The best way to rotate FPL captains in early 23/24

Instead of simply putting the armband on Erling Haaland each week, there’s a good way to rotate FPL captains.

The Man City forward had a breathtaking debut Premier League campaign, breaking its record for individual goals with 36. Very early on, FPL managers realised Haaland would be a phenomenon that demanded the armband whenever possible, with the Norwegian accumulating 204.7 million captaincies over the season.

However, being the most-captained player each time after Gameweek 5 brought stagnation to FPL. Sure, he was often hauling but there was no gain to be made when over six million managers did the same for 15 rounds.

Yet with a new season comes new prices and new ideas. Like all players, Haaland will start on zero goals. Perhaps he scores a measly 30 of them rather than 36, opening the door to alternative captains.

Let’s look at the game’s elite names and their first ten fixtures of 2023/24.

ROTATE FPL CAPTAINS

Focusing purely on heavyweights such as Haaland, Mohamed Salah, Harry Kane, Marcus Rashford and the Arsenal midfielders, captaincy options are nicely spread out up to Gameweek 10.

In green are the best-looking fixtures of each week, with lighter green being second-best. It’s a useful way to formulate an early structure for our initial Gameweek 1 squads.

For example, it’d be difficult to go without an Arsenal midfielder like Bukayo Saka, Gabriel Martinelli or Martin Odegaard for the opener versus Nottingham Forest. And if Rashford is priced well, he’s a strong option for the same opponents in Gameweek 3.

Managers may conclude that Salah’s only good match is at home to Bournemouth in Gameweek 2 – but remember when he blanked during last season’s 9-0 equivalent?

Assuming that Kane stays at Spurs, he reliably collects goals and finished just nine points behind Haaland. The consecutive run of Bournemouth (A), Burnley (A) and Sheffield United (H) has a lot of captaincy potential.

So Haaland doesn’t have to be the default decision, especially with Man City’s European Super Cup clash in between the first two matches.