Erling Haaland (£12.1m) stepped up his recovery from injury by making a surprise return to training for Manchester City on Thursday afternoon but pending confirmation of his availability for Saturday’s visit of Fulham, Fantasy Premier League (FPL) managers are making contingency plans for an alternative solution to the Gameweek 15 captaincy conundrum.

As usual, the Captain Sensible article is here to highlight which assets have the best chance of hauling.

For the purposes of this piece, we will primarily assess everyone but the Norwegian on the offchance there is still an element of doubt hanging over his availability come the weekend.

First, we will assess the fallout of the captain poll, before then analysing the best options, Rate My Team (RMT) and the Premier Fantasy Tools ratings ahead of Saturday’s 13:30 GMT deadline.

THE CAPTAIN POLL

Kevin De Bruyne (£12.5m) tops this week’s tweaked captain poll, with just over 32% of the total votes cast by users at the time of writing.

A caveat here is that the poll was launched on the basis that Erling Haaland is ruled out of Gameweek 15, but the Norwegian returned to training on Thursday handing Manchester City a huge injury boost ahead of Saturday’s Premier League clash with Fulham. 

We’ll reset the results of the poll after Manchester City’s presser on Friday and we have the latest – as cryptic and vague as Pep Guardiola’s update might be – on FPL’s runaway points scorer.

Phil Foden (£8.5m) is currently in second place, backed by just under 12% of our users and rising.

Joao Cancelo (£7.4m) occupies third place just 0.25% behind Foden, followed by Mohamed Salah (£12.8m) and Callum Wilson (£7.5m) around the 10% mark.

THE MAIN CANDIDATES – MINUS HAALAND

KEVIN DE BRUYNE/PHIL FODEN/JOAO CANCELO

Kevin De Bruyne scored a sublime free-kick in Manchester City’s 1-0 win at Leicester City, earning 11 points and highlighting his potential as an alternative captaincy option for Gameweek 15. 

In the absence of Haaland, the Belgian proved the difference maker as City edged out the Foxes and the underlying numbers for De Bruyne demonstrated his vital importance to City’s attack.

The midfield maestro has produced 12 attacking returns this season, scoring three goals and supplying nine assists, a tally bettered by only Erling Haaland (20). 

The Belgian is predominantly known for his creative nous, ranking joint-best in the division for big chances created (six) over the last six matches, and most importantly top for expected assists (xA), with 2.99. 

De Bruyne’s 13 shots over the period is a tally bettered by his indomitable Norwegian colleague at Manchester City, and crucially the Belgian boasts a majority share of set-piece duties including ranking best among teammates for corners taken (14).  

Above: Kevin De Bruyne places top among all players for total assists (five) and big chances created (six) over the last six matches. 

Phil Foden was benched for the second successive Premier League match against Leicester City in Gameweek 14, with his involvement limited to a 13-minute cameo. 

Furthermore, the Stockport native played 90 minutes in Manchester City’s 3-1 victory over Sevilla in Wednesday’s UEFA Champions League encounter raising valid question marks over whether the England starlet will start against Fulham. 

Nonetheless, Foden’s production has been prolific scoring six goals and supplying four assists this season, and except for his goal against Wolves, all his returns have come at Etihad Stadium.

Foden’s 12 shots inside the box, eight shots on target, and expected goals (xG, 2.15) over the last six matches are all bettered by only Haaland among Manchester City teammates. 

Above: Phil Foden ranks second among Manchester City teammates for shots inside the box (12) and shots on target (eight) over the last six matches

Manchester City host Fulham in Gameweek 15, with the defensive failings of Marco Silva’s side somewhat masked by the attacking endeavours of Aleksandar Mitrovic (£6.9m) and Andreas Periera (£4.6m). 

Over the last six matches, the Cottagers place in the bottom three for shots inside the box conceded (64), shots on target against (39), and big chances conceded (22). 

The underlying expected data for Fulham reaffirms their brittle defensive rearguard, ranking worst in the division for expected goals conceded (xGC) over that same period, with 11.45. 

Zonally, Marco Silva’s charges rank joint third-worst for chances conceded from the centre (28) – an area where Kevin De Bruyne could provide the break-through. 

Joao Cancelo provides an alternative Manchester City option with the Portuguese international sitting second in the defender standings with 71 points so far this season. 

The full-back has registered double-digit hauls on three occasions this season and produced four attacking returns, scoring two goals and supplying two assists.

Over the last six matches, Cancelo has averaged 6.3 points per start, which ranks third among defenders over the period. 

Furthermore, the full-back ranks among defenders first for penalty area touches (23) indicating an advanced deployment conducive to attacking returns. 

In terms of clean sheet prospects, Manchester City post elite defensive underlying numbers ranking third over the last six matches for expected goals conceded (xGC), with 5.49.

However, Fulham represent a threat to the probability of a Citizen’s clean sheet with the Cottagers ranking an impressive sixth best in the division for expected goals (xG) over that same period, with 9.24. 

MOHAMED SALAH

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