From Mohamed Salah to Cole Palmer – these are the best alternatives to Erling Haaland for Fantasy Premier League captain

Today at 11:36 AM

It feels dangerous to consider, even for a second, going against Erling Haaland (£15.2million) right now.

Having been a struck post away from grabbing three consecutive hat-tricks, the Manchester City forward has racked up a stunning nine goals from four matches.

However, the champions are about to headline Gameweek five at home to Arsenal – a side that kept clean sheets in both of last season's clashes. It truly feels like an unstoppable force meeting an immovable object.

But when committing to a non-Haaland captaincy, there needs to be a really good alternative. Let's analyse three other armband contenders for this weekend, whose points will be doubled.

Mohamed Salah (£12.7million)

Over 938,000 managers flocked to buy Liverpool's key attacker last week, knowing that he'd delivered double-digit hauls in all three appearances so far. Typically, Salah then produced nothing in a shock Anfield defeat to Nottingham Forest.

Yet there are still plenty of reasons to keep faith in this FPL all-timer – his constant threat hasn't suddenly disappeared. The 32-year-old leads the way for penalty area touches (42) and has had the second-most shots on target (eight).

Whilst the impressive Bournemouth can't be underestimated under Andoni Iraola, they've historically been a good opponent for Salah. The Egyptian has scored nine goals in nine Premier League encounters against the Cherries.

Ollie Watkins (£8.9million)

Last season brought outstanding numbers for Watkins, as his 19 goals and 18 assists guided Aston Villa to Champions League football.

And now he's finally off the mark for this campaign, netting twice in Saturday's comeback win over Everton. In response, he looks set to be the most-bought player heading into Gameweek five, where the next obstacle is a Wolves team yet to keep a clean sheet.

Meanwhile, Villa's 16 big chances are the second-most, eight of which belong to centre-forward Watkins. It's a tally that only Haaland can match.

One potential setback is that there's been a recent tendency to substitute him around the hour mark, allowing Jhon Duran (£6.0m) to come on and often score.

Cole Palmer (£10.6million)

Option no.3 is a fellow England star fresh from his excellent 2023/24.

Palmer's 22 goals and 13 assists took him to 244 points and the honour of being FPL's top-scoring asset. Not bad for someone who didn't start a league game until Gameweek seven.

Like Salah, he's a penalty-taking midfielder with a promising start to proceedings.

We witnessed a goal and four assists from him during Gameweeks two and three, although things were quieter at Bournemouth, not registering a single shot.

What gives him captaincy appeal is that Chelsea face West Ham – a rival they beat 5-0 just four months ago. Palmer scored that day and, even under Julen Lopetegui, the Hammers are recording poor defensive numbers. Four rounds in, they've conceded the most shots (73) of all top-flight teams.

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