Swap Salah for Haaland? The FPL talking point

Mohamed Salah or Erling Haaland? As is so often the case, choosing between the two superstars is the big talking point among FPL managers this week.

Liverpool's Salah has two goals and one assist from his opening four league matches, whereas Manchester City's Haaland already has five goals with no assists.

The underlying numbers side with Haaland, too, so if he's not already in your team, should you sell Salah to bring him in the Norwegian?

FPL expert Gianni Buttice and the guys from The FPL Podcast by BBC Sport debate this week's FPL talking point.

Gianni Buttice: Salah may have clocked two goals and one assist in four league games, but his underlying numbers have been disappointing to say the least. So far in the league this season, he has only attempted five shots, had one big chance and when you exclude last week's penalty, has an expected goals total (xG) of 0.31.

In comparison, Haaland has five goals and his underlying numbers are equally as impressive. He has had 19 attempts, nine of which were big chances. and a non-penalty xG of 5.74 - more than 18 times higher than Salah's.

In gameweeks one to four last season, Salah had almost double the number of FPL points, but he has 25 to Haaland's 37 this time round.

It remains to be seen the impact of the new-look Liverpool attack on Salah's numbers.

But, if his goal share within the team drops, he needs his team to score even more goals than last season, and early indications show the Liverpool attack is going to take time to gel.

If you're only picking one, Haaland has to be the answer.

Statman Dave: I do think Salah has got pretty lucky so far this season, but take him out at your own peril. As soon as Alexander Isak gets into the team, Salah will start scoring goals.

It's one of those things where a high-price midfielder is better than a high-price forward. That is a consistent thing in fantasy football. I am going to stick with the solid ship and I'm going to go down with it like last season.

Gianni Buttice: This week Haaland faces his toughest fixture in the Premier League calendar. Five matches into their season, Arsenal have taken on some tough competition and the only goal they have conceded was a worldie Dominik Szoboszlai free-kick. They're hands down the best defence in the league and if ever Haaland was going to be kept quiet, this is the game.

Waiting until gameweek six to trade Salah for Haaland, before the Norwegian's home match versus Burnley, is probably the optimal play. Some will attempt to squeeze both in and, while backing against Salah feels relatively safe at the moment, going without Haaland next week is far too risky.