How to solve the Salah-Haaland dilemma – FPL talking points

Three gameweeks of the Fantasy Premier League season are in the bag and the international break is a good chance to reflect on the state of your team and what we've learned so far.

Some pre-season predictions have come true, but some are in the bin - such as my statement that you could go without Mohamed Salah to start with.

Wrong!

The most eye-catching element so far has been the performances of FPL's two juggernauts - Manchester City's Erling Haaland and Liverpool's Salah.

The simple answer is 'yes'.

A more nuanced response is that 'it depends what you do with the spare cash'.

Both have an incredible 41 points so far in what is an unprecedented start to an FPL season.

At more than 13 points per game, the pair are on course for a whopping 520 points. For context, the best ever FPL season was Salah's 303 points in 2017-18.

They are obviously not going to carry on at this rate. If they do, Haaland would score 88 goals and Salah would have 38 goals and 38 assists.

But Salah's record FPL haul could well be at risk even with the inevitable slowdown.

The two key questions to work out here are:

1) Which one of them will you captain each week?

2) What could you do with the extra cash if you went without one of them?

Having both players gives you a fantastic captain choice most weeks and also makes it very hard to fit another premium player into your side.

Yes, you can have a Cole Palmer or Bukayo Saka in there too, but almost every other player in your squad would be £5.5m or less - and history tells us that those prices don't often result in high-scoring FPL players.

Your big-money alternatives are Palmer (£10.6m), Saka (£10.1m) and Son Heung-min (£10m). I'd also throw Phil Foden (£9.4m) and Kevin de Bruyne (£9.6m) in that category, along with Ollie Watkins (£8.9m).

But there's only week six of the next six gameweeks where you might captain one of these players over Salah or Haaland - when Palmer's Chelsea have Brighton at home and Saka's Arsenal face Leicester at Emirates Stadium.

Verdict: If you don't have both already then it might be time to rip up your plans - and even use your first wildcard - to get Haaland and Salah in.

However, it's important to play your own game and look at the state of the rest of your side. As mentioned, it is hard to find regular FPL points scorers under £6m.

For example, a combination of Salah and Villa's Morgan Rogers (£5.1m, 6 FPL pts) could become Palmer and Brentford's Bryan Mbeumo (£7.1m, 24 FPL pts), so if you prefer how that looks in your team then go for it.

Palmer and Mbeumo certainly have the potential to outscore Salah and Rogers, assuming the Liverpool man stops getting double digits each week.

This is the context you have to consider when making your choice - can you match Salah's output by spreading the funds around?

Equally, if you were brave enough to go without Haaland then you could have Salah, Saka, Palmer AND players such as Kai Havertz and Watkins up front too.

Ditching the most expensive FPL player ever gives you plenty of freedom.

Just don't be surprised if the big Norwegian wraps up a hat-trick after 30 minutes against Brentford next time out!

Trent Alexander-Arnold (20 points), Andy Robertson (18) and Virgil van Dijk (18) are the three highest-scoring defenders, with Liverpool the only side to have kept three clean sheets this season.

It seems like a no-brainer to get at least one of them into your side - especially if you are wildcarding.

Alexander-Arnold (£7m) would be my first choice and I'd pick Robertson over VVD. The daft thing is that they top the scoring charts and neither Liverpool full-back has an attacking return yet.

The Reds have conceded just 14 shots in the box, bettered only by Manchester City and Nottingham Forest, and they have the lowest expected goals conceded (xGC) at 2.19.

This suggests they will easily improve on last season's 10 clean sheets and, with Forest and Bournemouth at home next, a double-digit haul for one of their defenders is on the cards.

If you're having Haaland and Salah, then you need value up front. Look no further than Brighton's Joao Pedro (£5.7m).

Team-mate Danny Welbeck has outscored the Brazilian striker so far, but Pedro has penalties and feels like the better long-term choice of the two.

Brighton face Ipswich, Forest and Spurs at home in the next four gameweeks, but they've also shown they will be a threat on the road - scoring at Arsenal last week which is no mean feat.

Nottingham Forest's Chris Wood is slightly more expensive at £6.1m but has two goals in three games and has secured a maximum bonus every time he has scored.

He has Liverpool away next, but five of the following six games are green on FPL's fixture ticker.

A left-field choice could be Everton's Iliman Ndiaye (£5.4m), who looks to have worked his way into Sean Dyche's starting line-up.

The Senegal forward scored 14 goals in the Championship two seasons ago for Sheffield United and has looked lively so far. Everton's run from week five to 14 is about as tasty as it gets, including games against all three promoted sides.

No! Watkins was the only striker to score more FPL points than Haaland last season.

He's failed to find the net so far but his underlying stats suggest goals are on the horizon.

The Aston Villa striker has had four big chances and his expected goals (xG) is 1.57. He's been unlucky - or rusty.

Last season Watkins failed to score in his first five games but finished with 19 goals and 18 assists.

Villa face Everton (h), Wolves (h) and Ipswich (a) in their next three games. Have patience with Watkins and he could be the perfect signing this week - especially if you dare to go without Haaland.