With an impressive brace and 14-point haul preceding a favourable match-up at home to Nottingham Forest, Mohamed Salah (£12.8m) is the rightful favourite for Blank Gameweek 32’s Fantasy Premier League (FPL) armband.
Nevertheless, the Captain Sensible article is here to consider the pros and cons of other options from the narrower-than-usual pool of potential candidates due to a reduced eight-game schedule.
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 Friday’s 18:30 BST deadline.
THE CAPTAIN POLL
Salah dominates the captaincy poll after his exploits at Elland Road, backed by six in ten of the total votes cast at the time of writing.
No other player has garnered more than 10%, with Arsenal’s Gabriel Martinelli (£6.9m) currently sitting in second place, marginally under one in ten votes.
Bukayo Saka (£8.6m) occupies third place with 9.1%, followed by Ollie Watkins (£7.7m) and Gabriel Jesus (£8.2m) further back on less than 5% each.
THE MAIN CANDIDATES
MOHAMED SALAH/TRENT ALEXANDER-ARNOLD/CODY GAKPO
Jurgen Klopp’s Liverpool side demolished Leeds United 6-1 on Monday night to successfully audition themselves not only for inclusion on the Free Hit chip – but also for the armband.
Salah was simply unplayable, scoring twice in the destruction to continue a rich vein of form for the Egyptian ahead of facing Nottingham Forest at home.
A cursory glance at his underlying data highlights both his importance for Klopp’s attack and his status as an elite FPL asset.
Eight attacking returns over the last half dozen games cannot be bettered, with Salah placing in the top two for expected goals (xG) and expected goal involvement (xGI), with 4.55 and 5.78 respectively.
Above: Mohamed Salah places in the top two over the last six matches for expected goals (xG) and expected goal involvement (xGI)
Salah has activated ‘beast mode’ in his last four home matches, not only netting five goals and supplying two assists but returning to his rhythmic high shot volume best.
Over that sample, the winger tops the division for shots in the box (19), big chances (seven), and shots on target (nine).
Meanwhile, Trent Alexander-Arnold (£7.4m) has been revitalised by a tactical tweak in the last two matches that ‘inverts’ the full-back into central midfield.
While the sample size is small, Alexander-Arnold sees more of the ball, topping the division for touches (229) and conducting play from deep by attempting the fourth-most passes (187).
Although his crossing volume has dropped when we compare recent numbers to his season average (from 6.7 per game to 4.5), his successful crosses have increased from 2.0 to 3.0 to indicate that this positional change might not hamper his Fantasy output.
Furthermore, an increase in tackles, recoveries and clearances has seen a significant increase in Alexander-Arnold’s bonus point system baseline (from 15.3 to 22.5).
Since the Premier League restart, 12 big chances created and six assists places him in the division’s top five to highlight his assist potential alongside the 50% rating of Liverpool keeping a clean sheet versus Forest.
Above: Alexander-Arnold’s creativity keeps pace with the division’s best over the last six matches – with five big chances created.
Alternatively, Cody Gakpo (£7.6m) provides a differential route into the Reds’ attack, with the former PSV Eindhoven man tapping in the opener at Leeds before providing Salah for the fourth.
The Dutch international has impressed after his January arrival, receiving significant game-time by starting 11 of 13 Premier League matches, at an average rate of 71 minutes per appearance and 80 per start.
Over that period, Gakpo ranks second-best among teammates for attacking returns (six) and big chances received (seven).
Steve Cooper’s Forest are winless in their last ten Premier League matches, failing to register a single clean sheet – an ominous statistic before travelling to Anfield.
Over the last six, Cooper’s charges rank fourth-worst for shots in the box conceded (67) and this is reflected in their fifth-worst placing for expected goals conceded (xGC, 11.60).
Zonally, they’re in the bottom two this season for both chances (121) and crosses conceded (366) from the left side – an area that Salah and Alexander-Arnold could brutally expose.
GABRIEL MARTINELLI/BUKAYO SAKA/GABRIEL JESUS/MARTIN ODEGAARD
