The Scout looks at whether managers should bring in Erling Haaland (£14.7m) for Blank Gameweek 29 (BGW29) of Fantasy Premier League, and whether Cole Palmer (£11.0m) should be sold to free up the funds.
Are you using the Free Hit chip?
In a Gameweek where players such as Mohamed Salah (£13.8m) and Alexander Isak (£9.4m) are WITHOUT a fixture, Haaland is shaping up as a key figure for managers who are using their Free Hit chip in BGW29.
At present, there are 320,000+ managers with the Free Hit chip active and it’s fair to assume that the vast majority of them will be handing Haaland the captaincy for Manchester City's home match against Brighton & Hove Albion.
Crucially, the Free Hit chip not only helps you address the absence of a host of popular picks in BGW29, it can also help you take advantage of the fact that millions of managers will be benching Salah, Isak AND potentially Trent Alexander-Arnold (£7.5m) as they are concerned over losing the value tied up in those players.
Essentially, you only get 50 per cent profit from player sales in Fantasy, so if you bought Isak for £8.6m and he now costs £9.4m, you’d earn £9.0m from selling him. But you would then need to spend an EXTRA £0.4m on top of that to re-sign him.
The Free Hit chip allows you to take advantage of those managers’ strategies by temporarily freeing up the Salah and Isak funds to bring in Haaland and captain him, as well as targeting low-owned assets such as Manchester United players, ahead of their trip to Leicester City.
Free up funds by selling Palmer?
Palmer’s recent lack of returns is becoming a growing frustration for many managers ahead of Saturday’s 13:30 GMT deadline.
The Chelsea midfielder may have a match in BGW29 – albeit at Arsenal – yet he is the second most-sold player in the Gameweek, moved on by 175,000+ after producing just a single assist and no goals across his last seven matches.
Palmer’s drop in output has coincided with the absence of injured Blues forward Nicolas Jackson (£7.7m) over the last four Gameweeks.
However, the underlying statistics show Palmer has offered a far greater goal threat than Haaland over their respective last four matches.
Palmer has had 17 shots – more than TWICE the total of Haaland’s eight – while he also has the slight edge for shots in the box, by eight to seven.
The duo are identical when it comes to big chances - situations where the player is expected to score. Palmer and Haaland have each had four big chances in their last four appearances, while also creating one further such opportunity for team-mates.
Palmer v Haaland, last four matches
| Palmer | Haaland | |
|---|---|---|
| Shots | 17 | 8 |
| Shots in box | 8 | 7 |
| Big chances | 4 | 4 |
| Big-chance involvement | 5 | 5 |
Certainly, the statistics indicate Palmer is still a major goal threat.
Another major point to consider here is his huge ownership. Sitting in 57 per cent of squads, he is the most-popular player in Fantasy who has a match in BGW29.
That only adds to the risk attached to selling him, as a big Palmer haul would be detrimental to your place in the overall standings.
Nonetheless, selling the Chelsea star to bring in Haaland and captain the Norwegian would allow you to mirror the strategy of many managers who are playing the Free Hit chip.
Man City’s home match against Leicester in Gameweek 30 also gives you another opportunity to hand the armband to Haaland. The Norwegian has scored in all four of his meetings with the promoted clubs in 2024/25, totalling six goals and 37 points.
So, should managers get Haaland?
If you’re using the Free Hit chip in BGW29, Haaland has to be in your line-up, and he offers a standout captaincy option in the reduced round of matches.
The Man City star also looks a great pick for managers who are looking to “dead-end” their squads – bringing in players who have kind short-term fixtures, before selling them when using the Wildcard chip to pick a permanent new squad in Gameweek 30 or 31.
Ideally, you would also keep Palmer for BGW29 due to his huge ownership, but if there’s no other way of freeing up budget and you want to captain Haaland then the Chelsea star may be the best makeweight.
Beyond that, though, it’s hard to argue a case for buying Haaland as a long-term acquisition.
His hefty price tag, combined with the kind upcoming runs of fixtures for a host of other forwards, dilutes his appeal markedly.
For example, Newcastle United's Isak and Crystal Palace’s Jean-Philippe Mateta (£7.5m) will be key picks after their BGW29s have passed. They each have a Double Gameweek 32 (DGW32) and also have very favourable schedules in Gameweeks 30-31.
Nottingham Forest’s Chris Wood (£7.3m) also has a kind run of opponents, starting now with his visit to Ipswich Town in BGW29.
Wood still costs less than HALF the price of Haaland, yet he sits at the top of the forward standings on 172 points compared with the Man City star's 164 points.
