Should Haaland really be left out of a Wildcard?

He may be the most expensive FPL forward by far but Erling Haaland (£15.2m) has just scored back-to-back hat-tricks, giving Wildcard users a dilemma.

During this long international break, we’ve already weighed up the pros and cons of using a Wildcard in Gameweek 4. Then we provided a specific draft that should help managers fix some problems and be prepared for the future.

That one includes the Norwegian goal-scoring machine but maybe others want to take the risk (and money) of going without him.

FORM

A selection of organised FPL managers entered the season with a Wildcard in mind. Begin with Haaland for Gameweek 2’s hosting of newly-promoted Ipswich, then remove him soon after to improve squad depth.

However, like his previous two Premier League campaigns, Haaland began with an early home hat-trick. And, like 2022/23, he followed it up with another one immediately afterwards.

It puts him in the lead for goals (seven), big chances (seven), shots on target (10) and expected goals (xG, 3.77). Some outrageous early form, yet still only joint-top for FPL points with Mohamed Salah‘s (£12.6m).

FIXTURES

Looking forward, Gameweeks 5 and 6 look tricky, versus Arsenal and Newcastle. But it’s surrounded by very attractive fixtures, especially now that Julian Alvarez isn’t around to share minutes. No replacement came in for the Argentinian.

Fantasy Football Scout have recently looked at the congested schedules of England’s four UEFA Champions League (UCL) sides, now that everyone’s group stage will feature eight matches rather than six.

Man City will be pleased with their UCL draw, as generous pairings with Slovan Bratislava and Sparta Prague offer a chance for continental rotation, rather than domestic.

Their next four matches are all at home, including an EFL Cup clash with Watford.

CAPTAINCY

With the armband, non-Haalanders can mostly get by with the combination of Salah and Bukayo Saka (£10.1m) instead. But the former Dortmund man dominates during Gameweeks 8, 9 and 10. There’ll be some huge FOMO over those rounds.

REST OF THE SQUAD

The fact that Haaland is joint on points with Salah shows that it’s still possible to have started well without him. It’s just that he’s almost on twice the points of the next-best forward – Danny Welbeck (£5.7m) on 23.

Of course, surely Haaland won’t be netting three goals in every game from now on. A dip – by his standards – has to come at some point, at which time it’d be very feasible to proceed with other premium assets.

All other forwards are at least £6.0m cheaper, enabling a strong, deep midfield and defence containing all or most of Salah, Saka, Cole Palmer (£10.6m), Trent Alexander-Arnold (£7.0m) and William Saliba (£6.0m).

The problem? We have no idea when a slight Haaland regression may begin and guessing incorrectly is a scary thought. He’s fixture-proof, on successive hat-tricks and is now a low rotation threat.

To those going without Haaland on their Wildcard, good luck.