Fantasy Premier League Gameweek 20: Should you triple-captain Erling Haaland?

We are now approaching the most important time of the season in Fantasy Premier League with plenty of double and blank gameweeks to look forward to, and we really need to plan meticulously and use our chips effectively if we want to get the best possible rank.

We have a double in Gameweek 20 for Manchester United, Manchester City, Crystal Palace and Tottenham Hotspur, and we will also get plenty more in the coming weeks.

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Now is the time we start to think about using our chips and Gameweek 20 could well be the week to press the Triple Captain button

I will look at the pros and cons of using the chip on Erling Haaland (£12.2million), the game’s highest-scoring player, in the next gameweek.

The argument for triple-captaining Haaland

Manchester City have two fixtures in Gameweek 20, taking on Manchester United before they then have a home game against Spurs. These aren’t the best fixtures by a long way and City will have more appealing doubles in the future.

However, the main advantage of using the Triple Captain chip on Haaland this week is his expected minutes. He is very likely to get close to 180 minutes over the two fixtures as there aren’t any Champions League or domestic cup games in between the two fixtures. Also, City play United on Saturday in the early lunchtime kick-off and then Spurs on Thursday evening, which means they have a full five days’ rest in between.

It’s a case of a bird in the hand being worth two in the bush. We know exactly what we are getting here but with future double gameweeks, Haaland’s potential game time is likely to be more uncertain.

City have another double in Gameweek 23 against Aston Villa (H) and Arsenal (A). This one is better on paper but they have a fairly busy schedule during this time. They play Villa on February 12 and then on February 15, three days later, they have a hugely important match against Arsenal.

On February 18, they then have an away fixture to Nottingham Forest before a trip to RB Leipzig in the Champions League on February 22.

Although you would expect Haaland to play in all these games, there is a chance he gets rested in one or sees reduced minutes. We also have to take into account the chance that he could even get injured with so many games in quick succession.

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Below are the possible double gameweeks that City could have after Gameweek 20. They will play West Ham if either reaches the FA Cup quarter-finals. If either Brighton or City reach the FA Cup semi-finals, then that fixture could become a double.

Man City's potential double gameweeks

Each of these possible doubles are better than Gameweek 20 if we look at fixture difficulty only but, again, even if these fixtures go ahead and Pep Guardiola’s team are still in other competitions (which is likely), then games are going to be extremely congested.

We also need to consider that we may run out of double gameweeks to use our Triple Captain chip. Gameweek 29 looks like a good week to use the wildcard and Gameweek 34 or 37 look like the prime gameweeks to use the Bench Boost as they are set to be the biggest doubles of the season in terms of the number of fixtures. This doesn’t leave much room to make use of the Triple Captain chip as we can’t use two chips in the same gameweek.

Also, Haaland’s expected minutes are going to get lower as the season goes on.

The below post shows Haaland’s consecutive gameweek scores this season in the league in recent weeks, so chances are he will get double figures in double Gameweek 20. It’s tough to make a case to stick your Triple Captain chip on another player.

Erling Haaland's consecutive GW scores so far:

18
23
26
29
8
18
14
8

🤔

— Abdul Rehman (@FPL_Salah) January 10, 2023

Ben Crellin, who specialises in helping FPL players keep track of the fixture list, is a useful man to follow to keep an eye on when planning for upcoming double and blank gameweeks.

The triple-captain alternatives to Haaland

There are alternatives to Haaland, as good as he is.

Manchester United’s Marcus Rashford (£7.0m) has been enjoying a fantastic season, with seven goals and three assists in the league, and he could have a double against Crystal Palace and Leeds United at home in Gameweek 22.

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Mohamed Salah (£12.9m) and Harry Kane (£11.6m) are the next best premium players after the Norwegian, and they will also have some favourable double gameweeks.

Let’s look at their possible fixtures:

Liverpool's potential double gameweeks

Tottenham's potential double gameweeks

Both teams have a possibility of some good doubles but it all depends on how far they or their opponents progress in the FA Cup.

There really is no right or wrong answer and different approaches have valid points.

However, it is clear that this week is a very good opportunity to use the Triple Captain chip on Haaland and it should really be considered, especially if you have the majority of your chips remaining. If you have already used your Bench Boost chip, then it’s a lot easier to save the Triple Captain chip until later.

If you are an aggressive manager who looks for pockets of opportunities, then this is the week to do it. This won’t be a popular week to use the Triple Captain chip as managers will be put off by the fixtures, so it’s a great chance to get ahead of the field.

If you are conservative in your approach to playing FPL, then you will probably want to wait until later in the season.

It pretty much comes down to tough fixtures and certain minutes vs good fixtures and uncertain minutes.

In my opinion, with the information we have at the moment, it’s pretty much 50-50 between Gameweek 20 and Gameweek 23 for the best time to deploy a Triple Captain.

Make sure to check out the FPL General on The Athletic FPL Podcast twice a week this season for all his latest tips and tricks.

(Top photo: Laurence Griffiths/Getty Images)

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