Haaland Vs Thiago: The Better FPL Pick

Start with the case for the big man, because it's still strong. Haaland has a genuinely kind run coming: COV (H), MUN (A), SUN (H), LIV (A), IPS (H), AVL (A). Three home games against Coventry, Sunderland and Ipswich is exactly the kind of fixture set where he goes massive — he doesn't do six-point weeks in those games, he does sixteens. That's why about 7 in 10 managers already own him, and it's why my numbers still rank him the better player outright. If he hauls and you don't have him, that's most of the game gone.

But Thiago's case is quietly excellent. His run — SUN (H), BOU (A), CHE (H), AVL (A), LIV (H), HUL (A) — is nearly as friendly, and he's tracking towards a solid five-plus points most weeks at almost half the price. Only about 2 in 10 managers own him, so when he scores, you're actually gaining ground on the field rather than treading water. The honest caveat: his big weeks won't be Haaland-sized big weeks, and the Liverpool and Chelsea games are the sort where he could blank back to back.

So which one? It depends what the £7.5m does elsewhere in your squad. If dropping Haaland funds a genuine premium upgrade in midfield, Thiago is one of the best value forwards on my board and the swap makes sense — you're barely losing anything up front and gaining a lot elsewhere. But if the money just sits in the bank or trickles into a bench player, you've given up the biggest captaincy weapon in the game for nothing.

My call: if you own Haaland and the funds have a real destination, sell and buy Thiago with confidence. If you own neither, Thiago is the buy — the value gap is too big to ignore. And if you keep Haaland, captain him at home to Coventry without a second thought.