The Pre-match Preamble – Gameweek 28

It comes to something when captaining Harry Kane is seen as a gamble.

We spent weeks justifying his existence in our squads on the basis that he would be our permanent skipper, and successive hat-tricks against the backdrop of the original #Kanexit movement convinced us that we’d never looked back.

But even the most proven and big-scoring assets struggle to convince when compared with the relentless tide of points produced by Mohamed Salah.

The Egyptian has now split the Fantasy Football community, as each Gameweek the debate reopens on if and when we can afford to overlook him with the armband.

Kane will always provide the tempting alternative, but with his record of a goal or an assist in 16 of 18 Gameweek appearances, the logic clearly points to Salah.

Twelve double-figure returns to Kane’s eight also diffuses the “explosive” argument.

However, arguably Kane’s “ceiling” of points remains the higher. The devastation of his away day performances at Leicester City and Hull last season still linger. He defines the term “heavy-hitter”: while Salah’s blows are unrelenting, if Kane hits, more often than not, he hits hard.

At this point, turning to Kane is not denying Salah’s status as the go-to option, it’s merely playing the mechanics of the game. When an established path is laid, there is always the opportunity to take a detour.

Salah is the sat nav, Kane the hand-drawn short-cut on the back of the beer mat. At various points over the final 11 Gameweeks, local knowledge will win out.

Gameweek 28 might just be one of those, with the case for the Spurs striker firming up in the last 24-hours.

His opponent Crystal Palace are deep in the midst of an injury crisis, with Roy Hodgson set to turn to Damien Delaney and James Tomkins to silence the Premier League’s most feared striker.

With this in mind, Fantasy managers are acquiring Christian Eriksen in midfield, seemingly backing him for points, but playing down Kane’s potential to outscore Salah.

That said, I still don’t know if I have that kahunas to take that route again. I’ve probably already done enough to separate my line-up from those around me.

My plan was clear some days ago, but doubts surrounding Raheem Sterling’s fitness prompted a reappraisal.

Nursing a muscular injury, believed to be hamstring related, Sterling was omitted from Monday’s shock FA Cup defeat at Wigan by Pep Guardiola.

Clearly, that was designed to prepare the winger for Sunday’s Wembley Final so you have to imagine that every step will be taken to get Sterling on the pitch.

If that proves the case, there is every chance that Guardiola will then take him out of the firing line come Thursday’s league re-match with the Gunners.

With Gabriel Jesus and Leroy Sane fit and Bernardo Silva now settled and proven, he no longer needs to flog his first choice XI.

Should United drop more points to Chelsea on Sunday, I imagine even Pep will consider compromising at the Emirates with City’s own home clash with the champions to come just three days later.

There were just too many possibilities swirling with Sterling, and while profit has been lost, by the time I reconsider Sterling with the Wildcard, his price may have dropped considerably.

Even then, given the likely rotation to come in the late season from Guardiola, I’m not certain I’ll be back for Sterling.

He served me well and got me 26 points as my captain back in Gameweek 19.

But then, I even captained Salah once.