The Premium Dilemma: Structuring your Heavy Hitters
Haaland sits at 68.9% ownership. Owning the field's premium is a decision either way — here is what the numbers say about structuring around them.
The problem with premiums
A premium forward at £15m is not competing with the other forwards. He is competing with the two mid-price players you could field instead. That is the whole calculation, and it is worth doing with numbers rather than instinct.
Where the money is going
| Player | Team | Price | Owned | Points | xGI | Mins |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Haaland | MCI | £15.5m | 68.9% | 2 | 0.76 | 90 |
| B.Fernandes | MUN | £12.0m | 50.6% | 2 | 0.34 | 90 |
| Isak | LIV | £9.0m | 17% | 2 | 1.1 | 90 |
| Palmer | CHE | £9.5m | 10.8% | 5 | 0.2 | 28 |
On points per million so far, Palmer leads this group at 0.53. Haaland is the most-owned at 68.9%, which makes him the one you are effectively forced to have an opinion about: not owning him is an active bet against 68.9% of the field.
With 1 gameweek played, these totals are a starting position rather than a verdict. Points per million on a sample this small mostly measures who has had the kinder fixture.
How to structure it
- One premium, spread elsewhere. Frees roughly £5m across two mid-price slots. Works when the mid-price bracket is deep.
- Two premiums. Forces genuine budget players into your defence. Viable when the cheap defenders are playing 90 minutes.
- None. Rarely correct, because the highest-owned premium sets the template score you are measured against.
Every figure in this piece was read from the FPL dataset at the moment it was published, and has not been edited since.