Captain Sensible
5 April 2025 119 comments
Hibbo Hibbo
Share:

Fantasy Premier League (FPL) managers have a thin pool of armband alternatives to challenge Mohamed Salah (£13.8m) in Gameweek 31.

A possible injury casts doubt over the best of the rest, Newcastle United’s Alexander Isak (£9.5m).

Still, we run the rule over him and a host of differential and alternative assets from Chelsea, Crystal Palace and Manchester City, amongst others, in this week’s Captain Sensible.

First, we will assess the fallout of the captain poll before analysing the player and team statisticsRate My Team (RMT) and the Premier Fantasy Tools ratings ahead of Saturday’s 11:00 BST deadline.

THE CAPTAIN POLL

Isak limped out of Newcastle United’s battling 2-1 win over Brentford during the midweek round of fixtures.

The former Real Sociedad marksman opened the scoring for the Magpies before his eventual withdrawal with a tight groin.

Despite being restricted to a 65-minute display, Isak mustered three shots, all from inside the box, and two big chances in a lively return to Premier League action.

Currently, in the bronze medal position for this season’s Golden Boot, Isak has secured just under 30% of the Captain Poll vote ahead of Newcastle’s visit to Leicester City.

Meanwhile, Salah misfired in Liverpool’s slender 1-0 win over Everton in the final Merseyside derby of the season.

While we will save the Egyptian the ignominy of dubbing this a generational stinker, Salah’s sum contribution was one big chance on target without a single one created.

Nevertheless, Salah’s quality is uncontested, and his demise is greatly exaggerated. The Liverpool wideman has overtaken Isak in the poll on Friday, backed by just over a third of our voters.

Bukayo Saka (£10.3m) is in third place with 13.2% of the vote. Omar Marmoush (£7.5m) is a long way further back, with no one else garnering more than 2%.

THE PLAYER STATISTICS – LAST SIX MATCHES

FPL team previews – Liverpool: Best players, predicted XI + more

Hibbo Author of Captain Sensible. I write Fantasy Premier League articles, focusing on stats and strategy. Four top 10k finishes. 22/23 Rank - 6123.  Follow them on Twitter

119 Comments Login to Post a Comment
  1. cutch
    • 11 Years
    8 months, 4 days ago

    Bench one:
    A) Muñoz
    B) Milenkovic
    C) Konsa

    1. Salalalalah
      • 7 Years
      8 months, 4 days ago

      C, others also have attacking potential

  2. Salalalalah
    • 7 Years
    8 months, 4 days ago

    Who do you bench?
    a) Foden (mnu)
    b) Mateta (BHA)
    c) Saka (eve)
    d) Isak (lei)

    Leaning towards Foden or Mateta, but Foden will probably play and others may have limited min, appreciate your thoughts...

    1. theshazly
      • 2 Years
      8 months, 4 days ago

      A

  3. cutch
    • 11 Years
    8 months, 4 days ago

    Bench one:
    A) Bruno Guimaraes
    B) Mbeumo
    C) Mateta
    D) Asensio
    E) Marmoush
    F) Isak

    1. OptimusBlack
      • 12 Years
      8 months, 4 days ago

      A

    2. theshazly
      • 2 Years
      8 months, 4 days ago

      A

  4. lilmessipran
    • 13 Years
    8 months, 4 days ago

    Gabriel to Saliba with one FT? Or start one of Gvardiol or Konsa..bb33 Fh34...feel like incremental gains are there with Saliba not sure if its worth a FT

  5. Bruno Commando
    • 11 Years
    8 months, 4 days ago

    Best Gabriel replacement? If I go with Saliba, it means that I will not be able to get Merino since I have Saka and Raya already.

    1) Saliba
    2) Digne (DGW33)
    3) Milenkovic
    4) AWB (DGW33)

    1. lilmessipran
      • 13 Years
      8 months, 4 days ago

      The thing with Merino is he could become a decent option but still not better than the Villa mids imo.. the way midfield slots are in most template teams, you only have room for one assuming you already have Saka.. I'd 100 percent have a Villa mid + 3rd Ars defender over Merino + Villa defender.

      1. Bruno Commando
        • 11 Years
        8 months, 4 days ago

        Thanks mate! I have gone with Saliba after reading your comments. Makes sense that Villa midfields can match Merino but not many defenders out there who can match Saliba.

    2. cutch
      • 11 Years
      8 months, 4 days ago

      Does AWB have a DGW33?

      1. Bruno Commando
        • 11 Years
        8 months, 4 days ago

        Oops my bad! They have a good GW33 fixture.

  6. Pep Roulette
    • 8 Years
    8 months, 4 days ago

    Switched captaincy to Palmer from Isak, only because the uncertainty around Isak is a little worry.

    1. lilmessipran
      • 13 Years
      8 months, 4 days ago

      Think I'd rather go Marmoush than Palmer if moving away from Salah and not confident in Isak's mins.

  7. Fred the Red
    • Fantasy Football Scout Member
    • 13 Years
    8 months, 4 days ago

    Wildcarding- pick one to get

    A) Digne
    B) Konsa
    C) Milenkovic

    1. Bleh
      • 8 Years
      8 months, 4 days ago

      C. Don’t trust Villa’s defence, even with the double.

  8. Bleh
    • 8 Years
    8 months, 4 days ago

    Thoughts on this WC?
    Current plan is to BB33, FH34, AM36-38.

    Raya (Areola)
    Saliba, Gvardiol, Muniz, Livramento (Murillo)
    Salah, Saka, Mbeumo, Gordon (Rogers)
    Isak, Marmoush (Mateta)

  9. cutch
    • 11 Years
    8 months, 4 days ago

    A) Murphy
    B) Bruno Guimaraes
    C) Gordon

  10. Crazy RedDevil
    • 13 Years
    8 months, 4 days ago

    Thoughts on Gabriel to Ruben Dias?Already own Gvardiol. I'm planning to have 2 arsenal attack.

  11. New Article
  12. Sun Jihai
    • Fantasy Football Scout Member
    • 13 Years
    8 months, 4 days ago

    How's this draft looking?

    Sels
    Saliba Trippier Munoz
    Salah Palmer Saka Murphy
    Isak Mateta Marmoush
    Verbruggen Rogers Cucurella Konsa

    BB32 = Sels (EVE), Saliba (BRE), Rogers (sou), Konsa (sou)
    GW33 = Palmer and Trippier to Man City probably
    Main risk is Villa rotate big time for Southampton

  13. SpaceCadet
    • 11 Years
    8 months, 4 days ago

    Bottomed. Bench one

    A. Sarr
    B. Savinho
    C. Murphy
    D. Mateta

    1. Sun Jihai
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 13 Years
      8 months, 4 days ago

      B

  14. theshazly
    • 2 Years
    8 months, 4 days ago

    Rate my final WC draft :

    Not decided whether to BB & TC 32 or 33 yet

    Will do Murphy > Merino by GW 33 anyway so I can have 10 doublers by GW33

    Raya ( Martinez )
    Konate Livra Munoz ( Gvardiol/Murillo )
    Saka Murphy Salah Rashford ( Sarr )
    Mateta Isak (c) Marmoush

    1.5 ITB

  15. Philosopher's Stones
    • 5 Years
    8 months, 4 days ago

    Last paged

    Which seems better for BB32?

    A:: Henderson + Dunk
    B: Sanchez(1)/Brighton goalie(2) + Munoz
    C: Sanchez + Dunk

    1. Lovely ball from Silva to A…
      • 2 Years
      8 months, 4 days ago

      Verbruggen & Munoz

  16. Bruno Commando
    • 11 Years
    8 months, 4 days ago

    Bench 2 out of these:

    1) Foden
    2) Marmoush
    3) Gvardiol
    4) Sarr
    5) Palmer
    6) Mateta

    1. Lovely ball from Silva to A…
      • 2 Years
      8 months, 4 days ago

      Foden & Sarr

  17. Mr. Eko
    • Fantasy Football Scout Member
    • 3 Years
    8 months, 4 days ago

    Isak has secured just under 230% of the Captain Poll vote ahead of Newcastle’s visit to Leicester City. # Author of Captain Sensible

    1. rainy
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • Has Moderation Rights
      • 10 Years
      8 months, 4 days ago

      Nice one, will let him know

  18. For Beto or Wirtz!
    • 1 Year
    8 months, 3 days ago

    Captain dilemma. I'm 1st by 90pts on my mini league. Do I play safe with Salah or greedy with Isak?

    1. For Beto or Wirtz!
      • 1 Year
      8 months, 3 days ago

      Forgot to say my nearest rival doesn't have Isak so he'd have to bring him in and Cap him while he's flagged and I don't think my rival has the balls!

    2. Silecro
      • 8 Years
      8 months, 3 days ago

      Im also ahead by 90pts (9k rank) and going with Isak, if it helps 🙂 i just believe he is the better option this week given opposition and form

      1. For Beto or Wirtz!
        • 1 Year
        8 months, 3 days ago

        Done deal then! Cheers mate. Nice rank BTW!