With the second international break of the season finally behind us, we roll out our usual pre-Gameweek members article, offering insight on the armband conundrum for the upcoming round of fixtures.
We’ll take a look at the main contenders in this week’s Captain Poll, analyse the Opta numbers and check up on the Rate My Team ratings before checking out a couple of differential options in light of the data analysis.
The Captain Poll
Alexis Sanchez holds a comfortable lead at the top of our Gameweek 8 Captain Poll as Arsenal prepare to entertain struggling Swansea.
Having navigated the internationals without incident, the Chilean gets the nod by over 34% of voters as he looks for a fourth double-figure haul in six.
The Swans have picked up one point in the previous six and new manager Bob Bradley faces a tough task of keeping the Gunners at bay.
Sergio Aguero has been selected by just 23% for Man City’s home clash with Everton.
Despite blanking away to Spurs, an average of 7.8 points per match is superior to any forward as he faces a defence without a clean sheet in three.
Diego Costa is backed to do the business by 13% as Chelsea welcome Leicester City to the Bridge.
The consistent Spain international has produced points in six of his seven league outings and is up against a Foxes defence that’s shipped 10 goals in three road trips.
Theo Walcott and Heung-Min Son complete the top five.
Walcott sits just seven points behind team-mate Sanchez ahead of Swansea’s visit and has already netted at home to Liverpool and Chelsea.
The in-demand Son has earned more new owners than any player in the Gameweek as Spurs make their way to the Hawthorns.
The South Korean has produced two goals and three bonus points in his last two away outings and faces a defence that’s conceded in each of the last four.
Nonetheless, Maurico Pochettino’s comments on rest and rotation ahead of seven matches in 23 days may deter some from captaining the in-form wideman.
Christian Benteke and Dimitri Payet are overlooked options as Palace and West Ham’s dodgy defences square up ay Selhurst Park.
The Eagles frontman has netted in three of the last four and bagged a hat-trick for Belgium in midweek, albeit against Gibraltar.
Payet was also amongst the goals for France in the last week or so, maintaining the form that’s racked up 30 points in four starts since returning from injury.
Star of the recent international break, Dusan Tadic produced two goals and four assists for Serbia – he’s another differential in the making at home to Burnley.
Similarly, only around 1% favour the likes of Liverpool trio Roberto Firmino, Philippe Coutinho and Sadio Mane and United’s Zlatan Ibrahimovic as they go head-to-head at Anfield on Monday.
