Fantasy Premier League (FPL) managers once again set their eyes firmly on Erling Haaland (£14.0m) for the armband ahead of Manchester City’s plum home tie with Fulham in Gameweek 4.
However, with a host of top sides boasting favourable fixtures, assets from Brentford, Chelsea, Spurs, and West Ham provide a strong supporting cast for those seeking a differential captain.
As usual, the Captain Sensible article is here to highlight which assets have the best chance of hauling.
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
Haaland dominates the captain poll for the third time in four Gameweeks, backed by a mite under 60% of the total votes cast by users at the time of writing.
Chelsea’s assets are very much in vogue after Pochettino’s side trashed Luton Town 3-0 last Friday, with Raheem Sterling (£7.2m) producing a dazzling 19-point haul. The former Man City winger provides the Norwegian’s main armband competition, backed by around one in fourteen of our users.
Jarrod Bowen (£7.0m) closely follows with 6.85% of the vote, followed by Yoane Wissa (£6.2m) and James Maddison (£7.7m).
THE PLAYER STATISTICS – FIRST THREE GAMEWEEKS
Haaland sits joint-top in the player table with Nicolas Jackson (£7.1m) for big chances (five), but the Norwegian leads the division for efforts in the box (16), shots on target (seven), and non-penalty expected goals (NPxG, 2.27).
In a promising statistical start to his career at Stamford Bridge, Jackson trails Haaland by some distance as runner-up among the players in this sample for both shots in the box (10) and NPxG (2.04).
The Senegal international sits joint-top for big chances missed (four), a sign that assures us that at least the Chelsea frontman is receiving high-quality chances.
Indeed, Sterling has put his best foot forward, sitting top for penalty area touches (35), but flatters to deceive ever so slightly on his underlying numbers compared to Jackson.
Sterling trails Chelsea’s new marksman for efforts in the box (six to 10), and shots on target (three to five), with the Englishman holding the creative lead with four key passes to Jackson’s three.
Meanwhile, Mohamed Salah (£12.5m) comes back in Fantasy focus despite widespread conjecture about his future, with the Egyptian facing Unai Emery’s Aston Villa at Anfield in Gameweek 4.
With 10 shots so far – six of which have come inside the box – Salah has lacked his trademark potent goal threat which is evidenced in his non-penalty expected goals (NPxG) total, of 0.90.
The right-winger has shown a creative edge, creating five chances and two big chances over the first three.
Brentford’s Bryan Mbeumo (£6.8m) welcomes Bournemouth to the Gtech Community Stadium on Saturday, with the Frenchman thriving as a Fantasy asset in the absence of the talismanic Toney.
Mbeumo’s seven efforts in the box and five shots on target fuel a highly respectable non-penalty expected goals (NPxG) total, of 1.72, with the Bees’ attacker averaging a non-penalty goal involvement every 120 minutes.
Meanwhile, Bukayo Saka (£8.7m) wrestled back spot-kick duties in Arsenal’s 2-2 draw with Fulham on Saturday, with Arsenal’s star boy also averaging a non-penalty involvement every 114 minutes – the third-quickest rate in this 11-player sample.
In addition to Saka’s eight efforts in the box, Arsenal’s right-winger has created nine chances across the first three matches, a total only bettered by Phil Foden’s (£7.6m) 11 key passes.
Impressively, Foden’s underlying numbers so far were accrued mostly over just two matches, with City’s attacking midfielder averaging a goal involvement every 134 minutes.
Assessing Tottenham Hotspur’s midfielders, Maddison is their new creator-in-chief, providing nine key passes and two big chances over the first three fixtures. Notably, the former Leicester City talisman ranks third in the league for expected assists (xA, 1.64) and posts an average of 87.5 minutes per non-penalty involvement – which ranks tops in this sample.
Maddison’s seven efforts in the box and non-pen expected goals (NPxG, 1.25) tally is more than any other Spurs player so far – with Son Heung-min offering far less goal threat than the Englishman, firing just three close-range shots and the worst NPxG total in this sample, with 0.28.
West Ham travel to Kenilworth Road on Friday for Luton Town’s first home game of the Premier League season bringing key Hammers’ assets to the fore.
Bowen dominates Ward-Prowse for goal threat, besting his team-mates for shots in the box (eight to two), shots on target (five to two), and NPxG, by 1.81 to 1.02,
TEAM ATTACKING STATISTICS – FIRST THREE GAMEWEEKS
