Fantasy Premier League managers have been presented with another tricky captaincy debate for Gameweek 8.
Liverpool host a Leicester side looking very committed to breaking into the top four while rotation and injury fears plague our Manchester City assets.
We’ve assessed the key candidates for the armband this weekend using individual and team data.
As this uses information from the Fantasy Football Scout Members Area only those signed up for the 2019/20 season can access it in full.
Captain Poll
After ending his Premier League goal drought in Gameweek 7, Raheem Sterling (£12.1m) has returned to the summit of the latest captain poll.
The Manchester City midfielder comes into the weekend backed by 28% of those that have voted so far (as of Thursday lunch-time).
His owners will have been encouraged by two things they saw of Sterling midweek.
Firstly, he was rested for the majority of the win over Dinamo Zagreb, emerging only as a 56th-minute replacement for Bernardo Silva (£7.9m).
Secondly, Sterling was involved in both goals after he arrived on the pitch, reminding his owners what he is capable of.
Playing in a much more central location than we have seen in recent Premier League outings, the England international scored the opening goal and provided the assist for Phil Foden‘s (£5.2m) stoppage-time strike.
Meanwhile, Wolves come to the Etihad Stadium with just one clean sheet in their last six and a goals conceded tally that reads 11 in that time – an average of 1.8 per game.
We thought that Sterling might have to fight off some interest in Kevin de Bruyne (£10.0m) for the Gameweek 8 captaincy but his recent groin problem has drastically affected the poll results.
Before the injury was confirmed, the Belgian ranked third with a 15% share of the vote but in the last few days, he has dropped to eighth and the backing of just 3.2%.
Currently second in the poll is Arsenal forward Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (£11.0m) who is still yet to blank this season.
He has scored in all but one Premier League match in 2019/20, and in all three at the Emirates Stadium so far.
Meanwhile, Bournemouth come to north London with no clean sheets on the road yet this season – which is why 20% of those who have voted in the poll fancy more attacking returns from Aubameyang on Sunday afternoon.
Sergio Aguero (£12.1m) has a fairly strong hold on third place in the poll, garnering the support of 12%.
His benching for the trip to Everton is probably enough to put some Fantasy managers off the Argentinian, especially given he registered 88 minutes against Zagreb.
However, if he does start, which he often does at the Etihad Stadium, Aguero is also without a blank this season. In three home matches, he has a total of four goals and two assists.
Teemu Pukki (£7.2m) may be without an attacking return on the road since Gameweek 1 but the Norwich forward has scored five of six Premier League goals at home.
Aston Villa come to Carrow Road this weekend having conceded seven times in their last three away matches in the top flight.
That combination of statistics will be why Pukki is the best of the rest in the top this week, pulling in 7.2% of the vote in the captaincy poll.
In fact, the Finnish striker has more support than Mohamed Salah (£12.5m) for the Gameweek 8 armband.
The Egyptian does arguably have a trickier fixture as Leicester come to Anfield in good form and praised for recent defensive displays.
However, Salah has been in exceptional form at home this season. In his first three Premier League matches at Anfield he has registered four goals and one assist, for an average of 12 points per game.
Should that form continue, the 6.7% of managers who captained him for Gameweek 8 will feel very happy indeed, especially with many looking elsewhere both for the armband and for transfers.
Son Heung-min (£9.7m) now has attacking returns in each of his last three league outings, and was one of the few players to score for Spurs in their absolute humiliation at the hands of Bayern Munich midweek.
That has led to 4.7% of our voters backing him for the captaincy in Saturday’s lunch-time kick-off at Brighton.
Harry Kane (£11.0m) also found the net in that 7-2 defeat and has scored or assisted in each of his last four Premier League matches – hence the 3.2% interest.
Tammy Abraham (£7.6m) may have blanked in each of his last two at Stamford Bridge but he travels to Southampton on Sunday afternoon with six goals in each of his last three away matches in all competitions.
Therefore, 2.9% fancy him as an outside bet for the captaincy in Gameweek 8.
Sadio Mané (£11.6m) and Riyad Mahrez (£8.5m) are the only other options with more than 1% backing.
