It’s a welcome return for our Captain Sensible article as the return of Fantasy Premier League action is now very close.
The second international break of the season has given us plenty of time to weigh up our skipper decisions for Gameweek 9.
As per usual, Sergio Aguero, Eden Hazard and Mohamed Salah all figure in the debate. We’ll be looking at the results of our poll as well as the underlying data behind the options themselves, their teams and their respective Gameweek 9 opposition.
Captain Poll
Not for the first time this season, Sergio Aguero (£11.3m) is the runaway leader of the captain poll. At the time of writing, the Manchester City striker boasts a 44.69% share of the vote and was considerably clear of second-placed Eden Hazard (£11.3m).
The Chelsea man has just under 13% backing thus far. Both he and Aguero may have been boosted by the fact that Mohamed Salah (£12.8m) is an injury doubt for Gameweek 9 when it came to the voting process.
Hazard especially has also been more reliable than the Egyptian this season and leads his rival on goal involvements by a score of ten to five. That is why the easier fixture for Salah is not so enticing, even if Hazard is facing Manchester United.
Interestingly, Raheem Sterling (£11.2m) is still yet to trouble this season’s big three. He sits fourth in the vote with a little under 7% of the votes in our poll, despite blanking in just one of his Premier League appearances in 2018/19 and outscoring Aguero in every home match. That could indicate that many of those who participated in the poll are struggling to fit him into their squads given their current structure and are looking elsewhere for the captaincy.
Alexandre Lacazette‘s (£9.7m) recent form has him hot on Sterling’s trail in the captain poll. He currently edges Harry Kane‘s (£12.5m) 4.55% share of the vote with a backing of 4.63% at the time of writing.
Surprisingly, up next is Marcos Alonso (£7.0m) whose 2.48% score is nearly more than double that of Alexandar Mitrovic (£6.9m), Callum Wilson (£6.4m) and Richarlison (£6.8m).
