Captaincy options for Gameweek 3: Will any brave gaffers take on Erling Haaland?

THE captaincy debate is an open-and-shut case for many Dream Team managers ahead of Gameweek 3.

Erling Haaland (£8.5m) is the default selection and given the prolific poacher bagged a hat-trick against Ipswich last time out, there’s seemingly no need to deviate from the norm.

Manchester City travel to West Ham on Saturday with Haaland hoping to extend his record of three goals in two visits to the London Stadium.

However, it’s worth noting that the Norwegian striker did not top score in Gameweek 2 – that accolade went to Noni Madueke (£3m) after his hat-trick at Wolves.

Although selecting the Chelsea winger as captain would have required superhuman foresight.

The point is that it’s worth discussing the alternatives to Haaland, if only as a courtesy.

Cole Palmer (£6m)

Madueke grabbed the spotlight at Molineux but Palmer was equally effective with a goal and three assists.

The Blues’ talisman pocketed 19 points by the final whistle and he has to be considered a decent captaincy option this weekend.

Enzo Maresca’s side are due to host Crystal Palace on Sunday with the Eagles still seeking their first point of the new campaign.

Chelsea remain somewhat unpredictable as their emphatic 6-2 win over Wolves was countered by a 2-1 defeat to Servette in the Conference League play-off second leg on Thursday night, though they won the tie 3-2 on aggregate.

But Palmer has been one of the most reliably brilliant Dream Team assets for almost a year now.

Mohamed Salah (£7.2m)

The much-discussed transition from Jurgen Klopp to Arne Slot hasn’t bucked the trend of Liverpool’s No11 flying out the blocks at the start of a new season.

Salah has notched two goals and an assist in his first two outings for a return of 26 points – only the aforementioned Haaland is above him in the rankings.

The Reds travel to Manchester United on Sunday for the first blockbuster match-up of the campaign and while their recent record in this fixture isn’t all that good, Salah has been the scourge of the Red Devils for years.

In fact, no visiting player has scored more Premier League goals at Old Trafford.

More broadly, the 32-year-old has contributed to 18 goals in his last 11 appearances against Man United.

Bryan Mbeumo (£3.8m)

Here’s a left-field suggestion for gaffers who love to play Dream Team their own way.

Brentford’s No19 is an underrated asset and it may surprise some to learn that he averaged a goal or assist every 130.7 minutes in the league last season.

He scored against Palace on the opening weekend and will be relishing the prospect of taking on Southampton in West London this Saturday having been limited at Anfield last time out.

Saints conceded a whopping 23 shots at home to Nottingham Forest in Gameweek 2.

Plus, Mbeumo should be the Bees’ first-choice penalty-taker with Ivan Toney expected to leave the club today.

Familiar names such as Bukayo Saka (£6.3m), Son Heung-min (£5m) and Ollie Watkins (£6m) deserve mentions too but, let’s be clear, Haaland is the most-popular choice for a reason.

Lock in your captain (and vice-captain) before Saturday’s 11am deadline.