Fantasy Premier League: Selling Mohamed Salah might be the best Gameweek 29 strategy
Mohamed Salah is commonly called the best-ever Fantasy Premier League asset — and it's hard to argue.
He has been on a different level this season, scoring 27 goals and amassing 17 assists, while also breaking his own 303-point record that he set in the 2017-18 season. He sits on 306 points with nine games to go.
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It might seem a bad idea to ditch Salah when he is having the season of his life, but there is an argument for selling the Egyptian.
Let's explain why.
Liverpool blank in Gameweek 29 means selling Salah (£13.8m) is an easy route to buying Erling Haaland (£14.7m), who looks to be the best captain for the next two gameweeks as Manchester City host Brighton & Hove Albion and Leicester City.
It's not only that — if we look at Liverpool's fixtures for the remaining league games, there are few gameweeks where Salah will be the best captain.
Liverpool blank this week and we have at least two, possibly four, more double gameweeks to come, yet Arne Slot's side are very likely to not double again this season.
We can see from the table above that there are good alternatives to Salah. Also, selling him now doesn't necessarily mean going without him for the whole season.
You should be more confident selling Salah this week if you are wildcarding in Gameweek 30 or Gameweek 31. It allows you to take advantage of Blank Gameweek 29 and also gives you the choice to re-sign Salah, which means you don't have to commit for the rest of the season.
Yes, you will lose value in Salah and have to buy him back at a higher price, but at this time of the season, it doesn't matter as much. Points are better than team value.
Haaland and another Manchester City asset are great picks from now until the end of the season given their next two immediate fixtures and double gameweek coming up.
If you plan to play your Bench Boost in one of the upcoming double gameweeks, it will be difficult to get a good 15-man squad with Salah, Haaland, Alexander Isak (£9.4m) and Cole Palmer (£10.9m), and the Egyptian is the one who releases the most funds.
If you have already used your Bench Boost, you should be much less inclined to sell Salah.
Ditching the game's highest-scoring player is a gamble — but if you aren't ranked where you want to be, this is the time to start taking calculated risks.
There is an argument that with the league title all but won, we might see Liverpool take their foot off the gas and maybe rotate a bit more as the season draws to an end.
However, they are out of the Champions League, so after Sunday's Carabao Cup final against Newcastle United, they will only have the league to focus on.
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Salah is also chasing the single-season Premier League assists record of 20 (he has 17 official assists) and will want to cement the Golden Boot, so he is unlikely to see a reduction in minutes.
To get Haaland, other sacrifices could be made, such as Trent Alexander-Arnold (£7.5m), who picked up an injury in the Champions League, Palmer and Isak. You will likely have to get rid of two of these three to afford the Norwegian.
Selling Palmer and/or Isak has risks. Isak blanks this week but plays Brentford (H) and Leicester (A) in gameweeks 30 and 31. Also, with a Double Gameweek 32 for Newcastle, you are going to want him for that week.
Chelsea travel to Arsenal this week, but Palmer should be back among the points from Gameweek 30 onwards when his side face Tottenham Hotspur (H), Brentford (A) and Ipswich Town (H).
There is a strong argument to sell Salah, but it has to be this week. I would only do it if I planned to wildcard in gameweeks 30 or 31. This lets you attack the next few gameweeks and reassess Salah when you play the wildcard.
We should have the fixtures for the rest of the season, including Double Gameweek 33 and Blank Gameweek 34, before the Gameweek 30 deadline.
Selling comes down to your risk appetite. Swapping out Salah isn't a 'hit and hope' strategy — there are good reasons to do it.
I am leaning towards selling this week to bring in Haaland. I plan to wildcard in Gameweek 31, Bench Boost in Double Gameweek 33, and Free Hit in Blank Gameweek 34.
I might go without Salah for the remainder of the season, which will allow me to build a better overall team for when I use my Bench Boost and generally adopt a high-risk, high-reward strategy to end the season.
When I use my Free Hit in Gameweek 34, I will have Salah back in the team for Liverpool's home game against Spurs.
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