Fantasy league managers love to ‘captain’ Erling Haaland after his goalscoring exploits in the Premier League

WHILE people pore over all the changes  that they could make to their FPL teams each weekend, 85 per cent of fantasy league players have selected Erling Haaland. It’s as simple as that. Boring.

He may be expensive at £12.3 million (in fantasy prices) but his goals are unmatched and more or often than not he is chosen as captain – bringing in extra points for all those hat-tricks.

But where’s the skill and purity in winning against your friends and work colleagues like that? Now we have reached the end of February and – whether you saw it coming or not – Arsenal are in the title race.

Given those circumstances, how can any Gunners fan be hoping that Haaland continues to score at the lethal rate he hits the back of the net for Manchester City. Pep Guardiola’s team are the side most likely to ruin any dreams of the league trophy coming to Arsenal for the first time since Arsene Wenger’s Invincibles season.

Most Arsenal fans have the basic rule: No Spurs players. It would be unthinkable, for example, to have Harry Kane earning points for them when he scores his inevitable penalty goal during the north London derby.

Now, as hard as it may be in your weekly game of one-upmanship with your mates, it’s time to take the same approach with City players and Haaland. Gunners supporters should have been revelling in the fact that he only produced two fantasy league points away at Nottingham Forest last week – not feeling disappointed that his blank in front of goal at one of the teams in the lower spots of the league meant they had slipped a bit in their office FPL competition.

Eddie Nketiah’s unpredictability and some frustrating misses in good positions does mean it might be hard to select the Arsenal marksman as a replacement but so many strikers in FPL are listed as midfielders – Mo Salah and Marcus Rashford are part of this strange game choice – so why not play a 4-5-1 and stuff your selection with goalscorers from deep.

No Kevin de Bruyne or Riyad Mahrez, however, if you want to stay pure to the Arsenal way. From here on in, you can’t be celebrating any City goals from here on in. Choose Brighton and Brentford players instead.