Erling Haaland heads into Double Gameweek 36 as the runaway captain favourite after Manchester City were confirmed as one of only two clubs to play twice this round, with home fixtures against Brentford and Crystal Palace.
Haaland is the most-owned player in fpl, priced at £14.7m and held by 62 per cent of managers, and Fantasy Football Fix’s Algorithm picked him as captain in its optimal Free Hit side — giving him a 12.0 predicted points total for the double. The combination of ownership, fixtures and the Algorithm’s outcome has some managers openly considering using their Triple Captain chip on him.
The recent form data that feeds those decisions is blunt. Haaland has scored in three successive matches — the first time he’s done so since Gameweeks 6-8 — and Fantasy Football Fix also reports he has three goals in the last three Gameweeks and six big chances across his last four outings for City.
That said, the case for alternatives is real. Jeremy Doku has outscored Haaland over Manchester City’s last four matches, registering 31 Fantasy points, while Rayan Cherki and Nico O'Reilly have each amassed 28 points in the same period. Cherki and O’Reilly matched Haaland’s 13 points in City’s Double Gameweek 33 matches against Arsenal and Burnley, a reminder that returns can come from unexpected quarters even in double fixtures.
Cherki’s recent activity underlines the threat beyond Haaland: he has one goal and three assists in City’s last four matches, has had two big chances and created three more for a total involvement in five big chances, and has taken 13 shots in the box in that spell. O’Reilly has contributed one goal, one assist and two clean sheets across those four games. The depth of City’s attacking returns is one reason Fantasy Football Fix’s top-five most popular picks for Gameweek 36 include Cherki alongside Haaland, Gyökeres, Saka and O’Reilly.
Fantasy Football Fix’s projections also show O’Reilly and Matheus N. as high-upside picks: O’Reilly on a 9.2 predicted points total and Matheus N. on 9.0, while the Algorithm’s optimal Free Hit squad doubled up on Manchester City’s defence as well as naming Haaland captain — signalling a preference for balancing upside with clean-sheet potential.
For managers the dilemma is clear. With just three rounds left, the Premier League framed the decision as a choice between defending a mini-league lead or taking risks to gain ground, and that framing is visible across fpl chat forums and team sheets. Some managers who own Haaland see the double, his recent scoring streak and the Algorithm’s endorsement as irresistible; others fear rotation or want to back form elsewhere in City’s attack.
There is a practical tension beneath the debate. Haaland’s raw chance volume — six big chances in four games — is hard to match, but Cherki and O’Reilly’s combined contributions, shots and chance involvement suggest the captaincy conversation is not a foregone conclusion for every manager. Fantasy Football Fix explicitly flagged the Triple Captain as a chip whose optimal time could be now, and managers holding that option will have to choose between piling everything onto Haaland or spreading risk across City’s in-form crop.
The safe, arithmetic call is that Haaland will dominate captaincy and chip talk in Gameweek 36: high ownership, a double at home, the Algorithm’s armband and the 12.0 predicted points projection make him the clear focal point for fpl teams. But the recent streaks from Doku, Cherki and O’Reilly mean the round could still reward managers who look beyond the obvious pick.
