With an early top-of-the-table clash on the horizon in Gameweek 13, this weekend’s Fantasy Challenge brings an ever-present question back into the spotlight.
The challenge, titled “Haaland or Salah?”, sees Fantasy managers handed a budget of £44.0m and tasked with choosing a five-a-side team, armed with the knowledge that every player from the weekend’s heavyweight duel between Liverpool and Manchester City will earn double points.
Pick your Fantasy Challenge team NOW!
There are plenty of assets to choose from in the weekend's other eight matches, but - unless managers opt to shell out almost two-thirds of their budget on the game’s two most expensive assets - the showdown between Mohamed Salah (£13.1m) versus Erling Haaland (£15.0m) is perhaps the call which demands the most pre-deadline deliberation.
With the squad requirements reverting back to a five-a-side team, the formations to be chosen from this week are: 1-1-2, 1-2-1 or 2-1-1.
As always, once a player's team have started their first match of the Gameweek, they will be locked from any changes.
However, you can otherwise tweak any remaining slots in your team - and even enter a full squad - right up until 16:00 GMT on Sunday, before the final fixture of the Gameweek. This also means you can see the teamsheets from every match before finalising your selection.
Here, Alex Dakers identifies some of the best Fantasy Challenge picks for the weekend's remaining fixtures.
Sunday
13:30 GMT Fantasy Challenge deadline
Chelsea v Aston Villa
Man Utd v Everton
Spurs v Fulham
Similarly to the Odegaard v Saka debate, Nicolas Jackson (£8.0m) offers a cheaper route into Chelsea’s attack than his talismanic team-mate Cole Palmer (£10.9m).
Jackson has 11 goals and assists combined in 12 league starts this season and costs nearly £3.0m less than Palmer, who has one more attacking return overall but has also blanked in four of his last five matches.
Ollie Watkins (£9.0m), who broke a six-match scoring drought last weekend, and Morgan Rogers (£5.3m), who came close to providing a last-gasp winner in Wednesday’s Champions League stalemate with Juventus, are the stand-out Villa picks. Again, Rogers may be easier to squeeze into a Gameweek 13 Fantasy Challenge squad given the price of Watkins.
Amad (£4.9m) looks like a decent budget option for Manchester United's clash with Everton after back-to-back league assists, while Alejandro Garnacho (£6.4m) is behind only Haaland and Semenyo for total attempts over the last six Gameweeks, with 22.
Man Utd may not have it easy against Everton, though. The Toffees have kept four clean sheets and conceded just two goals - both league-leading stats - over the last six Gameweeks. The likes of Jordan Pickford (£4.9m) and Vitalii Mykolenko (£4.3m) have racked up respectable FPL points totals in that time.
Still, Sean Dyche’s side are struggling at the other end of the pitch, having scored only a single goal over the same period and drawn blanks in each of their last three. United’s defensive troops such as Andre Onana (£5.2m) - FPL’s highest-scoring goalkeeper - could therefore profit once again.
Spurs and Fulham come into their Sunday afternoon match-up following very different Gameweek 12 results.
James Maddison (£7.6m) was his side’s top scorer in the 4-0 away win at Manchester City, his two goals and 16-point haul surely being enough to justify a continuation of his return to Spurs’ starting line-up. Pedro Porro (£5.6m) wasn’t far behind, grabbing a goal to go with his unexpected clean sheet against City. Both players could be worth a shout on Sunday.
Fulham, meanwhile, were beaten 4-1 at home by Wolves last weekend but may be hopeful of sneaking a few more than that past Ange Postecoglou’s crew with Guglielmo Vicario (£5.0m) now out of action for the foreseeable future.
Antonee Robinson (£4.7m) continues to be an ever-present attacking threat and nearly secured his fourth assist of the season last time out, as Raul Jimenez (£5.7m) spurned the chance to score his fifth goal of the campaign with a bad miss. The Mexican forward has fired off 19 attempts over the last six Gameweeks despite scoring just once in that time, and is fifth among all outfield players for Expected Goal Involvements (xGI) over the same period.
16:00 GMT Fantasy Challenge deadline
Liverpool v Man City
It's the main event, and the focus of this week’s Fantasy Challenge.
Man City are winless in six matches heading into Sunday afternoon’s headliner at Anfield.
To make matters worse, they face a Liverpool side who sit top of the league with just one loss all season under Arne Slot. On the face of it, the hosts are favourites to win this encounter and extend their lead over the defending champions at the top of the table to 11 points.
Salah may have just missed a penalty against Real Madrid but the Egyptian king remains FPL’s top scorer and in-form player by a comfortable margin heading into Gameweek 13, having grabbed his eighth double-digit haul of the season against Southampton last weekend.
On the face of things, he looks all but essential this weekend, particularly given any points he scores will be automatically doubled in Fantasy Challenge.
In a seven-game span where Salah has delivered seven goals, two assists and 71 FPL points, Haaland has mustered just two goals and 21 FPL points - a staggering difference between the game’s most expensive assets, particularly given the Man City frontman still costs £2.0m more.
The Norwegian goal machine still leads the league for xGI in that time and will no doubt return to his usual scoring ways at some point in the near future, but he’ll be hard-pressed to do so on Merseyside, where Liverpool - comfortably the league’s best defence - have conceded just three of their eight goals so far.
With Salah’s form, the case for his inclusion would be strong regardless of Liverpool’s opponents. Now, despite what would in previous seasons have been a fixture in which Fantasy managers might look to invest elsewhere, City’s recent defensive frailties only strengthen that case. Pep Guardiola’s side have conceded the most big chances of all top-flight teams over the last six Gameweeks.
As highlighted earlier in this article, there may be sufficient budget-friendly options to enable a team containing both Salah and Haaland even with the monetary constraints of this week’s Fantasy Challenge. But the contrasting form of each player, and their respective teams, surely makes Salah the priority if managers are choosing just one.
Those two aside, the better of the remaining options are also likely to be those kitted out in red.
Luis Diaz’s (£7.6m) output in the league has tailed off recently but the Colombian scored a Champions League hat-trick earlier this month and he could trouble whomever of Kyle Walker (£5.2m) or Rico Lewis (£4.7m) lines up at right-back for City on Sunday. Diaz, Darwin Nunez (£7.1m) and Cody Gakpo (£7.1m) are likely competing for two slots but, as mentioned, we can see the teamsheets before finalising our Liverpool picks on Sunday.
Even in light of City’s struggles and Liverpool’s solidity, there is every chance Man City will score at least once. Guardiola’s men are behind only Brentford for xG (12.07) over the last six Gameweeks.
Matheus Nunes (£4.9m) was absent from the Gameweek 12 dismantling at the hands of Spurs but impressed in midweek, providing an assist for Haaland’s second goal of the game. He could be rewarded with a starting spot on Sunday.
And while clean sheets aren’t flowing, Josko Gvardiol (£6.2m) has three goals in his last seven outings. He created a whopping eight chances for others in Gameweek 12 too.
However, the better defensive options from this match could again be from Liverpool.
Virgil van Dijk (£6.4m) is an obvious one, particularly if the less expensive Ibrahima Konate (£5.4m) misses out as expected. The Dutchman is FPL’s highest-scoring defender, a surefire starter and managed a goal against Arsenal in Gameweek 9 followed by an assist against Brighton & Hove Albion the next week.
Trent Alexander-Arnold (£6.9m) is yet to live up to his usual levels of FPL stardom this season but could be rushed back into the starting line-up if Conor Bradley (£4.7m) is ruled out with the issue he picked up towards the end of a stellar midweek performance.
