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The first international break of the season always brings an element of nerves to it from an FPL point of view, waiting tentatively to see if any highly-owned assets come back injured. We saw Martin Odegaard (£8.4m) suffer a bad ankle injury whilst playing for Norway which will sideline him for a period of time. Elsewhere, Netherlands’ 2-2 draw with Germany was tarnished slightly by Man City defender Nathan Ake (£5.4m) being stretchered off with what appeared to be a muscle injury
However, the most important news was that Erling Haaland (£15.2m) and Mo Salah (£12.5), arrived back at their respective clubs without injury. Chelsea’s Cole Palmer (£10.6m) withdrew from international duty early on but has since been spotted in full training back at Cobham, so will hopefully be available for Enzo Maresca’s side this coming weekend.
Now that the first tranche of international fixtures have been concluded, we’re all set for Gameweek 4 of the new Fantasy Premier League campaign. In anticipation, we’ve selected three premium captain picks who could wind up being extremely lucrative for FPL managers, as well as a possible differential ahead of Saturday’s 11:00am deadline.
PREMIUM OPTIONS
Erling Haaland (£15.2m) vs BRE (H)
It would be simply foolish of us not to begin with Erling Haaland, how can we not with him coming off the back of consecutive Premier League hat-tricks and consecutive 17-point-scores. His three goals against Ipswich were backed up by another trio of strikes, this time vs West Ham at London Stadium, taking his overall tally in the league so far this season to seven goals.
Haaland and Man City host Brentford in Gameweek 4, the last club to beat them at Etihad Stadium in the Premier League. But with the Norwegian striker on such a hot-streak, it would be extremely brave for any FPL manager not to give Haaland the armband, especially when taking into account his steadily rising 67.2% ownership.
Mo Salah (£12.7m) vs NFO (H)
Whilst Haaland continues to rack up hat-tricks, Mo Salah has stayed with him every step of the way when it comes to FPL production. The Egyptian has matched Haaland’s overall fantasy score of 41 points across three gameweeks so far. His goal and two assists against Man Utd in Gameweek 3 made it three goals and as many assists over the course of the campaign as it stands and a gameweek has yet to go by in which Salah has failed to find the net.
A home fixture against Nottingham Forest looks very tasty on paper for those who opt for Salah as their Gameweek 4 FPL captain. Of all Liverpool attacking assets, he feels like the one who will always be picked from the start by Arne Slot.
Bukayo Saka (£10.1m) vs TOT (a)
A midfield asset who continues to provide fantasy points in bulk, Bukayo Saka will be crucial for Arsenal from an attacking perspective in the upcoming North London derby. Despite the difficulty of the fixture on paper, Saka is capable of accumulating attacking returns in any game. Odegaard’s injury increases the reliance on the England international offensively and penalties will surely fall solely under Saka’s domain.
Spurs may pose a huge challenge, but they’ve always proven fragile defensively and Saka, who boasts a goal, three assists and an average of 8 points per game already this season, warrants significant captaincy attention in this, the biggest game of the campaign so far for Mikel Arteta’s Gunners.
DIFFERENTIAL OPTION
Noni Madueke (£6.6m) vs BOU (a)
Whilst most attention when it comes to Gameweek 4 captains and potential Chelsea assets will be focused on Cole Palmer, Noni Madueke offers a high-value differential alternative when factoring in his current ownership, which stands at less than 12% at the time of writing. The direct, speedy winger is coming off the back of having made his England senior debut against Finland this past Tuesday night, so Madueke’s confidence must be high.
Chelsea travel to a Bournemouth side still without a Premier League clean sheet in 2024-25 and this bodes well for Madueke, who netted a hat-trick in Chelsea’s last Premier League away fixture, a 2-6 win against Wolves. At an extremely affordable price, Madueke may well be the sleeper midfield captain pick in Gameweek 4.
