Premier League fantasy football tips: Erling Haaland, Mohamed Salah, Richarlison, Ivan Toney

There are a couple of big decisions to be made before the gameweek 21 deadline – an early one this week, at 18:15 GMT on Friday, before that night’s Premier League match between Burnley and Luton.

I’m tempted to hold off unless we get a clear indication that he’s ready to start the game, in which case he would immediately become a strong candidate for the captaincy this week.

Secondly, who should we be looking at to replace Mohamed Salah and Son Heung-min in our midfields? And what’s the plan to get those two back when Egypt’s Salah returns from the Africa Cup of Nations and South Korea’s Son is back from the Asian Cup?

That is particularly important in the case of Salah as Liverpool may well have a double gameweek 25 on the way if they make it through to the Carabao Cup final, which would also confirm that they would have no fixture in gameweek 26.

You probably need to sell Salah if you want to get Haaland back anyway but the good thing is that there are a whole host of options available at different price points. We’ll come to those shortly.

The other route is to sell Trent Alexander-Arnold instead for someone like Pervis Estupinan or Alfie Doughty, as we know that the Liverpool man is definitely out of their game against Bournemouth in gameweek 21. But I’m pretty sure you’d want Alexander-Arnold back if Liverpool have two fixtures in gameweek 25. A bit of long-term planning is essential here.

Captaincy

It’s wide open this week if Haaland isn’t in the mix. You could certainly go for one of his Manchester City team-mates against Newcastle – Phil Foden or Julian Alvarez spring to mind.

I think Chelsea’s Cole Palmer, facing Fulham this Saturday, and Arsenal’s Bukayo Saka, facing Crystal Palace next Saturday, will be popular choices but I’m also tempted by the riskier pick of a Tottenham attacker for their game at Manchester United – most likely Richarlison, who’s scored five goals in his past five Premier League games.

It will be interesting to see how Timo Werner fits into Ange Postecoglou’s plans and whether it will mean more rotation in the Tottenham frontline with James Maddison on his way back as well. But Richarlison is the centre-forward for now and I like the look of the fixtures to come.

Fixtures to target

So let’s look at the next four gameweeks as we consider those Salah and Son replacements while also noting that Manchester City could join Liverpool in having two fixtures in gameweek 25.

That makes Foden a very attractive prospect if you don’t already own him although the return of Kevin de Bruyne and Jeremy Doku gives Guardiola more opportunity to play his favourite game of Pep roulette.

That could also be an issue if you decide to go for Liverpool’s Diogo Jota or Luis Diaz as Jurgen Klopp juggles his resources. But the potential upside of Jota, given his finishing prowess in a team creating so many chances, makes him a very tempting option.

Foden and Jota will both cost you nearly £8m so how about some of the cheaper assets?

I’ve already mentioned Richarlison, who costs £6.9m – you can then go down the scale and look at Brighton’s Pascal Gross (£6.4m), Crystal Palace’s Eberechi Eze (£6m), Wolves’ Pedro Neto (£5.6m) and Manchester United’s Alejandro Garnacho (£4.8m).

Brighton have a great run of fixtures, and Gross is a creative force within the team with nine attacking returns already this season and he may well be on penalties when Joao Pedro isn’t on the pitch.

In terms of the Crystal Palace midfield, I’d actually go for Michael Olise over Eze if he was fit. I feel the absence of Olise slightly weakens his team-mate as a pick.

If Neto can rediscover the sensational form he was showing for Wolves before his hamstring injury, then it could be a great move to get on to him early. Garnacho, meanwhile, could be the perfect budget signing to allow you to make your other moves but could also contribute with an attacking return if you need to call on him.

Aston Villa pair Leon Bailey (£5.7m) and Douglas Luiz (£5.6m) are also worth consideration and I’m not ignoring Jarrod Bowen as an option when he’s fit again although the absence of Lucas Paqueta and Mohammed Kudus certainly reduces West Ham’s attacking threat.

Differentials

The great thing is that most of the midfielders I’ve mentioned above are differentials, so take your pick with Jota and Gross as my top two recommendations.

Gamble of the week

Ivan Toney – he’s finally back for Brentford and has a home fixture against Nottingham Forest. In a gameweek when the captaincy is up for grabs, then why not go the whole hog?