We round off the day with our usual pre-Gameweek members article, as we cast an eye over the captaincy conundrum ahead of the midweek round of fixtures. As always, we analyse the Opta data for the main contenders and assess the team statistics and Rate My Team’s reckoning, before rounding off with our opinion on the current poll standings in light of the data analysis, including our view on differential captains.
The Captain Poll
Manchester City’s penalty shoot-out win over Liverpool at Wembley has perhaps had an effect on your armband decisions this week. With Sergio Aguero playing 120 minutes on Sunday ahead of an Anfield re-match with the Reds, the Argentine is – for once – amongst the chasing pack behind Jamie Vardy.
With West Brom set to pay visit on Tuesday evening, the Foxes frontman tops our Captain Poll for the second successive Gameweek due to his outstanding home consistency – Vardy has scored or assisted in 11 of 13 appearances in front of his own supporters.
At the time of writing, Romelu Lukaku and Mesut Ozil tie for second spot with 14% each. After enjoying the weekend off, the Belgian now faces a trip to Villa – he bagged a brace in a 4-0 win over the Midlands outfit earlier this season and should be fully refreshed to take advantage of Remi Garde’s strugglers.
Meanwhile, Ozil delivered a goal and assist at Old Trafford and now looks for a third double-figure haul in four at home to a Swansea side with one clean sheet on their travels.
As for Aguero, he faces a Liverpool defence with just one clean sheet in the last seven Gameweeks. The Argentine has already netted against Jurgen Klopp’s side in the league and with the Reds sweating over the availability of a number of central defenders, he could be in line for returns at Anfield in a match that City surely have to win to remain in the title race.
There’s a handful of differentials lurking further down our poll for those willing to take a punt. Diego Costa is selected by just 7% for Chelsea’s trip to out-of-sorts Norwich, though there remains question marks over his minutes after Guus Hiddink admitted he could be rested for one of the next two matches with the Champions League clash against PSG in mind.
Marko Arnautovic will be looking to replicate his weekend 15-point return at home to a Newcastle outfit that have lost five road trips on the bounce. Riyad Mahrez, Alexis Sanchez and Ross Barkley offer viable alternatives to their aforementioned team-mates, whilst United’s man of the moment, Marcus Rashford, seeks a third successive brace at Old Trafford as Watford pay visit on Wednesday night.
Next up, we now delve into the data over the last four matches to shed further light on the situation and assess the validity of the current crop of poll results.
