Manchester City’s Erling Haaland (£14.1million) has dominated the early-season form charts in Fantasy Premier League, while Mohamed Salah (£14.5m) of Liverpool has been rewarding his owners’ patience with some crumbs in added time.
They are the two most expensive players in FPL, and with their ownership rates (35.7% and 53.7% respectively at the time of writing) creeping ever closer, it’s time for managers worldwide to take stock of these premium investments.
Should you be making the switch from Salah to Haaland, or even be looking to find a way to have them both? It is a dilemma dominating the conversation ahead of Gameweek 5.
Mohamed Salah and his late goals
Salah began this season as one of FPL’s most-owned players, largely thanks to his sensational 2024-25, where 37 goal involvements (29 scored, 18 assists) helped the Egyptian break his own seven-year-old record for fantasy points earned in a single campaign (344 to 303).
He did regress on the run-in though, with a clear drop in his output and the underlying numbers, and that pattern has continued for the now 33-year-old in the early rounds of the new season.
By his very high standards, a haul of two goals and an assist in his four Premier League appearances so far is a little disappointing, but what is more of a concern for Salah’s owners is the nature of those contributions. He seemingly always finds a way to get involved in Liverpool’s goals, but all of his returns have come in second-half stoppage time, including the winning penalty against Burnley on Sunday.
You can spin this as fortunate or consistent, but Salah’s underlying numbers provide the biggest worry: he’s had just five shots and made five key passes in the four matches.
Mohamed Salah scored a late winner for Liverpool in Gameweek 4 (Stu Forster/Getty Images)
His role has changed this season, now Liverpool are playing with a true No 9. We’re seeing him operate wider and be less involved in their attacking play, with the offensive returns being shared more equally across Arne Slot’s front three. Liverpool’s fixtures are also about to stiffen, with the Merseyside derby next in Saturday’s early game, followed by trips to Crystal Palace and Chelsea, before they host Manchester United in Gameweek 8.
However, it’s difficult to dismiss the idea the defending champions are the best team in the 2025-26 Premier League to date — they are the only side to win all four games and nobody has scored more than their nine goals.
I’m personally motivated to stay invested in the Liverpool attack and while late-window signing Alexander Isak (£10.4m) could be a viable route into that unit down the line, Salah still seems like the safest current bet for security of minutes, consistent returns and penalties.
Erling Haaland and his irresistible form
Haaland traditionally begins a season strongly, and this one has been no exception. He has scored five times in his opening four Premier League games, with another six goals and two assists coming in two appearances for Norway in the recent international break. The underlying numbers suggest these returns are sustainable too, with Haaland leading the Premier League in total shots (19), shots on target (eight) and shots from inside the penalty area (18), as well as the number of big chances (nine) he has had.
This emphatic start has seen his ownership almost double from 2.2million in Gameweek 1 to 4.2m as we head into Gameweek 5, with over 250,000 managers already choosing to transfer him in ahead of Sunday’s trip to Arsenal.
Erling Haaland is the top points scorer in FPL after four gameweeks with 37 (Carl Recine/Getty Images)
While I believe Haaland will be almost impossible to ignore come Gameweek 6, when City host Burnley, I don’t think it is necessary to bring him in this weekend at all costs. Yes, he has scored two goals in his three league visits to the Emirates Stadium, but this is often a tricky game for City, who have lost 5-1 (2024-25) and 1-0 at Arsenal in the past two seasons. Mikel Arteta’s Londoners have also begun the campaign with three clean sheets in the four league matches, conceding just one goal.
Regardless of how he does on Sunday, Haaland has a good chance of being the highest scoring player in the game across these next four gameweeks, with home fixtures against Burnley and Everton either side of a trip to Brentford.
How your chip strategy should influence your approach
While Gameweek 5 doesn’t feel like an essential entry point for Haaland, it might be a key one for some managers when it comes to their chip strategy, bearing in mind that you can only play one per gameweek.
Keep in mind that both Salah and Haaland play this midweek as the Champions League kicks off for another season, and their potential minutes and form could have an impact on their FPL performances this weekend and beyond.
That home game against Burnley in Gameweek 6 is a standout opportunity to play the Triple Captain chip on Haaland, but if you need to burn a wildcard to get him into your team, you’ll need to play that chip this week.
Another option is to use free transfers to get him in for Gameweek 6 at the expense of Salah, with Haaland set to be the standout captaincy pick for City’s games against Burnley and the following week’s visit to Brentford.
However, I think the optimal strategy is to own both players come Gameweek 6.
Looking at my own team, I’m likely to free up funds in the midfield and move away from a double Liverpool attack by downgrading Florian Wirtz (£8.4m) in that gameweek. Replacing him with a midfielder priced around £6million would then allow me to upgrade Aston Villa’s Ollie Watkins (£8.8m) to Haaland in two transfers.
Owning both of the game’s most expensive players feels like a good strategy, allowing flexibility with the captaincy and moving away from being too invested in Liverpool’s attack, given the swing in their fixtures.
I think the key piece of advice heading into Gameweek 5 is to roll the transfers where you can and have a plan to bring in Haaland for next week.
(Top photos: Getty Images)
