Erling Haaland asked to come off in the 67th minute of Portugal v Norway (2-1, Porto) and appeared to limp as he left the pitch. He is owned by 73.9% of FPL managers, and on Sunday Manchester City go to Anfield. Norway’s manager is clear, though: it was fatigue, and the substitution had been agreed the day before. The other story of the weekend is Bukayo Saka’s double in England’s record 7-0 win over Croatia. Saka is number one in our captain picks for Gameweek 6.
What happened to Haaland
Norway lost 2-1 to Portugal in Porto on Sunday. Haaland started, signalled to the bench in the 67th minute that he wanted to come off and was replaced by Jørgen Strand Larsen. Because he limped off, there was immediate concern in England.
Ståle Solbakken explained after the game that the change was planned. It was Haaland’s fourth international match in around ten days, and the coach said they had discussed beforehand how long he could play: “We were talking about the 60-minute mark or thereabouts”, and in the end he lasted 65. He added: “It’s important that they feel I’m listening to them, and we agreed that he would keep going until he felt he couldn’t contribute anymore.”
According to Norwegian outlet Nettavisen, Haaland has already left the camp, together with Martin Ødegaard, Oscar Bobb and Sander Berge, after their clubs gave them a few days off. Manchester City have issued no statement, and in the FPL game Haaland has no flag.
What it means for your FPL team
As things stand, nothing points to an injury. The market is calm too: since the last deadline about 84,000 managers have bought Haaland and about 23,000 have sold him. Our model gives him a rating of 88 and a “Buy” verdict, the same as before the break.
The armband is a different question. In our captain picks Haaland is only sixth, and that has nothing to do with Porto. It is about the opponent. Liverpool v Manchester City is the only Gameweek 6 fixture rated 4 for both sides. We covered this in our fixture analysis for Gameweeks 6–10: Liverpool have the toughest start in the league, but at home they can stop anyone.
| # | Player | Rating | Risk | Upside | Gameweek 6 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Saka (ARS, £9.5m) | 89 | 40 | 80 | Leeds (H) (3) |
| 2 | Rogers (CHE, £7.7m) | 89 | 40 | 79 | Bournemouth (H) (3) |
| 3 | Bruno Fernandes (MUN, £11.9m) | 89 | 33 | 90 | Tottenham (H) (2) |
| 4 | Tavernier (BOU, £6.1m) | 88 | 48 | 69 | Chelsea (A) (4) |
| 5 | Guéhi (MCI, £6.0m) | 88 | 48 | 64 | Liverpool (A) (4) |
| 6 | Haaland (MCI, £15.6m) | 88 | 48 | 68 | Liverpool (A) (4) |
| 7 | Mbeumo (MUN, £7.9m) | 88 | 33 | 89 | Tottenham (H) (2) |
Risk combines minutes security, fitness and fixture difficulty (lower is better). Upside measures how much a player can score, based on xG, xA, ICT and how easy the fixture is. The number in brackets is the official fixture difficulty on a 1–5 scale.
Timing matters as well. The deadline is Saturday 10 October at 11:00 UK time, and the Anfield game kicks off on Sunday at 16:30, so you will see City’s team more than a day after transfers close. The last signal before the deadline will most likely be Enzo Maresca’s Friday press conference. If you are thinking about Haaland as captain, remember that the model prefers other options this week because of the fixture, not his fitness. City already have a flag on Semenyo (ankle, 75%), so their attack has enough question marks as it is.
Saka: two goals in 7-0 win over Croatia
A day earlier, on Saturday, England thrashed Croatia 7-0 in Rijeka in front of a reduced crowd. It was the heaviest defeat in Croatia’s history and England’s record win in the Nations League. The scorers were Kane (2), Saka (2, in the 45th and 68th minutes), Bellingham, Gordon and Rogers, who came on in the 70th minute and scored in the 87th.
International goals do not count in FPL, but Saka’s form comes at a good time. He is number one in our captain picks for Gameweek 6 (rating 89, risk 40, upside 80). Arsenal open the gameweek at 12:30 on Saturday at home to Leeds, so you will know more about Saka than about any other captain option. He is owned by 13.9% of managers, and about 135,000 have bought him since the last deadline. Rogers, owned by 40.6%, is second in our captain picks and plays Bournemouth at home.
England’s starting XI also included players popular in FPL: Pickford, Konsa (19.4% ownership), Guéhi (18.2%), Hall (17.4%), Scott and Anderson. Gibbs-White came on in the 79th minute. England still play the Czech Republic on Tuesday, so these players will be back at their clubs only on Wednesday, three days before the deadline. Palmer and Rice had already left the squad, as we covered in our piece on the England withdrawals.
Also: Bruno Fernandes played almost the whole game
In the same game in Porto, Bruno Fernandes captained Portugal and only came off in stoppage time. Before that he made two assists against Denmark. At the end of September we wrote that Bruno and Ødegaard had injuries the game had not flagged. After two almost complete international matches for Bruno, that story looks closed. He has the best captaincy profile in the game (risk 33, upside 90), and United host Tottenham, who are bottom of the table.
What’s next before the deadline
- Tuesday 6 October: England v Czech Republic, England’s last match of the break.
- Thursday–Friday: managers’ press conferences before Gameweek 6. On Thursday we will publish a full pre-deadline piece, including Gakpo, Tzolis, Isak and Havertz.
- Saturday 10 October, 11:00 UK: Gameweek 6 deadline, earlier than usual.
- Saturday 12:30: Arsenal v Leeds. Sunday 16:30: Liverpool v Manchester City.
FPL game data, ratings and captain picks from our AI model as of 5 October 2026. Sources: Yahoo Sports, Yardbarker, Read Man City and Nettavisen (Haaland), England Football (Croatia v England), Portugoal (Portugal v Norway). This article was prepared with the help of AI and checked by our editors.