Haaland Vs Isak: The Better FPL Pick

Haaland or Isak? My numbers say the verdict isn't as obvious as the price gap

Haaland projects for around 33 points over the first six gameweeks; Isak sits at roughly 25. Eight points of difference — but £6.5m of price between them. That's the whole argument, so let's settle it.

The case for Haaland (£15.5m, roughly 7 in 10 own him). The fixtures are about as friendly as a City striker could ask for: BOU (H), CRY (A), COV (H), MUN (A), SUN (H), then LIV (A) to close. Newly promoted Coventry at the Etihad and Sunderland at home are the sort of games where he can go genuinely massive — my numbers have him as the clear top-scoring forward over this window, good for a strong return most weeks with real double-digit hauls in the mix. And with 7 in 10 managers owning him, going without him isn't a punt, it's a gamble against the field: every time he hauls, you're falling behind the pack.

The case for Isak (£9.0m, fewer than 2 in 10 own him). His run is nearly as kind — NEW (A), NFO (H), IPS (A), FUL (H), BOU (A), MCI (H) — with promoted Ipswich and some soft home games in there. Twenty-five projected points at £9.0m is better value per pound than Haaland, and with so few managers on him, a big start would shoot you up the ranks. The honest caveat: the raw total is simply lower, that trip to Newcastle first up carries an edge to it, and Liverpool's attack has more mouths to feed than City's, so the enormous weeks come around less often.

The real answer: this isn't either/or. They're £6.5m apart — Isak isn't a Haaland replacement, he's what you buy alongside him or instead of a mid-priced forward elsewhere. If your budget genuinely forces a choice between Haaland plus a cheap enabler or Isak plus a premium midfielder, that's a squad-structure question, and both builds can work.

But if you're asking who to trust with the armband and the big money for the opening stretch: it's Haaland. The eight-point gap over six weeks is real, the fixtures are laid out on a plate, and going against a player 7 in 10 rivals own needs a better reason than saving cash.

My call: own Haaland, captain him through the opening run — and if the budget stretches, Isak is a smart second forward, not a substitute for the main event.