Kai Havertz (£7.5m) could be the best short-term replacement for Erling Haaland (£12.2m) in Fantasy Premier League.
Manchester City’s Haaland is the most-sold player in the Gameweek due to his upcoming schedule.
See: Top transfers for Double Gameweek 28
He has only one match in the next two Gameweeks, with a Blank Gameweek 28 preceding his single fixture in Double Gameweek 29, at home to Liverpool.
Most popular Haaland replacements
| Player | Swapped in by |
| Kane | 21,000 |
|---|---|
| Watkins | 14,000 |
| Havertz | 8,000 |
| Toney | 5,000 |
Tottenham Hotspur’s Harry Kane (£11.7m) is so far the most popular replacement, picked up by 21,000+ managers for his matches against Southampton and Everton in the next two Gameweeks.
However, there are eight sides with three matches in the same period who can offer in-form alternatives.
See: Who have Blank and Double Gameweeks?
Ollie Watkins (£7.3m) has emerged as the top Haaland replacement among those eight teams, with 13,000+ swapping in the Aston Villa forward.
Watkins has scored in six of his last seven appearances after he continued his outstanding form with a goal in Sunday's 1-1 draw at West Ham United.
Indeed, he is the highest points scorer over his last four matches among FPL forwards with three matches in the next two Gameweeks.
How selected forwards compare
| Player | Points last four matches | Goals | Assists |
| Watkins | 24 | 4 | 0 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Toney | 21 | 2 | 0 |
| Johnson | 19 | 2 | 0 |
| Havertz | 13 | 1 | 0 |
| Iheanacho | 8 | 0 | 0 |
| Joao Felix | 7 | 0 | 0 |
However, while Chelsea’s Havertz has managed only a single goal over his last four outings, his Expected Goal Involvement (xGI) numbers offer far more encouragement for his prospects.
Havertz, owned by only 3.7 per cent of managers, ranks third best for minutes per xGI.
Notably, Chelsea play at home in each of their next three matches, hosting Everton, Villa and Liverpool.
According to the Fixture Difficulty Ratings (FDR), those matches score a combined total of only eight.
Underlying stats of selected forwards
| Player | Mins/xGI | xGI | FDR |
| Toney | 94.7 | 3.80 | 10 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Watkins | 108.1 | 3.10 | 9 |
| Havertz | 137.7 | 2.15 | 8 |
| Iheanacho | 196.1 | 1.53 | 7 |
| Joao Felix | 242.7 | 1.17 | 8 |
| Johnson | 352.1 | 0.94 | 7 |
While Brentford’s Ivan Toney (£7.8m) is the top player for both xGI and minutes per xGI in this period, he has one of the toughest three-match schedules.
The FDR gives his matches against Leicester City, Brighton & Hove Albion and Manchester United a combined total of 10, the highest and least appealing score among these forwards.
Leicester’s Kelechi Iheanacho could offer value at a cost of only £6.1m.
The Nigerian has a minutes per xGI score of 196.1 over his previous four matches ahead of matches against Brentford, Crystal Palace and Villa.
Also in this series
Part 1: FPL stats: Mac Allister wins battle of Brighton recruits
Part 2: FPL stats: Haaland first to hit 200-point barrier
Part 3: GW27 bonus points
