The Scout analyses the data to reveal who the best Manchester City picks are alongside Erling Haaland (£14.9m) in Fantasy Premier League ahead of a kind run of fixtures.
Manchester City's very favourable run of opponents suggests that managers should consider a triple-up on their key players.
According to the Fixture Difficulty Ratings (FDR), where the difficulty of each fixture is ranked from one to five - with one being the easiest possible match and five being the hardest - each of their next three home matches score only two.
Pep Guardiola's side host promoted pair Leeds United and Sunderland in Gameweeks 13 and 15 respectively, with a visit from West Ham United on the horizon in Gameweek 17.
Man City's next five matches
| GW | Opp. | FDR |
|---|---|---|
| 13 | Leeds (H) | 2 |
| 14 | Fulham (A) | 3 |
| 15 | Sunderland (H) | 2 |
| 16 | Crystal Palace (A) | 3 |
| 17 | West Ham (H) | 2 |
1=easiest possible fixture, 5=hardest possible fixture
Who are Man City's top-scoring players in Fantasy?
If you still have your Triple Captain chip left to play, then using it on Erling Haaland (£14.9m) for one of those home contests looks the best strategy.
Haaland's prolific form at the Etihad Stadium has been fundamental to his rise to the top of the player standings on 104 points. Indeed, he has produced two-thirds of his attacking returns (nine goals and an assist) in home matches.
As the table below shows, Haaland has produced at least twice the points total of any of his team-mates, with Nico O'Reilly (£5.0m) and Ruben Dias (£5.5m) his nearest rivals on 52 points each.
When it comes to points per start, though, it's O'Reilly and his fellow full-back Matheus Nunes (£5.3m) who lead the chasing pack behind Haaland.
O'Reilly - who has been named in the first XI in eight of the last nine Gameweeks - has averaged 6.3 points per start (pps) this season.
Nunes has started each of the last seven and has averaged 5.5pps in 2025/26, just ahead of the 5.3pps of winger Jeremy Doku (£6.5m).
Man City's top-scoring players, GW1-12
| Player | Home pts | Away pts | Pts per start | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Haaland | 61 | 43 | 8.7 | 104 |
| O'Reilly | 38 | 14 | 6.3 | 52 |
| Dias | 23 | 29 | 4.6 | 52 |
| Nunes | 34 | 12 | 5.5 | 46 |
| Doku | 35 | 11 | 5.3 | 46 |
| Gvardiol | 16 | 19 | 4.4 | 35 |
| Reijnders | 9 | 26 | 3.7 | 35 |
| Foden | 24 | 9 | 3.6 | 33 |
| Donnarumma | 22 | 10 | 3.6 | 32 |
Scroll across to see the full table on mobile
Ahead of those matches with Leeds, Sunderland and West Ham, an assessment of each player's home/away output helps to show that O'Reilly, Nunes, Doku and Phil Foden (£8.0m) have been more reliable when playing at the Etihad.
The table above highlights O'Reilly's big potential at both ends of the pitch, which has helped him to second place for points in home matches this season for Man City. He has amassed 38 points in five appearances, thanks to one goal, two assists and three clean sheets. By contrast, the left-back has just 14 points in away matches.
Similarly, Nunes, Doku and Foden have produced roughly three times the number of points in home matches than they have on the road.
Notably, in contrast to the full-backs, there's far less disparity in the centre-backs, Dias and Josko Gvardiol (£5.8m), in terms of home/away output.
Rayan Cherki (£6.4m) is a notable absentee in the table above, having been restricted to just four starts and two substitute appearances due to injury.
The summer signing has started each of the last three Gameweeks and supplied all three of his assists for the season in this spell. In terms of pps, his 4.8 makes him Doku's closest rival among the Man City midfielders.
Which of Haaland's team-mates have had the most attacking threat?
An assessment of the attacking potential offered by each of the Man City defenders shows why O'Reilly should be your priority in that position.
The left-back's 12 shots and nine chances created both match the combined totals of Nunes, Gvardiol and Dias, highlighting his far superior potential for goals and assists.
O'Reilly's close-range threat is similarly dominant - he's had eight shots in the box compared with the combined seven of his three rivals.
Man City defenders, attacking statistics
| Player | Shots | Shots in box | Chances created |
|---|---|---|---|
| O'Reilly | 12 | 8 | 9 |
| Nunes | 4 | 1 | 5 |
| Gvardiol | 5 | 3 | 2 |
| Dias | 3 | 3 | 2 |
Scroll across to see the full table on mobile
Due to the recent return to injury of Cherki, the Man City midfielders are assessed by the frequency of their attacking actions.
When it comes to big chances - or situations where a player is expected to score - Doku has the advantage.
He's had three of them this season, which equates to 237 minutes per big chance. Foden has had just one all season, while Cherki and Bernardo (£6.3m) are both yet to have any gilt-edged scoring opportunities.
Cherki is, nonetheless, the quickest of the four for minutes per shot in the box, with his average of 61.8 considerably faster than the 80.0 of Foden and 88.9 of Doku.
In terms of big chances created, Cherki again catches the eye. His total of five is just one less than Doku in over 400 fewer minutes.
Added to his three big chances, Doku's six big chances created (BCC) means he has been involved in a combined total of nine of them.
Although that's more than each of his rivals' totals, his average of 79.0 minutes per big-chance involvement (BCI) is slower than the 61.8 of Cherki.
On the surface, Foden's numbers are appealing - his 18 shots and 22 chances created rank third and second respectively among team-mates. But he's been involved in just three big chances, with his average of 266.7 minutes the worst of all Man City midfielders here.
Man City midfielders attacking potential
| Player | Mins per shot in box | Mins per big chance | Mins/BCC | Mins/BCI |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cherki | 61.8 | N/A | 61.8 | 61.8 |
| Doku | 88.9 | 237 | 118.5 | 79.0 |
| Bernardo | 367 | N/A | 183.5 | 183.5 |
| Foden | 80.0 | 800 | 400 | 266.7 |
BCC: big chance created, BCI: big-chance involvement. Scroll across to see the full table on mobile
So, who are the best Man City picks alongside Haaland?
O’Reilly’s far superior potential for goals and assists makes him an easy pick as the best defender for Man City.
As always with Guardiola, there is the slight chance of rotation, particularly as Gameweek 14 is the first midweek round of matches this season. However, the Man City manager's decision to rest all but Nico Gonzalez (£5.9m) from his starting XI against Bayer Leverkusen in the UEFA Champions League in midweek suggests his focus is on the league right now.
For the final spot, the statistics suggest it's between Nunes, Cherki and Doku.
And ultimately, that call comes down to what type of Fantasy manager you are.
If you don't mind doubling up on defence, then pairing O'Reilly with Nunes could prove the most successful strategy, with clean sheets looking likely in the coming spell.
Since Nunes returned to the Man City XI in Gameweek 6, both Man City full-backs place among the five top-scoring defenders in Fantasy, with Nunes having the slight edge over O'Reilly by 42 points to 39.
If you dislike the tactic of doubling up in defence, then Cherki's superior numbers for shots in the box and big-chance involvement indicates he can outperform Doku as the best attacker to own alongside Haaland and O'Reilly.