Manchester City
Etihad Stadium
Manchester City FPL: Who To Own, Captain And Avoid
The call — Nobody at Manchester City is nailed. Not one player on our list — not even Haaland. That's the first thing to hold in your head before you spend a penny here, because everything else about this club is screaming "buy".
What has not being with FFIQ cost you this season?
One squad, picked before a ball was kicked and run for six gameweeks on three transfers — no hits taken. Scored on FPL’s own results.
Your name and your FPL team name. That is all it takes, and we will have your answer before you have finished reading this sentence.
↓ Start here — your name, then your team.
No FPL password, ever. We only read what FPL already publishes.
Here's the case. Our model has City as the second-best attack in the league and the third-meanest defence, and the fixtures after the Anfield trip are the sort you plan a squad around: IPS (H), AVL (A), BHA (H), NFO (A), FUL (H). That's a very kind run for clean sheets and a favourable one for goals. The question isn't whether to buy into City. It's through whom, and whether the minutes hold up.
Haaland is the boring, correct answer. He's projected for nearly 50 points over the six, he's on penalties, and about 7 in 10 managers already own him — which means not owning him is the actual gamble. Yes, £15.6m is a lot for a player Pep will still rest when the mood takes him. Buy him anyway. You don't get a discount for being clever.
The value, though, sits at the back. Gvardiol at £5.7m is the pick our model prefers, starting week in week out with that clean-sheet run coming, and only about 3 in 10 have him. Guéhi projects slightly higher but costs more; if you're reading this column you know which way I lean when the cheaper man starts just as often. Donnarumma at £5.5m is the same story in gloves — barely anyone owns him, and third-meanest defence plus Ipswich, Brighton and Fulham at home is a keeper's dream.
Cherki is the tempting one — on free kicks and corners, decent points projected, £7.8m. He's also started fewer games than the defenders, and set-piece duties don't pay out from the bench. That's a watch, not a buy. Same goes for Ndiaye and Enzo — cheap, interesting, not yet certain of a shirt.
The caveat on the whole package: it's City, so rotation is the tax you pay on every asset. The moment any of these drops out of the XI twice running, the maths changes.
The call: buy Haaland before the kind run starts, pair him with Gvardiol at the back, and leave the midfield lottery to braver managers.