The Scout looks at whether Man City midfielder can maintain his form and assesses the impact on Haaland’s stats
The Scout analyses the data to reveal whether Phil Foden’s (£8.6m) current form for Manchester City is sustainable and whether he is now a better captain pick than Erling Haaland (£15.0m) in Fantasy Premier League.
In a season where the premium midfielders have mainly disappointed, Foden’s recent change of role has helped him re-establish himself as a vital pick in Fantasy.
In the first 12 Gameweeks the Manchester City midfielder played predominantly as a central midfielder, and after that spell he had no goals and just one assist to his name.
But a move into Man City’s front three for their matches against Leeds United and Fulham in Gameweeks 13-14 transformed Foden’s output.
He scored two goals on both occasions, collecting 15 and 17 points respectively.
Although he then returned to a central-midfield role for Man City’s 3-0 win over Sunderland last weekend, Foden still claimed his third successive double-figure haul.
Thanks to his corner-kick duties, he supplied the assist for Josko Gvardiol’s (£5.9m) goal, before scoring his side’s third goal to earn 12 points.
Watch Foden’s best bits v Sunderland
Foden has amassed 44 of his 77 points for the season in those last three matches, more than double the 18 points of his team-mate Haaland over the same spell.
So why has this happened?
A comparison of his form in Gameweeks 1-12 and 13-15 shows a huge improvement in Foden’s number of big chances – situations where a player is expected to score.
He had just one of them in Gameweeks 1-12 but has had five in the last three Gameweeks.
Furthermore, his nine shots in the box across Gameweeks 13-15 are just one fewer than his total of 10 beforehand.
Foden’s goal threat before and after GW13
GW1-12
GW13-15
Shots
18
11
Shots in box
10
9
Big chances
1
5
Can we expect this red-hot form to continue?
Given that he only totalled 33 points over Gameweeks 1-12, managers who don’t yet own Foden may understandably wonder if they have already missed his big hauls, and whether he will soon revert to getting low scores again.
However, a breakdown of the midfielder’s previous Fantasy campaign shows his ability to bring in big returns over longer periods of time.
In a seven-match run over Gameweeks 17-23, Foden scored seven goals and supplied two assists, blanking on just one occasion. Over his other 21 appearances, he managed only a single assist.
Breakdown of Foden’s 24/25 season
GW17-23
Other
Appearances
7
21
Goals
7
0
Assists
2
1
Blanks
1
20
Scroll across on mobile to see the full table
A similar analysis of Foden’s best ever Fantasy campaign in 2023/24, where he finished as the second top-scoring player on 230 points, further backs up his propensity for maintaining mid to long-term runs of form.
Coincidentally, it was also Gameweek 17-23 when Foden really started to deliver big hauls that season. In a six-match run, he scored four goals and supplied four of his eight assists for the season, blanking only once.
Then from Gameweek 26 onwards, Foden scored 10 goals in a 10-match run and also supplied an assist. Again, it’s the consistency that is equally encouraging here – his three blanks equated to a 70 per cent success rate.
Although 12 blanks in his other 19 outings does help to back up the theory that Foden is less consistent than we’d like, the upside here is that he is clearly capable of rewarding our faith over extended spells.
Breakdown of Foden’s 23/24 season
GW17-23
GW26-38
Others
Appearances
6
10
19
Goals
4
10
5
Assists
4
1
3
Blanks
1
3
12
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Has Foden’s impact affected Haaland’s goal threat?
A delve into the data also helps to highlight the major knock-on effect that Foden has had on Haaland’s goal threat recently.
In each of the recent home matches against Leeds and Sunderland, Haaland had just one shot in the box, while Foden has had four.
But in Man City’s only away match in this spell, Haaland boasted the far greater threat and bettered his rival by five shots in the box to one.
Crucially, a comparison of the pair’s big chances has Foden with the advantage, leading the Norwegian by five to two.
Foden v Haaland compared GW13-15
Foden
Haaland
GW/Opp.
Shots in box
Big chances
Shots in box
Big chances
GW13, LEE (H)
4
2
1
0
GW14, FUL (A)
1
1
5
1
GW15, SUN (H)
4
2
1
1
Total
9
5
7
2
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When you consider that Haaland has had a massive 26 of Man City’s 49 big chances this season (Foden is now his nearest rival on six), the recent turnaround is clearly worth monitoring when it comes to considering our captains.
That’s also backed up by a delve into Haaland’s data across all his home matches in 2025/26.
Haaland’s one shot in the box against Leeds and Sunderland were his worst displays since his first outing at the Etihad Stadium against Tottenham Hotspur in Gameweek 2.
Following that Spurs match, Haaland had at least five shots in the box and three big chances in all four of his subsequent home matches before the recent drop-off.
Notably, he had his season-high seven shots in the box against Burnley in Gameweek 6 in that spell, and we were expecting a similar threat against the Clarets’ fellow promoted clubs Leeds and Sunderland.
The recent downturn may indicate that Guardiola is refining his approach against opponents who sit deep when visiting the Etihad Stadium, putting less reliance on Haaland exclusively to make the difference.
Haaland’s threat in home matches 25/26
GW
Opp.
Shots in box
Big chances
2
Spurs
1
1
4
Man Utd
5
3
6
Burnley
7
3
8
Everton
5
3
10
Bournemouth
6
3
11
Liverpool
2
1
13
Leeds
1
0
15
Sunderland
1
1
Scroll across on mobile to see the full table
So, is Foden now a better captain than Haaland?
Foden’s recent displays have shown us that when he hits top form, he has the points ceiling to more than rival Haaland.
In addition, his historical runs of extended returns suggest the midfielder can keep on rewarding us with goals and assists in the coming spell.
Yet Haaland’s far superior consistency, added to the very fact that we’ll always be second-guessing Foden’s role in Man City’s line-up due to Pep Guardiola’s famed rotation, simply means the forward is less likely to let you down with the armband.
When that factor is added to Haaland’s hefty 73 per cent ownership, there seems little need to take a risk and go against the Norwegian with the captaincy at the moment, although that situation may well change if his drop-off in big chances continues.
