so most are likely to be satisfied with that return despite him gaining a yellow card for taking his shirt, the celebration of FPL nightmares! Elsewhere Kieran Trippier (£5.9m) maintained his astounding FPL consistency with an assist, clean sheet and 12 FPL points from defence, whilst Kevin De Bruyne (£12.6m) accrued 7 points after winning the penalty which led to Haaland’s goal. Differential pick Rodrigo (£6.3m) also scored from the spot and like De Bruyne, gained 7 fantasy points.
We’ve now reached Gameweek 16, the final round before the World Cup which will likely see many FPL managers rip up their respective squads. It goes without saying how crucial the right captain pick is to sending you to the World Cup break on the back of a green arrow, so we’ve picked out three of the most attractive premium captaincy options alongside a differential selection ahead of Saturday’s 11:00 deadline.
PREMIUM OPTIONS
Mo Salah (£12.2m) vs SOU (H)
It’s fair to say that owning Mo Salah (£12.2m) has come with an extreme air of frustration this season, but the Egyptian reminded everyone of his quality in Gameweek 15, scoring both of Liverpool’s goals in their 1-2 victory away at Spurs, banking 15 FPL points in the process. Anyone who kept the faith in Salah were finally rewarded with his first double figure points haul since all the way back in Gameweek 5 against Newcastle.
Managerless Southampton visit Anfield in Gameweek 16, although the Saints could have a new man in charge by then with Luton Town boss Nathan Jones reportedly in talks with a view to taking over at the time of writing. Either way, confidence within the Southampton camp is low with them having dropped into the bottom three and Salah could well take advantage. Liverpool’s attacking wideman has been an excellent form across the Champions League group stage, scoring seven goals and last Sunday could be the start of Salah transferring that form back into the Premier League.
Erling Haaland (£12.1m) vs BRE (H)
With Erling Haaland having returned to the fold for Man City, the Premier League’s top scorer will be expected to feature from the start in Gameweek 16 as the champions play host to Brentford. The Bees have shipped 11 goals over the course of their last three Premier League fixtures, which bodes well for Pep Guardiola’s men and the millions of FPL managers expected to put the armband on Haaland.
It’s now 18 goals and three assists in the Premier League alone for Haaland, with 13 of those goals coming at the Etihad Stadium. At home, he has been simply unstoppable this season and it’s hard to see that not continuing in Gameweek 16. As the highest-scoring FPL asset, he will almost certainly be the most captained player of the weekend and any FPL boss who doesn’t name him skipper will be taking a huge gamble.
Kevin De Bruyne (£12.6m) vs BRE (H)
Haaland isn’t the only player from Man City racking up the FPL points for fun. Midfielder Kevin De Bruyne has also been right in the thick of the attacking returns, fully justifying his premium FPL price-tag. Winning Man City late penalty against Fulham went down as a tenth Premier League assist of the season for De Bruyne, who has accumulated 27 fantasy points across the last three gameweeks having picked up an attacking return in all three matches.
As it stands, no midfielder has acquired more FPL points than the brilliant Belgian, who plays such a key role in all of Man City’s offensive play. Free-kicks also fall under his domain and he proved his prowess at them in Gameweek 14 with a magnificent dead ball strike against Leicester. Failure to gain at least one attacking return vs Brentford would be considered a surprise and for that reason, he offers a strong alternative to those looking for an alternate selection to Haaland.
DIFFERENTIAL OPTION
Michael Olise (£5.4m) vs NFO (a)
When it comes to Crystal Palace attacking coverage, most FPL managers won’t look beyond midfielder Wilfried Zaha and understandably so. However, there is another option, one that is significantly cheaper and could prove just as lucrative in Gameweek 16. Michael Olise (£5.4m) normally plays on the right flank for the Eagles, his direct running and dribbling ability regularly putting him in extremely dangerous attacking positions.
Olise netted the winning goal for Palace away to West Ham in Gameweek 15, his first goal of the season which earned him 10 FPL points. The 20-year-old average a score of 5 points across the last four gameweeks, but he could be set for another double-figure haul in Gameweek 16 against rock-bottom Nott’m Forest. Steve Cooper’s side have shipped 30 goals in the top flight so far in 2022-23 and such an opponent makes Olise an FPL asset worth talking about.
